US 8,078,622 B2Granted

Remote volume access and migration via a clustered server namespace

AssigneeNetwork Appliance, Inc.

InventorsFaramarz Rabii, Hooman Vassef, Peter Corbett, Keith Arner

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Abstract

A system and method that provides users of network data storage systems with the ability to gain the advantages of a clustered storage server system, in which volumes stored on multiple server nodes are linked into a virtual global hierarchical namespace, without first having to migrate their data to the clustered storage server system. The system employs an extended virtual global hierarchical namespace that allows client systems to access, via the extended global namespace, volumes stored on the clustered storage server system and on one or more storage servers that are remote from and do not constitute a part of the clustered system. The extended global namespace can also be employed to perform migration of volume data among the multiple nodes of the clustered storage server system and the remote storage servers.

Claims57

Dependent claims

A method of accessing data on a volume of a remote storage server via an extended global namespace of volumes of a cluster of storage servers, comprising:

providing a global namespace of volumes of said cluster of storage servers, each of said volumes of said cluster of storage servers being linked into said global namespace via a junction corresponding to an internal mount point in said global namespace for a respective one of said volumes of said cluster of storage servers;
receiving, at one of said storage servers of said cluster of storage servers, at least one request from at least one client regarding data on at least one volume of said remote storage server, the client request including a volume identifier for the respective remote storage server volume,
wherein said global namespace is extended to include the volume of said remote storage server, the volume of said remote storage server being linked into the extended global namespace via a junction corresponding to an internal mount point in the extended global namespace for the volume of said remote storage server;
querying, by said one of said storage servers of said cluster of storage servers using the volume identifier for the remote storage server volume, at least one database to obtain location information for the remote storage server volume, said location information being associated with said internal mount point in the extended global namespace for the remote storage server volume;
locating the remote storage server volume using said location information obtained from the database;
and
accessing data associated with the located remote storage server volume.

4 more elements

A system for accessing data on a volume of a remote storage server via an extended global namespace of volumes of a cluster of storage servers, comprising:

a cluster of storage servers;
wherein each of a plurality of volumes of said cluster of storage servers is linked into a global namespace via a junction corresponding to an internal mount point in said global namespace for a respective one of said volumes of said cluster of storage servers;
at least one remote storage server;
wherein said global namespace is extended to include at least one volume of said remote storage server, the volume of said remote storage server being linked into the extended global namespace via a junction corresponding to an internal mount point in the extended global namespace for the volume of said remote storage server;
wherein at least one storage server of said cluster of storage servers is operative:
to receive at least one request from at least one client regarding data on at least one volume of said remote storage server, the client request including a volume identifier for the respective remote storage server volume;
to query, using the volume identifier for the remote storage server volume, at least one database to obtain location information for the remote storage server volume, said location information being associated with said internal mount point in the extended global namespace for the remote storage server volume;
to locate the remote storage server volume using said location information obtained from the database;
and
to access data associated with the located remote storage server volume.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.