Systems and methods for storage modeling and costing

• US 8,306,926 B2
• Filed: 07/27/2010
• Issued: 11/06/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Prahlad, Anand, Kavuri, Srinivas, Madeira, Andre Duque, Lunde, Norman R., Bunte, Alan G., May, Andreas, Schwartz, Jeremy
• Primary Examiner(s): PORTKA, GARY J
• Application Number:
  US12/844,665
• Publication Number:
  US 20100293112A1
• Time in Patent Office: 833 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 705/400
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1446 Point-in-time backing up or restoration of persistent data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1458 Management of the backup or restore process
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1461 Backup scheduling policy
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1469 Backup restoration techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/10 File systems; File servers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/185 Hierarchical storage management [HSM] systems, e.g. file migration or policies thereof details of archiving G06F16/11
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/81 Threshold
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/84 Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0604 Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. storage management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0605 by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/061 Improving I/O performance
• 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 3/0644 Management of space entities, e.g. partitions, extents, pools
• 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: G06F 3/0683 : Plurality of storage devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0685 : Hybrid storage combining heterogeneous device types, e.g. hierarchical storage, hybrid arrays
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0686 : Libraries, e.g. tape libraries, jukebox
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/04 : Inference or reasoning models
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 : Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0284 : Time or distance, e.g. usage of parking meters or taximeters
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 : Recoverability
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99955 : Archiving or backup

Abstract

The present invention provides systems and methods for data storage. A hierarchical storage management architecture is presented to facilitate data management. The disclosed system provides methods for evaluating the state of stored data relative to enterprise needs by using weighted parameters that may be user defined. Also disclosed are systems and methods evaluating costing and risk management associated with stored data.

Claims

1. A method, performed by at least one computing system having a processor and memory, for calculating storage cost information in a computer network, the method comprising:

identifying, by the computing system, multiple data storage devices in the network accessed by a plurality of users, the multiple data storage devices comprising primary data storage devices and secondary data storage devices, wherein

the primary data storage devices are included in a first storage operation cell that is associated with primary copies of data, and include disk-based data storage media, and

the secondary data storage devices are included in a second storage operation cell that is associated with secondary copies of data, and include tape-based data storage media and store one or more secondary copies of at least some of the data stored on the primary data storage devices;

receiving, from the first storage operation cell, first information associated with at least a first primary copy stored on at least a first primary data storage device of the primary data storage devices, the first primary copy associated with a subset of one or more of the plurality of users;

receiving, from the second storage operation cell, second information associated with at least a first secondary copy stored on at least a first secondary data storage device of the secondary data storage devices;

processing, by the computing system, the first and second information to determine that the first secondary copy comprises a copy of the first primary copy and that the first primary copy and the first secondary copy are both associated with the subset of the plurality of users;

determining primary storage cost data, wherein the primary storage cost data indicates a cost of using a quantity of storage space of the first primary storage device for a unit of time;

determining secondary storage cost data, wherein the secondary storage cost data indicates a cost of using a quantity of storage space of the first secondary storage device for a unit of time;

determining primary storage usage data associated with usage of the first primary data storage device by the subset of the plurality of users;

determining secondary storage usage data associated with usage of the first secondary data storage device by the subset of the plurality of users; and

calculating, by the computing system, a storage cost associated with the subset of the plurality of users based on the primary storage usage data, the secondary storage usage data, the primary storage cost data, and the secondary storage cost data.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the identifying includes identifying storage elements within a data storage system having a cell hierarchy, wherein the hierarchy includes multiple storage operation cells including the first storage operation cell and the second storage operation cell and organized in two or more hierarchical relationships with one cell subordinate to another cell wherein a storage operation cell includes:

a data agent component for accessing data of one or more computing devices in the network;

a media agent component for communicating with at least one data storage element; and

a storage manager component for managing the data agent component and the media agent component.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising calculating, by the at least one computing device, a predicted storage cost for at least one of the primary storage devices and/or at least one of the secondary storage devices based on the rate at which data is be written to the primary and secondary storage devices.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising allocating, to different users in the subset, future primary and secondary data storage devices to be added to the computer network based on the calculated storage availability level.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a graphical user interface for displaying the calculated storage cost.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically and dynamically obtaining information identifying the primary and secondary data storage devices.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising apportioning storage cost amongst the subset of the plurality of users.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining changes in the primary and secondary usage data based on changes due to movement of data from the first primary data storage device to the first secondary data storage device;

recalculating storage cost based on the changed primary storage usage data and the changed secondary storage usage data; and

apportioning recalculated storage cost amongst the subset of the plurality of users.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first information comprises an indication that the first primary copy is associated with the subset of the plurality of users and is stored on the first primary storage device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the second information comprises an indication that the first secondary copy is stored on the first secondary storage device and corresponds to a copy of the first primary copy.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein

the first information includes a first identifier corresponding to the first primary storage device and the second information includes a second identifier corresponding to the first primary storage device, and

the method further comprises normalizing the first and second information, prior to said processing, to generate a normalized identifier corresponding to the first primary storage device and that is used during said processing.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program code which when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform a method for calculating storage cost information in connection with a storage operation cell, the method comprising:

identifying a plurality of storage devices accessible by a plurality of users and comprising primary storage devices included in a first storage operation cell that is associated with primary copies of data and secondary storage devices included in a second storage operation cell that is associated with secondary copies of at least some of the data stored on the primary storage devices;

receiving, from the first storage operation cell, first information associated with at least a first primary copy of data stored on at least a first primary storage device of the primary storage devices, the first primary copy associated with a subset of one or more of the plurality of users;

receiving, from the second storage operation cell, second information associated with at least a first secondary copy of data stored on at least a first secondary storage device of the secondary storage devices;

processing, by the computing system, the first and second information to determine that the first secondary copy comprises a copy of the first primary copy and that the first primary copy and the first secondary copy are both associated with the subset of the plurality of users;

determining primary storage cost data, wherein the primary storage cost data indicates a cost of using a quantity of storage space of the first primary storage device for a unit of time;

determining secondary storage cost data, wherein the secondary storage cost data indicates a cost of using a quantity of storage space of the first secondary storage device for a unit of time;

determining primary storage usage data associated with usage of the first primary storage device by the subset of the plurality of users;

determining secondary storage usage data associated with usage of the first secondary storage devices by the subset of the plurality of users; and

calculating, by the computing system, a storage cost associated with the subset of the plurality of users based on the primary storage usage data, the secondary storage usage data, the primary storage cost data, and the secondary storage cost data.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the method for calculating storage cost information further comprises apportioning storage cost amongst the subset of the plurality of users.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the first information comprises an indication that the first primary copy is associated with the subset of the plurality of users and is stored on the first primary storage device.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the second information comprises an indication that the first secondary copy is stored on the first secondary storage device and corresponds to a copy of the first primary copy.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the method for calculating storage cost information further comprises normalizing the first and second information prior to said processing.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein

the first information includes a first identifier corresponding to the first primary storage device and the second information includes a second identifier corresponding to the first primary storage device, and

the method for calculating storage cost information further comprises normalizing the first and second information, prior to said processing, to generate a normalized identifier corresponding to the first primary storage device and that is used during said processing.