U.S. patent application number 16/288506 was filed with the patent office on 2020-09-03 for method to address misaligned holes and writes to end of files while performing quick reconcile operation during synchronous file.
The applicant listed for this patent is NetApp Inc.. Invention is credited to Akhil Kaushik, Krishna Murthy Chandraiah setty Narasingarayanapeta, Shrey Sengar, Anoop Chakkalakkal Vijayan.
Application Number | 20200278791 16/288506 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005031106 |
Filed Date | 2020-09-03 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20200278791 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kaushik; Akhil ; et
al. |
September 3, 2020 |
METHOD TO ADDRESS MISALIGNED HOLES AND WRITES TO END OF FILES WHILE
PERFORMING QUICK RECONCILE OPERATION DURING SYNCHRONOUS FILESYSTEM
REPLICATION
Abstract
Techniques are provided for handling misaligned holes and writes
beyond end of files during a quick reconciliation process. During
quick reconciliation, a read operation is performed to read data
from a first storage object and is replicated to a second storage
object. If the data read from the first storage object comprises
misaligned holes, then a different range of data is read from the
first storage object so that aligned holes are read and replicated
to the second storage object. If the read operation targets a
region beyond an end of the first storage object, then the second
storage object is truncated to a size of the first storage
object.
Inventors: |
Kaushik; Akhil; (Bangalore,
IN) ; Vijayan; Anoop Chakkalakkal; (Bangalore,
IN) ; Narasingarayanapeta; Krishna Murthy Chandraiah
setty; (Karnataka, IN) ; Sengar; Shrey;
(Jharkhand, IN) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
NetApp Inc. |
Sunnyvale |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000005031106 |
Appl. No.: |
16/288506 |
Filed: |
February 28, 2019 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 3/0683 20130101;
G06F 3/0604 20130101; G06F 16/9024 20190101; G06F 3/0659 20130101;
G06F 3/065 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/06 20060101
G06F003/06; G06F 16/901 20060101 G06F016/901 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: executing a read operation to a first
storage object at a first range of an offset and length, previously
targeted by a write operation, during a quick reconciliation
process to reconcile the first storage object and a second storage
object; evaluating a read response of the read operation to
determine that the read response has a misaligned hole; modifying
the first range to a second range that targets an aligned hole
within the first storage object; executing a second read operation
to the first storage object at the second range; and replicating a
second read response of the second read operation to the second
storage object.
2. The method of claim 1, comprising: modifying a start offset of
the first range to create the second range by rounding the start
offset down to a block size used to store the second storage
object.
3. The method of claim 1, comprising: modifying an end offset of
the first range to create the second range by rounding the end
offset up to a nearest aligned block size value as a new
length.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the quick reconciliation process
is performed based upon the write operation failing to successfully
execute upon the first storage object and a replication of the
write operation successfully executing upon the second storage
object.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the read operation obtains a
first range lock for the first range, wherein the first range lock
blocks modifications to the first range.
6. The method of claim 5, comprising: releasing the first range
lock based upon the read response having the misaligned hole.
7. The method of claim 6, comprising: obtaining, by the second read
operation, a second range lock for the second range, wherein the
second range lock blocks modifications to the second range.
8. The method of claim 1, comprising: executing a truncate command
upon the second storage object based upon the read response
targeting a region of the first storage object beyond an end of the
first storage object.
9. The method of claim 1, comprising: replicating data of the first
storage object from a start offset to an end of the first storage
object to the second storage object and execute a truncate command
upon the second storage object based upon the read response
targeting a region of the first storage object extending partially
beyond an end of the first storage object.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the data is replicated using a
replication command, and wherein the method comprises: utilizing a
volume barrier to serialize the replication command with pending
replication commands targeting the second storage object.
11. The method of claim 9, wherein the data is replicated using a
replication command, and wherein the method comprises: utilizing a
dependency graph to serialize the replication command with pending
replication commands targeting the second storage object.
12. A non-transitory machine readable medium comprising
instructions for performing a method, which when executed by a
machine, causes the machine to: execute a read operation to a first
storage object at a first range of an offset and length, previously
targeted by a write operation, during a quick reconciliation
process to reconcile the first storage object and a second storage
object; evaluate a read response of the read operation to determine
that the read operation targets a region of the first storage
object beyond an end of the first storage object; execute a
truncate command upon the second storage object based upon the read
operation targeting the region of the first storage object beyond
the end of the first storage object; and replicate the read
response to the second storage object.
13. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 12, wherein
the instructions cause the machine to: truncate the second storage
object to a size of the first storage object.
14. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 12, wherein
the instructions cause the machine to: evaluate the read response
to identify an error code indicative of the read operation
targeting the region of the first storage object beyond the end of
the first storage object.
15. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 12, wherein
the instructions cause the machine to: replicate data of the first
storage object from a start offset to an end of the first storage
object to the second storage object.
16. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 15, wherein
the instructions cause the machine to: execute the truncate command
upon the second storage object based upon the read response
targeting the region of the first storage object extending
partially beyond an end of the first storage object.
17. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 15, wherein
the data is replicated using a replication command, and wherein the
instructions cause the machine to: utilize a volume barrier to
serialize the replication command with pending replication commands
targeting the second storage object.
18. The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 15, wherein
the data is replicated using a replication command, and wherein the
instructions cause the machine to: utilize a dependency graph to
serialize the replication command with pending replication commands
targeting the second storage object.
19. A computing device comprising: a memory comprising machine
executable code for performing a method; and a processor coupled to
the memory, the processor configured to execute the machine
executable code to cause the processor to: execute a read operation
to a first storage object at a first range of an offset and length,
previously targeted by a write operation, during a quick
reconciliation process to reconcile the first storage object and a
second storage object; evaluate a read response of the read
operation to determine that the read response has a misaligned
hole; modify the first range to a second range that targets an
aligned hole within the first storage object; execute a second read
operation to the first storage object at the second range; and
replicate a second read response of the second read operation to
the second storage object.
20. The computing device of claim 19, wherein the machine
executable code causes the processor to: replicate data of the
first storage object from a start offset to an end of the first
storage object to the second storage object and execute a truncate
command upon the second storage object based upon the read response
targeting a region of the first storage object extending partially
beyond an end of the first storage object.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] Many storage systems may implement data replication and/or
other redundancy data access techniques for data loss protection
and non-disruptive client access. For example, a first computing
device may be configured to provide clients with primary access to
data stored within a first storage device and/or other storage
devices. A second computing device may be configured as a backup
for the first computing device in the event the first computing
device fails. Data may be replicated from the first computing
device to the second computing device. In this way, the second
computing device can provide clients with access to replicated data
in the event the first computing device fails.
[0002] One type of replication is asynchronous replication. When
the first computing device receives an operation from a client
device, the first computing device transmits a replication of the
operation to the second computing device for execution.
Irrespective of whether the second computing device has executed
the replicated operation, the first computing device will transmit
an acknowledgment of successful performance of the operation to the
client device once the first computing device has executed the
operation.
[0003] Another type of replication is synchronous replication,
which provides a greater level of data protection guarantees, such
as a zero recovery point objective (RPO). This is because the first
computing device does not transmit the acknowledgment until the
operation has been executed by the first computing device and the
replicated operation has been executed or acknowledged by the
second computing device. In this way, two copies of data and/or
metadata resulting from the operation are maintained before the
client receives acknowledgment that the operation was
successful.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0004] FIG. 1 is a component block diagram illustrating an example
clustered network in which an embodiment of the invention may be
implemented.
