Dynamically adjustable transaction log

1. A method of managing a circular transaction log in a data storage system, the log having a head and a tail, the method comprising:

receiving, by a storage processor of the data storage system from a set of remote requestors, requests specifying data to be written to a data object served to the remote requestors by the data storage system;

in response to receiving the requests, adding, by the storage processor, log entries to the log, each log entry containing data specified by a corresponding one of requests, the log entries being added to the log at or after the tail of the log and before the head and being flushed from the log at the head, the tail moving forward within the log towards the head as the log entries are added;

dynamically increasing, by the storage processor in response to a trigger event indicating that the log is nearly full, a size of the log by inserting additional storage space into the log at or after the tail and before the head, wherein inserting the additional storage space into the log at or after the tail and before the head enables log entries to continue to be added to the log within the additional storage space without any log entries being flushed at the head, in order to account for a rate at which entries are added to the log exceeding a rate at which entries are flushed from the log, without entries currently stored in the log being moved or copied to a larger sized log; and

synchronizing data contained in log entries to the data object that is served to the remote requestors when log entries are flushed from the log.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, in response to a second trigger event that occurs after inserting a first set of additional storage space to the log:

detecting whether log entries have been flushed from the log up to and including a last log entry added to the log before the first set of additional storage space was used to store any log entries; and

further increasing the size of the log by inserting a second set of additional storage space into the log responsive to detecting that log entries have been flushed from the log up to and including a last log entry added to the log before the first set of additional storage space was used to store any log entries.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the log is implemented within a range of contiguous physical addresses of a file system operated by the data storage system, and

wherein inserting additional storage space into the log includes provisioning an extent of contiguous physical addresses to the file system for use by the log to store log entries.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising dynamically contracting the log by:

detecting a contraction trigger, the contraction trigger indicating that the previously inserted additional storage space is no longer needed to store log entries; and

removing the previously inserted storage space from the log in response to detecting the contraction trigger, such that the extent of contiguous physical addresses is no longer available for use by the log to store log entries and may be provisioned for another purpose.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the trigger event indicates that a rate at which requests were received during a previous time period exceeds a threshold rate; and

wherein the threshold is a maximum rate at which requests can be received without the log becoming full.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

flushing previously added log entries from the log, wherein the log entries being flushed are located at or after the head of the log and before the tail, wherein flushing the log entries located at or after the head of the log and before the tail from the log includes synchronizing data contained in the log entries located at or after the head of the log and before the tail to the data object served by the storage system by writing the data contained in the log entries located at or after the head of the log and before the tail to the data object served to the remote requestors by the data storage system and moving the head forward within the log toward the tail as log entries are flushed; and

wherein the trigger event indicates that a rate at which log entries were flushed from the log during a previous time period fell below a threshold, wherein the threshold is a minimum rate at which log entries must be flushed without the log becoming full.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the log is made up of a plurality of sequentially numbered slots, each slot operable to store one of the log entries, and wherein adding each log entry to the log includes storing the log entry to a slot indicated by the tail of the log and moving the tail of the log forward to a next slot after adding the log entry, and further comprising:

assigning a unique identifier to each log entry added to the log, by assigning sequentially higher integer values to sequentially added log entries;

storing an identifier of a last log entry added to the log prior to using the additional storage space to store any log entries; and

after inserting the additional storage space into the log, calculating a position of a slot storing a log entry based on an identifier assigned to the log entry and the identifier of the last log entry added to the log prior to using the additional storage space to store any log entries.

8. A data storage system, comprising a storage processor having control circuitry that includes a set of processing units coupled to memory, the control circuitry of the storage processor constructed and arranged to:

receive, from a set of remote requestors, requests specifying data to be written to a data object served to the remote requestors by the data storage system;

in response to receiving the requests, add log entries to the log, each log entry containing data specified by a corresponding one of the requests, the log entries being added to the log at or after the tail of the log and before the head and being flushed from the log at the head, the tail moving forward within the log towards the head as the log entries are added;

dynamically increase, in response to a trigger event indicating that the log is nearly full, a size of the log by inserting additional storage space into the log at or after the tail and before the head, wherein inserting the additional storage space into the log at or after the tail and before the head enables log entries to continue to be added to the log within the additional storage space without any log entries being flushed at the head, in order to account for a rate at which entries are added to the log exceeding a rate at which entries are flushed from the log, without entries currently stored in the log being moved or copied to a larger sized log; and

synchronize data contained in log entries to the data object that is served to the remote requestors when log entries are flushed from the log.

9. The data storage system of claim 8 , the control circuitry further constructed and arranged to, in response to a second trigger event that occurs after inserting a first set of additional storage space to the log:

detect whether log entries have been flushed from the log up to and including a last log entry added to the log before the first set of additional storage space was used to store any log entries; and

further increase the size of the log by inserting a second set of additional storage space into the log responsive to detecting that log entries have been flushed from the log up to and including a last log entry added to the log before the first set of additional storage space was used to store any log entries.

10. The data storage system of claim 8 , wherein the log is implemented within a range of contiguous physical addresses of a file system operated by the data storage system, and

wherein inserting additional storage space into the log includes provisioning an extent of contiguous physical addresses to the file system for use by the log to store log entries.

