IP Library › Granted Patent US 9,454,311
Granted Patent B2
US 9,454,311 · App. 14/628,955 · Granted Sep 27, 2016

System and method for unbalanced RAID management

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,454,311
App. No.
14/628,955
Granted
Sep 27, 2016
Kind
B2
Abstract

A method for dynamically balancing the allocation of data among a plurality of physical data storage devices having a plurality of RAID devices defined thereon, wherein at least one of the plurality of RAID devices is comprised of at least one of a different type of physical storage device or a different number of physical data storage devices than at least one other of the plurality of RAID devices, includes determining a usage factor unique to each RAID device and balancing data I/O based at least in part on the usage factor.

Claims (38)

1. An information handling system comprising:

a plurality of RAID devices defined on a plurality of physical data storage devices, the plurality of RAID devices being defined in an unbalanced configuration, wherein at least a portion of the RAID devices are not wide-striped across all the physical data storage devices; and

a processing unit dynamically allocating data to the plurality of RAID devices so as to balance data I/O across the plurality of RAID devices, by:

managing a list of free storage locations of the plurality of RAID devices;

determining a usage factor unique to each RAID device, wherein the usage factor is based at least in part on a per RAID device disk usage, which comprises dividing a usage of the RAID device by a number of disks over which the RAID device is striped;

organizing the list of free storage locations based at least in part on the usage factor for each RAID device; and

allocating storage space from the organized list of free storage space based on the organizing.

2. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the usage factor is further based at least in part on an overlapping disk usage, which comprises a sum of the per RAID device disk usage of each RAID device that is striped across a physical disk.

3. The information handling system of claim 2 , wherein the usage factor comprises a sum of the overlapping disk usages of each physical disk that the RAID device is striped across.

4. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to balance data I/O where a RAID device crosses a data storage boundary.

5. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to balance data I/O where a physical disk is added to or removed from the information handling system.

6. A method for dynamically balancing the allocation of data among a plurality of physical data storage devices having a plurality of RAID devices defined thereon, the plurality of RAID devices being defined in an unbalanced configuration, wherein at least a portion of the RAID devices are not wide-striped across all the physical data storage devices, the method comprising:

managing a list of free storage locations of the plurality of RAID devices;

determining a usage factor unique to each RAID device, wherein the usage factor is based at least in part on a per RAID device disk usage, which comprises dividing a usage of the RAID device by a number of disks over which the RAID device is striped;

organizing the list of free storage locations based at least in part on the usage factor for each RAID device; and

balancing data I/O by allocating storage space from the organized list of free storage space based on the organizing.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising removing a RAID device based on the usage factor.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein a RAID device with the lowest usage factor is removed.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein balancing occurs where a RAID device crosses a data storage boundary.

10. A method for allocating space in a storage system comprising a plurality of physical data storage devices having a plurality of RAID devices defined thereon in an unbalanced configuration, wherein at least a portion of the RAID devices are not wide-striped across all the physical data storage devices, the method comprising:

managing a list of free storage locations of the plurality of RAID devices;

for each of the plurality of RAID devices:

calculating an amount of space used on each of the plurality of disks by the RAID device;

calculating a total amount of space used by the RAID device by summing the amount of space used by the RAID device on each of the plurality of disks; and

calculating a usage factor for the RAID device based on a combination of the calculated total amount of space and a relative performance score of each of the plurality of disks;

organizing the list of free storage locations based on the calculated usage factor for each RAID device; and

allocating space from a RAID device from one of the plurality of RAID devices based on the organized list.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein at least one of the plurality of disks is of a different type than at least one other of the plurality of disks.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein at least one of the plurality of disks is of a different size than at least on other of the plurality of disks.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

adding a disk to the plurality of disks;

defining a new RAID device that comprises the added disk;

organizing the list of free storage locations based on a usage factor unique to each such RAID device; and

allocating space from the organized list of free storage space based on the organizing.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the new RAID device comprises both the added disk and at least one of the plurality of disks.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the new RAID device is grouped into a separate group from the plurality of RAID devices.

16. The method of claim 6 , wherein data is allocated among multiple RAID storage devices within a RAID tier, a RAID tier comprising a subset of the plurality of RAID storage devices.

17. The method of claim 10 , wherein space is allocated among multiple RAID storage devices within a RAID tier, a RAID tier comprising a subset of the plurality of RAID storage devices.

Assignments (16)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (053546/0001) Recorded Jun 23, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING L.P. (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.); DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC. AND WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.); EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
Reel/Frame 071642/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (045455/0001) Recorded May 20, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.); DELL MARKETING L.P. (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.); DELL USA L.P.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC. AND WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.); EMC CORPORATION (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO MAGINATICS LLC); EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO MOZY, INC.); SCALEIO LLC
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RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (040136/0001) Recorded Apr 26, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.); DELL MARKETING L.P. (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.); DELL USA L.P.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC. AND WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.); EMC CORPORATION (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO MAGINATICS LLC); EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO MOZY, INC.); SCALEIO LLC
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RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 3, 2021
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
To: DELL USA L.P.; ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; AVENTAIL LLC; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL INTERNATIONAL, L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL SYSTEMS CORPORATION; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; MAGINATICS LLC; MOZY, INC.; SCALEIO LLC; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
Reel/Frame 058216/0001 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Apr 22, 2020
From: CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES INC.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A.
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SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Mar 21, 2019
From: CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A.
Reel/Frame 049452/0223 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 21, 2016
From: ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; AVENTAIL LLC; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL USA L.P.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL SYSTEMS CORPORATION; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; MAGINATICS LLC; MOZY, INC.; SCALEIO LLC; SPANNING CLOUD APPS LLC; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
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SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 21, 2016
From: ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; AVENTAIL LLC; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL USA L.P.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL SYSTEMS CORPORATION; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; MAGINATICS LLC; MOZY, INC.; SCALEIO LLC; SPANNING CLOUD APPS LLC; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
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RELEASE OF REEL 035860 FRAME 0878 (NOTE) Recorded Sep 14, 2016
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RELEASE OF REEL 035858 FRAME 0612 (ABL) Recorded Sep 13, 2016
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MERGER Recorded Mar 10, 2016
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SUPPLEMENT TO PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (NOTES) Recorded Jun 9, 2015
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SUPPLEMENT TO PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (ABL) Recorded Jun 9, 2015
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ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 23, 2015
From: KLEMM, MICHAEL J.; PITTELKO, MICHAEL H.
To: COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES
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