[0005] FIG. 2 is a component block diagram illustrating an example
data storage system in which an embodiment of the invention may be
implemented.
[0006] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an example method for
handing misaligned holes and writes beyond end of files.
[0007] FIG. 4A is a component block diagram illustrating an example
system for handing misaligned holes.
[0008] FIG. 4B is a component block diagram illustrating an example
system for handing misaligned holes.
[0009] FIG. 5 is a component block diagram illustrating an example
system for handling writes beyond end of files.
[0010] FIG. 6 is an example of a computer readable medium in which
an embodiment of the invention may be implemented.
[0011] FIG. 7 is a component block diagram illustrating an example
computing environment in which an embodiment of the invention may
be implemented.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] Some examples of the claimed subject matter are now
described with reference to the drawings, where like reference
numerals are generally used to refer to like elements throughout.
In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous
specific details are set forth in order to provide an understanding
of the claimed subject matter. It may be evident, however, that the
claimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific
details. Nothing in this detailed description is admitted as prior
art.
[0013] In asynchronous replication, incremental changes to a
storage object, such as a volume, a file, a directory, a defined
set of files or directories, a file system, or a storage virtual
machine comprising a plurality of volumes stored across one or more
nodes of a cluster, are replicated from the storage object to a
replicated storage object. In synchronous replication, when an
operation is received from a client device (e.g., a write operation
targeting the storage object), the operation is split to create a
replicated operation that is a replication of the operation. The
operation is executed upon the storage object, such as by a first
computing device managing the storage object. The replicated
operation is executed upon the replicated storage object, such as
by a second computing device managing the replicated storage
object. The operation is not acknowledged to the client device as
being complete until both the operation and the replicated
operation have successfully been executed upon the storage object
and the replicated storage object.
[0014] Accordingly, methods and/or systems are provided herein that
improve synchronous replication by dynamically allocating and
recycling file range locks, neutralizing replication errors without
going out of sync, and handling misaligned holes and writes beyond
an end of file during a quick reconcile process. Synchronous
replication may be implemented for first storage object hosted by a
first computing environment (e.g., a first node) and a second
storage object hosted by a second computing environment (e.g., a
second node) as a replica of the first storage object. A
synchronous replication relationship is established between the
first storage object and the second storage object.
[0015] In an embodiment of dynamically allocating and recycling
file range locks, overlapping writes can occur where multiple
parallel writes (e.g., inflight write operations not yet fully
executed and replicated) target overlapping ranges of the first
storage object. The order that the overlapping writes are executed
upon the first storage object needs to be maintained when
replicated to the second storage object. Otherwise a divergence
will occur between the first storage object and the second storage
object. Order of execution is preserved at the second storage
object by serializing the overlapping writes using a range lock. A
single range lock is used per storage object (per file). However,
this does not scale well for storage environments having a large
number of files. Accordingly, the present system can dynamically
allocate and recycle range locks as needed in order to scale to
storage environments having large numbers of files.
[0016] An overlapping write manager is used to maintain the order
of execution of writes between the first storage object and the
second storage object using range locks. In an example, an
overlapping write manager allocator is setup and used to
pre-allocate a percentage of a total number of overlapping write
managers to be available for managing overlapping writes targeting
files of the first computing environment (e.g., the first storage
object managed by the first node) and replicated to replicate files
stored by the second computing environment (e.g., the second
storage object managed by the second node).
[0017] In an embodiment of pre-allocating overlapping write
managers, when an outstanding allocation of overlapping write
managers (e.g., overlapping write managers being used by incoming
writes) grows beyond a threshold (e.g., 10%, 20%, etc.), then
additional overlapping write managers are allocated for use by
overlapping writes.
[0018] A mapping is used to track allocated overlapping write
managers. The mapping comprises file handles of files for which
allocated overlapping write managers have ben pre-allocated (drawn)
from the overlapping write manager allocator, and thus are
available for use to obtain range locks for corresponding files.
File handles are used as a key to the mapping. When I/O to a file
is received, the mapping is search using a file handle of the file
to see if an overlapping write manager for the file handle of the
file is already allocated. For example, the mapping is evaluated
using a file handle of a file targeted by an incoming write to
determine whether an overlapping write manager is already allocated
for the file handle.
[0019] If the overlapping write manager is already allocated, then
the overlapping write manager is utilized to acquire a range lock
for a range of the file to be modified by the incoming write. The
incoming write is serially executed upon the file and is serially
replicated to a replicated file using the range lock (e.g., the
replicate file maintained as a replica of the file). In this way,
the range lock is used to block overlapping writes targeting at
least a portion of the range of the file targeted by the incoming
write (e.g., overlapping replicated writes targeting the replicated
file). If the mapping does not comprise an entry for the file
handle, then there is no pre-allocated overlapping write manager
for the file handle. Thus, a new overlapping write manager is
allocated by the overlapping write manager allocator. The incoming
write uses the new overlapping write manager to obtain a range lock
for the range of the file for serial execution and replication. A
new entry is created within the mapping to track the new
overlapping write manager allocated for the file handle.
[0020] In an embodiment, overlapping write managers are recycled to
return overlapping write managers back to the overlapping write
manager allocator. For example, once the incoming write operation
has completed execution upon the file and completed replication to
the replicated file, the range lock is released. The overlapping
write manager becomes available for use by other writes. If no
outstanding writes having range locks for the file, then the entry
is removed from the mapping for the overlapping write manager and
the overlapping write manager is deallocated. If there are no
outstanding writes having references to the overlapping write
manager (e.g., there are no writes attempting to acquire range
locks for the file), then the entry is removed from the mapping for
the overlapping write manager and the overlapping write manager is
deallocated.
[0021] During recycling of overlapping write managers, an entry for
an overlapping write manager is removed from the mapping and the
overlapping write manager is returned to a free pool of
pre-allocated overlapping write managers. In an embodiment of
recycling overlapping write managers, overlapping write managers
are deallocated until a number of allocated overlapping write
managers is less than a threshold, which reduces an allocation
percentage. In an embodiment, the total number of overlapping write
managers is maintained within the pool. A number of allocated
overlapping write managers is reduced from the pool such as during
recycling to free computing resources (e.g., recycling stops when
an allocation percentage is low such as 20%).
[0022] In an embodiment, replication errors for synchronous
replication are neutralized. A first storage object is maintained
by a first computing environment and a second storage object is
maintained by a second computing environment as a replica of the
first storage object. An operation is received while the first
storage object and the second storage object are in a synchronous
replication state. The operation is executed upon the first storage
object and is replicated as a replicated operation for execution
upon the second storage object.
[0023] The second computing environment may return a first error
for the replicated operation. The first error may indicate that the
replicated operation did not successfully execute, such as due to a
file system error (e.g., the replicated operation targets a file
handle that is stale because a targeted file has been delete; the
replicated operation would increase a size of a file beyond a
supported file size; etc.). Upon receiving the first error for the
replicated operation, the operation is refrained from being aborted
from being executed upon the first storage object (e.g., the
operation would normally be aborted due to the first error). The
first storage object and the second storage object are refrained
from being transitioned to an out of sync state based upon the
first error. The synchronous replication would normally be
transitioned to an out of sync state, and thus a zero recovery
point objective (RPO) provided by synchronous replication would be
disrupted.
[0024] Synchronous replication waits until both the operation and
the replicated operation have finished. A second error may be
received for the operation from the first computing environment. If
the first error and the second error are the same error, then the
replicated operation is deemed to be successfully completed so that
the synchronous replication is maintained and not transitioned to
the out of sync state. Accordingly, the first storage object and
the second storage object are maintained in a synchronous
replication state. The same error is returned to the client device
as the operation was a failure from client device's perspective.
However, if the first error and the second error are different
errors, the first storage object and the second storage object
could be different (inconsistent) due to different results from the
different errors. The synchronous replication state will be
transitioned to an out of sync state. The client is responded to
with the error from the first (primary) computing environment.
[0025] In an embodiment of handling situations where no response is
returned for the replicated operation, the second computing
environment maintains a failed ops cache of failed operations and
error codes for each failed operation. Sequence numbers assigned to
replicated operations are used as a key for the failed ops cache.
If the first computing environment does not receive a response for
the replicated operation, then a retry of the replicated operation
with a same sequence number will be transmitted to the second
computing environment. If a sequence number of the retry replicated
operation is specified by an entry/mapping within the failed ops
cache as mapping the replicated operation to an error code, then
the error code is transmitted to the first computing environment.
This is because the second computing environment already attempted
to execute the replicated operation and the error code was
generated. Thus, since the retry replicated operation is a retry of
the replicated operation (e.g., the second computing environment
may have attempted to return the error code for the replicated
operation but a network failure cause the first computing device to
not receive the error code and thus the first computing environment
retried the replicated operation after a timeout period), the retry
replicated operation is not executed and the error code is
returned.
[0026] In an embodiment of performing a quick reconcile operation,
misaligned holes and writes beyond an end of a storage object
(e.g., an end of file of a file) are handled. The quick reconcile
operation is performed if an operation fails to execute upon a
first storage object and a replicated operation of the operation
succeeds at executing upon a second storage object maintained as a
replica of the first storage object. The quick reconcile operation
is executed to read "old" data from the first storage object and
write the "old" data from the first storage object to the second
storage object (e.g., effectively undoing the execution of the
replicated operation) so that the storage objects are consistent.
When the data is being read from the first storage object, the data
could have misaligned holes that do not start and/or end at an
aligned offset, such as at 4 kb aligned offsets. Synchronous
replication, such as the quick reconcile operation, cannot handle
the misaligned holes because holes can only be punched at aligned
offsets and lengths, such as at the 4 kb aligned offsets. Further,
if the failed operation was a write operation to a range beyond an
end of file, then the quick reconcile operation cannot read that
data from the first storage object.
[0027] Accordingly, the present system is capable of handling
misaligned holes and writes beyond an end of file (e.g., an end of
a storage object). In an example of handling misaligned holes, a
read operation is executed against the first storage object at an
offset and length of a write operation during a quick reconcile
process to reconcile the first storage object and the second
storage object. For example, the write operation was successfully
replicated to the second storage object but failed to execute
against the first storage object. Thus, the read operation is
performed to read "old" data from the first storage object to write
to the second storage object so that the storage objects are
consistent.
[0028] A read response of the read operation is evaluated to
determine whether the read response has a misaligned hole. If the
read response comprises the misaligned hole (e.g., a first I/O
vector entry is a hole and a start offset is not 4 kb aligned or a
last I/O vector entry is a hole and an end offset is not 4 k
aligned), then the read request is modified to align the misaligned
hole.
[0029] If the misaligned hole is due to the first I/O vector entry
having a misaligned start offset, then the start offset is rounded
down to a block size used to store the second storage object (e.g.,
to 4 kb). If the misaligned hole is due to the last I/O vector
entry having a misaligned end offset, then the end offset is
rounded up to a nearest aligned block size value (e.g., to 4 kb) as
a new length. The new read response (e.g., the "old" data read from
the first storage object and modified to address any misaligned
holes) is replicated to the second storage object.
[0030] In an example of handling writes beyond an end of file, the
read response of the read operation is evaluated to determine
whether an error code or length of read data indicates whether the
read data is beyond an end of the first storage object. If the read
response is completely beyond the end of the first storage object,
then a truncate command with a size of the first storage object is
executed upon the second storage object. A volume barrier or
dependency graph is used to ensure that the truncate command is
serially executed with respect to other inflight replicated
operations targeting the second storage object.
[0031] If the read response is partially beyond the end of the
first storage object, then data from a start offset until the end
of file is read from the first storage object and replicated to the
second storage object. A truncate command having a size of the
first storage object is executed upon the second storage object. In
an example, the replication of the data and the truncate command
can be combined as a single command transmitted to the second
computing environment for execution upon the second storage object.
A flag or field within the command can be used to indicate that the
truncate command is to be performed after the writing the replicate
data. A volume barrier or dependency graph is used to ensure that
the command such as the truncate command is serially executed with
respect to other inflight replicated operations targeting the
second storage object.
[0032] To provide for handing misaligned holes and writes beyond
end of files, FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a clustered
network environment 100 or a network storage environment. It may be
appreciated, however, that the techniques, etc. described herein
may be implemented within the clustered network environment 100, a
non-cluster network environment, and/or a variety of other
computing environments, such as a desktop computing environment.
That is, the instant disclosure, including the scope of the
appended claims, is not meant to be limited to the examples
provided herein. It will be appreciated that where the same or
similar components, elements, features, items, modules, etc. are
illustrated in later figures but were previously discussed with
regard to prior figures, that a similar (e.g., redundant)
discussion of the same may be omitted when describing the
subsequent figures (e.g., for purposes of simplicity and ease of
understanding).
[0033] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the clustered network
environment 100 that may implement at least some embodiments of the
techniques and/or systems described herein. The clustered network
environment 100 comprises data storage systems 102 and 104 that are
coupled over a cluster fabric 106, such as a computing network
embodied as a private Infiniband, Fibre Channel (FC), or Ethernet
network facilitating communication between the data storage systems
102 and 104 (and one or more modules, component, etc. therein, such
as, nodes 116 and 118, for example). It will be appreciated that
while two data storage systems 102 and 104 and two nodes 116 and
118 are illustrated in FIG. 1, that any suitable number of such
components is contemplated. In an example, nodes 116, 118 comprise
storage controllers (e.g., node 116 may comprise a primary or local
storage controller and node 118 may comprise a secondary or remote
storage controller) that provide client devices, such as host
devices 108, 110, with access to data stored within data storage
devices 128, 130. Similarly, unless specifically provided otherwise
herein, the same is true for other modules, elements, features,
items, etc. referenced herein and/or illustrated in the
accompanying drawings. That is, a particular number of components,
modules, elements, features, items, etc. disclosed herein is not
meant to be interpreted in a limiting manner.
[0034] It will be further appreciated that clustered networks are
not limited to any particular geographic areas and can be clustered
locally and/or remotely. Thus, In an embodiment a clustered network
can be distributed over a plurality of storage systems and/or nodes
located in a plurality of geographic locations; while In an
embodiment a clustered network can include data storage systems
(e.g., 102, 104) residing in a same geographic location (e.g., in a
single onsite rack of data storage devices).
