Methods, systems, and computer-readable media for boot acceleration in a data storage system by consolidating client-specific boot data in a consolidated boot volume

1. A computer-implemented method for booting a client device using a consolidated boot volume comprising:

receiving, by a storage process module, an I/O operation for one or more blocks of data of one or more virtual storage volumes;

checking, by the storage process module, a table for the one or more virtual storage volumes, to determine if the one or more blocks of data have been copied to the consolidated boot volume, wherein the consolidated boot volume comprises client-specific boot data from the one or more virtual storage volumes, and wherein the table comprises a plurality of entries for mapping the client-specific boot data from the one or more virtual storage volumes to respective locations on the consolidated boot volume; and

determining, by the storage process module, whether to execute the I/O operation against the consolidated boot volume or one of the one or more virtual storage volumes based at least in part on the determination of whether the one or more blocks of data have been copied to the consolidated boot volume.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining, by the storage process module, whether to execute the I/O operation against the consolidated boot volume or one of the one or more virtual storage volumes comprises determining, by the storage process module, that the one or more blocks of data are found by the storage process module in the table and determining that the I/O operation is a read operation and determining, by the storage process module, whether to read the one or more blocks of data from either the consolidated boot volume or the one of the one or more virtual storage volumes.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein determining, by the storage process module, whether to read the one or more blocks of data from either the consolidated boot volume or the one of the one or more virtual storage volumes comprises, executing, by the storage process module, a write I/O operation against the one of the one or more virtual storage volumes, and invalidating corresponding blocks of data in the consolidated boot volume by setting bits in a dirty read bitmap that correspond to an index field from an entry in the table for a targeted block of data.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining, by the storage process module, whether to read the one or more blocks of data from either the consolidated boot volume or the one of the one or more virtual storage volumes comprises checking, by the storage process module, a bit in the dirty read bitmap corresponding to each block of data to be retrieved from the consolidated boot volume, determining whether the bit corresponding to the block of data targeted by the read I/O operation is set in the dirty read bitmap, reading directly from the one of the one or more virtual storage volumes if the bit for the block of data is set in the dirty read bitmap, and retrieving, by the storage process module, the block of data from the consolidated boot volume at a location indicated by the index field in the corresponding entry of the table if the bit for the block of data is not set in the dirty read bitmap.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the client-specific boot data for the consolidated boot volume is determined by collecting boot statistics for the client device regarding input/output operations over a network performed against the one or more virtual storage volumes during a boot period, analyzing the boot statistics to identify the client-specific boot data stored on the one or more virtual storage volumes, and consolidating the client-specific boot data from the one or more virtual storage volumes onto the consolidated boot volume.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining, by the storage process module, whether to execute the I/O operation against the consolidated boot volume or one of the one or more virtual storage volumes comprises determining, by the storage process module, that the one or more blocks of data are not found by the storage process module in the table and executing the I/O operation against the one of the one or more virtual storage volumes.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining, by the storage process module, whether to execute the I/O operation against the consolidated boot volume or one of the one or more virtual storage volumes comprises determining, by the storage process module, that the one or more blocks of data are found by the storage process module in the table and determining that the I/O operation is a write operation and executing the I/O operation against the one of the one or more virtual storage volumes.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a storage system computer, cause the storage system computer to:

receive, by a storage process module, an I/O operation for one or more blocks of data of one or more virtual storage volumes;

check, by the storage process module, a table for the one or more virtual storage volumes, to determine if the one or more blocks of data have been copied to the consolidated boot volume, wherein the consolidated boot volume comprises client-specific boot data from the one or more virtual storage volumes, and wherein the table comprises a plurality of entries for mapping the client-specific boot data from the one or more virtual storage volumes to respective locations on the consolidated boot volume; and

