Patent ID: 12236232

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

System Overview

In some implementations, the present disclosure may be embodied as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, in some implementations, the present disclosure may take the form of an entirely hardware implementation, an entirely software implementation (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an implementation combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, in some implementations, the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product on a computer-usable storage medium having computer-usable program code embodied in the medium.

In some implementations, any suitable computer usable or computer readable medium (or media) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. The computer-usable, or computer-readable, storage medium (including a storage device associated with a computing device or client electronic device) may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium may include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a static random access memory (SRAM), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon, a media such as those supporting the internet or an intranet, or a magnetic storage device. Note that the computer-usable or computer-readable medium could even be a suitable medium upon which the program is stored, scanned, compiled, interpreted, or otherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory. In the context of the present disclosure, a computer-usable or computer-readable, storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain or store a program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

In some implementations, a computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. In some implementations, such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. In some implementations, the computer readable program code may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to the internet, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc. In some implementations, a computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

In some implementations, computer program code for carrying out operations of the present disclosure may be assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java®, Smalltalk, C++ or the like. Java® and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. However, the computer program code for carrying out operations of the present disclosure may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language, PASCAL, or similar programming languages, as well as in scripting languages such as Javascript, PERL, or Python. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the internet using an Internet Service Provider). In some implementations, electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other hardware accelerators, micro-controller units (MCUs), or programmable logic arrays (PLAs) may execute the computer readable program instructions/code by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present disclosure.

In some implementations, the flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of apparatus (systems), methods and computer program products according to various implementations of the present disclosure. Each block in the flowchart and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart and/or block diagrams, may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable computer program instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s)/act(s). These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the computer program instructions, which may execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create the ability to implement one or more of the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks or combinations thereof. It should be noted that, in some implementations, the functions noted in the block(s) may occur out of the order noted in the figures (or combined or omitted). For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved.

In some implementations, these computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks or combinations thereof.

In some implementations, the computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed (not necessarily in a particular order) on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts (not necessarily in a particular order) specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks or combinations thereof.

Referring now to the example implementation ofFIG.1, there is shown rollup process10that may reside on and may be executed by a computer (e.g., computer12), which may be connected to a network (e.g., network14) (e.g., the internet or a local area network). Examples of computer12(and/or one or more of the client electronic devices noted below) may include, but are not limited to, a storage system (e.g., a Network Attached Storage (NAS) system, a Storage Area Network (SAN)), a personal computer(s), a laptop computer(s), mobile computing device(s), a server computer, a series of server computers, a mainframe computer(s), or a computing cloud(s). As is known in the art, a SAN may include one or more of the client electronic devices, including a Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks/Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) device and a NAS system. In some implementations, each of the aforementioned may be generally described as a computing device. In certain implementations, a computing device may be a physical or virtual device. In many implementations, a computing device may be any device capable of performing operations, such as a dedicated processor, a portion of a processor, a virtual processor, a portion of a virtual processor, portion of a virtual device, or a virtual device. In some implementations, a processor may be a physical processor or a virtual processor. In some implementations, a virtual processor may correspond to one or more parts of one or more physical processors. In some implementations, the instructions/logic may be distributed and executed across one or more processors, virtual or physical, to execute the instructions/logic. Computer12may execute an operating system, for example, but not limited to, Microsoft® Windows®; Mac® OS X®; Red Hat® Linux®, Windows® Mobile, Chrome OS, Blackberry OS, Fire OS, or a custom operating system. (Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries or both; Mac and OS X are registered trademarks of Apple Inc, in the United States, other countries or both; Red Hat is a registered trademark of Red Hat Corporation in the United States, other countries or both; and Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries or both).

In some implementations, as will be discussed below in greater detail, a rollup process, such as rollup process10ofFIG.1, may upgrade, by a computing device, a plurality of storage appliances in a cluster, wherein the storage appliance cluster may include at least a primary storage appliance and a secondary storage appliance. It may be determined that an upgrade to a plurality of storage appliances in a cluster has completed. Distributed data may be queried for each storage appliance in the cluster based upon, at least in part, determining that the upgrade to the plurality of storage appliances in the cluster has completed. Data stored in a management database in the primary storage appliance and data stored locally in the secondary storage appliance may be combined based upon, at least in part, querying the distributed data for each storage appliance in the cluster.

