Object-level mirroring

1. A method of protecting one or more database objects including:

designating one or more database objects for protection;

characterizing the one or more database objects designated for protection based on a set of dimensions;

characterizing one or more data storage units by a set of dimensions; and

for one or more database objects designated for protection:

selecting one or more data storage units to store protection information for the database object based on a comparison of the set of dimensions for the database object designated for protection and the set of dimensions for the data storage units; and

storing protection information for the database object designated for protection in the one or more selected data storage units.

2. The method of claim 1 , where characterizing one or more data storage units by a set of dimensions includes:

characterizing one or more data storage units by a reliability dimension.

3. The method of claim 2 , where characterizing one or more data storage units by the reliability dimension includes:

characterizing one or more data storage units based on one or more characteristics of each data storage unit selected from a group consisting of:

a Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF);

a number of data paths connected to the data storage unit;

a cabinet that houses the data storage unit;

the interconnects of the cabinet that houses the data storage unit;

a chassis that houses the data storage unit;

the data storage facility that houses the data storage unit;

whether the data storage unit supports atomic writes;

whether the data storage unit is volatile;

whether the data store unit is path failure protected; and

one or more power grids connected to the data storage unit.

4. The method of claim 1 , where characterizing one or more data storage units by a set of dimensions includes:

characterizing one or more data storage units by a performance dimension.

5. The method of claim 4 , where characterizing one or more data storage units by a performance dimension includes:

characterizing one or more data storage units based on one or more characteristics of each data storage unit of selected from a group consisting of:

a seek time;

a transfer rate;

a rotational speed;

one or more response time statistics; and

one or more expected response time as the data storage unit is filled, one or more interconnect speeds.

6. The method of claim 4 , where characterizing one or more data storage units by a performance dimension includes:

characterizing one or more data storage units by an Input/Output mix by one or more of a read/write mix or a request size mix.

7. The method of claim 1 , where characterizing one or more data storage units by a set of dimensions includes:

characterizing one or more data storage units by a capacity dimension.

8. The method of claim 1 , where characterizing one or more data storage units by a set of dimensions includes:

characterizing one or more data storage units by a longevity dimension.

9. The method of claim 1 , where characterizing one or more data storage units by a set of dimensions includes:

characterizing two or more data storage units by a common fault dimension.

10. The method of claim 1 , where characterizing one or more database objects by a set of dimensions includes:

characterizing one or more database objects based on a reliability dimension.

11. The method of claim 1 , where characterizing one or more database objects by a set of dimensions includes:

characterizing one or more database objects based on a performance dimension.

12. The method of claim 1 , where characterizing one or more database objects by a set of dimensions includes:

characterizing one or more database objects based on a size dimension.

13. The method of claim 1 , where characterizing one or more database objects by a set of dimensions includes:

characterizing one or more database objects based on a longevity dimension.

14. The method of claim 1 , further including:

determining a cost to store the recovery information to one or more data storage units.

15. The method of claim 1 , where storing protection information in the one or more date storage units includes:

mirroring the database object on the one or more data storage units.

16. A computer program, stored on a tangible storage medium, for use in protecting one or more database objects, the computer program including executable instructions that cause a computer to:

designate one or more database objects for protection;

characterize the one or more database objects designated for protection based on a set of dimensions;

characterize one or more data storage units by a set of dimensions; and

for one or more database objects designated for protection:

select one or more data storage units to store protection information for the database object based on a comparison of the set of dimensions for the database object designated for protection and the set of dimensions for the data storage units; and

store protection information for the database object designated for protection in the one or more selected data storage units.

17. The computer program of claim 16 , where the instructions to characterize one or more data storage units by a set of dimensions includes:

characterize one or more data storage units by a reliability dimension.

18. The computer program of claim 17 , where the instructions to characterize one or more data storage units by the reliability dimension further cause the computer to:

characterize one or more data storage units based on one or more characteristics of each data storage unit selected from a group consisting of:

a Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF);

a number of data paths connected to the data storage unit;

a cabinet that houses the data storage unit;

the interconnects of the cabinet that houses the data storage unit;

a chassis that houses the data storage unit;

the data storage facility that houses the data storage unit;

whether the data storage unit supports atomic writes;

whether the data storage unit is volatile;

whether the data store unit is path failure protected; and

one or more power grids connected to the data storage unit.

19. The computer program of claim 16 , where the instructions to characterize one or more data storage units by a set of dimensions further cause the computer to:

characterize one or more data storage units by a performance dimension.

20. The computer program of claim 19 , where the instructions to characterize one or more data storage units by a performance dimension further cause the computer to:

characterize one or more data storage units based on one or more characteristics of each data storage unit of selected from a group consisting of:

a seek time;

a transfer rate;

a rotational speed;

one or more response time statistics;

one or more expected response time as the data storage unit is filled; and

one or more interconnect speeds.

21. The computer program of claim 19 , where the instructions to characterize one or more data storage units by a performance dimension further cause the computer to:

characterize one or more data storage units by an Input/Output mix by one or more of a read/write mix or a request size mix.

22. The computer program of claim 16 , where the instructions to characterize one or more data storage units by a set of dimensions further cause the computer to:

characterize one or more data storage units by a capacity dimension.

23. The computer program of claim 16 , where the instructions to characterize one or more data storage units by a set of dimensions further cause the computer to:

characterize one or more data storage units by a longevity dimension.

24. The computer program of claim 16 , where the instructions to characterize one or more data storage units by a set of dimensions further cause the computer to:

characterize two or more data storage units by a common fault dimension.

25. The computer program of claim 16 , where the instructions to characterize one or more database objects by a set of dimensions further cause the computer to:

characterize one or more database objects based on a reliability dimension.

26. The computer program of claim 16 where the instructions to characterize one or more database objects by a set of dimensions further cause the computer to:

characterize one or more database objects based on a performance dimension.

27. The computer program of claim 16 , where the instructions to characterize one or more database objects by a set of dimensions further cause the computer to:

characterize one or more database objects based on a size dimension.

28. The computer program of claim 16 , where the instructions to characterize one or more database objects by a set of dimensions further cause the computer to:

characterize one or more database objects based on a longevity dimension.

29. The computer program of claim 16 , where the executable instructions further cause the computer to:

determine a cost to store the recovery information to one or more data storage units.

30. The computer program of claim 16 , where the executable instruction to store protection information in the one or more date storage units further cause the computer to:

mirror the database object on the one or more data storage units.

31. An information handling system including:

one or more controllers;

one or more data storage facilities including one or more data storage units, each of the one or more controllers providing access to one or more data storage facilities;

a process for execution on one or more of the controllers for allocating one or more database objects to one or more data storage units, the process including:

designating one or more database objects for protection;

characterizing the one or more database objects designated for protection based on a set of dimensions;

characterizing one or more data storage units by a set of dimensions; and

for one or more database objects designated for protection:

selecting one or more data storage units to store protection information for the database object based on a comparison of the set of dimensions for the database object designated for protection and the set of dimensions for the data storage units; and

storing protection information for the database object designated for protection in the one or more selected data storage units.

32. The information handling system of claim 31 , where characterizing one or more data storage units by a set of dimensions includes:

characterizing one or more data storage units by a reliability dimension.

33. The information handling system of claim 32 , where characterizing one or more data storage units by the reliability dimension includes:

characterizing one or more data storage units based on one or more characteristics of each data storage unit selected from a group consisting of:

a Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF);

a number of data paths connected to the data storage unit;

a cabinet that houses the data storage unit;

the interconnects of the cabinet that houses the data storage unit;

a chassis that houses the data storage unit;

the data storage facility that houses the data storage unit;

whether the data storage unit supports atomic writes;

whether the data storage unit is volatile;

whether the data store unit is path failure protected; and

one or more power grids connected to the data storage unit.

34. The information handling system of claim 31 , where characterizing one or more data storage units by a set of dimensions includes:

characterizing one or more data storage units by a performance dimension.

35. The information handling system of claim 34 , where characterizing one or more data storage units by a performance dimension includes:

characterizing one or more data storage units based on one or more characteristics of each data storage unit of selected from a group consisting of:

a seek time;

a transfer rate;

a rotational speed;

one or more response time statistics; and

one or more expected response time as the data storage unit is filled, one or more interconnect speeds.

36. The information handling system of claim 34 , where characterizing one or more data storage units by a performance dimension includes:

characterizing one or more data storage units by an Input/Output mix by one or more of a read/write mix or a request size mix.

37. The information handling system of claim 31 , where characterizing one or more data storage units by a set of dimensions includes:

characterizing one or more data storage units by a capacity dimension.

38. The information handling system of claim 31 , where characterizing one or more data storage units by a set of dimensions includes:

characterizing one or more data storage units by a longevity dimension.

39. The information handling system of claim 31 , where characterizing one or more data storage units by a set of dimensions includes:

characterizing two or more data storage units by a common fault dimension.

40. The information handling system of claim 31 , where characterizing one or more database objects by a set of dimensions includes:

characterizing one or more database objects based on a reliability dimension.

41. The information handling system of claim 31 , where characterizing one or more database objects by a set of dimensions includes:

characterizing one or more database objects based on a performance dimension.

42. The information handling system of claim 31 , where characterizing one or more database objects by a set of dimensions includes:

characterizing one or more database objects based on a size dimension.

43. The information handling system of claim 31 , where characterizing one or more database objects by a set of dimensions includes:

characterizing one or more database objects based on a longevity dimension.

44. The information handling system of claim 31 , where the process further includes:

determining a cost to store the recovery information to one or more data storage units.

45. The information handling system of claim 31 , where storing protection information in the one or more date storage units includes:

mirroring the database object on the one or more data storage units.