Mass storage system and method of operating thereof
First Claim
1. A method of operating a mass storage system comprising a storage layer operatively coupled to a plurality of disk drives constituting a storage space, the system configured to enable direct or indirect serving a request directed to any accessible address in the storage space, the method comprising:
- a. dividing the storage space into an available storage space configured to be available to a client and a spare storage space configured to be unavailable to a client;
b. distributing the available space and the spare space over the plurality of disk drives thus giving rise to available space and spare space allocated to each given disk drive;
c. detecting underperformance of at least one disk drive among the plurality of disk drives;
d. responsive to detecting underperformance, decreasing respective available space allocated to said at least one underperforming disk drive and respectively increasing spare space allocated to said at least one underperforming disk drive thus giving rise to a re-configured allocation of the available space;
wherein the amount of increased spare space allocated to said at least one underperforming disk drive is predefined as a certain percentage of respective allocated spare space; and
e. transferring the stored data in accordance with said re-configured allocation of the available space.
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Accused Products
Abstract
There are provided a mass storage system and a method of operating thereof. The method comprises: a) dividing the storage space into a first portion configured to be available to a client and a second portion configured to be unavailable to a client, thus giving rise, respectively to an available storage space and a spare storage space; b) distributing the available space and the spare space over the disk drives thus giving rise to available space and spare space allocated to each given disk drive; c) detecting underperformance of at least one disk drive among the plurality of disk drives; d) responsive to detecting underperformance, decreasing respective available space allocated to said at least one underperforming disk drive and respectively increasing spare space allocated to said at least one underperforming disk drive thus giving rise to a re-configured allocation of the available space; and e) transferring the stored data in accordance with said re-configured allocation of the available space.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method of operating a mass storage system comprising a storage layer operatively coupled to a plurality of disk drives constituting a storage space, the system configured to enable direct or indirect serving a request directed to any accessible address in the storage space, the method comprising:
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a. dividing the storage space into an available storage space configured to be available to a client and a spare storage space configured to be unavailable to a client; b. distributing the available space and the spare space over the plurality of disk drives thus giving rise to available space and spare space allocated to each given disk drive; c. detecting underperformance of at least one disk drive among the plurality of disk drives; d. responsive to detecting underperformance, decreasing respective available space allocated to said at least one underperforming disk drive and respectively increasing spare space allocated to said at least one underperforming disk drive thus giving rise to a re-configured allocation of the available space;
wherein the amount of increased spare space allocated to said at least one underperforming disk drive is predefined as a certain percentage of respective allocated spare space; ande. transferring the stored data in accordance with said re-configured allocation of the available space. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A mass storage system comprising:
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a. a plurality of disk drives constituting a storage space, wherein; i. the system configured to enable direct or indirect serving a request directed to any accessible address in the storage space; ii. the storage space is divided into an available storage space configured to be available to a client and a spare storage space configured to be unavailable to a client; iii. the available space and the spare space are distributed over the plurality of disk drives thus giving rise to available space and spare space allocated to each given disk drive; b. means for detecting underperformance of at least one disk drive among the plurality of disk drives; c. a control layer operatively coupled to the plurality of disk drives and configured; i. responsive to detecting underperformance, to decrease respective available space allocated to said at least one underperforming disk drive and respectively increase spare space allocated to said at least one underperforming disk drive thus giving rise to a re-configured allocation of the available space;
wherein the amount of increased spare space allocated to said at least one underperforming disk drive is predefined as a certain percentage of respective allocated spare space; andii. facilitate transferring the stored data in accordance with said re-configured allocation of the available space. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of operating a mass storage system comprising a storage layer operatively coupled to a plurality of disk drives constituting a storage space, the system configured to enable direct or indirect serving a request directed to any accessible address in the storage space, the method comprising:
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a. dividing the storage space into an available storage space configured to be available to a client and a spare storage space configured to be unavailable to a client; b. distributing the available space and the spare space over the plurality of disk drives thus giving rise to available space and spare space allocated to each given disk drive; c. detecting underperformance of at least one disk drive among the plurality of disk drives; d. responsive to detecting underperformance, decreasing respective available space allocated to said at least one underperforming disk drive and respectively increasing spare space allocated to said at least one underperforming disk drive thus giving rise to a re-configured allocation of the available space;
wherein the amount of increased spare space allocated to said at least one underperforming disk drive is predefined as a function of at least one parameter selected from a group comprising;i. a number of currently underperforming disk drives among the plurality of disk drives; ii. a number of underperforming disk drives among the plurality of disk drives detected during a certain period of time; iii. a rate of deviation of the detected level of underperformance from the current average performance of the plurality of the disk drives; and iv. a rate of deviation of the detected level of underperformance from the average performance of the plurality of the disk drives in the system over a certain period of time; and e. transferring the stored data in accordance with said re-configured allocation of the available space.
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23. A mass storage system comprising:
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a. a plurality of disk drives constituting a storage space, wherein; i. the system configured to enable direct or indirect serving a request directed to any accessible address in the storage space; ii. the storage space is divided into an available storage space configured to be available to a client and a spare storage space configured to be unavailable to a client; iii. the available space and the spare space are distributed over the plurality of disk drives thus giving rise to available space and spare space allocated to each given disk drive; b. means for detecting underperformance of at least one disk drive among the plurality of disk drives; c. a control layer operatively coupled to the plurality of disk drives and configured; i. responsive to detecting underperformance, to decrease respective available space allocated to said at least one underperforming disk drive and respectively increase spare space allocated to said at least one underperforming disk drive thus giving rise to a re-configured allocation of the available space;
wherein the amount of increased spare space allocated to said at least one underperforming disk drive is predefined as a function of at least one parameter selected from a group comprising;
a number of currently underperforming disk drives among the plurality of disk drives;
a number of underperforming disk drives among the plurality of disk drives detected during a certain period of time;
a rate of deviation of the detected level of underperformance from the current average performance of the plurality of the disk drives; and
a rate of deviation of the detected level of underperformance from the average performance of the plurality of the disk drives in the system over a certain period of time; andii. facilitate transferring the stored data in accordance with said re-configured allocation of the available space.
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Specification