U.S. patent application number 15/295707 was filed with the patent office on 2017-02-09 for dynamic provisioning of a virtual storage appliance.
The applicant listed for this patent is OS NEXUS, Inc.. Invention is credited to Steven Michael Umbehocker.
Application Number | 20170041396 15/295707 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46928888 |
Filed Date | 2017-02-09 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170041396 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Umbehocker; Steven Michael |
February 9, 2017 |
DYNAMIC PROVISIONING OF A VIRTUAL STORAGE APPLIANCE
Abstract
Systems, methods, and apparatus for facilitating dynamic
provisioning of a virtual storage appliance in a cloud computing
environment are presented herein. A storage system management
component can provision storage from a storage medium to facilitate
access of at least a portion of the storage by a virtual storage
appliance (VSA) based on a request for at least one resource
associated with the VSA. Further, a network management component
can provision the VSA to facilitate the access of the portion of
the storage by the VSA. Furthermore, a storage fabric management
component can configure a network to facilitate the access of the
portion of the storage by the VSA via the network.
Inventors: |
Umbehocker; Steven Michael;
(Mercer Island, WA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
OS NEXUS, Inc. |
Mercer Island |
WA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
46928888 |
Appl. No.: |
15/295707 |
Filed: |
October 17, 2016 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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14734866 |
Jun 9, 2015 |
9473577 |
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15295707 |
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13434247 |
Mar 29, 2012 |
9058107 |
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14734866 |
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61468959 |
Mar 29, 2011 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 12/023 20130101;
G06F 3/0631 20130101; H04L 41/0806 20130101; G06F 3/067 20130101;
G06F 3/0604 20130101; G06F 3/0665 20130101; H04L 67/1097
20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04L 29/08 20060101
H04L029/08; H04L 12/24 20060101 H04L012/24 |
Claims
1. A system, comprising: at least one memory storing
computer-executable instructions; and at least one processor,
communicatively coupled to the at least one memory, which
facilitates execution of the computer-executable instructions to at
least: provision storage from a storage medium to facilitate access
of at least a portion of the storage by a virtual storage appliance
(VSA) based on a request for at least one resource associated with
the VSA; and provision the VSA to facilitate the access of the
portion of the storage by the VSA.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of, and claims priority
to each of, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/734,866, filed Jun.
9, 2015, and entitled "DYNAMIC PROVISIONING OF A VIRTUAL STORAGE
APPLIANCE", which is a continuation of Ser. No. 13/434,247 (now
U.S. Pat. No. 9,058,107), filed Mar. 29, 2012, and entitled
"DYNAMIC PROVISIONING OF A VIRTUAL STORAGE APPLIANCE", which claims
priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/468,959 filed
Mar. 29, 2011, and entitled "METHOD AND SERVICES FOR THE DYNAMIC
PROVISIONING OF VIRTUAL STORAGE APPLIANCES", the entireties of each
are incorporated herein by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] This disclosure relates generally to data storage including,
but not limited to, dynamic provisioning of a virtual storage
appliance.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Although conventional processing systems can utilize and
deploy virtual servers in cloud computing environments to improve
load balancing of applications, conventional techniques cannot
adequately provide dynamic provisioning of customized virtual
storage appliances (VSAs) in such environments.
[0004] The above-described deficiencies of today's virtual server
environments and related technologies are merely intended to
provide an overview of some of the problems of conventional
technology, and are not intended to be exhaustive, representative,
or always applicable. Other problems with the state of the art, and
corresponding benefits of some of the various non-limiting
embodiments described herein, may become further apparent upon
review of the following detailed description.
SUMMARY
[0005] A simplified summary is provided herein to help enable a
basic or general understanding of various aspects of illustrative,
non-limiting embodiments that follow in the more detailed
description and the accompanying drawings. This summary is not
intended, however, as an extensive or exhaustive overview. Instead,
the sole purpose of this summary is to present some concepts
related to some illustrative non-limiting embodiments in a
simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description of
the various embodiments that follow. It will also be appreciated
that the detailed description may include additional or alternative
embodiments beyond those described in this summary.
[0006] In accordance with one or more embodiments and corresponding
disclosure, various non-limiting aspects are described in
connection with dynamically provisioning a virtual storage
appliance (VSA) in a cloud computing environment. In one or more
aspects, storage network component(s), e.g., storage network(s),
virtual local area networks (VLANs), virtual storage area networks
(VSANs), virtual host bus adaptors (HBAs), etc. communicatively
coupled to a VSA can enable the VSA to provide end-users with all
the features of a dedicated storage system without the cost having
to purchase and configure additional hardware for each new system.
In one or more other aspects, components of a cloud computing
environment can be intelligently analyzed and new VSAs can be
dynamically deployed with minimal or no human intervention. As
such, companies and cloud service providers can deploy VSAs en-mass
for their users and customer base in an automated fashion, monitor
the VSAs, and greatly reduce the cost of managing complex storage
environments.
