Managing storage space of storage tiers

• US 9,477,431 B1
• Filed: 12/28/2012
• Issued: 10/25/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Emc IP Holding Company LLC (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Emc IP Holding Company LLC (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Duprey, Dennis T, Ku, Mark K, Chen, Xiangping, Tao, Qin
• Primary Examiner(s): Yi, David X
• Assistant Examiner(s): GRULLON, FRANCISCO A
• Application Number:
  US13/730,635
• Time in Patent Office: 1,397 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/02 Addressing or allocation; Relocation program address sequencing G06F9/00; arrangements for selecting an address in a digital store G11C8/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/023 Free address space management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/70 Details relating to dynamic memory management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0605 by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0649 Lifecycle management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0685 Hybrid storage combining heterogeneous device types, e.g. hierarchical storage, hybrid arrays
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0689 Disk arrays, e.g. RAID, JBOD

Abstract

A method is used in managing storage space of storage tiers. Storage space utilization characteristics of a storage tier of a set of storage tiers in a storage system are evaluated. Based on the evaluation, reservation of headroom storage space in the storage tier is adjusted. The headroom storage space indicates an amount of the storage space reserved as unused storage space in the storage tier.

Claims

1. A method for use in managing storage space of storage tiers, the method comprising:

evaluating storage space utilization characteristics of a storage tier of a set of storage tiers in a storage system prior to starting a next iteration of relocation of a set of slices from a first storage tier to a second storage tier included in the set of storage tiers, wherein the storage space utilization characteristics of the storage tier includes a rate at which storage space has been allocated for writing data in the storage tier since a last iteration of relocation of a set of slices, wherein a slice is a logical representation of a subset of physical disk storage, wherein the storage system includes a processor; and

based on the evaluation, dynamically adjusting reservation of headroom storage space in each storage tier of the set of storage tiers prior to starting the next iteration of relocation of the set of slices, wherein headroom storage space in a storage tier is decreased upon determining that a current storage space utilization of the storage tier is less than a previous storage space utilization of the storage tier and headroom storage space in a storage tier is increased upon determining that a current storage space utilization of the storage tier is more than a previous storage space utilization of the storage tier, wherein the current storage space utilization of a storage tier indicates an amount of storage space of the storage tier that has been allocated during a current iteration of relocation of slices, wherein the previous storage space utilization of a storage tier indicates an amount of storage space of the storage tier that has been allocated during a previous iteration of relocation of slices, wherein the headroom storage space indicates a portion of the total amount of storage space of the storage tier that has been reserved as unused storage space in the storage tier, wherein the portion of the total amount of storage space reserved as the headroom storage space is adjusted based on minimum and maximum threshold values, wherein the headroom storage space reserved in a storage tier of the set of storage tiers enables the storage tier to accommodate allocation of storage space required for relocating slices into the storage tier and writing new data in the storage tier by a write I/O request.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the rate at which the storage space has been allocated in the storage tier is determined by comparing a current storage space utilization value with a previous storage space utilization value.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the storage space utilization characteristics of a storage tier includes information regarding a rate at which slices are allocated in the storage tier.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the headroom storage space for a storage tier is adjusted based on a policy.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the evaluation of the storage space utilization characteristics of the storage tier is performed before starting a slice relocation process.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein an auto-tiering policy engine identifies a set of storage objects in a storage tier of a storage pool for relocation.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the storage object includes a slice, wherein the slice is a logical representation of a subset of physical disk storage.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a storage tier includes a disk drive system comprising a plurality of Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID) systems, each RAID system of the plurality of RAID systems having a first disk drive and a second disk drive.

9. A system for use in managing storage space of storage tiers, the system comprising a processor configured to:

evaluate storage space utilization characteristics of a storage tier of a set of storage tiers in a storage system prior to starting a next iteration of relocation of a set of slices from a first storage tier to a second storage tier included in the set of storage tiers, wherein the storage space utilization characteristics of the storage tier includes a rate at which storage space has been allocated for writing data in the storage tier since a last iteration of relocation of a set of slices, wherein a slice is a logical representation of a subset of physical disk storage, wherein the storage system includes the processor, wherein the set of storage tiers are organized on the storage system; and

dynamically adjust, based on the evaluation, reservation of headroom storage space in each storage tier of the set of storage tiers prior to starting the next iteration of relocation of the set of slices, wherein headroom storage space in a storage tier is decreased upon determining that a current storage space utilization of the storage tier is less than a previous storage space utilization of the storage tier and headroom storage space in a storage tier is increased upon determining that a current storage space utilization of the storage tier is more than a previous storage space utilization of the storage tier, wherein the current storage space utilization of a storage tier indicates an amount of storage space of the storage tier that has been allocated during a current iteration of relocation of slices, wherein the previous storage space utilization of a storage tier indicates an amount of storage space of the storage tier that has been allocated during a previous iteration of relocation of slices, wherein the headroom storage space indicates a portion of the total amount of storage space of the storage tier that has been reserved as unused storage space in the storage tier, wherein the portion of the total amount of storage space reserved as the headroom storage space is adjusted based on minimum and maximum threshold values, wherein the headroom storage space reserved in a storage tier of the set of storage tiers enables the storage tier to accommodate allocation of storage space required for relocating slices into the storage tier and writing new data in the storage tier by a write I/O request.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the rate at which the storage space has been allocated in the storage tier is determined by comparing a current storage space utilization value with a previous storage space utilization value.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the storage space utilization characteristics of a storage tier includes information regarding a rate at which slices are allocated in the storage tier.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the headroom storage space for a storage tier is adjusted based on a policy.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein the evaluation of the storage space utilization characteristics of the storage tier is performed before starting a slice relocation process.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein an auto-tiering policy engine identifies a set of storage objects in a storage tier of a storage pool for relocation.