System and method for storage subsystem port reassignment in storage area networks

• US 7,930,448 B2
• Filed: 03/13/2008
• Issued: 04/19/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/13/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Chaitanya, Shiva, Gupta, Karan, Korupolu, Madhukar R., Sarkar, Prasenjit
• Primary Examiner(s): Hafiz; Tariq
• Assistant Examiner(s): LEWIS-TAYLOR, DAYTON A.
• Application Number:
  US12/048,138
• Publication Number:
  US 20090234984A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,132 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 710/38
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/385 for adaptation of a particular data processing system to different peripheral devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2003/0697 device management, e.g. handlers, drivers, I/O schedulers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0601 Interfaces specially adapted for storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0604 Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. storage management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0635 by changing the path, e.g. traffic rerouting, path reconfiguration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0653 Monitoring storage devices or systems
• 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 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1031 Controlling of the operation of servers by a load balancer, e.g. adding or removing servers that serve requests

Abstract

A method and system for data traffic management in a storage area network subsystem connected to multiple hosts via plural ports through a connection network is provided. Traffic management involves, for each port, determining input/output (IO) traffic utilization load of the port based on workloads from one or more hosts assigned to that port; and detecting if a port is in utilization overload. Then, upon detecting a port utilization overload, port traffic is managed by adjusting traffic utilization of the overloaded port and one or more other ports in the storage subsystem, to reduce traffic utilization of the overloaded port.

Claims

1. A method for traffic management in a storage area network subsystem connected to multiple hosts via plural ports through a connection network, comprising the steps of:

for each port, determining input/output (IO) traffic utilization load of the port based on workloads from one or more hosts assigned to that port;

determining a score for each host based on an amount of additional traffic that can be pushed from each host to reachable ports, based on available connectivity between each host and the reachable ports, and based on determined spare capacity at the reachable ports without overloading the reachable ports;

detecting if a port is in utilization overload by determining if traffic utilization for the port is above a threshold; and

upon detecting a port utilization overload, managing port traffic by adjusting traffic utilization of the overloaded port and one or more other ports in the storage subsystem by reassigning workload and ports based on the determined scores using port deletion to reduce traffic utilization of the overloaded port, wherein port deletion comprises decreasing a port set for a workload, otherwise use port migration to reduce traffic utilization of the overloaded port, wherein port migration comprises replacing a port for a workload with another port; and

if port migration does not reduce traffic utilization of the overloaded port, performing port addition to reduce traffic utilization of the overloaded port, wherein port addition comprises expanding the port set for a workload.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein traffic is adaptively managed between multiple hosts and a storage area network with port reassignment without requiring data migrations.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein managing port traffic by port deletion includes:

for a host with an overloaded port, reassigning the workload between said host and the overloaded port, among one or more other ports that are assigned to said host, without overloading said other assigned ports, wherein said other assigned ports are reachable by said host through the connection network.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein managing port traffic further includes the steps of:

(a) determining spare traffic capacity of other ports assigned to a host that is assigned to the overloaded port, wherein the spare capacity of a port, SC (port, T), is computed as the amount of traffic that can be pushed through that port without the port utilization exceeding a threshold T; and

(b) reassigning the traffic between said host and the overloaded port, among one or more of said other assigned ports with spare traffic capacity, without overloading said other assigned ports.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein managing port traffic further includes the steps of:

(c) determining if the overloaded port remains overloaded; and

(d) if the overloaded port remains overloaded, then repeating steps (a) through (d).

6. The method of claim 2, wherein managing port traffic by port migration includes:

for a host with an overloaded port, selecting a port reachable by said host through the connection network, the selected port having sufficient spare traffic capacity to accommodate said traffic between the overloaded port and said host, and migrating said traffic from the overloaded port to the selected port.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein managing port traffic further includes the steps of:

(a) determining spare traffic capacity of other ports assigned to a host that is assigned to the overloaded port, wherein the spare capacity of a port, SC (port, T), is computed as the amount of traffic that can be pushed through that port without the port utilization exceeding a threshold T; and

(b) selecting a port among said assigned ports, with sufficient spare traffic capacity to accommodate said traffic between the overloaded port and said host, and migrating said traffic from the overloaded port to the selected port.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein managing port traffic further includes the steps of:

(c) determining if the overloaded port remains overloaded; and

(d) if the overloaded port remains overloaded, then repeating steps (a) through (d).