[0035] In the illustrated example, one or more host devices 108,
110 which may comprise, for example, client devices, personal
computers (PCs), computing devices used for storage (e.g., storage
servers), and other computers or peripheral devices (e.g.,
printers), are coupled to the respective data storage systems 102,
104 by storage network connections 112, 114. Network connection may
comprise a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), for
example, that utilizes Network Attached Storage (NAS) protocols,
such as a Common Internet File System (CIFS) protocol or a Network
File System (NFS) protocol to exchange data packets, a Storage Area
Network (SAN) protocol, such as Small Computer System Interface
(SCSI) or Fiber Channel Protocol (FCP), an object protocol, such as
S3, etc. Illustratively, the host devices 108, 110 may be
general-purpose computers running applications, and may interact
with the data storage systems 102, 104 using a client/server model
for exchange of information. That is, the host device may request
data from the data storage system (e.g., data on a storage device
managed by a network storage control configured to process I/O
commands issued by the host device for the storage device), and the
data storage system may return results of the request to the host
device via one or more storage network connections 112, 114.
[0036] The nodes 116, 118 on clustered data storage systems 102,
104 can comprise network or host nodes that are interconnected as a
cluster to provide data storage and management services, such as to
an enterprise having remote locations, cloud storage (e.g., a
storage endpoint may be stored within a data cloud), etc., for
example. Such a node in the clustered network environment 100 can
be a device attached to the network as a connection point,
redistribution point or communication endpoint, for example. A node
may be capable of sending, receiving, and/or forwarding information
over a network communications channel, and could comprise any
device that meets any or all of these criteria. One example of a
node may be a data storage and management server attached to a
network, where the server can comprise a general purpose computer
or a computing device particularly configured to operate as a
server in a data storage and management system.
[0037] In an example, a first cluster of nodes such as the nodes
116, 118 (e.g., a first set of storage controllers configured to
provide access to a first storage aggregate comprising a first
logical grouping of one or more storage devices) may be located on
a first storage site. A second cluster of nodes, not illustrated,
may be located at a second storage site (e.g., a second set of
storage controllers configured to provide access to a second
storage aggregate comprising a second logical grouping of one or
more storage devices). The first cluster of nodes and the second
cluster of nodes may be configured according to a disaster recovery
configuration where a surviving cluster of nodes provides
switchover access to storage devices of a disaster cluster of nodes
in the event a disaster occurs at a disaster storage site
comprising the disaster cluster of nodes (e.g., the first cluster
of nodes provides client devices with switchover data access to
storage devices of the second storage aggregate in the event a
disaster occurs at the second storage site).
[0038] As illustrated in the clustered network environment 100,
nodes 116, 118 can comprise various functional components that
coordinate to provide distributed storage architecture for the
cluster. For example, the nodes can comprise network modules 120,
122 and disk modules 124, 126. Network modules 120, 122 can be
configured to allow the nodes 116, 118 (e.g., network storage
controllers) to connect with host devices 108, 110 over the storage
network connections 112, 114, for example, allowing the host
devices 108, 110 to access data stored in the distributed storage
system. Further, the network modules 120, 122 can provide
connections with one or more other components through the cluster
fabric 106. For example, in FIG. 1, the network module 120 of node
116 can access a second data storage device by sending a request
through the disk module 126 of node 118.
[0039] Disk modules 124, 126 can be configured to connect one or
more data storage devices 128, 130, such as disks or arrays of
disks, flash memory, or some other form of data storage, to the
nodes 116, 118. The nodes 116, 118 can be interconnected by the
cluster fabric 106, for example, allowing respective nodes in the
cluster to access data on data storage devices 128, 130 connected
to different nodes in the cluster. Often, disk modules 124, 126
communicate with the data storage devices 128, 130 according to the
SAN protocol, such as SCSI or FCP, for example. Thus, as seen from
an operating system on nodes 116, 118, the data storage devices
128, 130 can appear as locally attached to the operating system. In
this manner, different nodes 116, 118, etc. may access data blocks
through the operating system, rather than expressly requesting
abstract files.
[0040] It should be appreciated that, while the clustered network
environment 100 illustrates an equal number of network and disk
modules, other embodiments may comprise a differing number of these
modules. For example, there may be a plurality of network and disk
modules interconnected in a cluster that does not have a one-to-one
correspondence between the network and disk modules. That is,
different nodes can have a different number of network and disk
modules, and the same node can have a different number of network
modules than disk modules.
[0041] Further, a host device 108, 110 can be networked with the
nodes 116, 118 in the cluster, over the storage networking
connections 112, 114. As an example, respective host devices 108,
110 that are networked to a cluster may request services (e.g.,
exchanging of information in the form of data packets) of nodes
116, 118 in the cluster, and the nodes 116, 118 can return results
of the requested services to the host devices 108, 110. In an
embodiment, the host devices 108, 110 can exchange information with
the network modules 120, 122 residing in the nodes 116, 118 (e.g.,
network hosts) in the data storage systems 102, 104.
[0042] In an embodiment, the data storage devices 128, 130 comprise
volumes 132, which is an implementation of storage of information
onto disk drives or disk arrays or other storage (e.g., flash) as a
file-system for data, for example. In an example, a disk array can
include all traditional hard drives, all flash drives, or a
combination of traditional hard drives and flash drives. Volumes
can span a portion of a disk, a collection of disks, or portions of
disks, for example, and typically define an overall logical
arrangement of file storage on disk space in the storage system. In
an embodiment a volume can comprise stored data as one or more
files that reside in a hierarchical directory structure within the
volume.
[0043] Volumes are typically configured in formats that may be
associated with particular storage systems, and respective volume
formats typically comprise features that provide functionality to
the volumes, such as providing an ability for volumes to form
clusters. For example, where a first storage system may utilize a
first format for their volumes, a second storage system may utilize
a second format for their volumes.
[0044] In the clustered network environment 100, the host devices
108, 110 can utilize the data storage systems 102, 104 to store and
retrieve data from the volumes 132. In this embodiment, for
example, the host device 108 can send data packets to the network
module 120 in the node 116 within data storage system 102. The node
116 can forward the data to the data storage device 128 using the
disk module 124, where the data storage device 128 comprises volume
132A. In this way, in this example, the host device can access the
volume 132A, to store and/or retrieve data, using the data storage
system 102 connected by the storage network connection 112.
Further, in this embodiment, the host device 110 can exchange data
with the network module 122 in the node 118 within the data storage
system 104 (e.g., which may be remote from the data storage system
102). The node 118 can forward the data to the data storage device
130 using the disk module 126, thereby accessing volume 1328
associated with the data storage device 130.
[0045] It may be appreciated that handing misaligned holes and
writes beyond end of files may be implemented within the clustered
network environment 100. In an example, operations may be executed
at node 116 and replayed at node 118. It may be appreciated that
handing misaligned holes and writes beyond end of files may be
implemented for and/or between any type of computing environment,
and may be transferrable between physical devices (e.g., node 116,
node 118, a desktop computer, a tablet, a laptop, a wearable
device, a mobile device, a storage device, a server, etc.) and/or a
cloud computing environment (e.g., remote to the clustered network
environment 100).