In some implementations, the instruction sets and subroutines of rollup process10, which may be stored on storage device, such as storage device16, coupled to computer12, may be executed by one or more processors and one or more memory architectures included within computer12. In some implementations, storage device16may include but is not limited to: a hard disk drive; all forms of flash memory storage devices; a tape drive; an optical drive; a RAID array (or other array); a random access memory (RAM); a read-only memory (ROM); or combination thereof. In some implementations, storage device16may be organized as an extent, an extent pool, a RAID extent (e.g., an example 4D+1P R5, where the RAID extent may include, e.g., five storage device extents that may be allocated from, e.g., five different storage devices), a mapped RAID (e.g., a collection of RAID extents), or combination thereof.

In some implementations, network14may be connected to one or more secondary networks (e.g., network18), examples of which may include but are not limited to: a local area network; a wide area network or other telecommunications network facility; or an intranet, for example. The phrase “telecommunications network facility,” as used herein, may refer to a facility configured to transmit, and/or receive transmissions to/from one or more mobile client electronic devices (e.g., cellphones, etc.) as well as many others.

In some implementations, computer12may include a data store, such as a database (e.g., relational database, object-oriented database, triplestore database, etc.) and may be located within any suitable memory location, such as storage device16coupled to computer12. In some implementations, data, metadata, information, etc. described throughout the present disclosure may be stored in the data store. In some implementations, computer12may utilize any known database management system such as, but not limited to, DB2, in order to provide multi-user access to one or more databases, such as the above noted relational database. In some implementations, the data store may also be a custom database, such as, for example, a flat file database or an XML database. In some implementations, any other form(s) of a data storage structure and/or organization may also be used. In some implementations, rollup process10may be a component of the data store, a standalone application that interfaces with the above noted data store and/or an applet/application that is accessed via client applications22,24,26,28. In some implementations, the above noted data store may be, in whole or in part, distributed in a cloud computing topology. In this way, computer12and storage device16may refer to multiple devices, which may also be distributed throughout the network.

In some implementations, computer12may execute a storage management application (e.g., storage management application21), examples of which may include, but are not limited to, e.g., a storage system application, a cloud computing application, a data synchronization application, a data migration application, a garbage collection application, or other application that allows for the implementation and/or management of data in a clustered (or non-clustered) environment (or the like). In some implementations, rollup process10and/or storage management application21may be accessed via one or more of client applications22,24,26,28. In some implementations, rollup process10may be a standalone application, or may be an applet/application/script/extension that may interact with and/or be executed within storage management application21, a component of storage management application21, and/or one or more of client applications22,24,26,28. In some implementations, storage management application21may be a standalone application, or may be an applet/application/script/extension that may interact with and/or be executed within rollup process10, a component of rollup process10, and/or one or more of client applications22,24,26,28. In some implementations, one or more of client applications22,24,26,28may be a standalone application, or may be an applet/application/script/extension that may interact with and/or be executed within and/or be a component of rollup process10and/or storage management application21. Examples of client applications22,24,26,28may include, but are not limited to, e.g., a storage system application, a cloud computing application, a data synchronization application, a data migration application, a garbage collection application, or other application that allows for the implementation and/or management of data in a clustered (or non-clustered) environment (or the like), a standard and/or mobile web browser, an email application (e.g., an email client application), a textual and/or a graphical user interface, a customized web browser, a plugin, an Application Programming Interface (API), or a custom application. The instruction sets and subroutines of client applications22,24,26,28, which may be stored on storage devices30,32,34,36, coupled to client electronic devices38,40,42,44, may be executed by one or more processors and one or more memory architectures incorporated into client electronic devices38,40,42,44.

In some implementations, one or more of storage devices30,32,34,36, may include but are not limited to: hard disk drives; flash drives, tape drives; optical drives; RAID arrays; random access memories (RAM); and read-only memories (ROM). Examples of client electronic devices38,40,42,44(and/or computer12) may include, but are not limited to, a personal computer (e.g., client electronic device38), a laptop computer (e.g., client electronic device40), a smart/data-enabled, cellular phone (e.g., client electronic device42), a notebook computer (e.g., client electronic device44), a tablet, a server, a television, a smart television, a smart speaker, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a media (e.g., video, photo, etc.) capturing device, and a dedicated network device. Client electronic devices38,40,42,44may each execute an operating system, examples of which may include but are not limited to, Android™, Apple® iOS®, Mac® OS X®; Red Hat® Linux®, Windows® Mobile, Chrome OS, Blackberry OS, Fire OS, or a custom operating system.