[0007] For instance, a storage system management component can
provision storage from a storage medium, e.g., a storage system, a
storage appliance, a solid state disk (SSD), heterogeneous storage,
etc. to provide dedicated storage for the virtual storage
appliance. Further the storage management component can configure
access of at least a portion of the storage, e.g., so that the
portion can be utilized by a virtual storage appliance (VSA), e.g.,
server, compute server, virtual server, etc. based on a request for
resource(s) to be associated with the VSA. Further, a cloud
management component can provision the VSA based on policies, and
facilitate access of the portion of the storage by the VSA.
[0008] In another embodiment, a cloud provisioning portal can
receive the request via a network, e.g., Internet. Further, the
resource(s) can include the VSA resource requirements and/or at
least a portion of the storage requirements. In yet another
embodiment, the request can define a location where the VSA should
be deployed and/or a geographic or datacenter location of the
portion of the storage to be provisioned. In one embodiment, the
request for VSA provisioning or expansion can define a performance
criterion, e.g., associated with a service level agreement (SLA),
an amount of the storage, a minimum performance of the storage, a
processing performance, etc.
[0009] In an embodiment, the cloud management component can
provision the VSA utilizing at least a portion of the storage. For
example, the cloud management component can create a boot image
using snapshot mechanisms, e.g., within the portion of the storage,
to facilitate the initial configuration of a new VSA. Further, the
cloud management component can allocate, assign, etc. the portion
of the storage to the VSA for use by the VSA. In another
embodiment, the cloud management component can dynamically allocate
the VSA in a hypervisor cluster, or virtual machine manager (VMM)
cluster, as a virtual machine, operating platform, etc.
[0010] In yet another embodiment, a storage management component
can dynamically create one or more virtual SANs for respective
VSANs, and perform storage network zoning of a switch, or storage
fabric(s), to facilitate the access of the portion of the storage
by the VSA. For example, the switch can include storage
technologies, e.g., Small Computer System Interface (SCSI),
Internet SCSI (iSCSI), Fibre Channel (FC), FC over Ethernet (FCoE),
SCSI-over-Fiber Channel, Serial Storage Architecture (SSA),
Advanced Technology (AT) Attachment (ATA) interface, ATA over
Ethernet (AoE), other Storage Area Network (SAN) protocol(s), etc.
communicatively coupled between the VSA and the storage medium.
[0011] In an embodiment, the storage management component can
configure the hypervisor to provision one or more virtual HBAs for
the VSA so that the VSA can login to the switch, storage fabric(s),
etc. and access back-end storage for the VSA as provided by, e.g.,
previous provisioning operation(s). Through dynamic discovery of
fabric, system, and storage system configuration data, the storage
management component can intelligently orchestrates configuration
of appropriate elements of the cloud computing environment.
[0012] In one embodiment, a network configuration component can
dynamically discover which VLAN the VSA should be added to,
dynamically discover network information associated with the VSA,
and utilize such information during VLAN configuration so as to
restrict access to the VSA, e.g., to a given user, customer,
etc.
[0013] In one embodiment, a license configuration component can
allocate a license key that is associated with the VSA, and
authorize the access of the portion of the storage by the VSA,
based on the license key. In another embodiment, a monitor
component can monitor performance of the VSA and/or the storage
based on the access of the portion of the storage by the VSA.
[0014] In one non-limiting implementation, a method can include
receiving, by a system including at least one processor, a request
for a resource that is associated with a VSA. In one example, the
request can include a request for the VSA and/or a request for
storage space. In another example, the request can be received by
the system via the Internet.
[0015] Further, the method can include provisioning, by the system,
storage space from a tier of storage based on the request. In one
embodiment, the tier of storage can be heterogeneous, including
various forms, sizes, and/or qualities of computer-readable storage
media, e.g., including fault-tolerance and high-availability
levels. In another embodiment, the method can include provisioning,
by the system, the VSA to facilitate access of the storage space by
the VSA. In other embodiment(s), the provisioning the VSA can
include allocating, by the system, at least a portion of the
storage space to the VSA; creating, by the system, a snapshot of a
boot drive of the VSA on the tier of the storage, or in an
arbitrary pool of storage from another storage medium; allocating,
by the system, the VSA in a hypervisor cluster as a virtual
machine; and/or allocating, by the system, a license key to the VSA
to facilitate the access of the storage space by the VSA.
[0016] In one embodiment, the method can include configuring, by
the system, a component, e.g., storage fabric, VSAN, zoning of a
VSAN, storage switch, network switch, VLAN, transmission media,
etc. of a network communicatively coupled between the VSA and the
storage space to facilitate the access of the storage space by the
VSA.
[0017] In another embodiment, the method can include monitoring, by
the system, performance of the VSA and/or the storage space based
on the access of the storage space by the VSA.
[0018] In another non-limiting implementation, a method can include
allocating storage from a computer-readable storage medium to a VSA
in response to receiving a request for a resource that is to be
associated with the VSA. Further, the method can include
facilitating access to the storage by the VSA via a network.
[0019] Other embodiments and various non-limiting examples,
scenarios, and implementations are described in more detail
below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] Various non-limiting embodiments are further described with
reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
[0021] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a cloud computing
infrastructure, in accordance with an embodiment.
