# US 8,151,048 B1 · Managing storage pool provisioning > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,151,048 B1 - Document ID: US8151048B1 - Status: Granted - Kind: B1 - Application number: 12/058,966 - Filed: 2008-03-31 - Granted: 2012-04-03 - Earliest claimed: 2008-03-31 - Assignees: EMC Corporation - Inventors: Subbulakshmi Premkumar; Paul O. Malenfant; Russell R. Laporte; Scott Von Rhee; Paula E. McAdam - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8151048B1 ## CPC - G06F 3/0631: {by allocating resources to storage systems} - G06F 3/0605: {by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator} - G06F 3/0632: {by initialisation or re-initialisation of storage systems} - G06F 3/0689: {Disk arrays, e.g. RAID, JBOD} - G06F 3/0665: {at area level, e.g. provisioning of virtual or logical volumes} - G06F 2206/1008: Graphical user interface [GUI] - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract A method is used in managing storage pool provisioning. One or more physical devices of a data storage system is configured for use in connection with provisioning a storage pool. A provisioning specification is received describing a RAID type and capacity. A rule is received describing one or more sets of data storage system best practices. Each of the one or more sets specifies data storage system best practices for a different type of data storage system including a first type associated with the data storage system. Configuration processing is performed in connection with initialization of the data storage system to configure a first portion of the one or more physical devices for use with the storage pool. A rules engine and best practices for the first type of data storage system specified in the rule are used in performing the configuration processing. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for use in managing storage pool provisioning, the method comprising: configuring one or more physical devices of a data storage system for use in connection with provisioning a storage pool; providing one or more user interfaces for the data storage system, each user interface providing a different level of abstraction of the data storage system based on a different level of user proficiency associated with each user interface; receiving a provisioning specification describing a RAID type and capacity, wherein the provisioning specification varies in accordance with a selected user interface; receiving a rule describing one or more sets of data storage system best practices, each of said one or more sets specifying data storage system best practices for a different type of data storage system including a first type associated with the data storage system; and performing configuration processing in connection with initialization of said data storage system to configure a first portion of said one or more physical devices for use with the storage pool, wherein a rules engine and best practices for said first type of data storage system specified in said rule are used in performing said configuration processing. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: using the rules engine to translate the provisioning specification into a best practices configuration that the data storage system can support. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: allowing options based on best practices for a more advanced user. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: allowing the user to specify just the capacity and RAID type, and automatically determining how best to fulfill the requested specification. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: using a best practices engine to validates provisioning specification. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving the provisioning specification via a command line interface. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: allowing the user to invoke the rules engine in a validate only mode. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, based on the provisioning specification, whether the storage pool can be created. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, based on the provisioning specification, whether the storage pool can be created; and determining whether a validate only mode has been specified. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: providing a validate only mode that can be used iteratively to test variations of the provisioning specification. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: based on the rules engine, creating a build list of requests to create the storage pool. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: based on the rules engine, creating a build list of requests to create the storage pool; and based on the build list, creating the storage pool. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: performing the configuration processing in response to a user interface wizard. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein capacity is specified by percentage of available storage space on the storage system. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: displaying a pie chart to graphically depict the total space on the storage system. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: showing the details of how the storage pool will be created. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: using a best practices model to determine the number of disks that each RAID group within the storage pool will contain by mapping the capacity to disks. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: if the only disks available to create the storage pool would result in mixed drive type, stating that the request could not be completed. ### Claim 19 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: avoiding mixing disks that have different capacities in a RAID group. ### Claim 20 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: avoiding mixing fibre channel disks with ATA disks in the storage pool.