Multi-tiered filesystem
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A file server comprising:
- a controller managing (i) a plurality of file systems and (ii) a storage pool provided with a plurality of storage tiers, a higher storage tier of the plurality of storage tiers having a first characteristic and a lower storage tier of the plurality of storage tiers having a second characteristic different from the first characteristic of the higher storage tier,wherein the controller is configured to store user data associated with a user file handled by a file system of the plurality of file systems into the lower storage tier of the storage pool and to store metadata for managing the user file into the higher storage tier of the storage pool based on the type of the storage tier and the type of the user data or the metadata of the user file,wherein the storage tiers include at least one metadata region predominantly used for storing metadata and at least one user data region predominantly used for storing user data, andwherein the controller stores system metadata associated with a file system of the plurality of file systems in blocks of storage associated with the at least one metadata region, and, for each of a first number of user files associated with said file system of the plurality of file systems, the controller stores user metadata for the user file in blocks of storage associated with the at least one metadata region and storing user data for the user file in blocks of storage associated with the at least one user data region.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A multi-tiered filesystem integrates multiple types of storage devices into a contiguous filesystem storage space having regions associated with two or more tiers of storage.
-
Citations
87 Claims
-
1. A file server comprising:
-
a controller managing (i) a plurality of file systems and (ii) a storage pool provided with a plurality of storage tiers, a higher storage tier of the plurality of storage tiers having a first characteristic and a lower storage tier of the plurality of storage tiers having a second characteristic different from the first characteristic of the higher storage tier, wherein the controller is configured to store user data associated with a user file handled by a file system of the plurality of file systems into the lower storage tier of the storage pool and to store metadata for managing the user file into the higher storage tier of the storage pool based on the type of the storage tier and the type of the user data or the metadata of the user file, wherein the storage tiers include at least one metadata region predominantly used for storing metadata and at least one user data region predominantly used for storing user data, and wherein the controller stores system metadata associated with a file system of the plurality of file systems in blocks of storage associated with the at least one metadata region, and, for each of a first number of user files associated with said file system of the plurality of file systems, the controller stores user metadata for the user file in blocks of storage associated with the at least one metadata region and storing user data for the user file in blocks of storage associated with the at least one user data region. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A method for managing file systems by a file server in a file storage system, the method comprising:
-
managing a plurality of file systems; and managing a storage pool provided with a plurality of storage tiers, a higher storage tier of the plurality of storage tiers having a first characteristic and a lower storage tier of the plurality of storage tiers having a second characteristic different from the first characteristic of the higher storage tier; and storing user data associated with a user file handled by a file system of the plurality of file systems into the lower storage tier of the storage pool and storing metadata for managing the user file into the higher storage tier of the storage pool based on the type of the storage tier and the type of the user data or the metadata of the user file wherein the at least one metadata region is associated with solid state storage devices and wherein the at least one user data region is associated with disk storage devices, and wherein the method further comprises; storing system metadata associated with a file system of the plurality of file systems in blocks of storage associated with the at least one metadata region; and for each of a first number of user files associated with said file system of the plurality of file systems, storing user metadata for the user file in blocks of storage associated with the at least one metadata region and storing user data for the user file in blocks of storage associated with the at least one user data region. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
-
-
29. A file storage system comprising:
-
a plurality of storage devices including storage devices associated with different storage characteristics; and a file server comprising a controller managing the plurality of storage devices including managing (i) a plurality of file systems and (ii) a storage pool provided with a plurality of storage tiers, a higher storage tier of the plurality of storage tiers having a first characteristic and a lower storage tier of the plurality of storage tiers having a second characteristic different from the first characteristic of the higher storage tier, wherein the controller is configured to store user data associated with a user file handled by a file system of the plurality of file systems into the lower storage tier of the storage pool and to store metadata for managing the user file into the higher storage tier of the storage pool based on the type of the storage tier and the type of the user data or the metadata of the user file, wherein the storage tiers include at least one metadata region predominantly used for storing metadata and at least one user data region predominantly used for storing user data, and wherein the controller stores system metadata associated with a file system of the plurality of file systems in blocks of storage associated with the at least one metadata region, and, for each of a first number of user files associated with said file system of the plurality of file systems, the controller stores user metadata for the user file in blocks of storage associated with the at least one metadata region and storing user data for the user file in blocks of storage associated with the at least one user data region. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
-
-
43. A file server comprising:
-
a controller managing (i) a plurality of file systems and (ii) a storage pool provided with a plurality of storage tiers, a higher storage tier of the plurality of storage tiers having a first characteristic and a lower storage tier of the plurality of storage tiers having a second characteristic different from the first characteristic of the higher storage tier, and wherein the controller is configured to store user data associated with a user file handled by a file system of the plurality of file systems into the lower storage tier of the storage pool and to store metadata for managing the user file into the higher storage tier of the storage pool based on the type of the storage tier and the type of the user data or the metadata of the user file, wherein the controller manages each filesystem using a hierarchy of virtual storage constructs including system drives, ranges composed of one or more system drives, stripesets composed of one or more ranges, and spans composed of one or more stripesets, and wherein the storage tiers are managed at the stripeset level such that each stripeset is associated with a storage tier and the filesystem integrates storage from stripesets associated with multiple storage tiers. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
-
-
58. A method for managing file systems by a file server in a file storage system, the method comprising:
-
managing a plurality of file systems; and managing a storage pool provided with a plurality of storage tiers, a higher storage tier of the plurality of storage tiers having a first characteristic and a lower storage tier of the plurality of storage tiers having a second characteristic different from the first characteristic of the higher storage tier; and storing user data associated with a user file handled by a file system of the plurality of file systems into the lower storage tier of the storage pool and storing metadata for managing the user file into the higher storage tier of the storage pool based on the type of the storage tier and the type of the user data or the metadata of the user file, wherein each filesystem is managed using a hierarchy of virtual storage constructs including system drives, ranges composed of one or more system drives, stripesets composed of one or more ranges, and spans composed of one or more stripesets, and wherein the storage tiers are managed at the stripeset level such that each stripeset is associated with a storage tier and the filesystem integrates storage from stripesets associated with multiple storage tiers. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
-
-
73. A file storage system comprising:
-
a plurality of storage devices including storage devices associated with different storage characteristics; and a file server comprising a controller managing the plurality of storage devices including managing (i) a plurality of file systems and (ii) a storage pool provided with a plurality of storage tiers, a higher storage tier of the plurality of storage tiers having a first characteristic and a lower storage tier of the plurality of storage tiers having a second characteristic different from the first characteristic of the higher storage tier, wherein the controller is configured to store user data associated with a user file handled by a file system of the plurality of file systems into the lower storage tier of the storage pool and to store metadata for managing the user file into the higher storage tier of the storage pool based on the type of the storage tier and the type of the user data or the metadata of the user file, wherein the controller manages each filesystem using a hierarchy of virtual storage constructs including system drives, ranges composed of one or more system drives, stripesets composed of one or more ranges, and spans composed of one or more stripesets, and wherein the storage tiers are managed at the stripeset level such that each stripeset is associated with a storage tier and the filesystem integrates storage from stripesets associated with multiple storage tiers. - View Dependent Claims (74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87)
-
Specification