Hitachi, Ltd.

Daisuke Orikasa

Yutaka Takata

Yoshiaki Eguchi

Ai Satoyama

Yoichi Mizuno

Ken Matsuda

Shintaro Inoue

A storage system comprises a storage medium including a plurality of physical storage areas. The storage system controls a host computer to recognize a logical volume having a plurality of virtual storage areas, reads the data from the physical storage area assigned to the virtual storage area of the logical volume, determines whether or not the read data includes only the specific pattern data, and cancels the assignment of the physical storage area to the virtual storage area if the read data includes only the specific pattern data.

Storage system for controlling assignment of storage area to virtual volume storing specific pattern data

Multiple storage area groups into which multiple storage areas provided by multiple storage devices are classified with reference to storage area attributes are managed. The multiple logical volumes to which, in accordance with a write request to at least one address included in multiple addresses in the logical volume, at least one storage area included in the multiple storage areas is allocated are provided. In accordance with the access condition of the at least one address in the logical volume, the data written to the at least one address by the write request is migrated from the at least one storage area included in one of the multiple storage area groups to at least one storage area in another storage area group included in the multiple storage area groups.

Storage system providing virtual volumes

If an I/O load on a first virtual storage area falls below a first threshold, a controller copies data in a first storage area, which is allocated to the first virtual storage area, to a third storage area in a second tier storage area, and allocates the third storage area instead of the first storage area to the first virtual storage area. If an I/O load on a second virtual storage area exceeds a second threshold which is greater than said first threshold, the controller copies data in a second storage area, which is allocated to the second virtual storage area, to a fourth storage area in a first tier storage area, and allocates the fourth storage area instead of the second storage area to the second virtual storage area.

Growing community of inventors

Odawara, Japan

Daisuke Orikasa