# US 2018/0026865 A1 · Monitoring inter-site bandwidth for rebuilding > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2018/0026865 A1 - Document ID: US20180026865A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/213,432 - Filed: 2016-07-19 - Published: 2018-01-25 - Earliest claimed: 2016-07-19 - Assignees: International Business Machines Corporation - Applicants: International Business Machines Corporation - Inventors: Ilir Iljazi - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20180026865A1 ## CPC - H04L 43/0876: Network utilisation, e.g. volume of load or congestion level - H04L 41/0686: Additional information in the notification, e.g. enhancement of specific meta-data - H04L 43/0829: Packet loss - H04L 43/0894: Packet rate - H04L 43/16: Threshold monitoring - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) ## Abstract A dispersed storage network (DSN) includes a DSN memory employing multiple distributed storage (DS) units, e.g., memory devices, operating at multiple different physical sites, with each site having one or more of the memory devices. A monitoring entity can monitor the sites to determine a data loss rate and a threshold communication bandwidth, e.g., a bandwidth available for rebuilding encoded data slices, associated with particular sites. If the data loss rate of a particular site exceeds the threshold communication bandwidth, the monitoring unit can send an alert message notifying, for example, a DSN controller, an integrity processing unit, the DSN memory, about the determination, so that corrective action can be taken. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for use in a dispersed storage network (DSN) including a DSN memory employing a plurality of distributed storage (DS) units operating at a plurality of physical sites, the method comprising: determining a data loss rate associated with a particular physical site of the plurality of physical sites; determining a threshold communication bandwidth associated with the particular physical site; determining that the data loss rate exceeds the threshold communication bandwidth; and transmitting an alert message in response to determining that the data loss rate exceeds the threshold communication bandwidth. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the alert message includes a request to augment a communication bandwidth of the particular physical site. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein determining the data loss rate includes determining a number of DS units operating at the particular physical site. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein determining the data loss rate includes determining an average DS unit failure rate for DS units operating at the particular physical site. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4, wherein determining the data loss rate includes multiplying raw capacities of the DS units operating at the particular physical site by the average DS unit failure rate. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting the alert message in response to a change in storage capacity of the particular physical site. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the threshold communication bandwidth corresponds to an amount of bandwidth available for rebuilding data stored in the DS units operating at the particular physical site. ### Claim 8 A processing system configured to implement a managing unit, the managing unit comprising: a computing core including associated memory; a network interface configured to couple the managing unit to a dispersed storage network (DSN) including one or more DSN memory devices employing a plurality of distributed storage (DS) units at a plurality of physical sites; the computing core configured to: determine a data loss rate associated with a particular physical site; compare the data loss rate to a communication bandwidth associated with the particular physical site; and transmit an alert message in response to determining that the data loss rate exceeds the communication bandwidth. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The processing system of claim 8, wherein the alert message includes a request to augment the communication bandwidth. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The processing system of claim 8, wherein determining the data loss rate includes determining a number of DS units at the particular physical site. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The processing system of claim 8, wherein determining the data loss rate includes determining an average DS unit failure rate for the DS units at the particular physical site. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The processing system of claim 11, wherein determining the data loss rate includes multiplying raw capacities of the DS units at the particular physical site by the average DS unit failure rate. ### Claim 13 (depends on 8) The processing system of claim 8, further comprising: transmitting the alert message in response to an increase in either or both of input and output requests to the plurality of DS units at the particular physical site. ### Claim 14 (depends on 8) The processing system of claim 8, wherein the communication bandwidth corresponds to an amount of bandwidth available for rebuilding data stored in the DS units at the particular physical site. ### Claim 15 A dispersed storage network (DSN) comprising: a DSN memory including a plurality of memory devices located at a particular physical site; at least one processing core implementing an integrity processing unit configured to rebuild encoded data slices; at least one processing core implementing a managing unit configured to: determine a data loss rate associated with the particular physical site; compare the data loss rate to a communication bandwidth associated with the particular physical site, wherein the communication bandwidth corresponds to an amount of bandwidth available for rebuilding the encoded data slices; and transmit an alert message to in response to determining that the data loss rate exceeds the communication bandwidth. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The dispersed storage network of claim 15, wherein the alert message includes a request to augment the communication bandwidth. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The dispersed storage network of claim 15, wherein determining the data loss rate includes determining a number of memory devices operating at the particular physical site. ### Claim 18 (depends on 15) The dispersed storage network of claim 15, wherein determining the data loss rate includes determining an average memory device failure rate for memory devices operating at the particular physical site. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The dispersed storage network of claim 18, wherein determining the data loss rate includes multiplying raw capacities of memory devices operating at the particular physical site by the average memory device failure rate. ### Claim 20 (depends on 15) The dispersed storage network of claim 15, further comprising: transmitting the alert message in response to an increase in a failure rate associated with the plurality of memory devices.