Data storage in distributed resources of a network based on provisioning attributes

• US 8,954,976 B2
• Filed: 07/10/2008
• Issued: 02/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/10/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Juniper Networks Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Juniper Networks Incorporated
• Inventors: Gerovac, Branko J., Carver, David C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Caldwell, Andrew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Partridge, William B
• Application Number:
  US12/170,666
• Publication Number:
  US 20100011364A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,406 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 718/104
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5011 the resources being hardware resources other than CPUs, Servers and Terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5016 the resource being the memory
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]

Abstract

Systems, methods, and apparatus, including computer program products for receiving a content transfer request that includes a first set of provisioning attributes that characterizes one or more operational objectives of a first item of content; and processing the content transfer request to allocate resources of a storage environment to store the first item of content.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a device, a content transfer request that includes a first set of provisioning attributes that characterizes one or more operational objectives of an item of content,

the first set of provisioning attributes including;

information identifying a quantity of concurrent streaming sessions associated with accessing the item of content, and

information identifying a size of the item of content;

receiving, by the device, information associated with an access rate of a client device, the access rate being associated with accessing the item of content;

processing, by the device, the content transfer request to allocate resources, of a plurality of resources associated with a network, to store the item of content,

the processing the content transfer request including;

identifying, based on the information identifying the quantity of concurrent streaming sessions included in the first set of provisioning attributes, the information identifying the size of the item of content, and the information associated with the access rate, a schema of a plurality of schemas,

the resources being identified using the schema,

each of the plurality of schemas including;

 

information identifying a bandwidth capacity associated with accessing a particular item of content, and

 

information associated with a quantity of the plurality of resources to store the item of content; and

determining, based on the schema, whether the resources are sufficient to store the item of content;

partitioning, by the device and using the schema, the item of content into a set of segments; and

delivering, by the device and when the resources are sufficient, the set of segments of the item of content for storage in the resources.

2. The method of claim 1, where

the plurality of resources include a plurality of servers,

the schema is associated with information identifying a plurality of resource allocation arrangements, and

each of the plurality of resource allocation arrangements includes information identifying each of a plurality of disk drives, of each of one or more of the plurality of servers, to store a corresponding one of multiple elements of a particular item of content.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing, in a memory, the plurality of schemas prior to receiving the content transfer request.

4. The method of claim 1, where the one or more operational objectives, of the item of content, comprise one or more of:

a popularity associated with the item of content,

an integrity associated with storing the item of content,

a resilience associated with accessing the item of content,

an accessibility associated with the item of content,

a power consumption associated with the item of content,

a geographical affinity and exclusion associated with the item of content, or

a topological affinity and exclusion associated with the item of content.

5. The method of claim 1, where the content transfer request further includes the item of content, and

where delivering the set of segments of the item of content for storage comprises:

delivering the set of elements of the item of content for storage in respective disk drives of one or more servers when the resources are sufficient.

6. The method of claim 2, where determining whether the resources are sufficient to store the item of content includes:

evaluating information identifying a resource allocation arrangement, of the plurality of resource allocation arrangements, according to a resource allocation criterion; and

selecting the resource allocation arrangement based on a result of evaluating of the resource allocation arrangement,

the resources being associated with at least one server of the plurality of servers,

the resource allocation arrangement including information identifying each of the plurality of disk drives of the at least one server, and

providing the item of content for storage when the resources are sufficient including providing each of a plurality of elements of the item of content for storage in a corresponding one of the plurality of disk drives based on the resource allocation arrangement.

7. The method of claim 6, where the resource allocation criterion is associated with one or more of:

a distribution of workload among the plurality of resources,

a degree of potential resource allocation conflict associated with storing the item of content, or

an assessment of a hierarchical relevance of each of the one or more operational objectives, the assessment of the hierarchical relevance of each of the one or more operational objectives being specific to each of a portion of the plurality of elements of the item of content.

8. The method of claim 6, where selecting the particular resource allocation arrangement comprises:

defining an objective function according to the resource allocation criterion; and

selecting the particular resource allocation arrangement to optimize the objective function.

9. The method of claim 2, where a particular resource allocation arrangement, of the plurality of resource allocation arrangements, includes information identifying each of the plurality disk drives of each of one or more of the plurality of servers, and

where determining whether the resources are available comprises:

mapping each element, of a plurality of elements of the item of content, to a corresponding one of the plurality disk drives of each of the one or more of the plurality of servers.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

documenting a result of mapping the plurality of elements of the item of content, where the documented result of the mapping enables locating the item of content in the one or more resources based on a request to access the item of content.