[0046] FIG. 2 is an illustrative example of a data storage system
200 (e.g., 102, 104 in FIG. 1), providing further detail of an
embodiment of components that may implement one or more of the
techniques and/or systems described herein. The data storage system
200 comprises a node 202 (e.g., nodes 116, 118 in FIG. 1), and a
data storage device 234 (e.g., data storage devices 128, 130 in
FIG. 1). The node 202 may be a general purpose computer, for
example, or some other computing device particularly configured to
operate as a storage server. A host device 205 (e.g., 108, 110 in
FIG. 1) can be connected to the node 202 over a network 216, for
example, to provide access to files and/or other data stored on the
data storage device 234. In an example, the node 202 comprises a
storage controller that provides client devices, such as the host
device 205, with access to data stored within data storage device
234.
[0047] The data storage device 234 can comprise mass storage
devices, such as disks 224, 226, 228 of a disk array 218, 220, 222.
It will be appreciated that the techniques and systems, described
herein, are not limited by the example embodiment. For example,
disks 224, 226, 228 may comprise any type of mass storage devices,
including but not limited to magnetic disk drives, flash memory,
and any other similar media adapted to store information,
including, for example, data (D) and/or parity (P) information.
[0048] The node 202 comprises one or more processors 204, a memory
206, a network adapter 210, a cluster access adapter 212, and a
storage adapter 214 interconnected by a system bus 242. The data
storage system 200 also includes an operating system 208 installed
in the memory 206 of the node 202 that can, for example, implement
a Redundant Array of Independent (or Inexpensive) Disks (RAID)
optimization technique to optimize a reconstruction process of data
of a failed disk in an array.
[0049] The operating system 208 can also manage communications for
the data storage system, and communications between other data
storage systems that may be in a clustered network, such as
attached to a cluster fabric 215 (e.g., 106 in FIG. 1). Thus, the
node 202, such as a network storage controller, can respond to host
device requests to manage data on the data storage device 234
(e.g., or additional clustered devices) in accordance with these
host device requests. The operating system 208 can often establish
one or more file systems on the data storage system 200, where a
file system can include software code and data structures that
implement a persistent hierarchical namespace of files and
directories, for example. As an example, when a new data storage
device (not shown) is added to a clustered network system, the
operating system 208 is informed where, in an existing directory
tree, new files associated with the new data storage device are to
be stored. This is often referred to as "mounting" a file
system.
[0050] In the example data storage system 200, memory 206 can
include storage locations that are addressable by the processors
204 and adapters 210, 212, 214 for storing related software
application code and data structures. The processors 204 and
adapters 210, 212, 214 may, for example, include processing
elements and/or logic circuitry configured to execute the software
code and manipulate the data structures. The operating system 208,
portions of which are typically resident in the memory 206 and
executed by the processing elements, functionally organizes the
storage system by, among other things, invoking storage operations
in support of a file service implemented by the storage system. It
will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other processing
and memory mechanisms, including various computer readable media,
may be used for storing and/or executing application instructions
pertaining to the techniques described herein. For example, the
operating system can also utilize one or more control files (not
shown) to aid in the provisioning of virtual machines.
[0051] The network adapter 210 includes the mechanical, electrical
and signaling circuitry needed to connect the data storage system
200 to a host device 205 over a network 216, which may comprise,
among other things, a point-to-point connection or a shared medium,
such as a local area network. The host device 205 (e.g., 108, 110
of FIG. 1) may be a general-purpose computer configured to execute
applications. As described above, the host device 205 may interact
with the data storage system 200 in accordance with a client/host
model of information delivery.
[0052] The storage adapter 214 cooperates with the operating system
208 executing on the node 202 to access information requested by
the host device 205 (e.g., access data on a storage device managed
by a network storage controller). The information may be stored on
any type of attached array of writeable media such as magnetic disk
drives, flash memory, and/or any other similar media adapted to
store information. In the example data storage system 200, the
information can be stored in data blocks on the disks 224, 226,
228. The storage adapter 214 can include input/output (I/O)
interface circuitry that couples to the disks over an I/O
interconnect arrangement, such as a storage area network (SAN)
protocol (e.g., Small Computer System Interface (SCSI), iSCSI,
hyperSCSI, Fiber Channel Protocol (FCP)). The information is
retrieved by the storage adapter 214 and, if necessary, processed
by the one or more processors 204 (or the storage adapter 214
itself) prior to being forwarded over the system bus 242 to the
network adapter 210 (and/or the cluster access adapter 212 if
sending to another node in the cluster) where the information is
formatted into a data packet and returned to the host device 205
over the network 216 (and/or returned to another node attached to
the cluster over the cluster fabric 215).
[0053] In an embodiment, storage of information on disk arrays 218,
220, 222 can be implemented as one or more storage volumes 230, 232
that are comprised of a cluster of disks 224, 226, 228 defining an
overall logical arrangement of disk space. The disks 224, 226, 228
that comprise one or more volumes are typically organized as one or
more groups of RAIDs. As an example, volume 230 comprises an
aggregate of disk arrays 218 and 220, which comprise the cluster of
disks 224 and 226.
[0054] In an embodiment, to facilitate access to disks 224, 226,
228, the operating system 208 may implement a file system (e.g.,
write anywhere file system) that logically organizes the
information as a hierarchical structure of directories and files on
the disks. In this embodiment, respective files may be implemented
as a set of disk blocks configured to store information, whereas
directories may be implemented as specially formatted files in
which information about other files and directories are stored.
[0055] Whatever the underlying physical configuration within this
data storage system 200, data can be stored as files within
physical and/or virtual volumes, which can be associated with
respective volume identifiers, such as file system identifiers
(FSIDs), which can be 32-bits in length in one example.
[0056] A physical volume corresponds to at least a portion of
physical storage devices whose address, addressable space,
location, etc. doesn't change, such as at least some of one or more
data storage devices 234 (e.g., a Redundant Array of Independent
(or Inexpensive) Disks (RAID system)). Typically the location of
the physical volume doesn't change in that the (range of)
address(es) used to access it generally remains constant.
[0057] A virtual volume, in contrast, is stored over an aggregate
of disparate portions of different physical storage devices. The
virtual volume may be a collection of different available portions
of different physical storage device locations, such as some
available space from each of the disks 224, 226, and/or 228. It
will be appreciated that since a virtual volume is not "tied" to
any one particular storage device, a virtual volume can be said to
include a layer of abstraction or virtualization, which allows it
to be resized and/or flexible in some regards.
[0058] Further, a virtual volume can include one or more logical
unit numbers (LUNs) 238, directories 236, Qtrees 235, and files
240. Among other things, these features, but more particularly
LUNS, allow the disparate memory locations within which data is
stored to be identified, for example, and grouped as data storage
unit. As such, the LUNs 238 may be characterized as constituting a
virtual disk or drive upon which data within the virtual volume is
stored within the aggregate. For example, LUNs are often referred
to as virtual drives, such that they emulate a hard drive from a
general purpose computer, while they actually comprise data blocks
stored in various parts of a volume.
[0059] In an embodiment, one or more data storage devices 234 can
have one or more physical ports, wherein each physical port can be
assigned a target address (e.g., SCSI target address). To represent
respective volumes stored on a data storage device, a target
address on the data storage device can be used to identify one or
more LUNs 238. Thus, for example, when the node 202 connects to a
volume 230, 232 through the storage adapter 214, a connection
between the node 202 and the one or more LUNs 238 underlying the
volume is created.