11. The data storage system of claim 10 , the control circuitry further constructed and arranged to dynamically contract the log by:

detecting a contraction trigger, the contraction trigger indicating that the previously inserted additional storage space is no longer needed to store log entries; and

removing the previously inserted storage space from the log in response to detecting the contraction trigger, such that the extent of contiguous physical addresses is no longer available for use by the log to store log entries and may be provisioned for another purpose.

12. The data storage system of claim 8 , wherein the trigger event indicates that a rate at which requests were received during a previous time period exceeds a threshold rate; and

wherein the threshold is a maximum rate at which requests can be received without the log becoming full.

13. The data storage system of claim 8 , the control circuitry further constructed and arranged to:

flush previously added log entries from the log, the log entries being flushed located at or after the head of the log and before tail, wherein flushing the log entries located at or after the head of the log and before the tail from the log includes synchronizing data contained in the log entries located at or after the head of the log and before the tail to the data object served by the storage system by writing the data contained in the log entries located at or after the head of the log and before the tail to the data object served to the remote requestors by the data storage system and moving the head forward within the log toward the tail as log entries are flushed; and

wherein the trigger event indicates that a rate at which log entries were flushed from the log during a previous time period fell below a threshold, wherein the threshold is a minimum rate at which log entries must be flushed without the log becoming full.

14. The data storage system of claim 8 , wherein the log is made up of a plurality of sequentially numbered slots, each slot operable to store one of the log entries, and wherein adding each log entry to the log includes storing the log entry to a slot indicated by the tail of the log and moving the tail of the log forward to a next slot after adding the log entry, and wherein the control circuitry is further constructed and arranged to:

assign a unique identifier to each log entry added to the log, by assigning sequentially higher integer values to sequentially added log entries;

store an identifier of a last log entry added to the log prior to using the additional storage space to store any log entries; and

after inserting the additional storage space into the log, calculate a position of a slot storing a log entry based on an identifier assigned to the log entry and the identifier of the last log entry added to the log prior to using the additional storage space to store any log entries.

15. The method of claim 8 , wherein the trigger event indicating that the log is nearly full is issued responsive to detecting that the tail indicates a slot that immediately precedes a slot indicated by the head, whereby the trigger event indicating that the log is nearly full occurs when only a single slot is available for storing a log entry.

16. A computer program product including a set of non-transitory, computer-readable media having instructions which, when executed by control circuitry of a data storage system, cause the control circuitry to perform a method of managing a circular transaction log in a data storage system, the method comprising:

receiving, by a storage processor of the data storage system from a set of remote requestors, requests specifying data to be written to a data object served to the remote requestors by the data storage system;

in response to receiving the requests, adding, by the storage processor, log entries to the log, each log entry containing data specified by a corresponding one of the requests, the log entries being added to the log at or after the tail of the log and before the head and being flushed from the log at the head, the tail moving forward within the log towards the head as the log entries are added;

dynamically increasing, by the storage processor in response to a trigger event indicating that the log is nearly full, a size of the log by inserting additional storage space into the log at or after the tail and before the head, wherein inserting the additional storage space into the log at or after the tail and before the head enables log entries to continue to be added to the log within the additional storage space without any log entries being flushed at the head, in order to account for a rate at which entries are added to the log exceeding a rate at which entries are flushed from the log, without entries currently stored in the log being moved or copied to a larger sized log; and

synchronizing data contained in log entries to the data object that is served to the remote requestors when log entries are flushed from the log.

17. The computer program product of claim 16 , the method further comprising, in response to a second trigger event that occurs after inserting a first set of additional storage space to the log:

detecting whether log entries have been flushed from the log up to and including a last log entry added to the log before the first set of additional storage space was used to store any log entries; and

further increasing the size of the log by inserting a second set of additional storage space into the log responsive to detecting that log entries have been flushed from the log up to and including a last log entry added to the log before the first set of additional storage space was used to store any log entries.

18. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the log is implemented within a range of contiguous physical addresses of a file system operated by the data storage system, and

wherein inserting additional storage space into the log includes provisioning an extent of contiguous physical addresses to the file system for use by the log to store log entries.

19. The computer program product of claim 18 , wherein the method further comprises:

dynamically contracting the log by

detecting a contraction trigger, the contraction trigger indicating that the previously inserted additional storage space is no longer needed to store log entries, and

removing the previously inserted storage space from the log in response to detecting the contraction trigger, such that the extent of contiguous physical addresses is no longer available for use by the log to store log entries and may be provisioned for another purpose.

20. The method of claim 15 , wherein the storage processor is communicably coupled to a network through a communication interface of the storage processor;

wherein the set of remote requestors comprises a plurality of host computing devices that are also communicably coupled to the network;

wherein receiving the requests by the storage processor from the set of remote requestors comprises receiving, through the communication interface of the storage processor, write requests that were transmitted by the host computing devices over the network; and

wherein for each one of the requests, responsive to the storage processor storing the data specified by the request into a corresponding one of the log entries added to the log, the storage processor transmits an acknowledgement message indicating completion of the request, through the communication interface of the storage processor over the network to a host computing device that transmitted the request to the storage processor.