11. The method of claim 2, where the plurality of disk drives further include one or more of:

solid-state memories, or

non-volatile memories.

12. The method of claim 1, where the content transfer request further includes a second set of provisioning attributes comprising one or more of:

a name of the item of content,

a data length of the item of content, or

a data type of the item of content.

13. A system comprising:

one or more devices to;

receive a request to upload an item of content,

the request including;

information identifying a quantity of concurrent streaming sessions associated with accessing the item of content, and

information identifying a size of the item of content;

receive information associated with an access rate of a client device, the access rate being associated with accessing the item of content;

identify, based on the information identifying the quantity of concurrent streaming sessions associated with accessing the item of content, the information identifying the size of the item of content, and the information associated with the access rate, information relating to storing the item of content,

the information relating to storing the item of content including;

information identifying a bandwidth capacity associated with accessing the item of content, and

information identifying a quantity of the item of content to store;

identify, based on the information relating to storing the item of content, portions of at least one server to store the item of content,

the portions including a plurality of disk drives of the at least one server;

determine whether resources, associated with the portions of the at least one server, are sufficient to store the item of content;

partition, using the information relating to storing the item of content, the item of content into a set of segments; and

store, when the resources are sufficient, the set of segments of the item of content in the portions of the at least one server.

14. The system of claim 13, where

the information relating to storing the item of content further includes information identifying a particular portion of each of the plurality of disk drives to store the item of content, and

when storing the item of content in the at least one server, the one or more devices are further to:

store, based on the information identifying the particular portion, each of a plurality of portions of the item of content in the particular portion of a corresponding one of the plurality of disk drives.

15. The system of claim 13, where the one or more devices are further to:

determine that the resources, associated with the portions of the at least one server, are not sufficient to store the item of content;

identify, based on the information relating to storing the item of content, information identifying a plurality of disk drives of another server of the plurality of servers; and

store the item of content in the plurality of disk drives of the other server when resources, associated with the other server, are sufficient to store the item of content.

16. The system of claim 13, where the one or more devices are further to:

identify, based on the information relating to storing the item of content, information identifying a disk region of each of the plurality of disk drives,

where, when storing the item of content, the one or more devices are further to;

store, based on the information identifying the disk region, each of a plurality of elements of the item of content in the disk region of a corresponding one of the plurality of disk drives.

17. A method comprising:

receiving, by one or more devices, a request to upload an item of content,

the request including;

information identifying a quantity of concurrent streaming sessions associated with accessing the item of content, and

information identifying a size of the item of content;

receiving, by the one or more devices, information associated with an access rate of a client device,

the access rate being associated with accessing the item of content;

selecting, by the one or more devices and based on the information identifying the quantity of concurrent sessions associated with accessing the item of content, the information identifying the size of the item of content, and the information associated with the access rate, information relating to storing the item of content,

the information relating to storing the item of content including at least one of;

information identifying a bandwidth capacity associated with accessing the item of content,

information identifying a quantity of the item of content to store, or

information associated with a quantity of disk drives of a plurality of servers to store the item of content; and

selecting, by the one or more devices and based on the information relating to storing the item of content, information identifying a plurality of disk drives of a server of the plurality of servers;

determining, by the one or more devices, whether resources, associated with the plurality of disk drives, are sufficient to store the item of content;

partitioning, by the one or more devices and using the information relating to storing the item of content, the item of content into a set of segments; and

storing, by the one or more devices and when the resources are sufficient, the set of segments of the item of content in the plurality of disk drives.

18. The method of claim 17, where

the information relating to storing the item of content further includes:

information identifying a particular disk region of each of the plurality of disk drives to store the item of content, and

storing the item of content in the one or more servers further includes;

storing, based on the information identifying the particular disk region, each of a plurality of portions of the item of content in the particular disk region of a corresponding one of the plurality of disk drives.

19. The method of claim 17, where

the request is received via a first network,

storing the item of content further includes:

transmitting, via a second network, the item of content to the server for storage when the resources are sufficient,

the second network being different than the first network, and the method further comprises;

receiving, via a third network, a request to download the item of content,

the third network being different than the first network and being different than the second network.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

determining that the resources are not sufficient;

selecting, based on the information relating to storing the item of content, information identifying a plurality of disk drives of another server of the plurality of servers; and

storing the item of content in the plurality of disk drives of the other server when resources, associated with the plurality of disk drives of the other server, are sufficient.

21. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

allocating a group of blocks of each of the plurality of disk drives when the resources are available,

where storing the item of content further includes;

storing, based on the allocated group of blocks of each of the plurality of disk drives of the server, each of a plurality of elements of the item of content in a corresponding one of the plurality of disk drives.