[0022] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of another cloud
computing infrastructure, in accordance with an embodiment.
[0023] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a network switch
component, in accordance with an embodiment.
[0024] FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a virtual storage
appliance (VSA) management system, in accordance with an
embodiment.
[0025] FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of yet another cloud
computing infrastructure, in accordance with an embodiment.
[0026] FIGS. 6-10 illustrate various processes associated with one
or more cloud computing infrastructures, in accordance with an
embodiment.
[0027] FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of a computing system
operable to execute the disclosed systems and methods, in
accordance with an embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0028] Various non-limiting embodiments of systems, methods, and
apparatus presented herein dynamically provision a virtual storage
appliance in a cloud computing environment. In the following
description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a
thorough understanding of the embodiments. One skilled in the
relevant art will recognize, however, that the techniques described
herein can be practiced without one or more of the specific
details, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In
other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations
are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring certain
aspects.
[0029] Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment,"
or "an embodiment," means that a particular feature, structure, or
characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is
included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of the
phrase "in one embodiment," or "in an embodiment," in various
places throughout this specification are not necessarily all
referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular
features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any
suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
[0030] As utilized herein, terms "component," "system,"
"interface," and the like are intended to refer to a
computer-related entity, hardware, software (e.g., in execution),
and/or firmware. For example, a component can be a processor, a
process running on a processor, an object, an executable, a
program, a storage device, and/or a computer. By way of
illustration, an application running on a server and the server can
be a component. One or more components can reside within a process,
and a component can be localized on one computer and/or distributed
between two or more computers.
[0031] Further, these components can execute from various computer
readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The
components can communicate via local and/or remote processes such
as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets
(e.g., data from one component interacting with another component
in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a network,
e.g., the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network, etc.
with other systems via the signal).
[0032] As another example, a component can be an apparatus with
specific functionality provided by mechanical parts operated by
electric or electronic circuitry; the electric or electronic
circuitry can be operated by a software application or a firmware
application executed by one or more processors; the one or more
processors can be internal or external to the apparatus and can
execute at least a part of the software or firmware application. As
yet another example, a component can be an apparatus that provides
specific functionality through electronic components without
mechanical parts; the electronic components can include one or more
processors therein to execute software and/or firmware that
confer(s), at least in part, the functionality of the electronic
components. In an aspect, a component can emulate an electronic
component via a virtual machine, e.g., within a cloud computing
system.
[0033] The word "exemplary" and/or "demonstrative" is used herein
to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. For the
avoidance of doubt, the subject matter disclosed herein is not
limited by such examples. In addition, any aspect or design
described herein as "exemplary" and/or "demonstrative" is not
necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other
aspects or designs, nor is it meant to preclude equivalent
exemplary structures and techniques known to those of ordinary
skill in the art. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms
"includes," "has," "contains," and other similar words are used in
either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are
intended to be inclusive - in a manner similar to the term
"comprising" as an open transition word - without precluding any
additional or other elements.
[0034] Artificial intelligence based systems, e.g., utilizing
explicitly and/or implicitly trained classifiers, can be employed
in connection with performing inference and/or probabilistic
determinations and/or statistical-based determinations as in
accordance with one or more aspects of the disclosed subject matter
as described herein. For example, an artificial intelligence system
can be used, via storage system management component 110 (see
below), to provision storage from a storage medium, e.g., tier of
computer-readable storage media, to facilitate access of portion(s)
of the storage by a virtual storage appliance (VSA) based on a
request for resource(s) associated with the VSA. Further, the
artificial intelligence system can be used, via cloud management
component 120 (see below), to provision the VSA to facilitate the
access of the portion(s) of the storage by the VSA.
[0035] As used herein, the term "infer" or "inference" refers
generally to the process of reasoning about, or inferring states
of, the system, environment, user, and/or intent from a set of
observations as captured via events and/or data. Captured data and
events can include user data, device data, environment data, data
from sensors, sensor data, application data, implicit data,
explicit data, etc. Inference can be employed to identify a
specific context or action, or can generate a probability
distribution over states of interest based on a consideration of
data and events, for example.
[0036] Inference can also refer to techniques employed for
composing higher-level events from a set of events and/or data.
Such inference results in the construction of new events or actions
from a set of observed events and/or stored event data, whether the
events are correlated in close temporal proximity, and whether the
events and data come from one or several event and data sources.
Various classification schemes and/or systems (e.g., support vector
machines, neural networks, expert systems, Bayesian belief
networks, fuzzy logic, and data fusion engines) can be employed in
connection with performing automatic and/or inferred action in
connection with the disclosed subject matter.
[0037] In addition, the disclosed subject matter can be implemented
as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard
programming and/or engineering techniques to produce software,
firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof to control a
computer to implement the disclosed subject matter. The term
"article of manufacture" as used herein is intended to encompass a
computer program accessible from any computer-readable device,
computer-readable carrier, or computer-readable media. For example,
computer-readable media can include, but are not limited to, a
magnetic storage device, e.g., hard disk; floppy disk; magnetic
strip(s); an optical disk (e.g., compact disk (CD), a digital video
disc (DVD), a Blu-ray Disc.TM. (BD)); a smart card; a flash memory
device (e.g., card, stick, key drive); and/or a virtual device that
emulates a storage device and/or any of the above computer-readable
media.
