Attribute based resource allocation
View Patent ↗A method of attribute based resource allocation is presented. A resource such as a pool of storage has certain properties or attributes associated with portions of the pool. When a request for storage is needed, the requester provides a selection expression which includes properties and logical operators. From the selection expression a determination is made to allocate portions of the storage pool which meet the requirements of the selection expression.
1. A method of creating a data storage pool, comprising:
providing information for a plurality of storage resources in response to a user query;
assigning at least one storage property to selected ones of the plurality of storage resources in response to user instructions to define the data storage pool;
receiving a logical expression to identify respective ones of the storage resources that are available for a requested store operation based upon the storage properties assigned to the selected ones of the storage resources;
allocating selected ones of the identified storage resources for the requested store operation;
receiving, prior to the step of allocating selected ones of the identified storage resources, a new storage property for the logical expression if a desired storage property is not present in the assigned storage properties; and
determining which ones of the identified storage resources have preferred characteristics, wherein the preferred characteristics include storage resources having multiple disk spindles.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the logical expression includes at least one logical operator and at least two storage properties.
3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein the logical expression includes an amount of storage needed for the requested store operation.
4. The method according to claim 1 , further including assigning a particular one of the at least one storage properties to a particular type of storage resource.
5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of storage resources includes logical volumes.
6. The method according to claim 1 , further including receiving a user instruction to identify a storage resource as hand-off storage.
7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the user query is generated by a storage administrator.
8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the logical expression is generated by a database administrator.
9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the logical expression includes a storage property not assigned to any of the storage resources, and further including:
receiving an identification of a first one of the plurality of storage resources having the unassigned storage property; and
allocating the first one of the storage resources based upon the logical expression.
10. An article, comprising:
a storage medium having stored thereon instructions that when executed by a machine result in the following:
providing information for a plurality of storage resources in response to a user query;
assigning at least one storage property to selected ones of the plurality of storage resources in response to user instructions to define the data storage pool;
receiving a logical expression to identify respective ones of the storage resources that are available for a requested store operation based upon the storage properties assigned to the selected ones of the storage resources;
allocating selected ones of the identified storage resources for the requested store operation;
receiving, prior to the step of allocating selected ones of the identified storage resources, a new storage property for the logical expression if a desired storage property is not present in the assigned storage properties; and
determining which ones of the identified storage resources have preferred characteristics, wherein the preferred characteristics include storage resources having multiple disk spindles.
11. The article according to claim 10 , wherein the logical expression includes at least one logical operator and at least two storage properties.
12. The article according to claim 11 , wherein the logical expression includes an amount of storage needed for the requested store operation.
13. The article according to claim 11 , further instructions to include assigning a particular one of the at least one storage properties to a particular type of storage resource.
14. A system, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory coupled to the processor, the memory including instructions that when executed result in the following:
providing information for a plurality of storage resources in response to a user query;
assigning at least one storage property to selected ones of the plurality of storage resources in response to user instructions to define the data storage pool;
receiving a logical expression to identify respective ones of the storage resources that are available for a requested store operation based upon the storage properties assigned to the selected ones of the storage resources;
allocating selected ones of the identified storage resources for the requested store operation;
receiving, prior to the step of allocating selected ones of the identified storage resources, a new storage property for the logical expression if a desired storage property is not present in the assigned storage properties; and
determining which ones of the identified storage resources have preferred characteristics, wherein the preferred characteristics include storage resources having multiple disk spindles.
15. The system according to claim 14 , wherein the logical expression includes at least one logical operator and at least two storage properties.
16. The system according to claim 14 , wherein the logical expression includes an amount of storage needed for the requested store operation.
17. The system according to claim 14 , further including instructions to assign a particular one of the at least one storage properties to a particular type of storage resource.