Methods and structure for RAID level migration within a logical unit

A system comprising:

• a plurality of disk drives;
• and
• a storage controller coupled to said plurality of disk drives and coupled to a host system to process I/O requests received from said host system wherein said storage controller includes:
• a logical unit configuration manager operable to define a logical unit within said plurality of disk drives;
• a partition configuration manager associated with said logical unit configuration manager and operable to define a plurality of partitions within said logical unit;
• and
• a performance monitor coupled to said partition configuration manager to measure parameters associated with operation of said storage system wherein said partition configuration manager is responsive to said performance monitor to modify configuration parameters of at least one partition of said plurality of partitions in response to measurements of said performance monitor,
• wherein said performance monitor and said partition configuration manager are automatically operable independent of any external operator.

A storage controller for managing data storage on a plurality of disk drives in a storage system, said controller comprising:

• means for defining a RAID logical unit comprising a subset of said plurality of disk drives;
• means for defining a plurality of partitions within said logical unit;
• means for monitoring performance of access to said RAID logical unit;
• and
• means, coupled with said means for monitoring performance, for reconfiguring said plurality of partitions in response to performance measurements of said means for monitoring performance,
• wherein said means for monitoring and said means for reconfiguring are automatically operable independent of any external operator.