In some implementations, one or more of client applications22,24,26,28may be configured to effectuate some or all of the functionality of rollup process10(and vice versa). Accordingly, in some implementations, rollup process10may be a purely server-side application, a purely client-side application, or a hybrid server-side/client-side application that is cooperatively executed by one or more of client applications22,24,26,28and/or rollup process10.

In some implementations, one or more of client applications22,24,26,28may be configured to effectuate some or all of the functionality of storage management application21(and vice versa). Accordingly, in some implementations, storage management application21may be a purely server-side application, a purely client-side application, or a hybrid server-side/client-side application that is cooperatively executed by one or more of client applications22,24,26,28and/or storage management application21. As one or more of client applications22,24,26,28, rollup process10, and storage management application21, taken singly or in any combination, may effectuate some or all of the same functionality, any description of effectuating such functionality via one or more of client applications22,24,26,28, rollup process10, storage management application21, or combination thereof, and any described interaction(s) between one or more of client applications22,24,26,28, rollup process10, storage management application21, or combination thereof to effectuate such functionality, should be taken as an example only and not to limit the scope of the disclosure.

In some implementations, one or more of users46,48,50,52may access computer12and rollup process10(e.g., using one or more of client electronic devices38,40,42,44) directly through network14or through secondary network18. Further, computer12may be connected to network14through secondary network18, as illustrated with phantom link line54. Rollup process10may include one or more user interfaces, such as browsers and textual or graphical user interfaces, through which users46,48,50,52may access rollup process10.

In some implementations, the various client electronic devices may be directly or indirectly coupled to network14(or network18). For example, client electronic device38is shown directly coupled to network14via a hardwired network connection. Further, client electronic device44is shown directly coupled to network18via a hardwired network connection. Client electronic device40is shown wirelessly coupled to network14via wireless communication channel56established between client electronic device40and wireless access point (i.e., WAP)58, which is shown directly coupled to network14. WAP 58 may be, for example, an IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, Wi-Fi®, RFID, and/or Bluetooth™ (including Bluetooth™ Low Energy) device that is capable of establishing wireless communication channel56between client electronic device40and WAP 58. Client electronic device42is shown wirelessly coupled to network14via wireless communication channel60established between client electronic device42and cellular network/bridge62, which is shown by example directly coupled to network14.

In some implementations, some or all of the IEEE 802.11x specifications may use Ethernet protocol and carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (i.e., CSMA/CA) for path sharing. The various 802.11x specifications may use phase-shift keying (i.e., PSK) modulation or complementary code keying (i.e., CCK) modulation, for example. Bluetooth™ (including Bluetooth™ Low Energy) is a telecommunications industry specification that allows, e.g., mobile phones, computers, smart phones, and other electronic devices to be interconnected using a short-range wireless connection. Other forms of interconnection (e.g., Near Field Communication (NFC)) may also be used.

In some implementations, various I/O requests (e.g., I/O request15) may be sent from, e.g., client applications22,24,26,28to, e.g., computer12. Examples of I/O request15may include but are not limited to, data write requests (e.g., a request that content be written to computer12) and data read requests (e.g., a request that content be read from computer12).

Data Storage System:

Referring also to the example implementation ofFIGS.2-3(e.g., where computer12may be configured as a data storage system), computer12may include storage processor100and a plurality of storage targets (e.g., storage targets102,104,106,108,110). In some implementations, storage targets102,104,106,108,110may include any of the above-noted storage devices. In some implementations, storage targets102,104,106,108,110may be configured to provide various levels of performance and/or high availability. For example, storage targets102,104,106,108,110may be configured to form a non-fully-duplicative fault-tolerant data storage system (such as a non-fully-duplicative RAID data storage system), examples of which may include but are not limited to: RAID 3 arrays, RAID 4 arrays, RAID 5 arrays, and/or RAID 6 arrays. It will be appreciated that various other types of RAID arrays may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

While in this particular example, computer12is shown to include five storage targets (e.g., storage targets102,104,106,108,110), this is for example purposes only and is not intended limit the present disclosure. For instance, the actual number of storage targets may be increased or decreased depending upon, e.g., the level of redundancy/performance/capacity required.

