Correlated analysis of wasted space and capacity efficiency in complex storage infrastructures

• US 7,680,991 B2
• Filed: 05/31/2007
• Issued: 03/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Chodacki, Frank Arthur, Tevis, Gregory John, Van Hise, David Gregory
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Hiep T
• Application Number:
  US11/756,018
• Publication Number:
  US 20080301204A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,020 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 711/154
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0605 by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0631 by allocating resources to storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

A system and method for correlated analysis of wasted space and capacity efficiency in complex storage infrastructures are provided. The system and method of the illustrative embodiments bring together wasted space data from all areas and components of the storage infrastructure into a single set of reports correlating information from these various sources in the storage infrastructure. In addition, correlated analysis of this collected information is performed with regard to wasted space. Logical storage devices of the storage infrastructure which are unused by host systems may be identified and appropriate corrective actions may be automatically taken. Moreover, automated recommendations and other automated corrective actions may be taken based upon the correlated analysis of the correlated data collected from the various components of the storage infrastructure.

Claims

1. A method, in a data processing system, for monitoring storage capacity utilization, comprising:

collecting metric data from a plurality of agents associated with a plurality of storage area network elements;

consolidating the metric data into a single representation of storage capacity utilization and waste across the entire storage area network; and

outputting the single representation of storage capacity utilization and waste for use in administering the storage area network.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

analyzing the single representation of storage capacity utilization and waste to identify storage waste problems in the storage area network; and

generating and outputting a notification of a storage waste problem in response to results of analyzing the single representation of storage capacity utilization and waste.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the single representation of storage capacity utilization and waste comprises a hierarchical representation comprising a plurality of layers, wherein the plurality of layers correspond to layers of the storage area network.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the hierarchical representation is arranged in a pyramidal configuration in which a first layer, at one extreme of the representation, corresponds to basic raw storage capacity of the storage area network and a second layer, at an opposite extreme of the representation, corresponds to a portion of storage capacity used for logical units which comprises files and database data and a portion that is not used by files or database data.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein a third layer, adjacent the first layer, of the hierarchical representation corresponds to a formatted/unformatted storage capacity portion of the basic raw storage capacity of the first layer, and wherein a comparison of the first layer to the third layer identifies an amount of wasted storage capacity due to unformatted storage capacity being present in the storage area network.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein a fourth layer, adjacent the third layer, of the hierarchical representation corresponds to a portion of the formatted capacity in the third layer that is allocated to logical units and a portion of the formatted capacity in the third layer that is unallocated to logical units is represented, such that a comparison of the fourth layer to the third layer identifies an amount of wasted storage capacity due to formatted capacity not being allocated to logical units.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein a fifth layer, adjacent the fourth layer, of the hierarchical representation corresponds to a portion of the formatted storage capacity allocated to logical units in the fourth layer, which is actually assigned to data processing devices or fabric adapters and a portion of the formatted storage capacity which are unassigned to data processing devices or fabric adapters, such that a comparison of the fifth layer to the fourth layer identifies an amount of wasted storage capacity due to the formatted storage capacity allocated to logical units being unassigned to data processing devices or fabric adapters.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein a sixth layer, adjacent the fifth layer, of the hierarchical representation corresponds to a portion of storage capacity of assigned logical units that is actually assigned to operating systems and a portion of the storage capacity of the assigned logical units that is not assigned to the operating systems, such that a comparison of the sixth level with the fifth level identifies an amount of storage capacity assigned to logical units that is wasted storage capacity due to the storage capacity not being assigned to the operating systems.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein a seventh layer, adjacent the sixth layer, of the hierarchical representation corresponds to a portion of the logical unit storage capacity, assigned to an operating system, which is used for logical partitions in a storage subsystem and a portion of unused Physical Partitions (PPs) and unused hard disks, such that a comparison of the seventh layer to the sixth layer identifies an amount of wasted storage capacity due to unused PPs and unused hard disks.

10. The method of claim 3, wherein the metric data is gathered from a plurality of storage area network components including at least one of applications, file systems, operating systems, databases, networking devices, storage subsystems, or storage volumes, and wherein the plurality of layers of the hierarchical representation are represented using a proportional sizing and emphasis of wasted storage capacity in the representation.

11. The method of claim 2, wherein analyzing the single representation of storage capacity utilization and waste to identify storage waste problems in the storage area network comprises analyzing the single representation of storage capacity utilization for a formatted wasted space condition in which storage subsystem volumes have been formatted at the storage subsystem level and assigned to at least one host system, but are not allocated by an operating system on the at least one host system.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein analyzing the single representation of storage capacity utilization and waste for the formatted wasted space condition comprises generating a ratio of an amount of logical unit storage capacity not allocated by the operating system on the at least one host system to an amount of storage capacity allocated by the operating system.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein analyzing the single representation of storage capacity utilization and waste for the formatted wasted space condition further comprises at least one of determining a number of the at least one host system on which there are assigned volumes that are not allocated by the operating system of the at least one host system or determining a total amount of assigned and unused logical unit storage capacity that exists for all of the at least one host system.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein generating and outputting the notification of the storage waste problem is performed in response to a measure of the formatted wasted space condition being greater than a predetermined threshold.

15. The method of claim 2, wherein analyzing the single representation of the storage capacity utilization and waste further comprises determining a correlated capacity efficiency rating for the storage area network.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring the storage area network for a new storage assignment operation in a storage subsystem of the storage area network;

monitoring at least one host system of the storage area network for performance of an allocation operation within a predetermined period of time from the new storage assignment operation; and

performing, in response to determining that the allocation operation is not performed within the predetermined period of time, at least one of generating a notification or automatically initiating the allocation operation of the at least one host system.

17. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a computing device, causes the computing device to:

collect metric data from a plurality of agents associated with a plurality of storage area network elements;

consolidate the metric data into a single representation of storage capacity utilization and waste across the entire storage area network; and

output the single representation of storage capacity utilization and waste for use in administering the storage area network, wherein the single representation of storage capacity utilization and waste comprises a hierarchical representation comprising a plurality of layers, wherein the plurality of layers correspond to layers of the storage area network.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the computer readable program further causes the computing device to:

analyze the single representation of storage capacity utilization and waste to identify storage waste problems in the storage area network; and

generate and output a notification of a storage waste problem in response to results of analyzing the single representation of storage capacity utilization and waste.

19. A data processing system, for monitoring storage capacity utilization, comprising:

a storage management module; and

a plurality of agents, associated with a plurality of storage area network elements, and coupled to the storage management module, wherein the storage management module;

collects metric data from the plurality of agents,

consolidates the metric data into a single representation of storage capacity utilization and waste across the entire storage area network, and

outputs the single representation of storage capacity utilization and waste for use in administering the storage area network, and wherein the single representation of storage capacity utilization and waste comprises a hierarchical representation comprising a plurality of layers, wherein the plurality of layers correspond to layers of the storage area network.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the storage management module further:

analyzes the single representation of storage capacity utilization and waste to identify storage waste problems in the storage area network, and

generates and outputs a notification of a storage waste problem in response to results of analyzing the single representation of storage capacity utilization and waste.