Policy aware framework for application input output management

1. A method for enforcing application-specific quality of service (QoS) requirements over a storage network, the method comprising:

receiving, at an initiator network adapter, an input-output (I/O) command to be transmitted to a storage device associated with a target network adapter, the I/O command being received from a virtual machine executing an application, wherein the I/O command corresponds to an I/O request generated by the application and is tagged with a QoS classification corresponding to QoS requirements of the application;

determining, at the initiator adapter, a QoS value corresponding to the QoS classification of the I/O command, wherein:

the QoS classification indicates a bandwidth requirement;

the target network adapter is associated with a plurality of storage devices including the storage device;

the I/O command is received from the virtual machine through a storage stack configured to process I/O commands received by the application;

the storage stack is configured with a plurality of queues, corresponding to the plurality of devices, the plurality of queues having a corresponding plurality of queue depths;

causing, at the initiator network adapter, the plurality of queue depths to be adjusted based on the bandwidth requirement; and

transmitting, at the initiator network adapter, a data frame including the I/O command and the QoS value to a target network adapter through a switch fabric in a network, the switch fabric having a plurality of switches each configured to forward the data frame based on the QoS value.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the bandwidth requirement indicates a take-all bandwidth requirement; and

causing, at the initiator network adapter, the plurality of queue depths to be adjusted further comprises causing a queue depth of a queue corresponding to the storage device to be set to a queue depth of the initiator adapter and further causing queue depths of the plurality of queue depths to be set to zero.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

receiving, at the initiator network adapter, an I/O command response corresponding to the I/O command from the target adapter through the switch fabric of the network, the switch fabric being configured to forward the I/O command response based on the QoS value;

determining, at the initiator network adapter, that the QoS classification indicates the take-all bandwidth requirement; determining, at the initiator network adapter, whether the I/O command response is a last pending I/O command response with the take-all bandwidth requirement

causing, at the initiator network adapter, the plurality of queue depths to be readjusted upon determining that the I/O command response is the last pending I/O command response; and

transmitting, at the initiator network adapter, the I/O command response to the storage stack.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the determined QoS value indicates a high QoS value.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, at the initiator network adapter, whether there is any other pending I/O command with the take-all bandwidth requirement, wherein causing the plurality of queue depths to be adjusted further comprises causing a queue depth of a queue corresponding to the storage device to be adjusted upon determining there is no other pending I/O command with the take-all bandwidth requirement.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of switches comprise forwarding tables configured by a QoS controller based on capabilities of the corresponding plurality of switches.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the QoS value comprises a class-specific control (CS-CTL) QoS value.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network comprises a Fibre Channel over Ethernet network.

9. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions to be executed in a computer system, wherein the instructions when executed in the computer system perform a method for enforcing application-specific quality of service (QoS) requirements over a storage network, the method comprising:

receiving, at an initiator network adapter, an input-output (I/O) command to be transmitted to a storage device associated with a target network adapter, the I/O command being received from a virtual machine executing an application, wherein the I/O command corresponds to an I/O request generated by the application and is tagged with a QoS classification corresponding to QoS requirements of the application;

determining, at the initiator adapter, a QoS value corresponding to the QoS classification of the I/O command, wherein:

the QoS classification indicates a bandwidth requirement;

the target network adapter is associated with a plurality of storage devices including the storage device;

the I/O command is received from the virtual machine through a storage stack configured to process I/O commands received by the application;

the storage stack is configured with a plurality of queues, corresponding to the plurality of devices, the plurality of queues having a corresponding plurality of queue depths;

causing, at the initiator network adapter, the plurality of queue depths to be adjusted based on the bandwidth requirement; and

transmitting, at the initiator network adapter, a data frame including the I/O command and the QoS value to a target network adapter through a switch fabric in a network, the switch fabric having a plurality of switches each configured to forward the data frame based on the QoS value.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein:

the bandwidth requirement indicates a take-all bandwidth requirement;

causing, at the initiator network adapter, the plurality of queue depths to be adjusted further comprises causing a queue depth of a queue corresponding to the storage device to be set to a queue depth of the initiator adapter and further causing queue depths of the plurality of queue depths to be set to zero.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , further comprising:

receiving, at the initiator network adapter, an I/O command response corresponding to the I/O command from the target adapter through the switch fabric of the network, the switch fabric being configured to forward the I/O command response based on the QoS value;

determining, at the initiator network adapter, that the QoS classification indicates the take-all bandwidth requirement;

determining, at the initiator network adapter, whether the I/O command response is a last pending I/O command response with the take-all bandwidth requirement; and

causing, at the initiator network adapter, the plurality of queue depths to be readjusted upon determining that the I/O command response is the last pending I/O command response; and

transmitting, at the initiator network adapter, the I/O command response to the storage stack.

12. A computer system comprising:

an initiator network adapter;

a non-transitory memory comprising executable instructions; and

a processor in data communication with the memory and configured to execute the instructions to cause the apparatus to perform a method comprising:

receiving, at the initiator network adapter, an input-output (I/O) command to be transmitted to a storage device associated with a target network adapter, the I/O command being received from a virtual machine executing an application, wherein the I/O command corresponds to an I/O request generated by the application and is tagged with a QoS classification corresponding to QoS requirements of the application;

determining, at the initiator adapter, a QoS value corresponding to the QoS classification of the I/O command, wherein:

the QoS classification indicates a bandwidth requirement;

the target network adapter is associated with a plurality of storage devices including the storage device;

the I/O command is received from the virtual machine through a storage stack configured to process I/O commands received by the application;

the storage stack is configured with a plurality of queues, corresponding to the plurality of devices, the plurality of queues having a corresponding plurality of queue depths;

causing, at the initiator network adapter, the plurality of queue depths to be adjusted based on the bandwidth requirement; and

transmitting, at the initiator network adapter, a data frame including the I/O command and the QoS value to a target network adapter through a switch fabric in a network, the switch fabric having a plurality of switches each configured to forward the data frame based on the QoS value.

13. The computer system of claim 12 , wherein: the bandwidth requirement indicates a take-all bandwidth requirement;

causing, at the initiator network adapter, the plurality of queue depths to be adjusted further comprises causing a queue depth of a queue corresponding to the storage device to be set to a queue depth of the initiator adapter and further causing queue depths of the plurality of queue depths to be set to zero.

14. The computer system of claim 13 , further comprising:

receiving, at the initiator network adapter, an I/O command response corresponding to the I/O command from the target adapter through the switch fabric of the network, the switch fabric being configured to forward the I/O command response based on the QoS value;

determining, at the initiator network adapter, that the QoS classification indicates the take-all bandwidth requirement;

determining, at the initiator network adapter, whether the I/O command response is a last pending I/O command response with the take-all bandwidth requirement

causing, at the initiator network adapter, the plurality of queue depths to be readjusted upon determining that the I/O command response is the last pending I/O command response; and

transmitting, at the initiator network adapter, the I/O command response to the storage stack.