US 7,636,801 B1Granted

Coordination of quality of service in a multi-layer virtualized storage environment

AssigneeSymantec Operating Corporation

InventorsAnand A. Kekre, Pradip Kulkarni, Ankur Panchbudhe

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Abstract

A system for coordination for quality of service in multi-layer storage virtualization environments includes a first, second and third storage entity at a respective first, second and third layer of virtualized storage. The first storage entity sends a request for an I/O task to the second storage entity. In response to the request, the second storage entity may be configured to cooperate with the third storage entity to perform one or more I/O operations to satisfy one or more quality of service requirements associated with the I/O task.

Claims24

Dependent claims

A system comprising:

a plurality of storage entities arranged in three or more hierarchical layers of virtualized storage including a first layer of virtualized storage, a second layer of virtualized storage, and a third layer of virtualized storage, wherein the plurality of storage entities is configured to:
at a first storage entity at the first layer of virtualized storage, receive a request to perform an I/O task requiring a plurality of I/O operations, wherein the request specifies one or more quality of service requirements to be satisfied in performing the I/O task;
in response to the request, determine a path through the three or more hierarchical layers of virtualized storage for performing the I/O task by:
selecting a second storage entity for inclusion in the path from among a plurality of storage entities at the second layer of virtualized storage in response to determining that the second storage entity can satisfy the one or more quality of service requirements specified by the request;
selecting a third storage entity for inclusion in the path from among a plurality of storage entities at the third layer of virtualized storage in response to determining that the third storage entity can satisfy the one or more quality of service requirements specified by the request;
and
wherein the plurality of storage entities is further configured to perform the I/O task through the three or more hierarchical layers of virtualized storage using the determined path such that the first storage entity at the first layer of virtualized storage communicates with the second storage entity at the second layer of virtualized storage to perform a first one or more of the plurality of I/O operations required by the task, and the second storage entity at the second layer of virtualized storage communicates with the third storage entity at the third layer of virtualized storage to perform a second one or more of the plurality of I/O operations required by the task.

4 more elements

A computer-accessible storage medium storing program instructions executable to:

at a first storage entity, receive a request to perform an I/O task requiring a plurality of I/O operations, wherein the request specifies one or more quality of service requirements to be satisfied in performing the I/O task, wherein the first storage entity is one of a plurality of storage entities arranged in three or more hierarchical layers of virtualized storage including a first layer of virtualized storage, a second layer of virtualized storage, and a third layer of virtualized storage, wherein the first storage entity is at the first layer of virtualized storage;
in response to the request, determine a path through the three or more hierarchical layers of virtualized storage for performing the I/O task by:
selecting a second storage entity for inclusion in the path from among a plurality of storage entities at the second layer of virtualized storage in response to determining that the second storage entity can satisfy the one or more quality of service requirements specified by the request;
selecting a third storage entity for inclusion in the path from among a plurality of storage entities at the third layer of virtualized storage in response to determining that the third storage entity can satisfy the one or more quality of service requirements specified by the request;
and
perform the I/O task through the three or more hierarchical layers of virtualized storage using the determined path by directing the first storage entity at the first layer of virtualized storage to communicate with the second storage entity at the second layer of virtualized storage to perform a first one or more of the plurality of I/O operations required by the task, and directing the second storage entity at the second layer of virtualized storage to communicate with the third storage entity at the third layer of virtualized storage to perform a second one or more of the plurality of I/O operations required by the task.

3 more elements

A method comprising:

at a first storage entity, receiving a request to perform an I/O task requiring a plurality of I/O operations, wherein the request specifies one or more quality of service requirements to be satisfied in performing the I/O task, wherein the first storage entity is one of a plurality of storage entities arranged in three or more hierarchical layers of virtualized storage including a first layer of virtualized storage, a second layer of virtualized storage, and a third layer of virtualized storage, wherein the first storage entity is at the first layer of virtualized storage;
in response to the request, determining a path through the three or more hierarchical layers of virtualized storage for performing the I/O task by:
selecting a second storage entity for inclusion in the path from among a plurality of storage entities at the second layer of virtualized storage in response to determining that the second storage entity can satisfy the one or more quality of service requirements specified by the request;
and
selecting a third storage entity for inclusion in the path from among a plurality of storage entities at the third layer of virtualized storage in response to determining that the third storage entity can satisfy the one or more quality of service requirements specified by the request;
and
performing the I/O task through the three or more hierarchical layers of virtualized storage using the determined path such that the first storage entity at the first layer of virtualized storage communicates with the second storage entity at the second layer of virtualized storage to perform a first one or more of the plurality of I/O operations required by the task, and the second storage entity at the second layer of virtualized storage communicates with the third storage entity at the third layer of virtualized storage to perform a second one or more of the plurality of I/O operations required by the task.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

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Abstract

A system comprising:

a plurality of storage entities arranged in three or more hierarchical layers of virtualized storage including a first layer of virtualized storage, a second layer of virtualized storage, and a third layer of virtualized storage, wherein the plurality of storage entities is configured to:
at a first storage entity at the first layer of virtualized storage, receive a request to perform an I/O task requiring a plurality of I/O operations, wherein the request specifies one or more quality of service requirements to be satisfied in performing the I/O task;
in response to the request, determine a path through the three or more hierarchical layers of virtualized storage for performing the I/O task by:
selecting a second storage entity for inclusion in the path from among a plurality of storage entities at the second layer of virtualized storage in response to determining that the second storage entity can satisfy the one or more quality of service requirements specified by the request;
selecting a third storage entity for inclusion in the path from among a plurality of storage entities at the third layer of virtualized storage in response to determining that the third storage entity can satisfy the one or more quality of service requirements specified by the request;
and
wherein the plurality of storage entities is further configured to perform the I/O task through the three or more hierarchical layers of virtualized storage using the determined path such that the first storage entity at the first layer of virtualized storage communicates with the second storage entity at the second layer of virtualized storage to perform a first one or more of the plurality of I/O operations required by the task, and the second storage entity at the second layer of virtualized storage communicates with the third storage entity at the third layer of virtualized storage to perform a second one or more of the plurality of I/O operations required by the task.

4 more elements