Automated information lifecycle management system for network data storage
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- automatically searching a network storage system to identify a plurality of data items stored in the network storage system, the network storage system including a plurality of data storage facilities of different types coupled to a network;
automatically classifying each of the data items into a category of a plurality of data categories, said automatically classifying each of the data items comprising automatically classifying a first data item;
automatically optimizing each of the data items to a particular data storage facility of the plurality of data storage facilities, according to the category into which the data item was classified, said automatically optimizing each of the data items to a particular data storage facility comprising automatically migrating the first data item to a first data storage facility of the plurality of data storage facilities based on a classification of the first data item;
automatically, by a computer, reclassifying the first data item after the first data item has been migrated to the first data storage facility; and
after automatically reclassifying the first data item, automatically performing one of moving, migrating and deleting the first data item based on a new classification of the first data item.
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Abstract
An automated information lifecycle management (ILM) system for network storage automatically searches a network storage system to identify data items stored therein. The network storage system includes multiple data storage facilities of different types coupled to a network. The ILM system automatically classifies each of the data items into a category of multiple data categories, and automatically optimizes each of the data items to a particular data storage facility of the multiple data storage facilities, according to the category into which the data item was classified. The ILM system may also automatically discover and detect storage devices added to the network and assign them to the proper storage class, for storing data of the corresponding category. The ILM system further may automatically determine or predict when additional storage capacity is needed for any particular class of storage and may alert a user accordingly and/or free up additional storage capacity.
101 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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automatically searching a network storage system to identify a plurality of data items stored in the network storage system, the network storage system including a plurality of data storage facilities of different types coupled to a network; automatically classifying each of the data items into a category of a plurality of data categories, said automatically classifying each of the data items comprising automatically classifying a first data item; automatically optimizing each of the data items to a particular data storage facility of the plurality of data storage facilities, according to the category into which the data item was classified, said automatically optimizing each of the data items to a particular data storage facility comprising automatically migrating the first data item to a first data storage facility of the plurality of data storage facilities based on a classification of the first data item; automatically, by a computer, reclassifying the first data item after the first data item has been migrated to the first data storage facility; and after automatically reclassifying the first data item, automatically performing one of moving, migrating and deleting the first data item based on a new classification of the first data item. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method comprising:
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automatically identifying a plurality of data items stored in a network storage system, the plurality of data items including a plurality of files, the network storage system including a plurality of data storage facilities of different classes coupled to a network; automatically classifying each of the data items into a category of a plurality of data categories; automatically, by a computer, optimizing each of the data items to a particular data storage facility of the plurality of data storage facilities, according to the category into which the data item was classified, wherein said automatically optimizing comprises; moving a first data item from a first storage facility to a second storage facility based on a classification of the first data item, migrating a second data item from the first storage facility to a third storage facility based on a classification of the second data item, deleting a third data item based on a classification of the third data item, replicating a fourth data item based on a classification of the fourth data item, and de-duplicating a fifth data item; automatically detecting a storage device connected to the network storage system; automatically determining a storage class of the storage device; automatically assigning the storage device to a data category of said plurality of data categories, based on the storage class of the storage device; automatically detecting that an amount of used storage space in one of said storage classes meets a specified criterion; and in response to detecting that the amount of used storage space in said one of said storage classes meets the specified criterion, performing at least one of; causing an alert to issue to indicate to a user that additional storage space is needed for said one of said storage classes; and automatically freeing additional storage space in said one of said storage classes. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. An automated information lifetime management (ILM) system for use in a network storage system, the ILM system comprising:
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a search and classification module to search the network storage system to identify a plurality of data items stored in the network storage system and to automatically classify each of the data items into a category of a plurality of data categories, the network storage system including a plurality of data storage facilities of different classes, wherein the automatically classifying each of the data items includes automatically classifying a first data item; an optimization engine to automatically optimize each of the data items to a particular data storage facility of the plurality of data storage facilities, according to the category into which the data item was classified, wherein automatically optimizing each of the data items includes automatically migrating the first data item to a first data storage facility of the plurality of data storage facilities based on a classification of the first data item; a reclassification module executing on a processor to reclassify the first data item after the first data item has been migrated to the first data storage facility; and a movement module to automatically perform one of moving, migrating, and deleting the first data item based on a new classification of the first data item, wherein the one of moving, migrating and deleting the first data item occurs after the first data item is reclassified. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A storage server to operate in a network storage system, the storage server comprising:
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a storage interface through which to access a mass storage subsystem including plurality of non-volatile mass storage devices; a network interface through which to communicate with a plurality of storage clients over a network; a storage manager to process data access requests received from the storage clients directed to data stored in the mass storage subsystem; and an ILM subsystem including; logic to search the network storage system to identify a plurality of data items stored in the network storage system, the network storage system including a plurality of data storage facilities of different types; logic to classify each of the data items into a category of a plurality of data categories, the classifying including classifying a first data item; logic to optimize each of the data items to a particular data storage facility of the plurality of data storage facilities, according to the category into which the data item was classified, the optimizing including migrating the first data item to a first data storage facility based on a classification of the first data item; logic to reclassify the first data item after the first data item is migrated to the first data storage facility; and logic to perform one of migrating, moving and deleting the first data item based on a new classification of the first data item. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A system comprising:
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a processor coupled to a memory through a bus; and executable instructions stored in the memory which when executed by the processor cause the processor to automatically; search a network storage system to identify a first data item stored in the network storage system; classify the first data item into a first category, the classifying based on one of contents of the first data item and an access history of the first data item; migrate the first data item to a first data storage facility based on a classification of the first data item into the first category; reclassify the first data item into a second category after migrating the first data item to the first data storage facility, the reclassifying based on one of the contents of the first data item and the access history of the first data item; and migrate the first data item based on the reclassification of the first data item into the second category.
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Specification