Further, the storage targets (e.g., storage targets102,104,106,108,110) included with computer12may be configured to form a plurality of discrete storage arrays. For instance, and assuming for example purposes only that computer12includes, e.g., ten discrete storage targets, a first five targets (of the ten storage targets) may be configured to form a first RAID array and a second five targets (of the ten storage targets) may be configured to form a second RAID array.

In some implementations, one or more of storage targets102,104,106,108,110may be configured to store coded data (e.g., via storage management process21), wherein such coded data may allow for the regeneration of data lost/corrupted on one or more of storage targets102,104,106,108,110. Examples of such coded data may include but is not limited to parity data and Reed-Solomon data. Such coded data may be distributed across all of storage targets102,104,106,108,110or may be stored within a specific storage target.

Examples of storage targets102,104,106,108,110may include one or more data arrays, wherein a combination of storage targets102,104,106,108,110(and any processing/control systems associated with storage management application21) may form data array112.

The manner in which computer12is implemented may vary depending upon e.g., the level of redundancy/performance/capacity required. For example, computer12may be configured as a SAN (i.e., a Storage Area Network), in which storage processor100may be, e.g., a dedicated computing system and each of storage targets102,104,106,108,110may be a RAID device. An example of storage processor100may include but is not limited to a VPLEX™, VNX™, TRIDENT™, or Unity™ system offered by Dell EMC™ of Hopkinton, MA.

In the example where computer12is configured as a SAN, the various components of computer12(e.g., storage processor100, and storage targets102,104,106,108,110) may be coupled using network infrastructure114, examples of which may include but are not limited to an Ethernet (e.g., Layer2or Layer3) network, a fiber channel network, an InfiniBand network, or any other circuit switched/packet switched network.

As discussed above, various I/O requests (e.g., I/O request15) may be generated. For example, these I/O requests may be sent from, e.g., client applications22,24,26,28to, e.g., computer12. Additionally/alternatively (e.g., when storage processor100is configured as an application server or otherwise), these I/O requests may be internally generated within storage processor100(e.g., via storage management process21). Examples of I/O request15may include but are not limited to data write request116(e.g., a request that content118be written to computer12) and data read request120(e.g., a request that content118be read from computer12).

In some implementations, during operation of storage processor100, content118to be written to computer12may be received and/or processed by storage processor100(e.g., via storage management process21). Additionally/alternatively (e.g., when storage processor100is configured as an application server or otherwise), content118to be written to computer12may be internally generated by storage processor100(e.g., via storage management process21).

As discussed above, the instruction sets and subroutines of storage management application21, which may be stored on storage device16included within computer12, may be executed by one or more processors and one or more memory architectures included with computer12. Accordingly, in addition to being executed on storage processor100, some or all of the instruction sets and subroutines of storage management application21(and/or rollup process10) may be executed by one or more processors and one or more memory architectures included with data array112.

In some implementations, storage processor100may include front end cache memory system122. Examples of front end cache memory system122may include but are not limited to a volatile, solid-state, cache memory system (e.g., a dynamic RAM cache memory system), a non-volatile, solid-state, cache memory system (e.g., a flash-based, cache memory system), and/or any of the above-noted storage devices.

In some implementations, storage processor100may initially store content118within front end cache memory system122. Depending upon the manner in which front end cache memory system122is configured, storage processor100(e.g., via storage management process21) may immediately write content118to data array112(e.g., if front end cache memory system122is configured as a write-through cache) or may subsequently write content118to data array112(e.g., if front end cache memory system122is configured as a write-back cache).

In some implementations, one or more of storage targets102,104,106,108,110may include a backend cache memory system. Examples of the backend cache memory system may include but are not limited to a volatile, solid-state, cache memory system (e.g., a dynamic RAM cache memory system), a non-volatile, solid-state, cache memory system (e.g., a flash-based, cache memory system), and/or any of the above-noted storage devices.

Storage Targets:

As discussed above, one or more of storage targets102,104,106,108,110may be a RAID device. For instance, and referring also toFIG.3, there is shown example target150, wherein target150may be one example implementation of a RAID implementation of, e.g., storage target102, storage target104, storage target106, storage target108, and/or storage target110. An example of target150may include but is not limited to a VPLEX™, VNX™, TRIDENT™, or Unity™ system offered by Dell EMC™ of Hopkinton, MA. Examples of storage devices154,156,158,160,162may include one or more electro-mechanical hard disk drives, one or more solid-state/flash devices, and/or any of the above-noted storage devices. It will be appreciated that while the term “disk” or “drive” may be used throughout, these may refer to and be used interchangeably with any types of appropriate storage devices as the context and functionality of the storage device permits.

