Patent ID: 7092977
Filing Date: 2006-08-15
Classification: G06F,Y10S

Abstract:
1. In a storage environment comprising a plurality of storage devices, a method of identifying a storage device from the plurality of storage devices for storing data, the method comprising: receiving a signal to store a data unit; identifying a set of one or more placement rules configured for the storage environment, each placement rule identifying criteria to be used for selecting a storage device for storing data, the criteria comprising data-related criteria and device-related criteria, the data-related criteria identifying one or more conditions related to one or more characteristics of the data to be stored and the device-related criteria identifying one or more conditions related to one or more storage device characteristics; calculating a data value score (DVS) for each placement rule in the set of placement rules based upon the data-related criteria of the placement rule and characteristics of the data unit to be stored, wherein the DVSs calculated for the set of placements rules are used to select a placement rule from the set of placement rules to be used for determining a storage device for storing the data unit; and determining a storage device, from the plurality of storage devices, for storing the data unit based upon the set of placement rules and their associated DVSs, characteristics of the plurality of storage devices, and characteristics of the data unit to be stored.