Method for assigning storage area and computer system using the same

Abstract

When a method for relocating data to a preferable storage area based on access frequency is applied to virtual machines, it takes a long time for determining volumes that are not accessed, and the access performance is deteriorated. The present invention provides a system and method in which a utilization status of a virtual machine is checked by the storage system, and pages used by virtual machines not being utilized are relocated promptly to lower tiers and pages used by virtual machines being utilized are relocated promptly to higher tiers, according to which the performance of the system is improved.

1 . A storage system coupled to a host computer, comprising:
 a processor configured to provide a plurality of virtual volumes to the host computer which is configured to operate at least one virtual machine; and   a memory configured to store virtual machine information related to a status of the virtual machine operated on the host processor;   wherein the processor is configured to manage a pool provided by a first type of storage devices corresponding to a first tier and a second type of storage devices which is different from the first type of storage devices, corresponding to a second tier,   wherein the processor is configured to manage a plurality of pages in the pool including both of the first tier and the second tier, and to allocate a page corresponding to the first tier from the pool to a part of the plurality of virtual volumes in response to a write request from the host computer,   wherein the processor is configured to relocate the page which has allocated to the part of the plurality of virtual volumes from the first tier to the second tier based on the virtual machine information of the virtual machine.   
     
     
         2 . The storage system according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the first type of storage devices have higher performance than the second types of storage devices.   
     
     
         3 . The storage system according to  claim 2 ,
 wherein the virtual machine information of the virtual machine includes at least one of:   (1) information on whether a power supply of the host computer is on or off,   (2) logon or logoff information of the virtual machine on the host computer;   (3) information on whether an OS of the virtual machine is started;   (4) information on whether the virtual machine is suspended or resumed;   (5) path information of the virtual machine;   (6) failure information of the virtual machine; and   (7) usage information of a virtual port of the virtual machine.   
     
     
         4 . The storage system according to  claim 3 ,
 wherein the processor is configured to relocate the page upon at least one of the following situations:
 (1) updating the virtual machine information of the virtual machine by receiving a change of the status of the virtual machine from the host computer: 
 (2) updating the virtual machine information of the virtual machine by receiving a change of the status of the virtual machine from a management server coupled to the host computer and the storage system. 
   
     
     
         5 . A method for processing data in a storage system, comprising:
 providing a plurality of virtual volumes to a host computer which is configured to operate at least one virtual machine;   storing virtual machine information related to a status of the virtual machine operated on the host processor;   managing a pool provided by a first type of storage devices corresponding to a first tier and a second type of storage devices which is different from the first type of storage devices, corresponding to a second tier;   managing a plurality of pages in the pool including both of the first tier and the second tier, and to allocate a page corresponding to the first tier from the pool to a part of the plurality of virtual volumes in response to a write request from the host computer; and   relocating the page which has allocated to the part of the plurality of virtual volumes from the first tier to the second tier based on the virtual machine information of the virtual machine.   
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 5 ,
 wherein the first type of storage devices have higher performance than the second types of storage devices.   
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 6 ,
 wherein the virtual machine information of the virtual machine includes at least one of:   (1) information on whether a power supply of the host computer is on or off;   (2) logon or logoff information of the virtual machine on the host computer;   (3) information on whether an OS of the virtual machine is started;   (4) information on whether the virtual machine is suspended or resumed;   (5) path information of the virtual machine;   (6) failure information of the virtual machine; and   (7) usage information of a virtual port of the virtual machine.   
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 7 ,
 wherein relocating the page is executed upon at least one of the following situations:   (1) updating the virtual machine information of the virtual machine by receiving a change of the status of the virtual machine from the host computer;   (2) updating the virtual machine information of the virtual machine by receiving a change of the status of the virtual machine from a management server coupled to the host computer and the storage system.   
     
     
         9 . A computer program product for processing data, comprising a computer readable medium having program instruction embodied therein for:
 providing a plurality of virtual volumes to the host computer which is configured to operate at least one virtual machine;   storing virtual machine information related to a status of the virtual machine operated on the host processor;   managing a pool provided by a first type of storage devices corresponding to a first tier and a second type of storage devices which is different from the first type of storage devices, corresponding to a second tier;   managing a plurality of pages in the pool including both of the first tier and the second tier, and to allocate a page corresponding to the first tier from the pool to a part of the plurality of virtual volumes in response to a write request from the host computer; and   relocating the page which has allocated to the part of the plurality of virtual volumes from the first tier to the second tier based on the virtual machine information of the virtual machine.