Demand-driven initialization of data storage structures

A data storage system, comprising a storage processor having control circuitry, the control circuitry including a set of processing units coupled to memory, the control circuitry constructed and arranged to:

• perform a first initialization procedure, the first initialization procedure creating, in the memory, a protocol stub structure, the protocol stub structure (i) having a first memory footprint in the memory, (ii) configured to receive protocol requests directed to a host-accessible data object served by the data storage system, and (iii) configured to initiate further processing of the protocol requests;
• receive, by the protocol stub structure, a protocol request from an application, the protocol request directed to the host-accessible data object and specifying an action to be performed on the host-accessible data object;
• and
• in response to receipt of the protocol request, initiate, by the protocol stub structure, further processing of the protocol request, the further processing to (i) access a dependency graph within the memory to identify a set of storage structures involved in processing the protocol request, (ii) perform a second initialization procedure to initialize the identified set of storage structures in the memory, the set of storage structures, once initialized, together having a second memory footprint that is greater than the first memory footprint, and (iii) process the protocol request to completion using the set of storage structures,
• wherein the dependency graph includes nodes that identify storage structures upon which the protocol request depends.

A computer program product including a set of non-transitory, computer-readable media having instructions which, when executed by control circuitry of a data storage system, cause the control circuitry to perform a method of managing a data storage system, the method comprising:

• performing, by a storage processor within the data storage system, a first initialization procedure, the first initialization procedure creating, in a memory of the storage processor, a protocol stub structure, the protocol stub structure (i) having a first memory footprint in the memory of the storage processor, (ii) configured to receive protocol requests directed to a host-accessible data object served by the data storage system, and (iii) configured to initiate further processing of the protocol requests by the storage processor;
• after performing the first initialization procedure, receiving, by the protocol stub structure, a protocol request from an application, the protocol request directed to the host-accessible data object and specifying an action to be performed on the host-accessible data object;
• and
• in response to receiving the protocol request, initiating, by the protocol stub structure, further processing of the protocol request, the further processing including (i) accessing a dependency graph within the memory to identify a set of storage structures involved in processing the protocol request, (ii) performing a second initialization procedure to initialize the identified set of storage structures in the memory of the storage processor, the set of storage structures, once initialized, together having a second memory footprint that is greater than the first memory footprint, and (iii) processing the protocol request to completion using the set of storage structures,
• wherein the dependency graph includes nodes that identify storage structures upon which the protocol request depends.