In some implementations, target150may include storage processor152and a plurality of storage devices (e.g., storage devices154,156,158,160,162). Storage devices154,156,158,160,162may be configured to provide various levels of performance and/or high availability (e.g., via storage management process21). For example, one or more of storage devices154,156,158,160,162(or any of the above-noted storage devices) may be configured as a RAID 0 array, in which data is striped across storage devices. By striping data across a plurality of storage devices, improved performance may be realized. However, RAID 0 arrays may not provide a level of high availability. Accordingly, one or more of storage devices154,156,158,160,162(or any of the above-noted storage devices) may be configured as a RAID 1 array, in which data is mirrored between storage devices. By mirroring data between storage devices, a level of high availability may be achieved as multiple copies of the data may be stored within storage devices154,156,158,160,162.

While storage devices154,156,158,160,162are discussed above as being configured in a RAID 0 or RAID 1 array, this is for example purposes only and not intended to limit the present disclosure, as other configurations are possible. For example, storage devices154,156,158,160,162may be configured as a RAID 3, RAID 4, RAID 5 or RAID 6 array.

While in this particular example, target150is shown to include five storage devices (e.g., storage devices154,156,158,160,162), this is for example purposes only and not intended to limit the present disclosure. For instance, the actual number of storage devices may be increased or decreased depending upon, e.g., the level of redundancy/performance/capacity required.

In some implementations, one or more of storage devices154,156,158,160,162may be configured to store (e.g., via storage management process21) coded data, wherein such coded data may allow for the regeneration of data lost/corrupted on one or more of storage devices154,156,158,160,162. Examples of such coded data may include but are not limited to parity data and Reed-Solomon data. Such coded data may be distributed across all of storage devices154,156,158,160,162or may be stored within a specific storage device.

The manner in which target150is implemented may vary depending upon e.g., the level of redundancy/performance/capacity required. For example, target150may be a RAID device in which storage processor152is a RAID controller card and storage devices154,156,158,160,162are individual “hot-swappable” hard disk drives. Another example of target150may be a RAID system, examples of which may include but are not limited to an NAS (i.e., Network Attached Storage) device or a SAN (i.e., Storage Area Network).

In some implementations, storage target150may execute all or a portion of storage management application21. The instruction sets and subroutines of storage management application21, which may be stored on a storage device (e.g., storage device164) coupled to storage processor152, may be executed by one or more processors and one or more memory architectures included with storage processor152. Storage device164may include but is not limited to any of the above-noted storage devices.

As discussed above, computer12may be configured as a SAN, wherein storage processor100may be a dedicated computing system and each of storage targets102,104,106,108,110may be a RAID device. Accordingly, when storage processor100processes data requests116,120, storage processor100(e.g., via storage management process21) may provide the appropriate requests/content (e.g., write request166, content168and read request170) to, e.g., storage target150(which is representative of storage targets102,104,106,108and/or110).

In some implementations, during operation of storage processor152, content168to be written to target150may be processed by storage processor152(e.g., via storage management process21). Storage processor152may include cache memory system172. Examples of cache memory system172may include but are not limited to a volatile, solid-state, cache memory system (e.g., a dynamic RAM cache memory system) and/or a non-volatile, solid-state, cache memory system (e.g., a flash-based, cache memory system). During operation of storage processor152, content168to be written to target150may be received by storage processor152(e.g., via storage management process21) and initially stored (e.g., via storage management process21) within front end cache memory system172.

A rollup may generally be defined as a process to rollup metrics from a time range in a lower interval collection to a higher interval. An example of how rollups are typically done may be seen in the example rollup architecture400inFIG.4. As can be seen inFIG.4, metrics collected and persisted every five seconds may have entries with timestamps like 12:00:05, 12:00:10, 12:00:15 and so on. A rollup may take the metrics stored within the time range 12:00:05 to 12:00:20, apply the rollup functions like avg., max, etc, and create a 12:00:20 entry with data rolled up from the five second entries, and create a twenty second rollup entry. The application is storing metrics and the rollup of those metrics in one primary storage appliance and not distributed in the cluster.

