System and method for policy-based data lifecycle management

A data storage system, comprising:

• one or more storage devices comprising a file system;
• a host system comprising a memory medium storing program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable on the host system to implement file system software configured to manage and control access to the file system;
• and
• one or more client systems each comprising a memory medium storing program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable on the client system to implement one or more applications configured to access files in the file system via the file system software;
• wherein the file system software is configured to:
• store expiration policies for at least some files within the file system in file system metadata maintained by the file system software, wherein each expiration policy is specific to a respective one of the at least some files and specifies one or more metrics for evaluation to determine whether the associated file is ready for expiration, wherein the file system metadata includes information that the file system software maintains on files stored in the file system, wherein a specific expiration policy associated with a file is stored in a portion of the information that the file system software maintains on the files stored in the file system that is specific to the file and that also includes location information for the file;
• wherein said storing, for said at least some files, a respective expiration policy for the respective file in a portion of the information that is specific to the respective file and that also includes location information for the file, enables each of the at least some files for moving or copying to another location while maintaining its association with its respective expiration policy;
• evaluate the expiration policies stored in the file system metadata to determine files that have passed an expiration date;
• and
• grant or deny access to particular ones of the files in the file system by the applications according to results of said evaluation of the expiration policies, wherein access is denied for files that have passed the expiration date.

A system, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable by the processor to implement file system software configured to manage and control access to a file system, wherein the file system software comprises a file expiration mechanism configured to:
• store expiration policies for at least some files within the file system in file system metadata maintained by the file system software, wherein each expiration policy is specific to a respective one of the at least some files and specifies one or more metrics for evaluation to determine whether the associated file is ready for expiration, wherein the file system metadata includes information that the file system software maintains on files stored in the file system, wherein a specific expiration policy associated with a file is stored in a portion of the information that the file system software maintains on the files stored in the file system that is specific to the file and that also includes location information for the file;
• wherein said storing, for said at least some files, a respective expiration policy for the respective file in a portion of the information that is specific to the respective file and that also includes location information for the file, enables each of the at least some files for moving or copying to another location while maintaining its association with its respective expiration policy;
• evaluate the expiration policies stored in the file system metadata to determine if the files have passed an expiration date;
• and
• grant or deny access to particular ones of the files in the file system in accordance with results of said evaluation of the expiration policies.

A computer-accessible storage medium comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement:

• storing expiration policies for at least some files within a file system in file system metadata maintained by file system software, wherein each expiration policy is specific to a respective one of the at least some files and specifies one or more metrics for evaluation to determine whether the associated file is ready for expiration, wherein the file system metadata includes information that the file system software maintains on files stored in the file system, wherein a specific expiration policy associated with a file is stored in a portion of the information that the file system software maintains on the files stored in the file system that is specific to the file and that also includes location information for the file, and wherein the file system software is configured to manage and control access to the file system;
• wherein said storing, for said at least some files, a respective expiration policy for the respective file in a portion of the information that is specific to the respective file and that also includes location information for the file, enables each of the at least some files for moving or copying to another location while maintaining its association with its respective expiration policy;
• evaluating the expiration policies stored in the file system metadata to determine files that have passed an expiration date;
• and
• granting or denying access to particular ones of the files in the file system according to results of said evaluation of the expiration policies, wherein access is denied for files that have passed the expiration date.