Dynamic storage management using virtual storage appliances

Abstract

The techniques introduced here provide for efficient management of storage resources in a modern, dynamic data center through the use of virtual storage appliances. Virtual storage appliances perform storage operations and execute in or as a virtual machine on a hypervisor. A storage management system monitors a storage system to determine whether the storage system is satisfying a service level objective for an application. The storage management system then manages (e.g., instantiates, shuts down, or reconfigures) a virtual storage appliance on a physical server. The virtual storage appliance uses resources of the physical server to meet the storage related needs of the application that the storage system cannot provide. This automatic and dynamic management of virtual storage appliances by the storage management system allows storage systems to quickly react to changing storage needs of applications without requiring expensive excess storage capacity.

1 . A method comprising;
 monitoring a storage system, by a storage management system, to determine whether the storage system is satisfying a service level objective for an application;   determining, by the storage management system, from said monitoring, that the storage system is not satisfying the service level objective for the application; and   in response to a determination that the storage system is not satisfying the service level objective, managing, by the storage management system, a virtual storage appliance, the virtual storage appliance configured to perform storage system operations to satisfy the service level objective for the application.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein managing the virtual storage appliance includes instantiating the virtual storage appliance on the physical server in response to an indication that the storage system is not satisfying the service level objective for the application. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein managing a virtual storage appliance includes shutting down the virtual storage appliance in response to a determination that the storage system is able to satisfy the service level objective without the virtual storage appliance. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein managing the virtual storage appliance includes reconfiguring the virtual storage appliance in response to a change in resource usage by the application. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein reconfiguring the virtual storage appliance includes increasing resources allocated to the virtual storage appliance. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4  wherein reconfiguring the virtual storage appliance includes decreasing resources allocated to the virtual storage appliance. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the virtual storage appliance comprises an end-point virtual storage appliance, a caching virtual storage appliance, a compression virtual storage appliance, or a backup virtual storage appliance. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising, heuristically determining what type of virtual storage appliance will satisfy the service level objective. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein an end-point virtual storage appliance satisfies an availability service level objective by using resources of a physical server to store data for the application in response to the storage system not having capacity to store the data. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein a caching virtual storage appliance satisfies an input/output service level objective by using resources of a physical server to cache data along a data access path between the application and the storage system to increase an input/output rate in response to the storage system not meeting a defined input/output rate. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein a compression virtual storage appliance satisfies an availability service level objective by using resources of a physical server to perform compression operations for the application in response to storage capacity of the storage system reaching a threshold. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein a backup virtual storage appliance satisfies a reliability service level objective by using resources of a physical server to store backup data for the application in response to the storage system not providing backup. 
     
     
         13 . A system comprising:
 a storage system including a storage controller and a mass storage subsystem;   a physical server coupled to communicate with the storage system, wherein the physical server hosts an application that requires access to the storage system; and   a storage management system, coupled to communicate with the storage system and the physical server, the storage management system including:
 a monitoring engine to monitor the storage system; 
 a detection engine to determine, based on monitoring of the monitoring engine, whether the storage system is satisfying a service level objective for the application; and 
 a decision engine configured to manage a virtual storage appliance on the physical server, wherein storage system operations are performed by the virtual storage appliance, using resources of the physical server, to cause the service level objective for the application to be satisfied. 
   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the storage management system further comprises scenario data for use by the decision engine to determine what action to take in managing the virtual storage appliance. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14  wherein the scenario data comprises a mapping of scenarios to actions. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14  wherein the decision engine is further configured to instantiate the virtual storage appliance on the physical server in response to an indication from the detection that the storage system is not satisfying a service level objective for the application. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 14  wherein the decision engine is further configured to shut down the virtual storage appliance in response to a determination that the storage system is able to satisfy the service level objective without the virtual storage appliance. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 14  wherein the decision engine is further configured to reconfigure the virtual storage appliance in response to a change in resource usage by the application. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein reconfiguring the virtual storage appliance includes increasing resources allocated to the virtual storage appliance. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18  wherein reconfiguring the virtual storage appliance includes decreasing resources allocated to the virtual storage appliance. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the virtual storage appliance comprises an end-point virtual storage appliance, a caching virtual storage appliance, a compression virtual storage appliance, or a backup virtual storage appliance. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the physical server includes a hypervisor configured to manage server resources for applications and virtual storage appliances. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the end-point virtual storage appliance, in response to the storage system not having capacity to store data for the application, uses resources of the physical server to store the data that an availability service level objective is satisfied. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the caching virtual storage appliance, in response to the storage system not meeting a defined input/output rate according to the service level objective, uses resources of the physical server to cache data along a data access path between the application and the storage system to increase an input/output rate such that the input/output rate satisfies the defined input/output rate and the service level objective is met. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein a compression virtual storage appliance, in response to storage availability of the storage system reaching a threshold, uses resources of the physical server to perform compression operations for the application such that the storage availability is increased to meet a service level objective. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein a backup virtual storage appliance, in response to the storage system not providing sufficient backup, uses resources of the physical server to store backup data for the application, such that the backup data is available to satisfy a reliability service level objective. 
     
     
         27 . A method comprising;
 monitoring a storage system, by a storage management system, to determine whether the storage system is satisfying a service level objective for an application;   determining, by the storage management system, that the storage system is not satisfying the service level objective;   instantiating, by the storage management system, a virtual storage appliance, the virtual storage appliance configured to perform storage system operations to satisfy the service level objective for the application; and   reconfiguring, by the storage management system, the virtual storage appliance, in response to a change in performance of the storage system or the virtual storage appliance, such that satisfaction of the service level objective is maintained.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27  wherein the storage management system instantiates the virtual storage appliance in response to determining that the storage system is not satisfying the service level objective for the application. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 27  wherein modifying the virtual storage appliance includes shutting down the virtual storage appliance in response to the storage system being able to satisfy the service level objective without help from the virtual storage appliance. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 27  wherein modifying the virtual storage appliance includes reconfiguring the virtual storage appliance in response to a determined event. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 27  wherein the virtual storage appliance is one of an end-point virtual storage appliance, a caching virtual storage appliance, a compression virtual storage appliance, or a backup virtual storage appliance. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31  further comprising, heuristically determining what type of virtual storage appliance will satisfy the service level objective. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 27  wherein reconfiguring the virtual storage appliance includes allocating or releasing physical server resources associated with the virtual storage appliance to maintain performance above the service level objective. 
     
     
         34 . A storage management system comprising:
 a user interface to allow a user to specify a service level objective for an application;   a monitoring engine to gather data relating to service level objective performance of the storage system;   a detection engine to detect, based on the data gathered by the monitoring engine, a defined event relating to the service level objective performance of the storage system and to trigger an alert in response to detecting the defined event;   scenario data that defines an action to be taken in response to the alert from the detection engine; and   a decision engine to implement the actions defined in the scenario data using a virtual storage appliance on a physical server connected to the storage system through a network, the virtual storage appliance configured to perform storage system operations to satisfy the service level objective for the application.   
     
     
         35 . The storage management system of  claim 34 , wherein the monitoring engine is further configured to gather data relating to resource allocation and utilization of the storage system and the virtual storage appliance.