Storage policy monitoring for a storage network

A method for accessing an object in a storage network, comprising:

• receiving a NAS (Network Attached Storage) file handle including a location of the object on a source file server;
• sending as representative of the object, a switch file handle that is independent of the location of the object;
• selectively migrating the object from the location on the source file server to a location on a destination file server in accordance with a policy that includes rules for storing objects in the storage network;
• receiving an access request associated with the switch file handle;
• and
• sending the access request to the location on the destination file server.

A computer program product, comprising:

• a computer-readable medium having computer program instructions and data embodied thereon for a method for selectively migrating objects in a storage network, the method comprising:
• receiving a policy that includes rules for storing objects in the storage network;
• traversing objects stored in a tree-structure on a source file server in the storage network;
• populating a policy database with records representative of the tree-structure;
• updating the policy database to reflect transactions associated with the objects;
• executing the rules against records in the policy database to determine which objects are to be migrated;
• and
• migrating the objects from a location on the source file server to a location on a destination file server.

A NAS (Network Attached Storage) switch to selectively migrate objects in a storage network, comprising:

• a policy module to receive a policy that includes rules for storing objects in the storage network;
• a records repository to traverse objects stored in a tree-structure on a source file server in the storage network and generate records representative of the tree-structured file system;
• a monitoring module to update the records repository to reflect transactions associated with the objects, wherein the policy module executes the rules against records in the policy database to determine which objects are to be migrated;
• and
• a migration engine to migrate the determined objects from a location on the source file server to a location on a destination file server.