Method of Enhancing De-Duplication Impact by Preferential Selection of Master Copy to be Retained

• US 20090313312A1
• Filed: 06/11/2008
• Published: 12/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Korupolu, Madhukar R., Colbeck, Scott J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,682,850 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/10 File systems; File servers

Abstract

A method and apparatus are provided for enhancing the impact of data de-duplication by preferential selection of the master copy to be retained based on current loads and performance metrics of the storage media devices. The computer system is configured to take as input the identified duplicate copies of data and evaluating their locations in storage devices to determine the cumulative affects of retaining one of the identified duplicate copies as a master copy and optionally allocating a new location if needed. Once a master copy has been designated, the remaining identified duplicate copies are removed from storage.

Claims

1. A method of selecting data for de-duplication, comprising:

taking as input identified duplicate copies of data in a storage system; and

selecting a single copy of said identified duplicate copies as a master copy on a select storage device, including interfacing with a dynamic storage management tool to obtain a cumulative demand for all of said identified duplicate copies and estimating performance utilization of each of said identified duplicate copies.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of retaining a single copy of said duplicate copies includes determining said master copy has a measured utilization below a defined threshold.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising removing each of said identified duplication copies from storage following the step of retaining a single copy as a master copy.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising allocating a new storage location and copying one of said duplicate copies to said new storage location as a new master copy and removing all other identified duplicate copies in said storage system.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising retaining more than one copy of said identified duplication copies responsive to said dynamic storage management tool identifying insufficiency of said master copy to support demands of said single master copy.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of interfacing with a dynamic storage management tool includes evaluating a load of the identified duplication copies and the selected master copy on internal components of a storage system.

7. A computer system, comprising:

a processor in communication with memory;

at least two storage pools in communication with said processor;

a storage management tool to identify all duplicate copies of data in the storage pools; and

a duplicate manager in communication with said storage management tool to select and retain a single copy of said identified duplicate copies as a master copy on a select storage device, including said storage management tool to obtain a cumulative demand for all of said identified duplicate copies and performance utilization of each of said identified duplicate copies.

8. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the duplicate manager determines said master copy has a measured utilization below a defined threshold.

9. The computer system of claim 7, further comprising said storage management tool to remove each of said identified duplication copies from storage following the duplicate manager retention of a single copy as a master copy.

10. The computer system of claim 7, further comprising said duplicate manager to allocate a new storage location and copy one of said duplicate copies to said new storage location as a new master copy and remove all other identified duplicate copies in said storage system.

11. The computer system of claim 10, further comprising said duplicate manager to retain more than one copy of said identified duplication copies responsive to said storage management tool identification of insufficiency of said master copy to support demands of said single master copy.

12. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the duplicate manager evaluates a load of the identified duplication copies and the selected master copy on internal components of a storage system of the storage pools.

13. An article comprising:

a computer readable carrier including computer program instructions configured to manage duplicate copies of data, comprising;

instructions to identify all duplicate copies of data in a storage system; and

instructions to select and retain a single copy of said identified duplicate copies as a master copy on a select storage device, including interfacing with a dynamic storage management tool to obtain a cumulative demand for all of said identified duplicate copies and performance utilization of each of said identified duplicate copies.

14. The article of claim 13, wherein the instructions to retain a single copy of said duplicate copies includes determining said master copy has a measured utilization below a defined threshold.

15. The article of claim 13, further comprising instructions to remove each of said identified duplication copies from storage following retention of a single copy as a master copy.

16. The article of claim 13, further comprising instructions to allocate a new storage location and copy one of said duplicate copies to said new storage location as a new master copy and removing all other identified duplicate copies in said storage system.

17. The article of claim 16, further comprising instructions to retaining more than one copy of said identified duplication copies responsive to identifying an insufficiency of said master copy to support demands of said single master copy.

18. The article of claim 13, wherein the instructions to interface with a dynamic storage management tool includes evaluation of a load of the identified duplication copies and the selected master copy on internal components of a storage system.