Virtualization engine and method, system, and computer program product for managing the storage of data

A virtualization engine for use in a network comprising a plurality of host data processors operable to communicate with the virtualization engine;

• the virtualization engine operable to:
• communicate with a plurality of physical storage media, each physical storage medium being assigned a tier level;
• and
• present at least one virtual disk to a host data processor and receive I/O requests to the virtual disk from the host data processor;
• and the virtualization engine comprising:
• data identifying a threshold storage access value associated with each tier level;
• metadata for blocks of the physical storage identifying:
• mappings between blocks of physical storage to corresponding blocks of virtual disks;
• an access value for each physical block representing the rate of access to the block by host data processors;
• and the tier level of the block;
• and
• a storage manager for periodically comparing the access value of a physical block to the threshold access value associated with its tier level, and marking the block for migration to another tier level in dependence on the result of the comparison;
• the virtualization engine being further operable to store a break count value in the metadata for a physical block in dependence of the result of the periodic comparison.

A system for managing storage of data, the system comprising a plurality of host data processors coupled to a virtualization engine, the virtualization engine being coupled to a plurality of physical storage media, each physical storage medium being assigned a tier level;

• the virtualization engine operable to:
• communicate with a plurality of physical storage media, each physical storage medium being assigned a tier level;
• and
• present at least one virtual disk to a host data processor and receive I/O requests to the virtual disk from the host data processor;
• and the virtualization engine comprising:
• data identifying a threshold storage access value associated with each tier level;
• metadata for blocks of the physical storage identifying:
• mappings between blocks of physical storage to corresponding blocks of virtual disks;
• an access value for each physical block representing the rate of access to the block by host data processors;
• and the tier level of the block;
• and
• a storage manager for periodically comparing the access value of a physical block to the threshold access value associated with its tier level, and marking the block for migration to another tier level in dependence on the result of the comparison;
• further comprising one or more storage controller(s) which presents data stored on the physical storage media to the virtualization engine as a plurality of managed disks, the virtualization engine being further operable to store a break count value in the metadata for a physical block in dependence of the result of the periodic comparison.

A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having a computer readable program stored thereon in a non-volatile manner, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to:

• store a threshold storage access value associated with each tier level;
• present at least one virtual disk to a host data processor;
• receiving I/O requests to the virtual disk from the host data processor;
• store metadata for blocks of the physical storage, the metadata identifying:
• mappings of the physical block to one or more corresponding block(s) of a virtual disk;
• and
• an access value for each physical block representing the rate of access to the block by host data processors;
• and the tier level of the block;
• periodically compare the access value of a physical block to the threshold access value associated with its tier level, and marking the block for migration to another tier level in dependence on the result of the comparison;
• and
• store a break count value in the metadata for a physical block in dependence of the result of the comparison.