Hierarchical performance system for managing a plurality of storage units with different access speeds

A computer implemented method of providing hierarchical storage of data stored on plural data storage devices comprising physical media, said method comprising

• mapping logical user read and write requests to physical block level read and write requests at an interpreter of said computer, each block being the smallest set of data that can be accessed on said physical media, said physical block level read and write requests indicating block numbers for data being requested,
• receiving said block level read requests from said interpreter at a hierarchical performance driver having a disk driver interface, said hierarchical performance driver mapping said block numbers into physical blocks at relevant storage devices at which the blocks are actually stored,
• issuing, at said hierarchical performance driver, instructions to read and write data from said plural data storage devices in response to said block level read and write requests and said mapping of block numbers, said plural data storage devices having different data access speeds,
• monitoring, at said hierarchical performance driver, the rates of access for individual blocks of data stored on said data storage devices, and
• transferring blocks of data from one said data storage device to another said data storage device as a function of the monitored rates of access.

A computer program for implementation on a computer to provide hierarchical storage of data stored on plural data storage devices comprising physical media, said computer program residing on a computer-readable medium, said computer having an interpreter that maps logical user read and write requests to physical block level read and write requests, each block being the smallest set of data that can be accessed on said physical media, said physical block level read and write requests indicating block numbers for data being requested,

• said computer program comprising instructions causing said computer to create a hierarchical performance driver having a disk driver interface for receiving said block level read and write requests from said interpreter, said hierarchical performance driver mapping said block numbers into physical blocks at relevant storage devices at which the blocks are actually stored, said hierarchical performance driver issuing instructions to read and write data from said plural data storage devices in response to said block level read and write requests, said plural data storage devices having different data access speeds, said hierarchical performance driver monitoring the rates of access of individual blocks of data stored on said data storage devices and transferring blocks of data from one said storage device to another said data storage device as a function of the monitored rates of access.

A computer system providing distributed hierarchical storage of computer data stored on plural data storage devices comprising physical media comprising

• a network,
• one or more remote data storage devices that are connected to said network,
• a computer that is connected to said network, said computer comprising
• an interpreter that maps logical user write requests to physical block level write requests, each block being the smallest set of data that can be accessed on said physical media, said physical block level read and write requests indicating block numbers for data being requested,
• one or more local data storage devices, and
• a hierarchical performance driver having a disk driver interface for receiving said block level read and write requests from said interpreter, said hierarchical performance driver mapping said block numbers into physical blocks at relevant storage devices at which the blocks are actually stored, said hierarchical performance driver issuing instructions to read and write data from said data storage devices in response to said block level read and write requests, said data storage devices having different data access speeds, said hierarchical performance driver monitoring the rates of access of individual blocks of data stored on said data storage devices and transferring blocks of data from one said data storage device to another said data storage device as a function of the monitored rates of access.