Host-centric storage provisioner in a managed SAN

• US 7,657,613 B1
• Filed: 09/09/2004
• Issued: 02/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Monday, Paul B., Hanson, Jeffrey A., Taylor, Brandon E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Meky; Moustafa M
• Application Number:
  US10/937,184
• Time in Patent Office: 1,972 Days
• Field of Search: 709/209, 709211-217, 709/229, 709/215, 709/226, 709/220, 709/221, 711/147, 711/159, 711/154, 711/173, 707/10
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0605 by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0635 by changing the path, e.g. traffic rerouting, path reconfiguration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0883 Semiautomatic configuration, e.g. proposals from system
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/344 Out-of-band transfers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

Various embodiments of a system and method for provisioning a storage consumer with storage in a SAN networked computer system are disclosed. A SAN networked computer system may include one or more consumers of storage, such as host computers, a plurality of storage devices, and one or more SAN fabrics including the devices needed to connect the storage consumers to the storage devices. The system may also include a storage consumer-centric storage provisioner. To provide a storage consumer with storage, the storage consumer-centric storage provisioner may perform discovery on the system to acquire topologic information on the system along with the characteristics of system components. The storage provisioner may contextualize the information into the perspective of the storage consumer to present a user with candidate system configuration parameters from which to select, and when sufficient parameter selections have been input, the provisioner may configure the system according to the user selections.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a storage consumer;

a plurality of storage devices;

one or more SAN fabrics each comprising one or more fabric devices configured to couple the storage consumer to the plurality of storage devices; and

a storage consumer-centric storage provisioner, wherein to provide the storage consumer with storage comprised in the plurality of storage devices, the storage consumer-centric storage provisioner is configured to;

acquire system data comprising topologic information and characteristics of the storage consumer, the plurality of storage devices and the SAN fabric devices;

contextualize the system data into a perspective of the storage consumer to produce candidate system configuration parameters, wherein to contextualize the system data, the consumer-centric storage provisioner is configured to disregard data associated with system components not available to the storage consumer;

present the candidate system configuration parameters to a user;

receive user selection of a set of the candidate system configuration parameters; and

configure the system based upon the user selection.

2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the storage consumer is a host system and the storage provisioner is configured to contextualize the system data into a perspective of the host system.

3. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the storage consumer is an application and the storage provisioner is configured to contextualize the system data into a perspective of the application.

4. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the storage consumer is a server cluster and the storage provisioner is configured to contextualize the system data into a perspective of the server cluster.

5. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein to provide the storage consumer with storage, the storage provisioner is further configured to:

determine the storage consumer;

determine a storage device to service the storage consumer;

determine an initiator port on the storage consumer and target port on the storage device;

determine a LUN for the storage device; and

determine a zone for the storage consumer and storage device.

6. The system as recited in claim 5, wherein to determine the storage consumer, the storage provisioner is further configured to:

identify hosts;

filter hosts not connected to the SAN;

present hosts connected to the SAN to the user; and

input user selection of the host.

7. The system as recited in claim 5, wherein to determine the storage device, the storage provisioner is further configured to:

identify the storage devices;

filter storage devices not connected to the storage consumer;

present characteristics of candidate storage devices to the user;

input user selection of storage device characteristics;

identify candidate storage devices providing selected characteristics;

input user selection of storage device; and

create a volume with selected storage characteristics on identified storage device.

8. The system as recited in claim 5, wherein to determine the initiator and target ports, the storage provisioner is further configured to:

identify initiator ports of the storage consumer;

filter initiator ports unavailable in the storage consumer;

present candidate initiator ports to the user;

input user selection of initiator port;

identify target ports on selected storage device;

filter target ports not connected to selected initiator port;

present candidate target ports to the user; and

input user selection of target port.

9. The system as recited in claim 5, wherein to determine the LUN, the storage provisioner is further configured to:

identify logical unit numbers (LUN) of a selected storage device;

filter LUNs unavailable for a selected port pair;

present candidate LUNs to the user;

input user selection of one of the candidate LUNs;

assign the selected LUN to a created volume; and

map/mask LUNs of selected storage device accordingly for the storage consumer.

10. The system as recited in claim 5, wherein to determine the zone the storage provisioner is further configured to:

identify world wide numbers for selected ports;

identify SAN zones;

filter zones for which the storage consumer is not a member;

present candidate zones to the user;

input user selection of zone if a suitable zone exits;

create new zone if no suitable existing zone; and

perform appropriate SAN zoning.

11. A method for providing a storage consumer with storage, comprising:

acquiring system data comprising topologic information on the system and characteristics of the storage consumer, a plurality of storage devices, and SAN fabric devices;

contextualizing the system data into a perspective of the storage consumer to produce candidate system configuration parameters, wherein contextualizing the system data comprises disregarding data associated with system components not accessible by or available to the storage consumer;

presenting the candidate system configuration parameters to a user;

receiving user selection of a set of the candidate system configuration parameters; and

configuring the system based upon the user selection.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the storage consumer is a host system and said contextualizing comprises contextualizing the system data into a perspective of the host system.

13. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the storage consumer is an application and said contextualizing comprises contextualizing the system data into a perspective of the application.

14. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the storage consumer is a server cluster and said contextualizing comprises contextualizing the system data into a perspective of the server cluster.

15. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein said providing further comprises:

determining the storage consumer;

determining a storage device to service the storage consumer;

determining an initiator port on the storage consumer and target port on the storage device;

determining a LUN for the storage device; and

determining a zone for the storage consumer and storage device.

16. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein determining the storage consumer comprises:

identifying hosts;

filtering hosts not connected to the SAN;

presenting hosts connected to the SAN to the user; and

inputting user selection of the host.

17. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein determining the storage device comprises:

identifying the storage devices;

filtering storage devices not connected to the storage consumer;

presenting characteristics of candidate storage devices to the user;

inputting user selection of storage device characteristics;

identifying candidate storage devices providing selected characteristics;

inputting user selection of storage device; and

creating a volume with selected storage characteristics on identified storage device.

18. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein determining the initiator port on the storage consumer and target port on the storage device comprises:

identifying initiator ports of the storage consumer;

filtering initiator ports unavailable in the storage consumer;

presenting candidate initiator ports to the user;

inputting user selection of initiator port;

identifying target ports on selected storage device;

filtering target ports not connected to selected initiator port;

presenting candidate target ports to the user; and

inputting user selection of target port.

19. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein determining the LUN for the storage device comprises:

identifying logical unit numbers (LUN) of selected storage device;

filtering LUNs unavailable for a selected port pair;

presenting candidate LUNs to the user;

inputting user selection of one of the candidate LUNs;

assigning the selected LUN to a created volume; and

mapping/masking LUNs of selected storage device accordingly for the storage consumer.

20. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein determining the zone for the storage consumer and storage device comprises:

identifying world wide numbers for selected ports;

identifying SAN zones;

filtering zones for which host is not a member;

presenting candidate zones to the user;

inputting user selection of zone if a suitable zone exits;

creating a new zone if no suitable existing zone; and

performing appropriate SAN zoning.

21. A computer readable storage medium storing program instructions, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to:

acquire system data comprising topologic information on a system and characteristics of a storage consumer, a plurality of storage devices and SAN fabric devices;

contextualize the system data into a perspective of the storage consumer to produce sets of candidate system configuration parameters, wherein to contextualize the system data, the consumer-centric storage provisioner is configured to disregard data associated with system components not available to the storage consumer;

present the candidate system configuration parameters to a user;

receive user selection of a set of the candidate system configuration parameters; and

configure the system based upon the user selection.

22. The computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 21, wherein the storage consumer is a host system and to contextualize comprises contextualizing the system data into a perspective of the host system.

23. The computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 21, wherein the storage consumer is an application and to contextualize comprises contextualizing the system data into a perspective of the application.

24. The computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 21, wherein the storage consumer is a server cluster and to contextualize comprises contextualizing the system data into a perspective of the server cluster.

25. The computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 21, wherein the program instructions are further computer-executable to:

determine the storage consumer;

determine a storage device to service the storage consumer;

determine an initiator port on the storage consumer and target port on the storage device;

determine a LUN for the storage device; and

determine a zone for the storage consumer and storage device.

26. The computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein to determine the storage consumer, the program instructions are further computer-executable to:

identify hosts;

filter hosts not connected to the SAN;

present hosts connected to the SAN to the user; and

input user selection of the host.

27. The computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein to determine the storage device, the program instructions are further computer-executable to:

identify the storage devices;

filter storage devices not connected to the storage consumer;

present characteristics of candidate storage devices to the user;

input user selection of storage device characteristics;

identify candidate storage devices providing selected characteristics;

input user selection of storage device; and

create a volume with selected storage characteristics on identified storage device.

28. The computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein to determine the initiator and target ports, the program instructions are further computer-executable to:

identify initiator ports of the storage consumer;

filter initiator ports unavailable in the storage consumer;

present candidate initiator ports to the user;

input user selection of initiator port;

identify target ports on selected storage device;

filter target ports not connected to selected initiator port;

present candidate target ports to the user; and

input user selection of target port.

29. The computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein to determine the LUN, the program instructions are further computer-executable to:

identify logical unit numbers (LUN) of selected storage device;

filter LUNs unavailable for a selected port pair;

present candidate LUNs to the user;

input user selection of one of the candidate LUNs;

assign selected LUN to a created volume; and

map/mask LUNs of selected storage device for the storage consumer.

30. The computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein to determine the zone, the program instructions are further computer-executable to:

identify world wide numbers for selected ports;

identify SAN zones;

filter zones for which host is not a member;

present candidate zones to the user;

input user selection of zone if a suitable zone exits;

create new zone if no suitable existing zone; and

perform appropriate SAN zoning.