Virtual drive mapping
View Patent ↗The automatic mapping of a set of physical drives to virtual drives is disclosed. Given a maximum set of n physical servers, S 1 -S n , and a maximum set of m physical drives, D 1 -D m , a mapping of a set of virtual drives, V 1 -V n , to the physical drives D 1 -D m , is created, assuming n and m are fixed and known, and one virtual drive is created per server. Physical drives of size Dsize are organized into a maximum of p “Stripe Sets” SS 1 -SS p , each Stripe Set containing an equal number of physical drives. Each virtual drive will have a size, Vsize=(m*Dsize)/n (rounded down to the nearest integer). Virtual drives are mapped sequentially to Stripe Sets, starting with V 1 mapped to SS 1 . Successive virtual drives are mapped to Stripe Sets until all virtual drives have been mapped to a Stripe Set.
1. A storage system, comprising:
a plurality of physical drives grouped into a plurality of stripe sets, wherein each stripe set has an equal number of physical drives,
a blade server operable to create a first virtual drive,
wherein the blade server is operable to determine a common storage space size based on a smallest storage space size of a first of the plurality of physical drives in the storage system, to establish a storage space size of the first virtual drive that is less than the common storage space multiplied by a number of physical drives in the storage system, and to map the first virtual drive to a first of the stripe sets;
wherein the blade server is further operable to create a second virtual drive having a same storage space size of the first virtual drive, and to determine a remaining storage space size of the first stripe set, and
wherein, if the remaining storage space size of the first stripe set is greater than zero bytes, the blade server is further operable to map at least a portion of the second virtual drive to the first stripe set, otherwise the blade server is further operable to map the second virtual drive to a second of the stripe sets.
2. The storage system of claim 1 , further comprising:
another blade server operable to determine a remaining storage space size of the physical drives,
wherein, if the remaining storage space size of the physical drives is greater than a storage space size of the first virtual drive, the other blade server is further operable to create a third virtual drive having a same storage space size of the first virtual drive, and to map the third virtual drive to one or more of the stripe sets.
3. The storage system of claim 1 , further comprising:
another plurality of physical drives grouped into one or more stripe sets.
4. The storage system of claim 1 , wherein:
the blade server is further operable to determine the common storage space size through discovery of the physical drives.
5. The storage system of claim 1 , wherein:
the blade server is further operable to determine a common virtual drive size for all virtual drives by multiplying the number of physical drives by the common storage space size in the storage system and dividing that number by a number of virtual drives in the storage system.
6. The storage system of claim 1 , wherein:
the first stripe set comprises two or more physical drives.
7. The storage system of claim 6 , wherein:
the blade server is further operable to determine a storage space size for the first stripe set by multiplying the common storage space size by an integer number of physical drives in the first stripe set.
8. A method operable in a storage system, the method comprising:
grouping a plurality of physical drives into a plurality of stripe sets, wherein each stripe set has an equal number of physical drives; and
via a blade server:
creating a first virtual drive;
determining a common storage space size based on a smallest storage space size of a first of the plurality of physical drives in the storage system;
establishing a storage space size of the first virtual drive that is less than the common storage space multiplied by a number of physical drives in the storage system;
mapping the first virtual drive to a first of the stripe sets;
creating a second virtual drive having a same storage space size of the first virtual drive;
determining a remaining storage space size of the first stripe set; and
if the remaining storage space size of the first stripe set is greater than zero bytes, mapping at least a portion of the second virtual drive to the first stripe set, otherwise mapping the second virtual drive to a second of the stripe sets.
9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
via another blade server:
determining a remaining storage space size of the physical drives; and
if the remaining storage space size of the physical drives is greater than a storage space size of the first virtual drive, creating a third virtual drive having a same storage space size of the first virtual drive, and mapping the third virtual drive to one or more of the stripe sets.
10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
grouping another plurality of physical drives into one or more stripe sets.
11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
via the blade server, determining the common storage space size through discovery of the physical drives.
12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
via the blade server, determining a common virtual drive size for all virtual drives by multiplying the number of physical drives by the common storage space size in the storage system and dividing that number by a number of virtual drives in the storage system.
13. The method of claim 8 , wherein:
the first stripe set comprises two or more physical drives.
14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
via the blade server, determining a storage space size for the first stripe set by multiplying the common storage space size by an integer number of physical drives in the first stripe set.
15. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors in a storage system, direct the one or more processors to:
group a plurality of physical drives grouped into a plurality of stripe sets, wherein each stripe set has an equal number of physical drives; and
via a blade server:
create a first virtual drive;
determine a common storage space size based on a smallest storage space size of a first of the plurality of physical drives in the storage system;
establish a storage space size of the first virtual drive that is less than the common storage space multiplied by a number of physical drives in the storage system;
map the first virtual drive to a first of the stripe sets;
create a second virtual drive having a same storage space size of the first virtual drive;
determine a remaining storage space size of the first stripe set; and
if the remaining storage space size of the first stripe set is greater than zero bytes, map at least a portion of the second virtual drive to the first stripe set, otherwise map the second virtual drive to a second of the stripe sets.
16. The computer readable medium of claim 15 , further comprising instructions that direct the one or more processors to:
via another blade server:
determine a remaining storage space size of the physical drives; and
if the remaining storage space size of the physical drives is greater than a storage space size of the first virtual drive, create a third virtual drive having a same storage space size of the first virtual drive, and map the third virtual drive to one or more of the stripe sets.
17. The computer readable medium of claim 15 , further comprising instructions that direct the one or more processors to:
group another plurality of physical drives into one or more stripe sets.
18. The computer readable medium of claim 15 , further comprising instructions that direct the one or more processors to:
via the blade server, determine the common storage space size through discovery of the physical drives.
19. The computer readable medium of claim 15 , further comprising instructions that direct the one or more processors to:
via the blade server, determine a common virtual drive size for all virtual drives by multiplying the number of physical drives by the common storage space size in the storage system and dividing that number by a number of virtual drives in the storage system.
20. The computer readable medium of claim of claim 15 , wherein:
the first stripe set comprises two or more physical drives; and
the computer readable medium further comprises instructions that direct the one or more processors to, via the blade server, determine a storage space size for the first stripe set by multiplying the common storage space size by an integer number of physical drives in the first stripe set.