Managing storage devices in a cloud storage environment

An apparatus for managing storage devices comprising storage resources virtually integrated into corresponding intermediate volumes, the intermediate volumes being virtually integrated into logical volumes, the apparatus comprising:

• a requirement acquiring module configured to acquire storage resource requirements presented to the logical volumes, the storage resource requirements comprising a redundancy requirement;
• a storage resource obtaining module configured to obtain storage resources available from the intermediate volumes;
• an intermediate volume selecting module configured to select intermediate volumes based on the storage resource requirements and the storage resources available from the respective intermediate volumes, wherein a minimum number of the intermediate volumes is determined based on the redundancy requirement;
• and
• a user data storage module configured to store user data in the selected intermediate volumes according the redundancy requirement.

A computer program product for managing storage devices comprising storage resources virtually integrated into corresponding intermediate volumes, the intermediate volumes being virtually integrated into individual logical volumes, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium including computer instructions for:

• acquiring requirements on storage resources presented to the logical volumes, the requirements comprising a requirement on redundancy;
• obtaining storage resources respectively available from the intermediate volumes;
• selecting the intermediate volumes based on the storage resource requirements and the storage resources respectively available from the intermediate volumes so as to satisfy the storage resource requirements, wherein a minimum number of the intermediate volumes is determined based on the redundancy requirement;
• and
• storing user data into the selected intermediate volumes based on the redundancy requirement.