Storage visibility in virtual environments

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon, computer executable instructions that, if executed by a computer system cause the computer system to perform a method of providing storage information comprising:

• sending a request, by a virtual machine, via an electronic system, for a plurality of storage attributes to a virtual storage access module, wherein said virtual storage access module facilitates access to storage for said virtual machine via a virtual access path and wherein said virtual machine executes on said computer system;
• receiving at said virtual machine said plurality of storage attributes from said virtual storage access module, wherein at least one of said plurality of storage attributes comprise a storage identifier configured to be sent from said virtual storage access module to said storage, and wherein said virtual machine is configured to use said plurality of storage attributes to migrate from a first physical system to a second physical system without a loss of connectivity to said storage;
• and
• storing said storage attributes, wherein said plurality of storage attributes are available for use in storage management tasks performed by said virtual machine,
• wherein said storage management tasks performed by said virtual machine facilitates failure domain allocation and enclosure separation, dynamic storage tiering, and device naming;
• wherein said failure domain allocation and enclosure separation comprises selecting a storage array based on its location such that a storage mirror is in a separate location;
• wherein said dynamic storage tiering comprises constructing different tiers of storage based on different sets of reliability and performance;
• wherein said device naming comprises allowing a physical storage name of a storage volume visible by said virtual machine to be consistent with a computing system coupled to said storage.

A storage cluster system, comprising:

• a computer system comprising one or more processors coupled to a computer readable storage media and configurable to execute computer readable code stored on the computer readable storage media which causes the computer system to implement a method comprising:
• sending a request, by a virtual machine, via an electronic system, for a plurality of storage attributes to a virtual storage access module, wherein said virtual storage access module facilitates access to storage for said virtual machine via a virtual access path;
• receiving at said virtual machine said plurality of storage attributes from said virtual storage access module, wherein at least one of said plurality of storage attributes comprises a storage identifier configured to be sent from said virtual storage access storage module to said storage, and wherein said virtual machine is configured to use said plurality of storage attributes to migrate from a first physical system to a second physical system without a loss of connectivity to said storage;
• and
• storing said storage attributes, wherein said plurality of storage attributes are available for use in storage management tasks performed by said virtual machine,
• wherein said storage management tasks performed by said virtual machine facilitates failure domain allocation and enclosure separation, dynamic storage tiering, and device naming;
• wherein said failure domain allocation and enclosure separation comprises selecting a storage array based on its location such that a storage mirror is in a separate location;
• wherein said dynamic storage tiering comprises constructing different tiers of storage based on different sets of reliability and performance;
• wherein said device naming comprises allowing a physical storage name of a storage volume visible by said virtual machine to be consistent with a computing system coupled to said storage.