Emc IP Holding Company LLC

Dell Products Inc.

Ajay Karri

Philippe Armangau

Vamsi K Vankamamidi

Bruce E Caram

Yubing Wang

Monica Chaudhary

Alexei Karaban

Alexander Daniel

Ivan Bassov

Jian Gao

Geng Han

Shuyu Lee

Xiaobo Zhang

Yining Si

Oran Asher Baruch

Rongrong Shang

Alexander Shknevsky

Kamakshi Viswanadha

Oran Baruch

John P Didier

Henry A Spang, Iv

In at least one embodiment, processing can include: recording write operations as entries in a log; flushing the entries from the log, said flushing including persistently storing, on non-volatile storage, content written by the write operations; responsive to determining a system has a current workload below a specified workload threshold, performing first processing including: determining a first minimum number of free blocks of the non-volatile storage based on: i) an average number of free blocks expected to be consumed in connection with flushing the log in each time interval, ii) a constant, and iii) a second minimum number of blocks denoting an upper bound of a number of blocks of the non-volatile storage consumed by flushing the log in each time interval; and responsive to determining that a current number of free blocks is less than the first minimum number, performing garbage collection processing on the non-volatile storage.

Data storage management techniques

A technique of managing writes in a data storage system includes receiving I/O requests specifying data to be written, storing a set of the data to be written in an extent of a data log, and preventing data reduction from being performed on the set of data in the extent for at least a specified time interval, said time interval enabling portions of the set of data to be overwritten with new data and rendering data reduction of such portions unnecessary.

Avoiding data reduction debt for quickly overwritten data

A technique consolidates data at multiple levels of granularity, the levels including a first level based on whole PLBs (physical large blocks) and a second level based on portions of donor PLBs. The technique further includes tracking PLBs in multiple PLB queues arranged based on storage utilization of the PLBs, and tracking PLB portions in multiple portion queues arranged based on storage utilization of the portions. When consolidating data to create a new PLB, a set of whole PLBs is selected, based on utilization, from the PLB queues, and a set of portions of donor PLBs is selected, based on utilization, from the portion queues. The selections are performed such that the total data size of the selected whole PLB(s) and the selected portion(s) fit within the new PLB.

Managing data storage consolidation

A method, computer program product, and computing system for compartmentalizing a SSD storage tier within a storage platform into a plurality of SSD portions including a first SSD portion, a second SSD portion and a third SSD portion; reducing the size of the third SSD portion if the first SSD portion and/or the second SS portion needs to expand; and reducing the size of the second SSD portion if the first SSD portion needs to expand; wherein the storage platform includes an HDD storage tier.

Data tiering system and method

A method, computer program product, and computing system for tracking the utilization of a plurality of PLBs within a storage platform to generate PLB utilization information, wherein each PLB is associated with one or more VLBs; and tracking the utilization of the one or more VLBs associated with each of the plurality of PLBs within the storage platform to generate VLB utilization information.

Storage management system and method

A method, computer program product, and computing system for defining a quantity of discrete storage portions within a storage system; entering an expansion mode during which the discrete storage portions are incrementally assigned to at least one processing node until a first assignment level target is achieved; once the first assignment level target is achieved, entering a utilization mode during which the utilization of the assigned discrete portions is increased until a first utilization level target is achieved; and once the first utilization level target is achieved, reentering the expansion mode during which additional discrete storage portions are incrementally assigned to the at least one processing node until a second assignment level target is achieved.

Memory management system and method

In a multi-tiered system, a read temperature classification and write temperature classification per virtual block (VLB) can be determined based on the content referenced by each VLB. The temperature classifications of VLBs can be determined using temperature scales which map read and write activity levels to corresponding temperature classifications. The temperature scales can have classification boundaries adjusted based on feedback of operations performed including down-tiering, garbage collection, and compaction and appending. In one use case, a number of free blocks in a high-performance first tier can be below a minimum and processing can be performed to locate a source block of the first tier partially filled with hot content, store the hot content contiguously on a target block of the first tier, flush write data from a log, and store the write data on the target block by appending the write data to the existing hot content.

