File system operation on multi-tiered volume

• US 9,116,904 B2
• Filed: 03/14/2013
• Issued: 08/25/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Christiansen, Neal Robert, Chan, Daniel, Das, Rajsekhar, Pang, Juan-Lee, Smith, Malcolm James, Herron, Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): Perveen, Rehana
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wang, Dongming
• Application Number:
  US13/829,314
• Publication Number:
  US 20140280392A1
• Time in Patent Office: 894 Days
• Field of Search: 707/822
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/16 File or folder operations, e.g. details of user interfaces specifically adapted to file systems

Abstract

A file system that operates on an underlying volume that has multiple tiers, each tier including a particular trait set. Upon creating or otherwise identifying a file system namespace (such as a directory or file) that is in a volume or that is to be included within the volume, a storage trait set to be applied corresponding to the file system namespace is identified. Then, the storage trait set is compared against the trait sets for the multiple tiers to identify a tier into which to store the file system namespace. The file system namespace is then caused to be stored within the identified tier. Thus, the file system is provided with a volume that has multiple tiers (each having different trait sets) to choose from in storing files.

Claims

1. A computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable hardware storage device having thereon one or more computer-executable instructions that are executable by one or more processors of a computing system to cause the computing system to perform acts comprising:

an act of acquiring logical storage locations and trait sets for each of a plurality of tiers of a volume;

an act of identifying a file system namespace that is either in the volume or that is to be placed in the volume;

an act of determining a storage trait set corresponding to the file system namespace;

an act of identifying a trait set of a particular tier of the volume;

an act of identifying the particular tier of the volume into which to store the file system namespace, wherein said identifying includes;

determining that the storage trait set fails to match any set of traits corresponding to the plurality of tiers of the volume, including the trait set of the particular tier; and

selecting the particular tier as a best matched tier; and

an act of causing the file system namespace to be stored within the particular tier of the volume.

2. The computer program product in accordance with claim 1, wherein the file system namespace is a file.

3. The computer program product in accordance with claim 1, wherein the file system namespace is a directory.

4. The computer program product in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of identifying a file system namespace comprises an act of creating a file system namespace within the volume.

5. The computer program product in accordance with claim 4, wherein the storage trait set comprises a static trait set.

6. The computer program product in accordance with claim 1, wherein the storage trait set comprises at least one dynamic trait set, the method further comprising an act of monitoring the dynamic trait set to determine that the dynamic trait set has changed, wherein an act of identifying a tier of the volume into which to store the file system namespace, and the act of causing the file system namespace to be stored within the identified tier of the volume are both performed in responses to the monitored change in the dynamic trait set.

7. The computer program product in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of determining a storage trait set corresponding to the file system namespace is based at least in part on user input.

8. The computer program product in accordance with claim 7, wherein the user input is an expression of one or more mandatory traits for the file system namespace.

9. The computer program product in accordance with claim 7, wherein the user input is an expression of one or more optional traits for the file system namespace.

10. The computer program product in accordance with claim 7, wherein the user input is an expression of one or more user goals for the file system namespace.

11. The computer program product in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of identifying a trait set of a particular tier of the volume comprises the following:

an act of identifying at least one trait that is expressly associated with the particular tier;

and an act of identifying at least one trait that is inherited by the particular tier from the volume.

12. The computer program product in accordance with claim 1, wherein the trait set of the particular tier comprises a performant trait.

13. The computer program product in accordance with claim 1, wherein the trait set of the particular tier comprises a resiliency trait.

14. The computer program product in accordance with claim 1, wherein the trait set of the particular tier comprises an encryption property.

15. The computer program product in accordance with claim 1, wherein the trait set of the particular tier comprises a compression property.

16. The computer program product in accordance with claim 1, wherein the trait set of the particular tier comprises at least one of a transience property or a write-limitation property.

17. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the acts further include:

an act of determining the particular tier has a fewest quantity of additional traits among all other trait sets of the plurality of tiers.

18. A computer-implemented method comprising:

an act of acquiring logical storage locations and trait sets for each of a plurality of tiers of a volume;

an act of identifying a file system namespace that is either in the volume or that is to be placed in the volume;

an act of determining a storage trait set corresponding to the file system namespace;

an act of identifying a trait set of a particular tier of the volume;

an act of identifying the particular tier of the volume into which to store the file system namespace, wherein said identifying includes;

determining that the storage trait set fails to match any set of traits corresponding to the plurality of tiers of the volume, including the trait set of the particular tier; and

selecting the particular tier as a best matched tier; and

an act of causing the file system namespace to be stored within the particular tier of the volume.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the method further includes notifying the user of the failed match.

20. The method in accordance with claim 18, wherein the method further includes an act of identifying a trait set for each of the plurality of tiers within the volume by querying the volume for a logical location of the plurality of tiers and the trait sets for each of the plurality of tiers.

21. The method in accordance with claim 20, wherein the act of querying the volume is performed during an act of mounting the volume to the file system.

22. A computing system comprising:

at least one processor; and

underlying storage;

the computing system implementing a file system that operates on a volume that comprises a plurality of tiers of the volume to the file system, each of the plurality of tiers corresponding to a trait set of the underlying storage, the computing system having modules for operating a file system, including the following;

a module for acquiring logical storage locations and trait sets for each of a plurality of tiers of a volume;

a module for identifying a file system namespace that is either in the volume or that is to be placed in the volume;

a module for determining a storage trait set corresponding to the file system namespace;

a module for identifying a trait set of a particular tier of the volume;

a module for identifying the particular tier of the volume into which to store the file system namespace, wherein said identifying includes;

determining that the storage trait set fails to match any set of traits corresponding to the plurality of tiers of the volume, including the trait set of the particular tier; and

selecting the particular tier as a best matched tier; and

a module for causing the file system namespace to be stored within the particular tier of the volume.