[0038] As described above, conventional virtual computing
techniques cannot adequately provide customized storage systems
within virtual server environments. Compared to such technology,
various systems, methods, and apparatus described herein in various
embodiments can improve user experience(s) by dynamically
provisioning a virtual storage appliance in a cloud computing
environment.
[0039] Referring now to FIG. 1, a block diagram of a cloud
computing infrastructure 100 is illustrated, in accordance with an
embodiment. Aspects of cloud computing infrastructure 100, and
systems, networks, other apparatus, and processes explained herein
can constitute machine-executable instructions embodied within
machine(s), e.g., embodied in one or more computer readable mediums
(or media) associated with one or more machines. Such instructions,
when executed by the one or more machines, e.g., computer(s),
computing device(s), virtual machine(s), etc. can cause the
machine(s) to perform the operations described.
[0040] Additionally, the systems and processes explained herein can
be embodied within hardware, such as an application specific
integrated circuit (ASIC) or the like. Further, the order in which
some or all of the process blocks appear in each process should not
be deemed limiting. Rather, it should be understood by a person of
ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the instant
disclosure that some of the process blocks can be executed in a
variety of orders not illustrated.
[0041] Cloud computing infrastructure 100 can include storage
system management component 110, cloud management component 120,
and storage switch component 130. In an aspect, storage system
management component 110 can provision storage from a storage
medium (not shown) of storage infrastructure 115 to facilitate
access, via storage switch component 130, of portion(s) of the
storage by a VSA (not shown) of virtualization infrastructure
125--based on a request for resource(s) associated with the VSA,
e.g., a request for portions(s) of the storage, a request for the
VSA, etc. In one aspect, the storage medium can include various
computer-readable storage technologies, e.g., virtual hard disk
device (VHD) file(s), physical SCSI device(s), Serial Advanced
Technology Attachment (SATA) device(s), Serial Attached SCSI (SAS)
device(s), Serial Storage Architecture (SSA) device(s), and/or
solid state disk (SSD) device(s). In another aspect, storage switch
component 130 can be communicatively coupled between storage
infrastructure 115 and virtualization infrastructure 125 utilizing
a Small Computer System Interface (SCSI), which is a peripheral,
peer-to-peer interface that can be used, e.g., in personal computer
(PC) server systems; a SCSI-over-Fiber Channel protocol; an SAS
protocol; an Internet SCSI (iSCSI) protocol, which is an Internet
Protocol (IP) based storage networking standard for linking data
storage facilities and/or entities; an Advanced Technology (AT)
Attachment (ATA) interface, an ATA over Ethernet (AoE) interface,
other Storage Area Network (SAN) protocol(s), etc.
[0042] Further, cloud management component 120 can provision the
VSA, e.g., based on one or more policies, and facilitate access of
the portion(s) of the storage by the VSA. In one aspect, cloud
management component 120 can provision the VSA utilizing portion(s)
of the storage. For example, cloud management component 120 can
create, e.g., using snapshot mechanism(s), a boot image from the
portion(s) of the storage to facilitate configuration of the VSA.
In another example, cloud management component 120 can dynamically
allocate the VSA in a hypervisor cluster (see below) as a virtual
machine.
[0043] Now referring to FIG. 2, a block diagram of another cloud
computing infrastructure (200) is illustrated, in accordance with
an embodiment. Cloud computing infrastructure 200 can include a VSA
management system 210 including storage system management component
110, cloud management component 120, storage management component
220, and network configuration component 225. As illustrated, VSA
management system 210 can be communicatively coupled to cloud
provisioning portal 205, which can receive a request for
resource(s) associated with the VSA via a network, e.g., via the
Internet, a web portal, etc. In one example the request can include
a request for the VSA and/or portion(s) of storage of storage
infrastructure 115. In another example, the request can define a
location of where the VSA should be deployed and/or a geographic
and/or datacenter location of the portion(s) of the storage, e.g.,
to be provisioned. In yet another example, the request can define a
performance criterion, e.g., associated with a service level
agreement (SLA), an amount of the storage, a minimum performance of
the storage, a processing performance, etc.
[0044] Storage system management component 110 can provision, via
storage system(s) 240, storage from disk storage 245 to facilitate
access, via storage switch component 130, of portion(s) of the
storage by VSA(s) 230, based on the request for the resource(s). In
an aspect, storage system(s) 240 can configure, modify, create,
etc. computer-readable storage media of disk storage 245 including,
for example, virtual hard disk device (VHD) file(s), physical SCSI
device(s), Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) device(s),
Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) device(s), Serial Storage Architecture
(SSA) device(s), and/or solid state disk (SSD) device(s).
[0045] Further, cloud management component 120 can provision VSA(s)
230 using portion(s) of disk storage 245. In one example, cloud
management component 120 can provision VSA(s) 230 utilizing boot
storage and/or pool storage created, via storage system management
component 110, from disk storage 245. In another example, cloud
management component 120 can dynamically allocate VSA(s) 230 in
hypervisor(s) 235, which can be included in a hypervisor, or
virtual machine manager (VMM), cluster including more than one VSA.
