Method and system for efficient migration of a storage object between storage servers based on an ancestry of the storage object in a network storage system

A computer-implemented method comprising:

• generating by a first storage server a storage object from a parent, the storage object associated with the parent using a parent indicator of the storage object;
• upon a request to migrate the storage object to a second storage server, sending by the first storage server an ancestry to the second storage server, the ancestry generated by the first storage server indicating the parent with which the storage object shares a data block;
• and
• responsive to the sending,
• receiving by the first storage server a request from the second storage server for changed data blocks between the storage object and the parent when the parent is stored at the second storage server;
• determining by the first storage server the changed data blocks between the storage object and the parent;
• and
• sending by the first storage server the determined changed data blocks to the second storage server for constructing the storage object at the destination thereby offloading the storage object to the second storage server.

A computer-implemented method comprising:

• receiving by a destination storage server a request to migrate a storage object from a source storage server, the request including an ancestry of the storage object, the ancestry indicating a parent with which the storage object shares a data block;
• determining by the destination storage server that the parent is stored at the destination storage server using the ancestry;
• requesting by the destination storage server changed data blocks between the storage object and the parent;
• responsive to the requesting, receiving by the destination storage server one or more changed data blocks from the source storage server;
• constructing at the destination storage server the storage object using the data blocks at the destination and the one or more changed data blocks from the source storage server;
• and
• servicing data requests using the constructed storage object to offload processing of the storage object from the source storage server.

A system comprising:

• an ancestry engine for generating, by a first storage server, an ancestry of a storage object at the first storage server indicating a parent with which the storage object shares a data block;
• a diff engine for determining, by the first storage server, one or more changed data blocks between the storage object and the parent when the parent is determined to be stored at a second storage server;
• and
• a migration engine for sending, by the first storage server, the changed data blocks from the first storage server to the second storage server, and for constructing, by the second storage server, the storage object at the second storage server using the changed data blocks to offload processing of the storage object from the first storage server to the second storage server.

A system comprising:

• an ancestry engine for determining, by a source storage server that a parent indicated in an ancestry of a storage object at the source storage server is stored at a destination storage server, the storage object referencing a data block of the parent;
• and
• a migration engine for:
• requesting, by the destination storage server, changed data blocks between the storage object and the parent;
• receiving, by the destination storage server, the requested changed data blocks from the source storage server;
• and
• constructing, by the destination storage server, the storage object at the destination storage server for offloading processing of the storage object from the source storage server to the destination storage server.

A system comprising:

• a first storage server for cloning a storage object from a parent and generating an ancestry of the storage object, the ancestry indicating the parent with which the storage object shares a data block;
• a second storage server coupled to the first storage server for determining that the parent is stored at the second storage server using the ancestry and constructing the storage object at the second storage server upon obtaining, changed data blocks between the storage object and the parent from the first storage server;
• and
• a migration manager for initiating a request to migrate the storage object from the first storage server to the second storage server, the request causing the first storage server to supply the ancestry the second storage server for determining blocks available at the second storage server prior to the first storage server sending the changed data blocks to the second storage server.

A computer-implemented method comprising:

• copying, by a storage server, a block list of an existing storage object, the block list referencing a set of data blocks constituting the parent;
• generating a new storage object using the copied block list, the new storage object sharing a data block with the existing storage object;
• generating a parent indicator for the new storage object, the parent indicator including an object ID of the existing storage object;
• and
• indicating a shared data block between the existing storage object and the new storage object by the parent indicator referencing the existing storage object.