Distributed hot-spare storage in a storage cluster
First Claim
1. A method for providing distributed hot-spare storage in a storage cluster, the method comprising:
- allocating unutilized space on all nodes in the storage cluster, the storage cluster having N storage nodes, wherein N is greater than or equal to three;
detecting a failure of a storage node in the storage cluster; and
in response to detecting the failure, reforming the storage cluster as a storage cluster having N−
1 storage nodes using at least a portion of the unutilized space on the remaining storage nodes,wherein reforming the storage cluster comprises copying data that was mirrored on the failed storage node from the N−
1 storage nodes to the at least a portion of the unutilized space on the remaining storage nodes, andwherein the distributed hot-spare storage node comprises the at least a portion of the unutilized storage space on the remaining storage nodes of the storage cluster.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method, system, apparatus, and computer-readable medium are described for providing distributed hot-spare storage in a redundant storage cluster. According to one method, a portion of the unutilized space on the storage cluster is utilized as a distributed hot-spare storage node. Through this mechanism, a redundant storage cluster with N storage nodes may be contracted to a redundant array with N−1 nodes. Thin provisioning and intelligent data placement may also be utilized to implement the distributed hot-spare storage node. Through repeated application of such methods and systems, the failure of any storage node or the sequential failure of multiple storage nodes within a redundant storage cluster results in the recreation of the cluster as a redundant storage array with one fewer node, but with the same redundancy.
365 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for providing distributed hot-spare storage in a storage cluster, the method comprising:
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allocating unutilized space on all nodes in the storage cluster, the storage cluster having N storage nodes, wherein N is greater than or equal to three; detecting a failure of a storage node in the storage cluster; and in response to detecting the failure, reforming the storage cluster as a storage cluster having N−
1 storage nodes using at least a portion of the unutilized space on the remaining storage nodes,wherein reforming the storage cluster comprises copying data that was mirrored on the failed storage node from the N−
1 storage nodes to the at least a portion of the unutilized space on the remaining storage nodes, andwherein the distributed hot-spare storage node comprises the at least a portion of the unutilized storage space on the remaining storage nodes of the storage cluster. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:
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allocate unutilized space on all nodes in the storage cluster, the storage cluster having N storage nodes, wherein N is greater than or equal to three; detect a failure of a storage node in the storage cluster; and in response to a detection of the failure, reform the storage cluster as a storage cluster having N−
1 storage nodes using at least a portion of the unutilized space on the remaining storage nodes,wherein reforming the storage cluster comprises copying data that was mirrored on the failed storage node from the N−
1 storage nodes to the at least a portion of the unutilized space on the remaining storage nodes, andwherein the distributed hot-spare storage node comprises the at least a portion of the unutilized storage space on the remaining storage nodes of the storage cluster. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system for providing a distributed hot-spare storage node in a storage cluster, the system comprising:
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two or more storage nodes that together comprise a redundant storage cluster, the two or more storage nodes each having allocated therein unutilized space; and a distributed hot-spare storage node comprising at least a portion of the unutilized space from the two or more storage nodes, wherein the storage cluster is operative to detect a failure of one of the storage nodes and to reform itself following the failure as a redundant storage cluster having one less storage node utilizing the distributed hot-spare storage node, wherein data stored on the storage cluster is mirrored on two of the storage nodes, and wherein reforming the storage cluster comprises copying data that was mirrored on the failed storage node to the distributed hot-spare storage node. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification