Space reclamation with virtually provisioned devices
First Claim
1. A method for performing reclaim processing of a storage system with virtually provisioned devices, comprising:
- identifying at least one track corresponding to a virtually provisioned device of the storage system that is a candidate for reclaiming, wherein the at least one track is virtually provisioned to the virtually provisioned device but for which no requirement exists that the at least one track is backed by physical storage of the storage system;
marking the at least one track, as a marked track, wherein the marked track is marked using at least one bit that is independent of any current data content corresponding to the marked track, and wherein setting of the at least one bit does not reflect whether the marked track is backed by physical storage;
detecting the marked track; and
reclaiming the marked track to a free track pool of the storage system.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A reclaim system provides for marking each track that is intended to be reclaimed in one or more storage devices and detecting and reclaiming such tracks. The reclaim system may include a feature and/or utility that may be used to mark, detect and return tracks to a free track pool of a virtual provisioning storage system in connection with the use of one or more thin Count Key Data (CKD) devices. Reclaim processing may include identifying tracks to be reclaimed, marking mark the tracks to be reclaimed, detecting tracks that have been marked to be reclaimed, and performing a reclaim task to return the marked and detected tracks to the free track pool, thereby reclaiming the tracks.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for performing reclaim processing of a storage system with virtually provisioned devices, comprising:
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identifying at least one track corresponding to a virtually provisioned device of the storage system that is a candidate for reclaiming, wherein the at least one track is virtually provisioned to the virtually provisioned device but for which no requirement exists that the at least one track is backed by physical storage of the storage system; marking the at least one track, as a marked track, wherein the marked track is marked using at least one bit that is independent of any current data content corresponding to the marked track, and wherein setting of the at least one bit does not reflect whether the marked track is backed by physical storage; detecting the marked track; and reclaiming the marked track to a free track pool of the storage system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing software for performing reclaim processing of a storage system with virtually provisioned devices, the software comprising:
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executable code that identifies at least one track corresponding to a virtually provisioned device of the storage system that is a candidate for reclaiming, wherein the at least one track is virtually provisioned to the virtually provisioned device but for which no requirement exists that the at least one track is backed by physical storage of the storage system; executable code that marks the at least one track, as a marked track, wherein the marked track is marked using at least one bit that is independent of any current data content corresponding to the marked track, and wherein setting of the at least one bit does not reflect whether the marked track is backed by physical storage; executable code that detects the marked track; and executable code that reclaims the marked track to a free track pool of the storage system. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A system for performing reclaim processing, comprising:
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at least one virtually provisioned device of a storage system; at least one utility that performs reclaim processing on the at least one virtually provisioned device, the at least one utility including software stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium storing software, the software comprising; executable code that identifies at least one track corresponding to a virtually provisioned device of the storage system that is a candidate for reclaiming, wherein the at least one track is virtually provisioned to the virtually provisioned device but for which no requirement exists that the at least one track is backed by physical storage of the storage system; executable code that marks the at least one track, as a marked track, wherein the marked track is marked using at least one bit that is independent of any current data content corresponding to the marked track, and wherein setting of the at least one bit does not reflect whether the marked track is backed by physical storage; executable code that detects the marked track; and executable code that reclaims the marked track to a free track pool of the storage system. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification