Optimizing clustered network attached storage (NAS) usage

1. A method for optimizing usage of a clustered-network attached storage (NAS), said method comprising:

configuring the clustered NAS by determining A number of addresses and N number of nodes in the clustered NAS that produces L amount of load for P number of client systems producing each an equivalent and constant load, and coupled to the clustered NAS such that said A number of addresses enables said P number of client systems to evenly access said N number of nodes for sharing said L amount of load, wherein each node of said N number of nodes is configured to produce a respective h amount of load, and wherein N is greater than 2;

configuring a respective set of addresses selected from said A number of addresses such that said P number of client systems accesses said N number of nodes via the respective set of addresses during production of said L amount of load by said P number of client systems; and

administering service of the clustered NAS, concurrently with the production by said P number of client systems, by monitoring and optimizing the service of said N number of nodes in the clustered NAS such that the clustered NAS compensates a failure of a node in the clustered NAS and such that the clustered NAS seamlessly services the production of said L amount of load by said P number of client systems,

wherein said configuring the clustered NAS comprises:

computing said L as a maximum amount of load that said P number of client systems generate to be serviced by the clustered NAS;

computing said N as a function of L/h to represents a number of nodes in the clustered NAS to service the computed L amount of load; and

calculating said A that represents a number of addresses necessary for the computed N number of nodes in the clustered NAS as A=N(N−1).

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the function of L/h is Roundup (L/h)+1.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said configuring the respective set of addresses comprises:

distributing said A number of addresses over said N number of nodes by round-robin (RR), wherein the addresses are consecutive within a list of addresses, such that said each node is associated with a respective set of (N−1) addresses, and such that any two individual addresses in the respective set of (N−1) addresses are distant from each other by N number of entries in the list of addresses;

assigning a respective set of N consecutive addresses in the list to each client system of said P number of client systems by RR, wherein the N consecutive addresses in the list respectively corresponds to said each node, such that said each client system has access to all nodes in the clustered NAS by use of the N consecutive addresses in the respective set, and such that a respective address for said each node uniformly shares L/N amount of load for said each node.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said administering comprises:

monitoring said N number of nodes in the clustered NAS during the production by said P number of client systems;

determining that a first node of said N number of nodes has failed based on said monitoring; and

redistributing a first set of (N−1) addresses and corresponding load previously associated with the first node to the rest of (N−1) nodes of the clustered NAS such that said P number of client systems access the rest of (N−1) nodes by use of said A number of addresses during the production by said P number of client systems.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein said redistributing comprises:

distributing the first set of (N−1) addresses to the rest of (N−1) nodes that are normally operating by round-robin (RR) such that each operating node of the rest of (N−1) nodes is associated with a new respective set of N addresses, and such that the new respective set of N addresses further comprises a respective additional address from the first set of (N−1) addresses for the first node selected by RR for said each operating node;

assigning a respective load associated with each address of the first set of (N−1) addresses to said each operating node such that said each operating node services the new respective set of N addresses for uniformly shared (L/(N−1)) load for the production by said P number of client systems.

6. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer readable memory unit that embodies a computer readable program code, said computer readable program code containing instructions that perform optimizing usage of a clustered-network attached storage (NAS), said optimizing comprising:

configuring the clustered NAS by determining A number of addresses and N number of nodes in the clustered NAS that produces L amount of load for P number of client systems producing each an equivalent and constant load, and coupled to the clustered NAS such that said A number of addresses enables said P number of client systems to evenly access said N number of nodes for sharing said L amount of load, wherein each node of said N number of nodes is configured to produce a respective h amount of load, and wherein N is greater than 2;

configuring a respective set of addresses selected from said A number of addresses such that said P number of client systems accesses said N number of nodes via the respective set of addresses during production of said L amount of load by said P number of client systems; and

administering service of the clustered NAS, concurrently with the production by said P number of client systems, by monitoring and optimizing the service of said N number of nodes in the clustered NAS such that the clustered NAS compensates a failure of a node in the clustered NAS and such that the clustered NAS seamlessly services the production of said L amount of load by said P number of client systems,

wherein said configuring the clustered NAS comprises:

computing said L as a maximum amount of load that said P number of client systems generate to be serviced by the clustered NAS;

computing said N as a function of L/h to represents a number of nodes in the clustered NAS to service the computed L amount of load; and

calculating said A that represents a number of addresses necessary for the computed N number of nodes in the clustered NAS as A=N(N−1).

7. The computer program product of claim 6 , wherein the function of L/h is Roundup (L/h)+1.

8. The computer program product of claim 6 , wherein said configuring the respective set of addresses comprises:

distributing said A number of addresses over said N number of nodes by round-robin (RR), wherein the addresses are consecutive within a list of addresses, such that said each node is associated with a respective set of (N−1) addresses, and such that any two individual addresses in the respective set of (N−1) addresses are distant from each other by N number of entries in the list of addresses;

assigning a respective set of N consecutive addresses in the list to each client system of said P number of client systems by RR, wherein the N consecutive addresses in the list respectively corresponds to said each node, such that said each client system has access to all nodes in the clustered NAS by use of the N consecutive addresses in the respective set, and such that a respective address for said each node uniformly shares L/N amount of load for said each node.

9. The computer program product of claim 6 , wherein said administering comprises:

monitoring said N number of nodes in the clustered NAS during the production by said P number of client systems;

determining that a first node of said N number of nodes has failed based on said monitoring; and

redistributing a first set of (N−1) addresses and corresponding load previously associated with the first node to the rest of (N−1) nodes of the clustered NAS such that said P number of client systems access the rest of (N−1) nodes by use of said A number of addresses during the production by said P number of client systems.

10. The computer program product of claim 9 , wherein said redistributing comprises:

distributing the first set of (N−1) addresses to the rest of (N−1) nodes that are normally operating by round-robin (RR) such that each operating node of the rest of (N−1) nodes is associated with a new respective set of N addresses, and such that the new respective set of N addresses further comprises a respective additional address from the first set of (N−1) addresses for the first node selected by RR for said each operating node;

assigning a respective load associated with each address of the first set of (N−1) addresses to said each operating node such that said each operating node services the new respective set of N addresses for uniformly shared (L/(N−1)) load for the production by said P number of client systems.

11. A computer system comprising a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, and a computer readable storage device coupled to the processor, said storage device containing computer readable program code configured to be executed by the processor via the memory to implement a method for optimizing usage of a clustered-network attached storage (NAS), said method comprising:

configuring the clustered NAS by determining A number of addresses and N number of nodes in the clustered NAS that produces L amount of load for P number of client systems producing each an equivalent and constant load, and coupled to the clustered NAS such that said A number of addresses enables said P number of client systems to evenly access said N number of nodes for sharing said L amount of load, wherein each node of said N number of nodes is configured to produce a respective h amount of load, and wherein N is greater than 2;

configuring a respective set of addresses selected from said A number of addresses such that said P number of client systems accesses said N number of nodes via the respective set of addresses during production of said L amount of load by said P number of client systems; and

administering service of the clustered NAS, concurrently with the production by said P number of client systems, by monitoring and optimizing the service of said N number of nodes in the clustered NAS such that the clustered NAS compensates a failure of a node in the clustered NAS and such that the clustered NAS seamlessly services the production of said L amount of load by said P number of client systems,

wherein said configuring the clustered NAS comprises:

computing said L as a maximum amount of load that said P number of client systems generate to be serviced by the clustered NAS;

computing said N as a function of L/h to represents a number of nodes in the clustered NAS to service the computed L amount of load; and

calculating said A that represents a number of addresses necessary for the computed N number of nodes in the clustered NAS as A=N(N−1).

12. The computer system of claim 11 , wherein the function of L/h is Roundup(L/h)+1.

13. The computer system of claim 11 , wherein said configuring the respective set of addresses comprises:

distributing said A number of addresses over said N number of nodes by round-robin (RR), wherein the addresses are consecutive within a list of addresses, such that said each node is associated with a respective set of (N−1) addresses, and such that any two individual addresses in the respective set of (N−1) addresses are distant from each other by N number of entries in the list of addresses;

assigning a respective set of N consecutive addresses in the list to each client system of said P number of client systems by RR, wherein the N consecutive addresses in the list respectively corresponds to said each node, such that said each client system has access to all nodes in the clustered NAS by use of the N consecutive addresses in the respective set, and such that a respective address for said each node uniformly shares L/N amount of load for said each node.

14. The computer system of claim 11 , wherein said administering comprises:

monitoring said N number of nodes in the clustered NAS during the production by said P number of client systems;

determining that a first node of said N number of nodes has failed based on said monitoring; and

redistributing a first set of (N−1) addresses and corresponding load previously associated with the first node to the rest of (N−1) nodes of the clustered NAS such that said P number of client systems access the rest of (N−1) nodes by use of said A number of addresses during the production by said P number of client systems.

15. The computer system of claim 14 , wherein said redistributing comprises:

distributing the first set of (N−1) addresses to the rest of (N−1) nodes that are normally operating by round-robin (RR) such that each operating node of the rest of (N−1) nodes is associated with a new respective set of N addresses, and such that the new respective set of N addresses further comprises a respective additional address from the first set of (N−1) addresses for the first node selected by RR for said each operating node;

assigning a respective load associated with each address of the first set of (N−1) addresses to said each operating node such that said each operating node services the new respective set of N addresses for uniformly shared (L/(N−1)) load for the production by said P number of client systems.

16. A process for supporting computer infrastructure, said process comprising providing at least one support service for at least one of creating, integrating, hosting, maintaining, and deploying computer-readable code in a computing system, wherein the code in combination with the computing system is configured to perform a method for optimizing usage of a clustered-network attached storage (NAS), said method comprising:

configuring the clustered NAS by determining A number of addresses and N number of nodes in the clustered NAS that produces L amount of load for P number of client systems producing each an equivalent and constant load, and coupled to the clustered NAS such that said A number of addresses enables said P number of client systems to evenly access said N number of nodes for sharing said L amount of load, wherein each node of said N number of nodes is configured to produce a respective h amount of load, and wherein N is greater than 2;

configuring a respective set of addresses selected from said A number of addresses such that said P number of client systems accesses said N number of nodes via the respective set of addresses during production of said L amount of load by said P number of client systems; and

administering service of the clustered NAS, concurrently with the production by said P number of client systems, by monitoring and optimizing the service of said N number of nodes in the clustered NAS such that the clustered NAS compensates a failure of a node in the clustered NAS and such that the clustered NAS seamlessly services the production of said L amount of load by said P number of client systems,

wherein said configuring the clustered NAS comprises:

computing said L as a maximum amount of load that said P number of client systems generate to be serviced by the clustered NAS;

computing said N as a function of L/h to represents a number of nodes in the clustered NAS to service the computed L amount of load; and

calculating said A that represents a number of addresses necessary for the computed N number of nodes in the clustered NAS as A=N(N−1).

17. The process of claim 16 wherein the function of L/h is Roundup (L/h)+1.

18. The process of claim 16 , wherein said configuring the respective set of addresses comprises:

distributing said A number of addresses over said N number of nodes by round-robin (RR), wherein the addresses are consecutive within a list of addresses, such that said each node is associated with a respective set of (N−1) addresses, and such that any two individual addresses in the respective set of (N−1) addresses are distant from each other by N number of entries in the list of addresses;

assigning a respective set of N consecutive addresses in the list to each client system of said P number of client systems by RR, wherein the N consecutive addresses in the list respectively corresponds to said each node, such that said each client system has access to all nodes in the clustered NAS by use of the N consecutive addresses in the respective set, and such that a respective address for said each node uniformly shares L/N amount of load for said each node.

19. The process of claim 16 , wherein said administering comprises:

monitoring said N number of nodes in the clustered NAS during the production by said P number of client systems;

determining that a first node of said N number of nodes has failed based on said monitoring; and

redistributing a first set of (N−1) addresses and corresponding load previously associated with the first node to the rest of (N−1) nodes of the clustered NAS such that said P number of client systems access the rest of (N−1) nodes by use of said A number of addresses during the production by said P number of client systems.

20. The process of claim 19 , wherein said redistributing comprises:

distributing the first set of (N−1) addresses to the rest of (N−1) nodes that are normally operating by round-robin (RR) such that each operating node of the rest of (N−1) nodes is associated with a new respective set of N addresses, and such that the new respective set of N addresses further comprises a respective additional address from the first set of (N−1) addresses for the first node selected by RR for said each operating node;

assigning a respective load associated with each address of the first set of (N−1) addresses to said each operating node such that said each operating node services the new respective set of N addresses for uniformly shared (L/(N−1)) load for the production by said P number of client systems.