Method and apparatus for managing a heterogeneous data storage system

A program product for controlling the operation of a storage controller, said storage controller controlling a plurality of digital data storage devices of a same type, said plurality of digital data storage devices for storing heterogenous data comprising data of a first data type and data of a second data type, said program product comprising:

• a plurality of processor executable instructions recorded on signal-bearing media, wherein said instructions, when executed by at least one programmable processor of said storage controller, cause the storage controller to perform the steps of:
• obtaining a plurality of internal operating parameters with respect to each of said plurality of data storage devices, wherein said internal operating parameters are parameters exhibiting unintentional individual performance variation among said plurality of data storage devices;
• determining at least one evaluation result using fuzzy logic for each respective data storage device of said plurality of data storage devices, said at least one evaluation result being derived from said plurality of measured internal operating parameters;
• selecting a data storage device for storage of data according to the type of said data and the measured internal operating parameters of the selected data storage device by matching said type of data to said evaluation results with respect to said plurality of data storage devices.

A data storage subsystem for storing heterogeneous data, said heterogenous data comprising data of first type and data of a second type, comprising:

• a plurality of data storage devices of a same type;
• a data storage controller coupled to said plurality of data storage devices and controlling the operation of said plurality of data storage devices, said data storage controller including a programmable processor and a memory for storing instructions executable on said programmable processor;
• a control program executable on said programmable processor, said control program including:
• a storage device parameter gathering function, said storage device parameter gathering function obtaining a plurality of internal operating parameters with respect to each of said plurality of data storage devices, wherein said internal operating parameters are parameters exhibiting unintentional individual performance variation among said plurality of data storage devices;
• and
• a data type matching function, said data type matching function determining at least one evaluation result using fuzzy logic for each respective data storage device of said plurality of data storage devices, said at least one evaluation result being derived from said plurality of measured internal operating parameters, said data type matching function matching the type of data to be stored with said internal operating parameters of a selected data storage device by matching said type of data to said evaluation results with respect to said plurality of data storage devices.

A method for managing the storage of heterogeneous data, said heterogenous data comprising data of a first type, said data of a first type consisting of alphanumeric data, and data of a second type, said data of a second type consisting of non-alphanumeric data, on a plurality of rotating magnetic disk drive data storage devices of a same type, said method comprising the steps of:

• measuring at least one internal operating parameter with respect to each of a plurality of rotating magnetic disk drive data storage devices, wherein said at least one internal operating parameter is a parameter exhibiting unintentional individual performance variation among said plurality of data storage devices;
• determining at least one evaluation result using fuzzy logic for each respective data storage device of said plurality of data storage devices, said at least one evaluation result being derived from said plurality of measured internal operating parameters;
• and
• selecting a disk drive data storage device for storage of data according to the type of said data and the at least one measured internal operating parameter of the selected data storage device by matching said type of data to said evaluation results with respect to said plurality of data storage devices.