Data reduction reporting in storage systems

1. A method, comprising:

when one or more allocation units in a storage system employ data reduction of the storage system, updating a data reduction counter denoting an amount of data reduction obtained when a data reduction feature associated with the data reduction is employed in the storage system;

generating a snapshot of at least a portion of a file related to the said allocation units, wherein the generation of the snapshot initiates a relationship between the snapshot and the file such that a first relationship exists when the snapshot is generated and a second relationship exists when the snapshot or the file is updated, the first relationship describing a relationship in which one or more indirect blocks including mapping pointers are shared, the second relationship describing a relationship in which one or more indirect blocks including mapping pointers are unshared; and

determining the data reduction attributed to the data reduction feature based on an amount of data reduction denoted by the data reduction counter and an amount of sharing and unsharing in the relationship between the snapshot and the file, wherein the data reduction includes a write-split value, comprising a subset of mapping pointers that are incremented during indirect block write split, and wherein, to accurately determine the data reduction, the space saving due to snap block sharing is excluded by deducting the write-split value when determining the data reduction.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the data reduction counter includes a data reduction count that denotes an amount of data reduction obtained when the data reduction feature is employed in the storage system; and

wherein determining the data reduction attributed to the data reduction feature, comprises:

determining the data reduction count of the data reduction counter;

based on the relationship between the file and the snapshot, determining a value representing a proportion of indirect blocks associated with the file relative to indirect blocks associated with the file and the snapshot; and

multiplying the data reduction count and the value to determine the data reduction attributed to the data reduction feature.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving an operation to update the file or the snapshot in the storage system; and

in response to receiving the operation, transitioning the relationship between the snapshot and the file from the first relationship in which one or more indirect blocks including mapping pointers are shared to the second relationship in which one or more of the indirect blocks including mapping pointers are unshared by the snapshot and the file.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the data reduction counter includes a data reduction count that denotes an amount of data reduction obtained when the data reduction feature is employed in the storage system; and

wherein determining the data reduction attributed to the data reduction feature, comprises:

determining the data reduction count of the data reduction counter;

determining the write-split value representing an increase in the data reduction count resulting from the transition of the first relationship to the second relationship; and

subtracting the write-split value from the data reduction count to determine the data reduction attributed to the data reduction feature.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the data reduction count represents a number of mapping pointers disposed in the respective indirect blocks that are affected by the data reduction feature; and

wherein determining the data reduction attributed to the data reduction feature, comprises:

receiving an update operation in connection with the file or the snapshot;

in response to receiving the said update operation, updating the data reduction count and the write-split value based on the type of the update operation, wherein the data reduction count and the write-split value are either incremented or decremented and the write-split value cannot be decremented below zero; and

subtracting the updated value from the updated data reduction count to determine the data reduction attributed to the data reduction feature.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the data reduction feature associated with the data reduction relates to one or more of pattern matching and deduplication.

7. An apparatus, comprising:

memory; and

processing circuitry coupled to the memory, the memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to:

when one or more allocation units in a storage system a employ data reduction of the storage system, update a data reduction counter denoting an amount of data reduction obtained when a data reduction feature associated with the data reduction is employed in the storage system;

generate a snapshot of at least a portion of a file related to the said allocation units, wherein the generation of the snapshot initiates a relationship between the snapshot and the file such that a first relationship exists when the snapshot is generated and a second relationship exists when the snapshot or the file is updated, the first relationship describing a relationship in which one or more indirect blocks including mapping pointers are shared, the second relationship describing a relationship in which one or more indirect blocks including mapping pointers are unshared; and

determine the data reduction attributed to the data reduction feature based on an amount of data reduction denoted by the data reduction counter and an amount of sharing and/or unsharing in the relationship between the snapshot and the file, wherein the data reduction includes a write-split value, comprising a subset of mapping pointers that are incremented during indirect block write split, and wherein, to accurately determine the data reduction, the space saving due to snap block sharing is excluded by deducting the write-split value when determining the data reduction.

8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the data reduction counter includes a data reduction count that denotes an amount of data reduction obtained when the data reduction feature is employed in the storage system; and

wherein determining the data reduction attributed to the data reduction feature, comprises:

determining the data reduction count of the data reduction counter;

based on the relationship between the file and the snapshot, determining a value representing a proportion of indirect blocks associated with the file relative to indirect blocks associated with the file and the snapshot; and

multiplying the data reduction count and the value to determine the data reduction attributed to the data reduction feature.