In this regard, hypervisor(s) 235 can implement VSA(s) 230 as
virtual machine(s), operating platform(s), etc. that can share
virtualized hardware resources associated with server platform(s)
for executing respective instances of operating systems, etc.
[0046] Furthermore, storage management component 220 can configure
storage switch component 130 to facilitate the access of the
portion(s) of the storage by VSA(s) 230. For example, storage
fabric management component 220 can configure various components
associated with storage technologies including, e.g., SCSI, iSCSI,
FC, SCSI-over-Fiber Channel, SSA, ATA interface, AoE, other SAN
protocol(s), etc. communicatively coupled between VSA(s) 230 and
disk storage 245. In one embodiment, storage management component
220 can dynamically create one or more virtual SANs for respective
VSANs, and perform storage network zoning of a switch, or storage
fabric(s), to facilitate the access of the portion(s) of the
storage by VSA(s) 230.
[0047] In another embodiment, storage management component 220 can
configure a hypervisor of hypervisor(s) 235 to provision one or
more virtual HBAs for the VSA, so that the VSA can login to a
switch, storage fabric(s), etc. associated with storage switch
component 130 and access back-end storage for the VSA as provided
by, e.g., previous provisioning operation(s).
[0048] In yet another embodiment, network configuration component
225 can dynamically discover which VLAN the VSA should be added to,
dynamically discover network information associated with the VSA,
and utilize such information during VLAN configuration, so as to
restrict access to the VSA, e.g., to a given user, customer,
etc.
[0049] In an embodiment, network configuration component 225 can
configure VLAN access for the VSA via network switch component 250.
Now referring to FIG. 3, a block diagram 300 of network switch
component 250 communicatively coupled to VSA management system 210
and virtualization infrastructure 125 is illustrated, in accordance
with an embodiment. VSA management system 210 can dynamically
correlate an FC/FCoE host bus adapter (HBA), e.g., FC/FCoE HBA 315,
or a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) adapter, e.g., PCI
317, with FC switch fabric 307, for example, for configuration of
FC switch fabric 307. Further, VSA management system 210 can
dynamically provision virtual HBA 325, and/or virtual PCI bus,
e.g., PCI 327, within VSA 330, e.g., communicatively coupling
virtual HBA 325/PCI 327 to fabric 307 via FC/FCoE HBA 315/PCI 317,
for example, using technologies such as N_Port ID Virtualization
(NPIV), e.g., NPIV 326, and/or using technologies that can extend a
virtual PCI bus into the VSA such as Single Root I/O Virtualization
(SR-IOV), e.g., SRIOV 328. In some embodiments, FC technologies are
not utilized, but Ethernet switch 305 and network interface card
310 can be dynamically configured, via VSA management system 210,
to enable iSCSI traffic constrained to a specific VLAN for use by
VSA 330.
[0050] Referring now to FIG. 4, a block diagram of VSA management
system 400 is illustrated, in accordance with an embodiment. VSA
management system 400 includes components of VSA management system
210 (storage system management component 110, cloud management
component 120, and storage management component 220) in addition to
license configuration component 410, asset management component
420, security authentication component 430, and encryption
component 440. In one or more embodiments, the VSA can be added to,
and integrated with, an existing Lightweight Directory Access
Protocol (LDAP) or Active Directory configuration, e.g., to enable
authentication and authorization, for example, via security
authentication component 430, using existing security
infrastructure. Asset management component 420 can monitor, keep
track of, etc. operator(s), owner(s), etc. of respective VSAs, and
can monitor, keep track of, etc. resources that have been allocated
to the respective VSAs, e.g., so that charge-back accounting can be
done for the respective VSAs. Further, encryption component 440 can
enable the VSA to automatically store associated data in an
encrypted fashion, e.g., utilizing encryption technologies provided
by storage system(s) 240, storage switch component 130, and/or the
VSA to enable the VSA to automatically store data in an encrypted
fashion as part of the VSA deployment.
[0051] License configuration component 410 can allocate a license
key that is associated with VSA(s) 230, and can authorize the
access of portion(s) of disk storage 245 by VSA(s) 230, based on
the license key. Further, license configuration component 410 can
automatically request and activate additional third (3.sup.rd)
party licenses within a switch, e.g., storage switch component 130,
within a storage system, e.g., associated with storage
infrastructure 115, and/or within a virtualization layer, e.g.,
virtualization infrastructure 125, as part of the provisioning
process. In another embodiment, asset management component 420 can
monitor performance of VSA(s) 230 and/or the portion(s) of disk
storage 245.
[0052] FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of yet another cloud
computing infrastructure (500), in accordance with an embodiment.
