Providing services in a data storage system
A catalog of services defines which storage-related services are applied to each service level of storage where storage capacity is managed and allocated in terms of chunks of capacity at different service levels. Each service level is defined based on one or more of tiered storage policy settings, drive size, drive speed, drive count, RAID protection, engine fractions, bandwidth and availability and characterized by one or more performance capabilities. Examples of services in the catalog include but are not limited to mobility, availability, continuity, and recovery services. Any combination of services, or no services at all, can be associated with a given service level of storage. Services may be performed at different performance levels. Further, services may be provided on-demand and billed on a usage basis.
1. A method for providing infrequently used emergency storage-related services to entities that lack infrastructure to perform those services, comprising:
with a federated storage system that presents storage resources from a plurality of data centers as a single logical set of storage resources, performing storage-related services on-demand in response to requests from the entities, comprising:
a data mobility service that comprises moving a data set from a first storage array in a first data center to a second storage array in second data center,
a data availability service that comprises creating multiple active copies of the data set including creating active copies at different data centers,
and
a data recovery service that comprises recreating hosts at an alternate data center; and
calculating separate billing for each performance of each service on a usage basis, including calculating billing for both usage of the service and utilized storage capacity.
2. The method of claim 1 including a storage vendor utilizing resources of an enterprise or service provider data center to provide the service.
3. The method of claim 1 including utilizing resources of a storage vendor data center to provide the service.
4. The method of claim 1 including billing based on service level and services associated with the service level.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein performing the storage-related service comprises moving a data set to a different storage array.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein performing the storage-related service comprises creating multiple active copies of a data set at different data centers.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein performing the storage-related service comprises creating a snap of a data set.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein performing the storage-related service comprises creating a clone of a data set.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein performing the storage-related service comprises recreating a host at an alternate site.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein performing the storage-related service comprises recreating a data set at an alternate site.
11. An apparatus for providing infrequently used emergency storage-related services to entities that lack infrastructure to perform those services, comprising:
a federated storage system that presents storage resources from a plurality of data centers as a single logical set of storage resources, comprising a first storage array in a first data center on which a data set is stored; and
a storage vendor device comprising a billing module that calculates usage-based billing data for each performance of one of a plurality of a storage-related services on the data set, including calculating billing data for both usage of the service and utilized storage capacity, wherein the storage-related services comprise:
a data mobility service that moves the data set from the first storage array to a second storage array in second data center,
a data availability service that creates multiple active copies of the data set, including creation of active copies at different data centers,
a data recovery service that recreates hosts at an alternate data center.
12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the storage vendor device comprises a catalog of storage-related services comprising information indicating association of different storage resource performance types and storage capacities with each of a plurality of service levels.
13. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the storage vendor device comprises a provisioning module that prompts performance of storage-related services that are listed in a catalog of storage-related services.
14. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the storage vendor device comprises a provisioning module that moves the data set outside the storage array in response to selection of a mobility service from a catalog of storage-related services, and the billing module calculates billing data associated with movement of the data set.
15. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the storage vendor device comprises a provisioning module that creates a second active copy of the data set outside the storage array in response to selection of an availability service from a catalog of storage-related services, and the billing module calculates billing data associated with creation of the second active copy of the data set.
16. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the storage vendor device comprises a provisioning module that creates a snap of the data set in response to selection of a continuity service from a catalog of storage-related services, and the billing module calculates billing data associated with creation of the snap.
17. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the storage vendor device comprises a provisioning module that creates a clone of the data set in response to selection of a continuity service from a catalog of storage-related services, and the billing module calculates billing data associated with creation of the clone.
18. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the storage vendor device comprises a provisioning module that uses the data set to recreate a host in response to selection of a recovery service from a catalog of storage-related services, and the billing module calculates billing data associated with recreation of the host.
19. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the storage vendor device comprises a provisioning module that recreates the data set outside the storage array in response to selection of a recovery service from a catalog of storage-related services, and the billing module calculates billing data associated with recreation of the data set.
20. An apparatus for providing infrequently used emergency storage-related services to entities that lack infrastructure to perform those services, comprising:
a federated storage system that presents storage resources from a plurality of data centers as a single logical set of storage resources, comprising a first storage array in a first data center on which a data set is stored; and
a storage vendor device comprising:
a catalog of storage-related services that are selectable for one-time performance on-demand by the entities, comprising:
a mobility service that moves the stored data set outside the first storage array to a second storage array in second data center;
an availability service that creates a second active copy of the stored data set outside the first storage array, including creation of active copies at different data centers;
a recovery service that uses the stored data set to recreate a host at an alternate data center; and
a recovery service that recreates the data set outside the first storage array at an alternate site data center;
a provisioning module responsive to selection of one of the storage-related services by one of the entities to prompt a single performance of the selected storage-related service on the stored data set; and
a billing module that calculates separate usage-based billing data with for each performance of each of the storage-related services on the stored data set including calculating billing for both usage of the service and utilized storage capacity.