Patent ID: 7793058
Filing Date: 2010-09-07
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method for setting a level of service for storage comprising the steps of: detecting an occurrence of a scheduled storage event, wherein detecting an occurrence of a scheduled storage event comprises: in response to detecting the occurrence of the scheduled storage event, determining whether a requirement change occurred; in response to determining that a requirement change occurred, looking up a first unused negotiation stage from among a plurality of negotiation stages stored in a metadata structure, wherein the first unused negotiation stage is looked up on the basis of at least one parameter comprising at least one of data throughput rate, time to recover from failure, and presence of backup; requesting an online storage service based on the first looked up unused negotiation stage to form a first request; receiving a first service provider response to the first request; determining whether the first service provider response is acceptable; in response to determining that the first service provider response is acceptable, committing a storage change based on the first service provider response; in response to determining that the first service provider response is not acceptable, determining whether a second unused negotiation stage exists; in response to the determining that a second unused negotiation stage exists, looking up the second unused negotiation stage from among the plurality of negotiation stages stored in the metadata structure, wherein the second unused negotiation stage is looked up on the basis of at least one parameter comprising at least one of data throughput rate, time to recover from failure, and presence of backup; requesting the online storage service based on the second unused negotiation stage to form a second request; receiving a second service provider response to the second request; determining whether the second service provider response is acceptable; and in response to determining that the second service provider response is acceptable, committing a storage change based on the second service provider response, wherein committing the storage change based on the first or second service provider response comprises establishing a reference table of a network location of a storage that is to be used during a time interval.