[0060] In an embodiment, respective target addresses can identify
multiple LUNs, such that a target address can represent multiple
volumes. The I/O interface, which can be implemented as circuitry
and/or software in the storage adapter 214 or as executable code
residing in memory 206 and executed by the processors 204, for
example, can connect to volume 230 by using one or more addresses
that identify the one or more LUNs 238.
[0061] It may be appreciated that handing misaligned holes and
writes beyond end of files may be implemented for the data storage
system 200. It may be appreciated that handing misaligned holes and
writes beyond end of files may be implemented for and/or between
any type of computing environment, and may be transferrable between
physical devices (e.g., node 202, host device 205, a desktop
computer, a tablet, a laptop, a wearable device, a mobile device, a
storage device, a server, etc.) and/or a cloud computing
environment (e.g., remote to the node 202 and/or the host device
205).
[0062] One embodiment of handing misaligned holes and writes beyond
end of files is illustrated by an exemplary method 300 of FIG. 3
and further described in conjunction with system 400 of FIGS. 4A
and 4B and system 500 of FIG. 5. A first storage object 402 and a
second storage object 404 may have a synchronous replication
relationship such that operations executed upon the first storage
object 402 are replicated and executed upon the second storage
object 404, as illustrated by FIG. 4A. Once an operation is
successfully executed upon the first storage object 402 and is
successfully replicated to the second storage object 404, the
operation is acknowledged as complete. The first storage object 402
and/or the second storage object 404 may comprise a file, a
directory, a volume, a file system, a storage virtual machine of a
plurality of volumes, a consistency group of an arbitrary or
defined grouping of data, etc.
[0063] During synchronous replication, execution of an operation
upon the first storage object 402 can fail, while replication of
the operation as a replicated operation can succeed at the second
storage object 404. This causes a data divergence between the first
storage object 402 and the second storage object 404, such as where
the replicated operation writes new data to the second storage
object 404. Thus, the second storage object 404 comprises the new
data but the first storage object 402 does not. Instead, the first
storage object 402 may comprise "old data", for example.
Accordingly, a quick reconciliation process is performed based upon
the operation failing to successfully execute upon the first
storage object 402 and the replication operation successfully
executing upon the second storage object 404. The quick
reconciliation process is performed to read the "old data" from the
first storage object 402 (e.g., data is read from a same offset and
range of the operation that failed), and the "old data" is
replicated to the second storage object 404 so that the second
storage object 404 is synchronized with the data of the first
storage object 402.
[0064] Unfortunately, the "old data" read from the first storage
object 402 may comprise misaligned holes (e.g., a hole comprising a
portion of the first storage object 402 no longer used and thus can
be freed for use in storing other data) that do not start or end at
aligned offsets of the second storage object 404 (e.g., data is
stored within the second storage object 404 at 4 k block offsets).
A replication engine that will replicate the "old data" to the
second storage object 404 may be unable to handle holes that are to
be punched at misaligned offsets and/or lengths. Punching a hole
relates to marking a portion of a storage object as being unneeded
and storage of that potion can be freed for use in storing other
data. Further, a read operation to read the "old data" from the
first storage object 402 can result in an error where the read
operation is attempting to read beyond an end of the first storage
object 402 (e.g., beyond an end of file).
[0065] Accordingly, systems and methods are provided herein for
handling handing misaligned holes and writes beyond end of files.
Upon determining that a write operation failed to execute upon the
first storage objects 402 but succeeded at replicating to the
second storage object 404, the quick reconciliation process is
initiated to reconcile the first storage object 402 and the second
storage object 404 so that the second storage object 404 mirrors
the first storage object 402. At 302, a read operation 406 is
executed upon the first storage object 402 at a first range of an
offset and length of the write operation that failed to execute
upon the first storage object 402. In an example, the read
operation 406 acquires a first range lock for the first range. The
first range lock is used to block modifications from being
performed upon data within the first range while the read operation
406 is performed (e.g., while the read operation 406 holds the
first range lock).
[0066] A read response 408 to the read operation 406 is received.
The read response 408 is evaluated to determine that the read
response 408 has one or more misaligned holes, at 304. In an
example, misalignment is determined based upon a first I/O vector
entry being a hole and having a start offset that is not aligned
with block sizes of the second storage object 404 (e.g., not 4 k
aligned). In another example, misalignment is determined based upon
a last I/O vector entry being a hole and having an end offset that
is not aligned with block sizes of the second storage object 404
(e.g., not 4 k aligned).
[0067] At 306, the first range is modified to a second range used
to read aligned holes from the first storage object 402. In an
example, the start offset of the first range is modified to create
the second range by rounding the start offset down to a block size
used to store the second storage object (e.g., a 4 kb block size).
In another example, the end offset of the first range is modified
to create the second range by rounding the end offset up to a
nearest aligned block size value as a new length.
[0068] At 308, a second read operation 410, targeting the second
range of the first storage object 402, is executed upon the first
storage object 402, as illustrated by FIG. 4B. Because the second
read operation 410 targets the second range, a second read response
412 with aligned holes is returned. In an example of executing the
second read operation 410, the first range lock of the first range
is released, and a second range lock for the second range is
obtained to block the second range from being modified during
execution of the second read operation 410. Data of the second read
response 412, such as the aligned holes, is replicated to the
second storage object 404 so that the second storage object 404
mirrors the first storage object 402 (e.g., the replicating
effectively undoes what the replicated write operation previously
did to the second storage object 404), at 310. In this way,
misaligned holes are handled during quick reconciliation by
performing the second read operation 410 to a different range of
the first storage object 402 so that aligned holes are instead read
and replicated during the quick reconciliation process.
[0069] FIG. 5 illustrates a system for handling writes to ends of
files during quick reconciliation. As part of the quick
reconciliation, a read operation 506 is executed upon the first
storage object 502 at a first range of an offset and length of a
write operation that failed to execute upon the first storage
object 502, but successfully replicated to the second storage
object 504. A read response 508 of the read operation 506 is
evaluated to determine that the read operation 506 targeted a
region of the first storage object 502 beyond an end of the first
storage object 502. In an example, the read response 508 is
evaluated to identify an error code indicative of the read
operation 506 targeting the region of the first storage object 502
beyond the end of the first storage object 502. The region may be
entirely beyond the end of the first storage object 502 (e.g., the
read operation 506 does not target at least some portion of the
first storage object 502 before the end of the first storage object
502) or partially beyond the end of the first storage object 502
(e.g., the read operation 506 targets at least some portion of the
first storage object 502 before the end of the first storage object
502 and also a range of storage beyond the end of the first storage
object 502).
[0070] In response to determining that the read operation 506
targeted the region beyond the end of the first storage object 502
(e.g., partially or completely beyond), a truncate command 510 is
executed upon the second storage object 504. The truncate command
510 may be executed to adjust a size of the second storage object
504 to be a size of the first storage object 502. If the read
operation 506 targeted the region completely beyond the end of the
first storage object 502 and did not target at least some portion
of the first storage object 502 before the end of the first storage
object 502, then there read response 508 does not comprise data to
replicate to the second storage object 504.
[0071] If the read operation 506 targeted the region partially
beyond the end of the first storage object 502 (e.g., the read
operation 506 targeted a portion of data within the first storage
object 502 before the end of the first storage object 502 and
targeted a portion beyond the end of the first storage object 502),
then the read response 508 comprises data to replicate to the
second storage object 504 (e.g., the portion of data within the
first storage object 502). Accordingly, the data of the read
response 508 is replicated to the second storage object 504. For
example, data of the first storage object 502 from a start offset
of the read operation 506 to the end of the first storage object
502 is replicated using a replication command to the second storage
object 504.