At 541, cloud provisioning portal 205, which can include an
Internet based interface, e.g., web portal, can receive
Internet-based requests for new VSAs, e.g., VSA 530, and associated
storage space, or specific tiers of storage, for such VSAs from
respective customers. At 542, cloud provisioning portal 205 can
initiate, based on one of the requests, an application programming
interface (API) call to storage system management component 110 of
VSA management system 300 to provision storage space, e.g., a
storage cloud, storage pool 519, and/or a new VSA from storage grid
510.
[0053] At 543, storage system management component 110 can allocate
the storage cloud, or storage pool 519, for the new VSA utilizing
at least one high-availability (HA) storage system 515, e.g.,
cluster, failover cluster, etc. that includes computing device(s),
processor(s), computer(s), etc. configured to provide continued
service, e.g., during hardware/software faults, by immediately
restarting crashed applications on another system without requiring
administrative intervention, e.g., during failover. Further, VSA
storage system management component 110 can snapshot a golden image
of the new VSA to create boot disk 517.
[0054] At 544, cloud management component 120 can dynamically
allocate a VSA virtual machine in hypervisor 525 of hypervisor
cluster 520. At 545, cloud management component 120 can assign boot
disk 517 and storage pool 519 to the new VSA, e.g., VSA 530. At
546, license configuration component 310 can dynamically allocate a
new license key from a license manager (not shown) for the new VSA,
and inject the new license key into the new VSA virtual machine. At
547, storage fabric management component 220 can dynamically
configure, e.g., via storage switch component 130 (not shown),
component(s) of a network communicatively coupled between the new
VSA and the customer's VPN or VLAN, e.g., cloud customer's VPN 510,
to facilitate access of the new VSA, e.g., of iSCSI disks 532,
server 535, via cloud customer's VPN 510.
[0055] FIGS. 6-10 illustrate methodologies in accordance with the
disclosed subject matter. For simplicity of explanation, the
methodologies are depicted and described as a series of acts. It is
to be understood and appreciated that the subject innovation is not
limited by the acts illustrated and/or by the order of acts. For
example, acts can occur in various orders and/or concurrently, and
with other acts not presented or described herein. Furthermore, not
all illustrated acts may be required to implement the methodologies
in accordance with the disclosed subject matter. In addition, those
skilled in the art will understand and appreciate that the
methodologies could alternatively be represented as a series of
interrelated states via a state diagram or events. Additionally, it
should be further appreciated that the methodologies disclosed
hereinafter and throughout this specification are capable of being
stored on an article of manufacture to facilitate transporting and
transferring such methodologies to computers. The term article of
manufacture, as used herein, is intended to encompass a computer
program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or
media.
[0056] Referring now to FIG. 6, a process 600 associated with a VSA
management system, e.g., 210, 400, etc. is illustrated, in
accordance with an embodiment. At 610, a request for a resource
that is associated with a VSA, new VSA, etc. can be received by a
system, e.g., by VSA management system 210, 400, etc. In an aspect,
the request can be received by the system via the Internet. In
another aspect, the request can include a request for the VSA
and/or a request to provision storage space associated with a
VSA.
[0057] At 620, storage space can be provisioned by the system from
a tier of storage, e.g., storage grid 510, based on the request. In
one aspect, the tier of storage can be heterogeneous, including
varies sizes and performances of computer-readable storage media.
In another aspect, at least a portion of the storage space can be
allocated by the system to the VSA. At 630, the VSA can be
provisioned by the system to facilitate access of the storage space
by the VSA. In yet another aspect, the VSA can be provisioned in
response to a snapshot of a boot drive of the VSA being created on
the tier of storage by the system. In one aspect, the VSA can be
provisioned in response to the VSA being allocated in a hypervisor
cluster as a virtual machine.
[0058] FIGS. 7-10 illustrate processes (700-1000) associated with
another VSA management system, e.g., 210, 400, etc., in accordance
with an embodiment. At 710, requirement(s) for a new VSA can be
received from a user or a cloud automation infrastructure. At 720,
available storage resources can be analyzed and an optimal storage
system and storage pool can be determined to provision from. At
730, it can be determined whether such resources are available. If
it is determined that such resources are not available, flow
continues to 750, at which an insufficient resources error can be
sent; otherwise, flow continues to 740, at which available cloud
server resources can be analyzed, and a cloud or hypervisor cluster
with appropriate resources for the VSA and that meets quality of
service (QOS), SLA, and/or performance requirements can be
determined. If it is determined at 750 that such resources are not
available, then flow continues to 750; otherwise flow continues to
810, at which storage from the storage pool can be provisioned for
the VSA. At 820, the storage can be assigned to the VSA.
[0059] At 830, if it is determined that storage fabric
infrastructure is available, flow continues to 840, at which a
storage fabric, e.g., fabric, can be configured to enable storage
access between provisioned storage and the VSA; otherwise, flow
continues to 850, at which it can be determined whether Domain Name
System (DNS) infrastructure is available. If it is determined at
850 that DNS infrastructure is available, then flow continues to
860, at which a DNS server can be configured with entries for the
VSA; otherwise flow continues to 910, at which it can be determined
whether configuration of a network is required. If it is determined
that network configuration is required, then flow continues to 920,
at which the VSA can be added to a customer's private network,
e.g., VPN, VLAN, etc. Otherwise, flow continues to 930, at which it
can be determined whether security infrastructure is available.