determine, by the storage process module, whether to execute the I/O operation against the consolidated boot volume or one of the one or more virtual storage volumes based at least in part on the determination of whether the one or more blocks of data have been copied to the consolidated boot volume.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein determining, by the storage process module, whether to execute the I/O operation against the consolidated boot volume or one of the one or more virtual storage volumes comprises determining, by the storage process module, that the one or more blocks of data are found by the storage process module in the table and determining that the I/O operation is a read operation and determining, by the storage process module, whether to read the one or more blocks of data from either the consolidated boot volume or the one of the one or more virtual storage volumes.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein determining, by the storage process module, whether to read the one or more blocks of data from either the consolidated boot volume or the one of the one or more virtual storage volumes comprises, executing, by the storage process module, a write I/O operation against the one of the one or more virtual storage volumes, and invalidating corresponding blocks of data in the consolidated boot volume by setting bits in a dirty read bitmap that correspond to an index field from an entry in the table for a targeted block of data.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein determining, by the storage process module, whether to read the one or more blocks of data from either the consolidated boot volume or the one of the one or more virtual storage volumes comprises checking, by the storage process module, a bit in the dirty read bitmap corresponding to each block of data to be retrieved from the consolidated boot volume, determining whether the bit corresponding to the block of data targeted by the read I/O operation is set in the dirty read bitmap, reading directly from the one of the one or more virtual storage volumes if the bit for the block of data is set in the dirty read bitmap, and retrieving, by the storage process module, the block of data from the consolidated boot volume at a location indicated by the index field in the corresponding entry of the table if the bit for the block of data is not set in the dirty read bitmap.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein the client-specific boot data for the consolidated boot volume is determined by collecting boot statistics for the client device regarding input/output operations over a network performed against the one or more virtual storage volumes during a boot period, analyzing the boot statistics to identify the client-specific boot data stored on the one or more virtual storage volumes, and consolidating the client-specific boot data from the one or more virtual storage volumes onto the consolidated boot volume.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein determining, by the storage process module, whether to execute the I/O operation against the consolidated boot volume or one of the one or more virtual storage volumes comprises determining, by the storage process module, that the one or more blocks of data are not found by the storage process module in the table and executing the I/O operation against the one of the one or more virtual storage volumes.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein determining, by the storage process module, whether to execute the I/O operation against the consolidated boot volume or one of the one or more virtual storage volumes comprises determining, by the storage process module, that the one or more blocks of data are found by the storage process module in the table and determining that the I/O operation is a write operation and executing the I/O operation against the one of the one or more virtual storage volumes.

15. A data storage system comprising:

a storage system computer;

a physical storage device operably connected to the storage system computer;

a processing unit associated with the storage system computer; and

a storage process module executing on the processing unit and configured to:

receive an I/O operation for one or more blocks of data of one or more virtual storage volumes;

check a table for the one or more virtual storage volumes, to determine if the one or more blocks of data have been copied to the consolidated boot volume, wherein the consolidated boot volume comprises client-specific boot data from the one or more virtual storage volumes, and wherein the table comprises a plurality of entries for mapping the client-specific boot data from the one or more virtual storage volumes to respective locations on the consolidated boot volume; and

determine whether to execute the I/O operation against the consolidated boot volume or one of the one or more virtual storage volumes based at least in part on the determination of whether the one or more blocks of data have been copied to the consolidated boot volume.

16. The data storage system of claim 15 , wherein determining, by the storage process module, whether to execute the I/O operation against the consolidated boot volume or one of the one or more storage virtual volumes comprises determining, by the storage process module, that the one or more blocks of data are found by the storage process module in the table and determining that the I/O operation is a read operation and determining, by the storage process module, whether to read the one or more blocks of data from either the consolidated boot volume or the one of the one or more virtual storage volumes.

17. The data storage system of claim 16 , wherein determining, by the storage process module, whether to read the one or more blocks of data from either the consolidated boot volume or the one of the one or more virtual storage volumes comprises, executing, by the storage process module, a write I/O operation against the one of the one or more virtual storage volumes, and invalidating corresponding blocks of data in the consolidated boot volume by setting bits in a dirty read bitmap that correspond to an index field from an entry in the table for a targeted block of data.

18. The data storage system of claim 17 , wherein determining, by the storage process module, whether to read the one or more blocks of data from either the consolidated boot volume or the one of the one or more virtual storage volumes comprises checking, by the storage process module, a bit in the dirty read bitmap corresponding to each block of data to be retrieved from the consolidated boot volume, determining whether the bit corresponding to the block of data targeted by the read I/O operation is set in the dirty read bitmap, reading directly from the one of the one or more virtual storage volumes if the bit for the block of data is set in the dirty read bitmap, and retrieving, by the storage process module, the block of data from the consolidated boot volume at a location indicated by the index field in the corresponding entry of the table if the bit for the block of data is not set in the dirty read bitmap.

19. The data storage system of claim 15 , wherein the client-specific boot data for the consolidated boot volume is determined by collecting boot statistics for the client device regarding input/output operations over a network performed against the one or more virtual storage volumes during a boot period, analyzing the boot statistics to identify the client-specific boot data stored on the one or more virtual storage volumes, and consolidating the client-specific boot data from the one or more virtual storage volumes onto the consolidated boot volume.

20. The data storage system of claim 15 , wherein determining, by the storage process module, whether to execute the I/O operation against the consolidated boot volume or one of the one or more virtual storage volumes comprises determining, by the storage process module, that the one or more blocks of data are not found by the storage process module in the table and executing the I/O operation against the one of the one or more virtual storage volumes.

21. The data storage system of claim 15 , wherein determining, by the storage process module, whether to execute the I/O operation against the consolidated boot volume or one of the one or more virtual storage volumes comprises determining, by the storage process module, that the one or more blocks of data are found by the storage process module in the table and determining that the I/O operation is a write operation and executing the I/O operation against the one of the one or more virtual storage volumes.