Patent ID: 7484038
Filing Date: 2009-01-27
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method comprising: logically partitioning each of a plurality of storage devices in a networked data storage system into a plurality of segments, at least a first one of the plurality of segments having a different size than a second one of the plurality of segments, wherein each segment is a contiguous range of blocks on a storage device of the plurality of storage devices, the contiguous range of blocks including fewer than all of the blocks on the storage device; mapping the plurality of segments to a plurality of logical units, the mapping including mapping a first segment of a first storage device to a logical unit, and mirroring the first segment to a second segment of a second storage device, wherein the first and second segments are a mirrored set; in response to a request to instantiate a logical unit, if no free segment is available for the logical unit, breaking a mirroring relationship for the mirrored set to remove redundancy associated with the first segment and assigning the second segment to the logical unit; monitoring, at a storage server, usage of the plurality of storage devices, wherein said monitoring does not require the use of any monitoring application that is external to the storage server; and managing the plurality of segments at the storage server in response to how often each of the plurality of storage devices is accessed.