Method and apparatus for automated migration of data among storage centers

A method for controlling a storage of data among a plurality of regional storage centers operatively coupled through a network in a global storage system, the method comprising steps of:

• defining at least one dataset comprising at least a subset of the data stored in the global storage system;
• defining at least one ruleset for determining where to store the at least one dataset;
• obtaining information regarding a demand for the at least one dataset through one or more data requesting entities operating in the global storage system;
• and
• determining, as a function of the at least one ruleset, information regarding a location for storing the at least one dataset among a plurality of regional storage centers having available resources that reduces at least one of (i) total distance traversed by the at least one dataset in serving at least one of the one or more data requesting entities, and (ii) latency of delivery of the at least one dataset to the at least one of the one or more data requesting entities;
• wherein the step of determining information regarding a location for storing the at least one dataset comprises determining whether a migration of the at least one dataset is worthwhile, and, when it is determined that migration is not worthwhile, continuing the step of obtaining information regarding a demand for the at least one dataset;
• and
• wherein the step of determining whether a migration of the at least one dataset is worthwhile comprises determining a new location, L^, for the dataset, among the plurality of regional storage centers having available resources, which satisfies an expression a1·d(l1, L^)+ . . . +an·d(ln, L^)+b·d(L′, L^)≦a1·d(l1, L)+ . . . +an·d(ln, L)+b·d(L′, L) for every other possible location L of the plurality of regional storage centers, where d(lj, lk) is a network distance function indicative of a distance between any two locations lj and lk, a1, . . . , an represent amounts of data of respective data transfers, l1, . . . , ln represent locations from where usage of the at least one dataset occurs, b represents a size of the at least one dataset, and L′ represents a location of a given one of the plurality of regional storage centers in which the at least one dataset resides prior to migration of the dataset.