[0060] If it is determined that security infrastructure is
available, then flow continues to 940, at which the VSA can be
configured to communicate with a Lightweight Directory Access
Protocol (LDAP) or other security server for authentication and/or
authorization. Otherwise, flow continues to 950, at which it can be
determined whether encryption is requested. If encryption is
requested, then flow continues to 960, at which encryption policies
can be configured in a switch/fabric, storage system, and/or
virtual storage appliance; otherwise, flow continues to 1010, at
which it can be determined whether a quality of service (QOS) level
is requested. If the QOS level is requested, then flow continues to
1020, at which QOS controls in the switch/fabric, storage system,
and/or the VSA can be configured to match an SLA; otherwise flow
continues to 1030, at which a new license key can be dynamically
provisioned and injected into the VSA to enable the VSA and
advanced features as designated in customer requirements. At 1040,
the VSA can be registered and allocated resources within a cloud
management infrastructure for monitoring, reporting, billing, and
enablement of customer functions.
[0061] As it employed in the subject specification, the term
"processor" can refer to substantially any computing processing
unit or device comprising, but not limited to comprising,
single-core processors; single-processors with software multithread
execution capability; multi-core processors; multi-core processors
with software multithread execution capability; multi-core
processors with hardware multithread technology; parallel
platforms; and parallel platforms with distributed shared memory.
Additionally, a processor can refer to an integrated circuit, an
application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal
processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a
programmable logic controller (PLC), a complex programmable logic
device (CPLD), a discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete
hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform
the functions and/or processes described herein. Processors can
exploit nano-scale architectures such as, but not limited to,
molecular and quantum-dot based transistors, switches and gates, in
order to optimize space usage or enhance performance of mobile
devices. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of
computing processing units.
[0062] In the subject specification, terms such as "store," "data
store," "data storage," "database," "storage medium," and
substantially any other information storage component relevant to
operation and functionality of a component and/or process, refer to
"memory components," or entities embodied in a "memory," or
components comprising the memory. It will be appreciated that the
memory components described herein can be either volatile memory or
nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile
memory.
[0063] By way of illustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile
memory, for example, can be included in storage systems described
above, non-volatile memory 1122 (see below), disk storage 1124 (see
below), and memory storage 1146 (see below). Further, nonvolatile
memory can be included in read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM
(PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically
erasable ROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory can include
random access memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By
way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available in many
forms such as synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM),
synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM),
enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus
RAM (DRRAM). Additionally, the disclosed memory components of
systems or methods herein are intended to comprise, without being
limited to comprising, these and any other suitable types of
memory.
[0064] In order to provide a context for the various aspects of the
disclosed subject matter, FIG. 11, and the following discussion,
are intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable
environment in which the various aspects of the disclosed subject
matter can be implemented, e.g., various processes associated with
FIGS. 1-10. While the subject matter has been described above in
the general context of computer-executable instructions of a
computer program that runs on a computer and/or computers, those
skilled in the art will recognize that the subject innovation also
can be implemented in combination with other program modules.
Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components,
data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks and/or
implement particular abstract data types.
[0065] Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the
inventive systems can be practiced with other computer system
configurations, including single-processor or multiprocessor
computer systems, mini-computing devices, mainframe computers, as
well as personal computers, hand-held computing devices (e.g., PDA,
phone, watch), microprocessor-based or programmable consumer or
industrial electronics, and the like. The illustrated aspects can
also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks
are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through
a communications network; however, some if not all aspects of the
subject disclosure can be practiced on stand-alone computers. In a
distributed computing environment, program modules can be located
in both local and remote memory storage devices.
[0066] With reference to FIG. 11, a block diagram of a computing
system 1100 operable to execute the disclosed systems and methods
is illustrated, in accordance with an embodiment. Computer 1112
includes a processing unit 1114, a system memory 1116, and a system
bus 1118. System bus 1118 couples system components including, but
not limited to, system memory 1116 to processing unit 1114.
Processing unit 1114 can be any of various available processors.
Dual microprocessors and other multiprocessor architectures also
can be employed as processing unit 1114.
[0067] System bus 1118 can be any of several types of bus
structure(s) including a memory bus or a memory controller, a
peripheral bus or an external bus, and/or a local bus using any
variety of available bus architectures including, but not limited
to, Industrial Standard Architecture (ISA), Micro-Channel
Architecture (MSA), Extended ISA (EISA), Intelligent Drive
Electronics (IDE), VESA Local Bus (VLB), Peripheral Component
Interconnect (PCI), Card Bus, Universal Serial Bus (USB), Advanced
Graphics Port (AGP), Personal Computer Memory Card International
Association bus (PCMCIA), Firewire (IEEE 1194), and Small Computer
Systems Interface (SCSI).