Techniques for determining and using temperature classifications with adjustable classification boundaries

In a multi-tiered system, read temperature and write temperature per virtual block (VLB) can be determined based on the content referenced by each VLB. The read temperature can describe VLB read activity relative to the recency and frequency of read misses of content referenced by the VLB. The write temperature can describe VLB write activity relative to the recency and frequency of overwrites with respect to content referenced by the VLB. Read misses and overwrites can be recorded per processing core in an active tablet used for recording by only a single core. Active and analytic tablet sets across cores can be switched based on criteria. Analytic tablets can be processed and used to update metrics, including read and write temperatures, stored for VLBs. The metrics can be used to determine temperature classifications of VLBs. Content referenced by VLBs can be promoted and/or demoted using VLB temperature classifications.

Techniques for collecting and utilizing activity metrics

A method, computer program product, and computing system for receiving a plurality of physical layer blocks (PLBs). A subset of PLBs may be selected from the plurality of PLBs for combining into a combined PLB based upon, at least in part, a utilization of each PLB of the plurality of PLBs, an average compression per active virtual, and a number of free PLBs generated when combining into the combined PLB. One or more PLBs of the subset of PLBs may be compressed based upon, at least in part, the average compression per active virtual. The one or more PLBs of the subset of PLBs may be combined into the combined PLB.

System and method for adaptive data compression

A method, computer program product, and computing system for identifying a first memory device source that includes first content; identifying a second memory device source that include second content; and initiating a first iteration of a memory device cleansing procedure wherein first content and at least a first portion of the second content are moved to a first unused memory device.

System and method for memory management using memory device cleansing

A technique for managing a metadata transaction log consolidates multiple mapping pointer changes that affect a single metadata block in a single transaction entry. The technique creates a data structure that identifies the mapping pointers in the metadata block that are changing, and stores the data structure in the transaction entry along with records that describe the individual mapping pointer changes.

Bulk updating of mapping pointers with metadata transaction log

A method, computer program product, and computing system for maintaining a first cursor pointer for a memory system, wherein the first cursor pointer concerns a first search criteria and identifies an initial first cursor starting location; receiving a first search request for the memory system that satisfies the first search criteria; executing the first search request within an initial first search window starting at the initial first cursor starting location; and updating the first cursor pointer to identify an updated first cursor starting location based, at least in part, upon the initial first search window.

A method is used in managing deduplication characteristics in a storage system. Deduplication entries stored in a deduplication cache are categorized into a set of deduplication groups based on a data deduplication probability associated with the deduplication entries. A machine learning system is used to dynamically adjust deduplication characteristics associated with the set of deduplication groups based on an I/O workload associated with the storage system.

Managing deduplication characteristics in a storage system

Techniques are directed to managing Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) storage space. One technique involves providing, by RAID circuitry, a storage space request to mapper circuitry; receiving, by the RAID circuitry, a storage space reply from the mapper circuitry in response to the storage space request; and performing, by the RAID circuitry, a follow-up operation based on the storage space reply from the mapper circuitry. Another technique involves, receiving, by mapper circuitry, a storage space request from RAID circuitry; performing, by the mapper circuitry, a storage space management operation in response to the storage space request; and providing, by the mapper circuitry, a storage space reply to the RAID circuitry, the storage space reply identifying a result of the storage space management operation.

Providing coordination between mapper circuitry and redundant array of independent disks (RAID) circuitry to manage RAID storage space

Coordinating a reclaiming of data storage space among processing nodes of a data storage system includes, by a first node in response to an event, performing local cleanup of first-node mapping data and issuing a request message to a second node, the request message identifying the data storage space to be reclaimed. The event may be a notification from a RAID component rebuilding a RAID volume. In response to the request message, the second node performs local cleanup of second-node mapping data and issues a completion message to the first node indicating that the second node has completed its part of the reclaiming of the data storage space. The first node responds to the completion message by marking the data storage space as being reclaimed and signaling to a source of the event that the data storage space is available for new use.

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South Grafton, MA, United States of America

Ajay Karri