Volume set configuration using a single operational view

An apparatus for configuring a volume set in a distributed multi-processing system comprising a plurality of compute nodes communicatively coupled to a plurality of input/output (I/O) nodes, each having storage space, comprising:

• means for querying the I/O nodes to determine available storage space blocks at each I/O node;
• means for displaying information representing the available storage space blocks at each I/O node to a user, the information comprising a storage space block identification and a storage space block size;
• means for accepting a volume set name and a selected volume set size not greater than the largest storage space block size;
• means for scanning the information to determine if the storage space block size of an available storage space block is the selected volume set size;
• means for selecting an available storage space block for the volume set such that the available storage space block has a size equal to the selected volume set size;
• means for obtaining performance data for the available storage space blocks having a size larger than the selected volume set size when there is no available storage space block having a size equal to the selected volume set size;
• and
• means for selecting an available storage space block for the volume set based on the performance data.

A method of configuring a volume set in a distributed multi-processing system comprising a plurality of compute nodes communicatively coupled to a plurality of input/output nodes, each having storage space implemented in a plurality of physical disk drives, the method comprising the steps of:

• presenting a graphical representation of the storage space associated with at least one of the I/O nodes to a user, the graphical representation including a depiction of the I/O node, a depiction of the physical disk drives associated with the I/O node, and a depiction of the interconnection between the physical disk drives and the I/O nodes;
• presenting a depiction indicative of the usage of physical disk drives associated with the I/O node to the user;
• presenting a data box displaying volume sets configured in the physical disks to the user when the physical disks are selected by the user;
• and
• presenting a build indicator to the user, the build indicator for selecting physical disks to configure the volume set.

A user interface for configuring a volume set in a distributed multi-processor system comprising a plurality of compute nodes communicatively coupled to a plurality of input/output nodes via an interconnect fabric, each input/output node having storage space implemented in a plurality of physical disk drives, the user interface comprising:

• a graphical representation of the storage space associated with at least one of the I/O nodes, including a depiction of the I/O node, a depiction of the physical disk drives associated with the I/O node, and a depiction of the interconnection between the physical disk drives and the I/O nodes;
• a depiction indicative of the usage of physical disk drives associated with the I/O node;
• a data box displaying volume sets configured in the physical disks;
• and
• a build indicator, for selecting physical disks to configure the virtual disk.

A program storage device, readable by a computer, tangibly embodying one or more programs of instructions executable by the computer to perform method steps of configuring a volume set in a distributed multi-processing system comprising a plurality of compute nodes communicatively coupled to a plurality of input/output nodes, each having a storage space, the method comprising the steps of:

• querying the I/O nodes to determine available storage space blocks at each I/O node;
• displaying information representing the available storage space blocks at each I/O node to a user, the information comprising a storage space block identification and a storage space block size;
• accepting a volume set name and a selected volume set size not greater than the largest storage space block size;
• scanning the information to determine if the storage space block size of an available storage space block substantially equals the selected volume set size;
• selecting an available storage space block for the volume set such that the available storage space block has a size equal to the selected volume set size;
• obtaining performance data for the available storage space blocks having a size larger than the selected volume set size when there is no available storage space block having a size equal to the selected volume set size;
• and
• selecting an available storage space block for the volume set based on the performance data.