[0072] During replication, a volume barrier or a dependency graph
is used to serialize the replication command with respect to other
replication commands targeting the second storage object 504. The
volume barrier is used to block/queue operations from modifying the
second storage object 504 (e.g., a volume) while the replication
command is being performed. The dependency graph is used to track
which operations depend upon execution of other operations so that
the operations are executed in an order that preserves write order
dependency (e.g., data A is written to a block of the first storage
object 502 by a first write and then data B is subsequently written
to the same block of the first storage object 502 by a second
write, and thus replication of the second write depends upon
replication of the first write executing first so that both the
first storage object 502 and the second storage object 504 comprise
the same data B after the writes and replication of the writes
complete).
[0073] Still another embodiment involves a computer-readable medium
600 comprising processor-executable instructions configured to
implement one or more of the techniques presented herein. An
example embodiment of a computer-readable medium or a
computer-readable device that is devised in these ways is
illustrated in FIG. 6, wherein the implementation comprises a
computer-readable medium 608, such as a compact disc-recordable
(CD-R), a digital versatile disc-recordable (DVD-R), flash drive, a
platter of a hard disk drive, etc., on which is encoded
computer-readable data 606. This computer-readable data 606, such
as binary data comprising at least one of a zero or a one, in turn
comprises a processor-executable computer instructions 604
configured to operate according to one or more of the principles
set forth herein. In some embodiments, the processor-executable
computer instructions 604 are configured to perform a method 602,
such as at least some of the exemplary method 300 of FIG. 3, for
example. In some embodiments, the processor-executable computer
instructions 604 are configured to implement a system, such as at
least some of the exemplary system 400 of FIGS. 4A-4C and/or at
least some of the exemplary system 500 of FIG. 5, for example. Many
such computer-readable media are contemplated to operate in
accordance with the techniques presented herein.
[0074] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example operating
environment 700 in which an embodiment of the techniques described
herein may be implemented. In one example, the techniques described
herein may be implemented within a client device 728, such as a
laptop, tablet, personal computer, mobile device, wearable device,
etc. In another example, the techniques described herein may be
implemented within a storage controller 730, such as a node
configured to manage the storage and access to data on behalf of
the client device 728 and/or other client devices. In another
example, the techniques described herein may be implemented within
a distributed computing platform 702 such as a cloud computing
environment (e.g., a cloud storage environment, a multi-tenant
platform, etc.) configured to manage the storage and access to data
on behalf of the client device 728 and/or other client devices.
[0075] In yet another example, at least some of the techniques
described herein are implemented across one or more of the client
device 728, the storage controller 730, and the distributed
computing platform 702. For example, the client device 728 may
transmit operations, such as data operations to read data and write
data and metadata operations (e.g., a create file operation, a
rename directory operation, a resize operation, a set attribute
operation, etc.), over a network 726 to the storage controller 730
for implementation by the storage controller 730 upon storage. The
storage controller 730 may store data associated with the
operations within volumes or other data objects/structures hosted
within locally attached storage, remote storage hosted by other
computing devices accessible over the network 726, storage provided
by the distributed computing platform 702, etc. The storage
controller 730 may replicate the data and/or the operations to
other computing devices so that one or more replicas, such as a
destination storage volume that is maintained as a replica of a
source storage volume, are maintained. Such replicas can be used
for disaster recovery and failover.
[0076] The storage controller 730 may store the data or a portion
thereof within storage hosted by the distributed computing platform
702 by transmitting the data to the distributed computing platform
702. In one example, the storage controller 730 may locally store
frequently accessed data within locally attached storage. Less
frequently accessed data may be transmitted to the distributed
computing platform 702 for storage within a data storage tier 708.
The data storage tier 708 may store data within a service data
store 720, and may store client specific data within client data
stores assigned to such clients such as a client (1) data store 722
used to store data of a client (1) and a client (N) data store 724
used to store data of a client (N). The data stores may be physical
storage devices or may be defined as logical storage, such as a
virtual volume, LUNs, or other logical organizations of data that
can be defined across one or more physical storage devices. In
another example, the storage controller 730 transmits and stores
all client data to the distributed computing platform 702. In yet
another example, the client device 728 transmits and stores the
data directly to the distributed computing platform 702 without the
use of the storage controller 730.
[0077] The management of storage and access to data can be
performed by one or more storage virtual machines (SMVs) or other
storage applications that provide software as a service (SaaS) such
as storage software services. In one example, an SVM may be hosted
within the client device 728, within the storage controller 730, or
within the distributed computing platform 702 such as by the
application server tier 706. In another example, one or more SVMs
may be hosted across one or more of the client device 728, the
storage controller 730, and the distributed computing platform
702.
[0078] In one example of the distributed computing platform 702,
one or more SVMs may be hosted by the application server tier 706.
For example, a server (1) 716 is configured to host SVMs used to
execute applications such as storage applications that manage the
storage of data of the client (1) within the client (1) data store
722. Thus, an SVM executing on the server (1) 716 may receive data
and/or operations from the client device 728 and/or the storage
controller 730 over the network 726. The SVM executes a storage
application to process the operations and/or store the data within
the client (1) data store 722. The SVM may transmit a response back
to the client device 728 and/or the storage controller 730 over the
network 726, such as a success message or an error message. In this
way, the application server tier 706 may host SVMs, services,
and/or other storage applications using the server (1) 716, the
server (N) 718, etc.
[0079] A user interface tier 704 of the distributed computing
platform 702 may provide the client device 728 and/or the storage
controller 730 with access to user interfaces associated with the
storage and access of data and/or other services provided by the
distributed computing platform 702. In an example, a service user
interface 710 may be accessible from the distributed computing
platform 702 for accessing services subscribed to by clients and/or
storage controllers, such as data replication services, application
hosting services, data security services, human resource services,
warehouse tracking services, accounting services, etc. For example,
client user interfaces may be provided to corresponding clients,
such as a client (1) user interface 712, a client (N) user
interface 714, etc. The client (1) can access various services and
resources subscribed to by the client (1) through the client (1)
user interface 712, such as access to a web service, a development
environment, a human resource application, a warehouse tracking
application, and/or other services and resources provided by the
application server tier 706, which may use data stored within the
data storage tier 708.
[0080] The client device 728 and/or the storage controller 730 may
subscribe to certain types and amounts of services and resources
provided by the distributed computing platform 702. For example,
the client device 728 may establish a subscription to have access
to three virtual machines, a certain amount of storage, a certain
type/amount of data redundancy, a certain type/amount of data
security, certain service level agreements (SLAs) and service level
objectives (SLOs), latency guarantees, bandwidth guarantees, access
to execute or host certain applications, etc. Similarly, the
storage controller 730 can establish a subscription to have access
to certain services and resources of the distributed computing
platform 702.
[0081] As shown, a variety of clients, such as the client device
728 and the storage controller 730, incorporating and/or
incorporated into a variety of computing devices may communicate
with the distributed computing platform 702 through one or more
networks, such as the network 726. For example, a client may
incorporate and/or be incorporated into a client application (e.g.,
software) implemented at least in part by one or more of the
computing devices.