9. The method of claim 2, wherein managing port traffic by port addition includes:

for a host with an overloaded port, selecting a port reachable by said host through the connection network, the selected port having sufficient spare traffic capacity to accommodate at least a portion of the traffic between the overloaded port and said host, assigning the selected port to the host, and migrating said portion of traffic from the overloaded port to the selected port, wherein the traffic from the host flows) through the overloaded port and the selected port.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein managing port traffic further includes the steps of:

(a) determining spare traffic capacity of other ports assigned to a host that is assigned to the overloaded port, wherein the spare capacity of a port, SC (port, T), is computed as the amount of traffic that can be pushed through that port without the port utilization exceeding a threshold T; and

(b) selecting a port among said assigned ports, with sufficient spare traffic capacity to accommodate at least a portion of the traffic between the overloaded port and said host, assigning the selected port to the host, and migrating said portion of traffic from the overloaded port to the selected port.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein managing port traffic further includes the steps of:

(c) determining if the overloaded port remains overloaded; and

(d) if the overloaded port remains overloaded, then repeating steps (a) through (d).

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the storage subsystem comprises a storage area network.

13. An apparatus for traffic management in a storage subsystem connected to multiple hosts via plural ports through a connection network, comprising:

a monitor configured for determining input/output (IO) traffic utilization load of the port based on workloads from one or more hosts assigned to that port;

a controller configured for computing a score for each host based on an amount of additional traffic that can be pushed from each host to reachable ports, based on available connectivity between each host and the reachable ports, and based on determined spare capacity at the reachable ports without overloading the reachable ports, for detecting if a port is in utilization overload by determining if traffic utilization for the port is above a threshold, and upon detecting a port utilization overload, managing port traffic by adjusting traffic utilization of the overloaded port and one or more other ports in the storage subsystem by reassigning workload and ports based on the determined scores using port deletion to reduce traffic utilization of the overloaded port, wherein port deletion comprises decreasing a port set for a workload, otherwise use port migration to reduce traffic utilization of the overloaded port, wherein port migration comprises replacing a port for a workload with another port; and

if port migration does not reduce traffic utilization of the overloaded port, performing port addition to reduce traffic utilization of the overloaded port, wherein port addition comprises expanding the port set for a workload.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein traffic is adaptively managed between multiple hosts and a storage area network with port reassignment without requiring data migrations.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured for port deletion by:

for a host with an overloaded port, reassigning the workload between said host and the overloaded port, among one or more other ports that are assigned to said host, without overloading said other assigned ports, wherein said other assigned ports are reachable by said host through the connection network.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured for managing port traffic by:

(a) determining spare traffic capacity of other ports assigned to a host that is assigned to the overloaded port, wherein the spare capacity of a port, SC (port, T), is computed as the amount of traffic that can be pushed through that port without the port utilization exceeding a threshold T;

(b) reassigning the traffic between said host and the overloaded port, among one or more of said other assigned ports with spare traffic capacity, without overloading said other assigned ports;

(c) determining if the overloaded port remains overloaded; and

(d) if the overloaded port remains overloaded, then repeating steps (a) through (d).

17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured for port migration by:

for a host with an overloaded port, selecting a port reachable by said host through the connection network, the selected port having sufficient spare traffic capacity to accommodate said traffic between the overloaded port and said host, and migrating said traffic from the overloaded port to the selected port.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured for managing port traffic by:

(a) determining spare traffic capacity of other ports assigned to a host that is assigned to the overloaded port, wherein the spare capacity of a port, SC (port, T), is computed as the amount of traffic that can be pushed through that port without the port utilization exceeding a threshold T;

(b) selecting a port among said assigned ports, with sufficient spare traffic capacity to accommodate said traffic between the overloaded port and said host, and migrating said traffic from the overloaded port to the selected port, wherein the traffic from the host flows through the overloaded port and the selected port;

(c) determining if the overloaded port remains overloaded; and

(d) if the overloaded port remains overloaded, then repeating steps (a) through (d).

19. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured for port addition by:

for a host with an overloaded port, selecting a port reachable by said host through the connection network, the selected port having sufficient spare traffic capacity to accommodate at least a portion of the traffic between the overloaded port and said host, assigning the selected port to the host, and migrating said portion of traffic from the overloaded port to the selected port, wherein the selected port is used in addition to the overloaded port to manage workload originally assigned to the overloaded port.

20. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured for managing port traffic by:

(a) determining spare traffic capacity of other ports assigned to a host that is assigned to the overloaded port, wherein the spare capacity of a port, SC (port, T), is computed as the amount of traffic that can be pushed through that port without the port utilization exceeding a threshold T;

(b) selecting a port among said assigned ports, with sufficient spare traffic capacity to accommodate at least a portion of the traffic between the overloaded port and said host, assigning the selected port to the host, and migrating said portion of traffic from the overloaded port to the selected port;

(c) determining if the overloaded port remains overloaded; and

(d) if the overloaded port remains overloaded, then repeating steps (a) through (d).

21. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the storage subsystem comprises a storage area network.

22. A computer system comprising:

a storage subsystem connected to multiple hosts via plural ports through a connection network;

a port management module for port traffic management, comprising;

a monitor configured for determining input/output (10) traffic utilization load of the port based on workloads from one or more hosts assigned to that port;

a controller configured for computing a score for each host based on an amount of additional traffic that can be pushed from each host to reachable ports, based on available connectivity between each host and the reachable ports, and based on determined spare capacity at the reachable ports without overloading the reachable ports, for detecting if a port is in utilization overload by determining if traffic utilization for the port is above a threshold; and

upon detecting a port utilization overload, managing port traffic by adjusting traffic utilization of the overloaded port and one or more other ports in the storage subsystem by reassigning workload and ports based on the determined scores using port deletion to reduce traffic utilization of the overloaded port, wherein port deletion comprises decreasing a port set for a workload, otherwise use port migration to reduce traffic utilization of the overloaded port, wherein port migration comprises replacing a port for a workload with another port; and

if port migration does not reduce traffic utilization of the overloaded port, performing port addition to reduce traffic utilization of the overloaded port, wherein port addition comprises expanding the port set for a workload.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the controller is configured for port deletion by:

(a) determining spare traffic capacity of other ports assigned to a host that is assigned to the overloaded port, wherein the spare capacity of a port, SC (port, T), is computed as the amount of traffic that can be pushed through that port without the port utilization exceeding a threshold T;

(b) reassigning the traffic between said host and the overloaded port, among one or more of said other assigned ports with spare traffic capacity, without overloading said other assigned ports;

(c) determining if the overloaded port remains overloaded; and

(d) if the overloaded port remains overloaded, then repeating steps (a) through (d).

24. The system of claim 22, wherein the controller is configured for port migration by:

(a) determining spare traffic capacity of other ports assigned to a host that is assigned to the overloaded port, wherein the spare capacity of a port, SC (port, T), is computed as the amount of traffic that can be pushed through that port without the port utilization exceeding a threshold T;

(b) selecting a port among said assigned ports, with sufficient spare traffic capacity to accommodate said traffic between the overloaded port and said host, and migrating said traffic from the overloaded port to the selected port;

(c) determining if the overloaded port remains overloaded; and

(d) if the overloaded port remains overloaded, then repeating steps (a) through (d).

25. The system of claim 22, wherein the controller is configured for port addition by:

(a) determining spare traffic capacity of other ports assigned to a host that is assigned to the overloaded port, wherein the spare capacity of a port, SC (port, T), is computed as the amount of traffic that can be pushed through that port without the port utilization exceeding a threshold T;

(b) selecting a port among said assigned ports, with sufficient spare traffic capacity to accommodate at least a portion of the traffic between the overloaded port and said host, assigning the selected port to the host, and migrating said portion of traffic from the overloaded port to the selected port, wherein the traffic from the host flows through the overloaded port and the selected port;

(c) determining if the overloaded port remains overloaded; and

(d) if the overloaded port remains overloaded, then repeating steps (a) through (d).