Storage network data distribution

• US 9,910,614 B2
• Filed: 11/03/2014
• Issued: 03/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lyve Minds, Inc. (Seagate Technology Holdings Plc)
• Original Assignee: Lyve Minds, Inc. (Seagate Technology Holdings Plc)
• Inventors: Kaiser, Christian M., Stout, Peter D., McKendrick, Ain, Bucher, Timothy, Ma, Jeff, Gakhal, Randeep Singh, Pasetto, Rick, Sewerynek, Stephen
• Primary Examiner(s): Bragdon, Reginald
• Assistant Examiner(s): Faye-Joyner, Hannah A
• Application Number:
  US14/531,791
• Publication Number:
  US 20150058591A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,219 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/00 Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring error detection, correction or monitoring in information storage based on relative movement between record carrier and transducer G11B20/18; monitoring, i.e. supervising the progress of recording or reproducing G11B27/36; in static stores G11C29/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/023 Free address space management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/178 Techniques for file synchronisation in file systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/275 Synchronous replication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0604 Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. storage management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0608 Saving storage space on storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0613 in relation to throughput
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0619 in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0631 by allocating resources to storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/064 Management of blocks
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0649 Lifecycle management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/065 Replication mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0653 Monitoring storage devices or systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

A method of allocating data to a storage block included in a storage network may include determining a plurality of characteristics associated with a storage block included in a storage network. The plurality of characteristics may include storage capacity of the storage block, available storage space of the storage block, likelihood of loss of data stored on the storage block, availability of the storage block with respect to the storage network, and use of the storage block. The method may further include allocating data to the storage block based on the plurality of characteristics.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

allocating data stored on a host storage block for storage on a target storage block, the host storage block and the target storage block being included in a storage network that also includes one or more other storage blocks different from the host storage block and the target storage block;

determining a plurality of other-characteristics of one or more of the following;

the one or more other storage blocks and one or more other devices associated with the one or more other storage blocks, the plurality of other-characteristics comprising;

connectivity of the one or more other devices with the storage network, a power status of the one or more other devices, use of the one or more other devices, and locations of the one or more other devices; and

determining a distribution strategy on how to transfer the data from the host storage block to the target storage block based on the plurality of other-characteristics, comprising;

determining a relaying of the data between the host storage block and the target storage block by the one or more other devices based on the plurality of other-characteristics and determining one or more network types to use in the transfer based on one or more network properties of each of the one or more network types.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the connectivity of the one or more other devices includes one or more of the following:

cost of the connectivity, frequency of the connectivity, bandwidth of the connectivity, and type of connection.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the distribution strategy based on a rank of a target device associated with the target storage block with respect to the data.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the distribution strategy based on one or more of the following:

allocation of the data to the one or more other storage blocks and allocation of other data stored on the host storage block.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the distribution strategy based on one or more data characteristics of the data.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising determining the distribution strategy based on how the one or more data characteristics relate to one or more of the plurality of other-characteristics.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more data characteristics include one or more of the following:

data type, a target redundancy of the data, a target availability of the data, size of the data, time of addition of the data to the storage network, and a user preference associated with the data.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein transferring the data from the host storage block to the target storage block includes transferring a copy of the data to the target storage block while maintaining storage of the data on the host storage block.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising allocating the data to the target storage block based on a data characteristic of the data.

9. A method comprising:

allocating data stored on a host storage block for storage on a target storage block, the host storage block and the target storage block being included in a storage network that also includes one or more other storage blocks different from the host storage block and the target storage block;

determining a plurality of other-characteristics of one or more of the following;

the one or more other storage blocks and one or more other devices associated with the one or more other storage blocks, the plurality of other-characteristics comprising;

connectivity of the one or more other devices with the storage network, a power status of the one or more other devices, use of the one or more other devices, and locations of the one or more other devices;

determining a distribution strategy on how to transfer the data from the host storage block to the target storage block based on the plurality of other-characteristics, comprising;

determining a relaying of the data between the host storage block and the target storage block by the one or more other devices based on the plurality of other-characteristics and determining one or more network types to use in the transfer based on one or more network properties of each of the one or more network types; and

allocating the data to the target storage block based on a plurality of target block characteristics associated with the target storage block, the plurality of target block characteristics including one or more of the following;

storage capacity of the target storage block, available storage space of the target storage block, likelihood of loss of the data associated with the data being stored on the target storage block, frequency of availability of the target storage block with respect to the storage network, and observed use of the target storage block with respect to other data.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that cause a system to perform operations, the operations comprising:

allocating data stored on a host storage block for storage on a target storage block, the host storage block and the target storage block being included in a storage network that also includes one or more other storage blocks different from the host storage block and the target storage block;

determining a plurality of other-characteristics of the one or more other storage blocks and one or more other devices associated with the one or more other storage blocks; and

determining a distribution strategy on how to transfer the data from the host storage block to the target storage block based on the plurality of other-characteristics, comprising;

determining a relaying of the data between the host storage block and the target storage block by the one or more other devices based on the plurality of other-characteristics and determining one or more network types to use in the transfer based on one or more network properties of each of the one or more network types.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the plurality of other-characteristics include one or more of the following:

connectivity of the one or more other devices with the storage network, a power status of the one or more other devices, use of the one or more other devices, and locations of the one or more other devices.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the connectivity of the one or more other devices includes one or more of the following:

cost of the connectivity, frequency of the connectivity, bandwidth of the connectivity, and type of connection.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise determining the distribution strategy based on a rank of a target device associated with the target storage block with respect to the data.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise determining the distribution strategy based on one or more of the following:

allocation of the data to the one or more other storage blocks and allocation of other data stored on the host storage block.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise determining the distribution strategy based on one or more data characteristics of the data.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise determining the distribution strategy based on how the one or more data characteristics relate to one or more of the plurality of other-characteristics.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the one or more data characteristics include one or more of the following:

data type, a target redundancy of the data, a target availability of the data, size of the data, time of addition of the data to the storage network, and a user preference associated with the data.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise allocating the data to the target storage block based on a plurality of target block characteristics associated with the target storage block, the plurality of target block characteristics including one or more of the following:

storage capacity of the target storage block, available storage space of the target storage block, likelihood of loss of the data associated with the data being stored on the target storage block, frequency of availability of the target storage block with respect to the storage network, and observed use of the target storage block with respect to other data.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise allocating the data to the target storage block based on a data characteristic of the data.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein transferring the data from the host storage block to the target storage block includes transferring a copy of the data to the target storage block while maintaining storage of the data on the host storage block.