[0068] System memory 1116 includes volatile memory 1120 and
nonvolatile memory 1122. A basic input/output system (BIOS),
containing routines to transfer information between elements within
computer 1112, such as during start-up, can be stored in
nonvolatile memory 1122. By way of illustration, and not
limitation, nonvolatile memory 1122 can include ROM, PROM, EPROM,
EEPROM, or flash memory. Volatile memory 1120 includes RAM, which
acts as external cache memory. By way of illustration and not
limitation, RAM is available in many forms such as SRAM, dynamic
RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR
SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), Rambus
direct RAM (RDRAM), direct Rambus dynamic RAM (DRDRAM), and Rambus
dynamic RAM (RDRAM).
[0069] Computer 1112 can also include removable/non-removable,
volatile/non-volatile computer storage media, networked attached
storage (NAS), e.g., SAN storage, etc. FIG. 11 illustrates, for
example, disk storage 1124. Disk storage 1124 includes, but is not
limited to, devices like a magnetic disk drive, floppy disk drive,
tape drive, Jaz drive, Zip drive, LS-110 drive, flash memory card,
or memory stick. In addition, disk storage 1124 can include storage
media separately or in combination with other storage media
including, but not limited to, an optical disk drive such as a
compact disk ROM device (CD-ROM), CD recordable drive (CD-R Drive),
CD rewritable drive (CD-RW Drive) or a digital versatile disk ROM
drive (DVD-ROM). To facilitate connection of the disk storage
devices 1124 to system bus 1118, a removable or non-removable
interface is typically used, such as interface 1126.
[0070] It is to be appreciated that FIG. 11 describes software that
acts as an intermediary between users and computer resources
described in suitable operating environment 1100. Such software
includes an operating system 1128. Operating system 1128, which can
be stored on disk storage 1124, acts to control and allocate
resources of computer 1112. System applications 1130 take advantage
of the management of resources by operating system 1128 through
program modules 1132 and program data 1134 stored either in system
memory 1116 or on disk storage 1124. It is to be appreciated that
the disclosed subject matter can be implemented with various
operating systems or combinations of operating systems.
[0071] A user can enter commands or information into computer 1112
through input device(s) 1136. Input devices 1136 include, but are
not limited to, a pointing device such as a mouse, trackball,
stylus, touch pad, keyboard, microphone, joystick, game pad,
satellite dish, scanner, TV tuner card, digital camera, digital
video camera, web camera, and the like. These and other input
devices connect to processing unit 1114 through system bus 1118 via
interface port(s) 1138. Interface port(s) 1138 include, for
example, a serial port, a parallel port, a game port, and a
universal serial bus (USB). Output device(s) 1140 use some of the
same type of ports as input device(s) 1136.
[0072] Thus, for example, a USB port can be used to provide input
to computer 1112 and to output information from computer 1112 to an
output device 1140. Output adapter 1142 is provided to illustrate
that there are some output devices 1140 like monitors, speakers,
and printers, among other output devices 1140, which use special
adapters. Output adapters 1142 include, by way of illustration and
not limitation, video and sound cards that provide means of
connection between output device 1140 and system bus 1118. It
should be noted that other devices and/or systems of devices
provide both input and output capabilities such as remote
computer(s) 1144.
[0073] Computer 1112 can operate in a networked environment using
logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as remote
computer(s) 1144. Remote computer(s) 1144 can be a personal
computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a workstation, a
microprocessor based appliance, a peer device, or other common
network node and the like, and typically includes many or all of
the elements described relative to computer 1112.
[0074] For purposes of brevity, only a memory storage device 1146
is illustrated with remote computer(s) 1144. Remote computer(s)
1144 is logically connected to computer 1112 through a network
interface 1148 and then physically connected via communication
connection 1150. Network interface 1148 encompasses wire and/or
wireless communication networks such as local-area networks (LAN)
and wide-area networks (WAN). LAN technologies include Fiber
Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), Copper Distributed Data
Interface (CDDI), Ethernet, Token Ring and the like. WAN
technologies include, but are not limited to, point-to-point links,
circuit switching networks like Integrated Services Digital
Networks (ISDN) and variations thereon, packet switching networks,
and Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL).
[0075] Communication connection(s) 1150 refer(s) to
hardware/software employed to connect network interface 1148 to bus
1118. While communication connection 1150 is shown for illustrative
clarity inside computer 1112, it can also be external to computer
1112. The hardware/software for connection to network interface
1148 can include, for example, internal and external technologies
such as modems, including regular telephone grade modems, cable
modems and DSL modems, ISDN adapters, and Ethernet cards.
[0076] The above description of illustrated embodiments of the
subject disclosure, including what is described in the Abstract, is
not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosed embodiments
to the precise forms disclosed. While specific embodiments and
examples are described herein for illustrative purposes, various
modifications are possible that are considered within the scope of
such embodiments and examples, as those skilled in the relevant art
can recognize.
[0077] In this regard, while the disclosed subject matter has been
described in connection with various embodiments and corresponding
Figures, where applicable, it is to be understood that other
similar embodiments can be used or modifications and additions can
be made to the described embodiments for performing the same,
similar, alternative, or substitute function of the disclosed
subject matter without deviating therefrom. Therefore, the
disclosed subject matter should not be limited to any single
embodiment described herein, but rather should be construed in
breadth and scope in accordance with the appended claims below.
* * * * *