Virtualized storage system and method of operating thereof

A method of operating a storage system comprising a plurality of physical storage devices constituting a physical storage space and controlled by a plurality of storage control devices constituting a storage control layer, said layer operatively coupled to a plurality of hosts and the plurality of physical storage devices, and is operable to handle a virtual representation of the physical storage space, the method comprising:

• generating in the storage control layer a first virtual layer interfacing with the plurality of hosts and characterized by a Internal Virtual Address Space (IVAS), and a second virtual layer interfacing with the physical storage space constituted by the plurality of physical storage devices and characterized by Physical Virtual Address Space (PVAS);
• representing, with the help of the first virtual layer, logical address space characterized by logical block addresses and available to said plurality of hosts, and representing, with the help of the second virtual layer, actual physical space available to said plurality of hosts;
• and
• providing mapping between Internal Virtual Address Space and Physical Virtual Address Space, wherein each address in said Physical Virtual Address Space is configured to have at least one corresponding address in the Internal Virtual Address Space, and
• wherein Internal Virtual Address Space and Physical Virtual Address Space are managed independently, thereby enabling separation of a process of deleting a certain logical object into a process performing changes in IVAS and a process performing changes in PVAS.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer readable program executable by a computer for causing the computer to perform a process of operating a storage system comprising a plurality of physical storage devices constituting a physical storage space and controlled by a plurality of storage control devices constituting a storage control layer, said layer operatively coupled to a plurality of hosts and the plurality of physical storage devices, and is operable to handle a virtual representation of the physical storage space, the process comprising:

• generating in the storage control layer a first virtual layer interfacing with the plurality of hosts and characterized by a Internal Virtual Address Space (IVAS), and a second virtual layer interfacing with the physical storage space constituted by the plurality of physical storage devices and characterized by Physical Virtual Address Space (PVAS);
• representing, with the help of the first virtual layer, logical address space characterized by logical block addresses and available to said plurality of hosts, and representing, with the help of the second virtual layer, actual physical space available to said plurality of hosts;
• and
• providing mapping between Internal Virtual Address Space and Physical Virtual Address Space, wherein each address in said Physical Virtual Address Space is configured to have at least one corresponding address in the Internal Virtual Address Space, and
• wherein Internal Virtual Address Space and Physical Virtual Address Space are managed independently, thereby enabling separation of a process of deleting a certain logical object into a process performing changes in IVAS and a process performing changes in PVAS.

A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer readable program code for a computer operating a storage system comprising a plurality of physical storage devices constituting a physical storage space and controlled by a plurality of storage control devices constituting a storage control layer, said layer operatively coupled to a plurality of hosts and the plurality of physical storage devices, and is operable to handle a virtual representation of the physical storage space, the computer program product comprising:

• computer readable program code for causing the computer to generate in the storage control layer a first virtual layer interfacing with the plurality of hosts and characterized by a Internal Virtual Address Space (IVAS), and a second virtual layer interfacing with the physical storage space constituted by the plurality of physical storage devices and characterized by Physical Virtual Address Space (PVAS);
• computer readable program code for causing the computer to represents, with the help of the first virtual layer, logical address space characterized by logical block addresses and available to said plurality of hosts, and representing, with the help of the second virtual layer, actual physical space available to said plurality of hosts;
• and
• computer readable program code for causing the computer to provide mapping between Internal Virtual Address Space and Physical Virtual Address Space, wherein each address in said Physical Virtual Address Space is configured to have at least one corresponding address in the Internal Virtual Address Space, and
• wherein Internal Virtual Address Space and Physical Virtual Address Space are managed independently, thereby enabling separation of a process of deleting a certain logical object into a process performing changes in IVAS and a process performing changes in PVAS.