[0082] Examples of suitable computing devices include personal
computers, server computers, desktop computers, nodes, storage
servers, storage controllers, laptop computers, notebook computers,
tablet computers or personal digital assistants (PDAs), smart
phones, cell phones, and consumer electronic devices incorporating
one or more computing device components, such as one or more
electronic processors, microprocessors, central processing units
(CPU), or controllers. Examples of suitable networks include
networks utilizing wired and/or wireless communication technologies
and networks operating in accordance with any suitable networking
and/or communication protocol (e.g., the Internet). In use cases
involving the delivery of customer support services, the computing
devices noted represent the endpoint of the customer support
delivery process, i.e., the consumer's device.
[0083] The distributed computing platform 702, such as a
multi-tenant business data processing platform or cloud computing
environment, may include multiple processing tiers, including the
user interface tier 704, the application server tier 706, and a
data storage tier 708. The user interface tier 704 may maintain
multiple user interfaces, including graphical user interfaces
and/or web-based interfaces. The user interfaces may include the
service user interface 710 for a service to provide access to
applications and data for a client (e.g., a "tenant") of the
service, as well as one or more user interfaces that have been
specialized/customized in accordance with user specific
requirements, which may be accessed via one or more APIs.
[0084] The service user interface 710 may include components
enabling a tenant to administer the tenant's participation in the
functions and capabilities provided by the distributed computing
platform 702, such as accessing data, causing execution of specific
data processing operations, etc. Each processing tier may be
implemented with a set of computers, virtualized computing
environments such as a storage virtual machine or storage virtual
server, and/or computer components including computer servers and
processors, and may perform various functions, methods, processes,
or operations as determined by the execution of a software
application or set of instructions.
[0085] The data storage tier 708 may include one or more data
stores, which may include the service data store 720 and one or
more client data stores. Each client data store may contain
tenant-specific data that is used as part of providing a range of
tenant-specific business and storage services or functions,
including but not limited to ERP, CRM, eCommerce, Human Resources
management, payroll, storage services, etc. Data stores may be
implemented with any suitable data storage technology, including
structured query language (SQL) based relational database
management systems (RDBMS), file systems hosted by operating
systems, object storage, etc.
[0086] In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the
distributed computing platform 702 may be a multi-tenant and
service platform operated by an entity in order to provide multiple
tenants with a set of business related applications, data storage,
and functionality. These applications and functionality may include
ones that a business uses to manage various aspects of its
operations. For example, the applications and functionality may
include providing web-based access to business information systems,
thereby allowing a user with a browser and an Internet or intranet
connection to view, enter, process, or modify certain types of
business information or any other type of information.
[0087] In an embodiment, the described methods and/or their
equivalents may be implemented with computer executable
instructions. Thus, In an embodiment, a non-transitory computer
readable/storage medium is configured with stored computer
executable instructions of an algorithm/executable application that
when executed by a machine(s) cause the machine(s) (and/or
associated components) to perform the method. Example machines
include but are not limited to a processor, a computer, a server
operating in a cloud computing system, a server configured in a
Software as a Service (SaaS) architecture, a smart phone, and so
on). In an embodiment, a computing device is implemented with one
or more executable algorithms that are configured to perform any of
the disclosed methods.
[0088] It will be appreciated that processes, architectures and/or
procedures described herein can be implemented in hardware,
firmware and/or software. It will also be appreciated that the
provisions set forth herein may apply to any type of
special-purpose computer (e.g., file host, storage server and/or
storage serving appliance) and/or general-purpose computer,
including a standalone computer or portion thereof, embodied as or
including a storage system. Moreover, the teachings herein can be
configured to a variety of storage system architectures including,
but not limited to, a network-attached storage environment and/or a
storage area network and disk assembly directly attached to a
client or host computer. Storage system should therefore be taken
broadly to include such arrangements in addition to any subsystems
configured to perform a storage function and associated with other
equipment or systems.
[0089] In some embodiments, methods described and/or illustrated in
this disclosure may be realized in whole or in part on
computer-readable media. Computer readable media can include
processor-executable instructions configured to implement one or
more of the methods presented herein, and may include any mechanism
for storing this data that can be thereafter read by a computer
system. Examples of computer readable media include (hard) drives
(e.g., accessible via network attached storage (NAS)), Storage Area
Networks (SAN), volatile and non-volatile memory, such as read-only
memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), electrically erasable
programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) and/or flash memory, compact
disk read only memory (CD-ROM)s, CD-Rs, compact disk re-writeable
(CD-RW)s, DVDs, cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage,
optical or non-optical data storage devices and/or any other medium
which can be used to store data.
[0090] Although the subject matter has been described in language
specific to structural features or methodological acts, it is to be
understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims
is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts
described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described
above are disclosed as example forms of implementing at least some
of the claims.
[0091] Various operations of embodiments are provided herein. The
order in which some or all of the operations are described should
not be construed to imply that these operations are necessarily
order dependent. Alternative ordering will be appreciated given the
benefit of this description. Further, it will be understood that
not all operations are necessarily present in each embodiment
provided herein. Also, it will be understood that not all
operations are necessary in some embodiments.
[0092] Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is implemented as a
method, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard
application 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 application accessible from any computer-readable device,
carrier, or media. Of course, many modifications may be made to
this configuration without departing from the scope or spirit of
the claimed subject matter.
[0093] As used in this application, the terms "component",
"module," "system", "interface", and the like are generally
intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, a
combination of hardware and software, software, or software in
execution. For example, a component includes a process running on a
processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of
execution, an application, or a computer. By way of illustration,
both an application running on a controller and the controller can
be a component. One or more components residing within a process or
thread of execution and a component may be localized on one
computer or distributed between two or more computers.
[0094] Moreover, "exemplary" is used herein to mean serving as an
example, instance, illustration, etc., and not necessarily as
advantageous. As used in this application, "or" is intended to mean
an inclusive "or" rather than an exclusive "or". In addition, "a"
and "an" as used in this application are generally be construed to
mean "one or more" unless specified otherwise or clear from context
to be directed to a singular form. Also, at least one of A and B
and/or the like generally means A or B and/or both A and B.
Furthermore, to the extent that "includes", "having", "has",
"with", or variants thereof are used, such terms are intended to be
inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprising".
[0095] Many modifications may be made to the instant disclosure
without departing from the scope or spirit of the claimed subject
matter. Unless specified otherwise, "first," "second," or the like
are not intended to imply a temporal aspect, a spatial aspect, an
ordering, etc. Rather, such terms are merely used as identifiers,
names, etc. for features, elements, items, etc. For example, a
first set of information and a second set of information generally
correspond to set of information A and set of information B or two
different or two identical sets of information or the same set of
information.
[0096] Also, although the disclosure has been shown and described
with respect to one or more implementations, equivalent alterations
and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art based
upon a reading and understanding of this specification and the
annexed drawings. The disclosure includes all such modifications
and alterations and is limited only by the scope of the following
claims. In particular regard to the various functions performed by
the above described components (e.g., elements, resources, etc.),
the terms used to describe such components are intended to
correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any component which
performs the specified function of the described component (e.g.,
that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally
equivalent to the disclosed structure. In addition, while a
particular feature of the disclosure may have been disclosed with
respect to only one of several implementations, such feature may be
combined with one or more other features of the other
implementations as may be desired and advantageous for any given or
particular application.
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