9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7 , further comprising:

receiving an operation to update the file or the snapshot in the storage system; and

in response to receiving the operation, transitioning the relationship between the snapshot and the file from the first relationship in which one or more indirect blocks including mapping pointers are shared to the second relationship in which one or more of the indirect blocks including mapping pointers are unshared by the snapshot and the file.

10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the data reduction counter includes a data reduction count that denotes an amount of data reduction obtained when the data reduction feature is employed in the storage system; and

wherein determining the data reduction attributed to the data reduction feature, comprises:

determining the data reduction count of the data reduction counter;

determining the write-split value representing an increase in the data reduction count resulting from the transition of the first relationship to the second relationship; and

subtracting the write-split value from the data reduction count to determine the data reduction attributed to the data reduction feature.

11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the data reduction count represents a number of mapping pointers disposed in the respective indirect blocks that are affected by the data reduction feature; and

wherein determining the data reduction attributed to the data reduction feature, comprises:

receiving an update operation in connection with the file or the snapshot;

in response to receiving the said update operation, updating the data reduction count and the write-split value based on the type of the update operation, wherein the data reduction count and the write-split value are either incremented or decremented and the write-split value cannot be decremented below zero; and

subtracting the updated value from the updated data reduction count to determine the data reduction attributed to the data reduction feature.

12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the data reduction feature associated with the data reduction relates to one or more of pattern matching and deduplication.

13. A computer program product having a non-transitory computer readable medium which stores a set of instructions, the set of instructions, when carried out by processing circuitry, causing the processing circuitry to perform a method of:

when one or more allocation units in a storage system employ data reduction of the storage system, updating a data reduction counter denoting an amount of data reduction obtained when a data reduction feature associated with the data reduction is employed in the storage system;

generating a snapshot of at least a portion of a file related to the said allocation units, wherein the generation of the snapshot initiates a relationship between the snapshot and the file such that a first relationship exists when the snapshot is generated and a second relationship exists when the snapshot or the file is updated, the first relationship describing a relationship in which one or more indirect blocks including mapping pointers are shared, the second relationship describing a relationship in which one or more indirect blocks including mapping pointers are unshared; and

determining the data reduction attributed to the data reduction feature based on an amount of data reduction denoted by the data reduction counter and an amount of sharing and/or unsharing in the relationship between the snapshot and the file, wherein the data reduction includes a write-split value, comprising a subset of mapping pointers that are incremented during indirect block write split, and wherein, to accurately determine the data reduction, the space saving due to snap block sharing is excluded by deducting the write-split value when determining the data reduction.

14. The computer program product as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the data reduction counter includes a data reduction count that denotes an amount of data reduction obtained when the data reduction feature is employed in the storage system; and

wherein determining the data reduction attributed to the data reduction feature, comprises:

determining the data reduction count of the data reduction counter;

based on the relationship between the file and the snapshot, determining a value representing a proportion of indirect blocks associated with the file relative to indirect blocks associated with the file and the snapshot; and

multiplying the data reduction count and the value to determine the data reduction attributed to the data reduction feature.

15. The computer program product as claimed in claim 13 , further comprising:

receiving an operation to update the file or the snapshot in the storage system; and

in response to receiving the operation, transitioning the relationship between the snapshot and the file from the first relationship in which one or more indirect blocks including mapping pointers are shared to the second relationship in which one or more of the indirect blocks including mapping pointers are unshared by the snapshot and the file.

16. The computer program product as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the data reduction counter includes a data reduction count that denotes an amount of data reduction obtained when the data reduction feature is employed in the storage system; and

wherein determining the data reduction attributed to the data reduction feature, comprises:

determining the data reduction count of the data reduction counter;

determining the write-split value representing an increase in the data reduction count resulting from the transition of the first relationship to the second relationship; and

subtracting the write-split value from the data reduction count to determine the data reduction attributed to the data reduction feature.

17. The computer program product as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the data reduction count represents a number of mapping pointers disposed in the respective indirect blocks that are affected by the data reduction feature; and

wherein determining the data reduction attributed to the data reduction feature, comprises:

receiving an update operation in connection with the file or the snapshot;

in response to receiving the said update operation, updating the data reduction count and the write-split value based on the type of the update operation, wherein the data reduction count and the write-split value are either incremented or decremented and the write-split value cannot be decremented below zero; and

subtracting the updated value from the updated data reduction count to determine the data reduction attributed to the data reduction feature.

18. The computer program product as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the data reduction feature associated with the data reduction relates to one or more of pattern matching and deduplication.