During the upgrade of the cluster, some appliances will still be on the previous (non-upgraded) version. An example of this can be seen in the example partially upgraded cluster500ofFIG.5. In the example, those appliances will still be storing metrics in the primary storage appliance of the cluster. Thus, until the whole cluster is upgraded (when all appliances in the cluster are upgraded), appliances that are upgraded will start storing metrics in the local appliance, and the appliances that are not yet upgraded will continue to store the metrics in the primary storage appliance of the cluster. Once the cluster upgrade is complete, collected and rolled up appliance specific object metrics are migrated to each appliance.

In rare cases, this migration can fail with the result being that the collected metrics of the appliances can be in both the primary and the local appliance. The metrics collected until the appliance is upgraded will be in the primary storage appliance and the metrics collected post upgrade will be in the local DB in the local appliance. Unfortunately, the example and non-limiting problem with this scenario is that the metrics data for the new rollup for the first time range after the upgrade will reside in multiple databases in the cluster (and in case of a single appliance cluster, it will be in a management DB and a local DB, and in case of a multi-appliance cluster, it will be in the DB in primary storage appliance and the DB in the secondary storage appliance).

As such, only for the very first time range after the upgrade, the rollup has to consider data in multiple databases. This can be seen in upgraded cluster600ofFIG.6, where the first rollup is shown after the upgrade, and where object O metrics are partially in the cluster DB in the primary storage appliance (A1), and the rest of the metrics is in the local DB in the secondary local appliance (A2) after the upgrade. In A1, it can be seen that the values from 12:00:20 to 12:02:20 are completely missed in the rollup. In A2, only the local rollup runs and considers data from 12:02:40 to 12:05:00 for five minute rollup for the average. In this example, the average will be incorrectly computed as 183.125 for the rollup timestamp 12:05:00.

Therefore, as will be discussed in greater detail below, the present disclosure may check the upgrade status of an appliance and accordingly set it up to run a combined rollup to consider a data set from the DB in the local appliance and the DB in the primary storage appliance once the cluster upgrade is complete. The upgraded application in the new version may distribute the metrics and rollups across the cluster in all appliances. Appliance specific object metrics may then be stored and rolled up in each appliance after the upgrade.

The Rollup Process:

As discussed above and referring also at least to the example implementations ofFIGS.7-9, rollup process10may upgrade700, by a computing device, a plurality of storage appliances in a cluster, wherein the storage appliance cluster may include at least a primary storage appliance and a secondary storage appliance. Rollup process10may determine702that an upgrade to a plurality of storage appliances in a cluster has completed. Rollup process10may query704distributed data for each storage appliance in the cluster based upon, at least in part, determining that the upgrade to the plurality of storage appliances in the cluster has completed. Rollup process10may combine706data stored in a management database in the primary storage appliance and data stored locally in the secondary storage appliance based upon, at least in part, querying the distributed data for each storage appliance in the cluster.

In some implementations, rollup process10may upgrade700, by a computing device, a plurality of storage appliances in a cluster, wherein the storage appliance cluster may include at least a primary storage appliance and a secondary storage appliance. For instance, and referring at least to the example implementation ofFIG.8, and example diagrammatic view of a storage system cluster upgrade800in progress is shown. In the example, the upgrade700of the storage system may happen one appliance at a time, starting with the primary storage appliance (A1). Next, the secondary storage appliance (A2) may be upgraded, followed by another secondary appliance (A3), and so on until each storage appliance in the cluster has been upgraded. It will be appreciated that more or less storage appliances may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

In some implementations, rollup process10may determine702that an upgrade to a plurality of storage appliances in a cluster has completed, where, in some implementations, determining702that the upgrade to the plurality of storage appliances in the cluster has completed may include receiving708, by the primary storage appliance, a notification that the upgrade to the plurality of storage appliances in the cluster has completed. For instance, when upgrade is complete for all storage appliances in the cluster (e.g., A1, A2, A3, etc.), a generic subscribeable notification may be sent to and received708by the primary storage appliance (A1). This notification may help rollup process10to determine702that the upgrade for each storage appliance in the cluster has completed.

In some implementations, determining702that the upgrade to the plurality of storage appliances in the cluster has completed may include receiving710, by the secondary storage appliance, a notification that the upgrade to the plurality of storage appliances in the cluster has completed. For instance, when upgrade is complete for all storage appliances in the cluster (e.g., A1, A2, A3, etc.), rollup process10may handle the cluster upgrade complete command, which may be sent as a sub command to and received710by all the storage appliances in the cluster saying that the cluster upgrade is complete. This may be required for a combined rollup to be triggered in each storage appliance in the cluster.

In some implementations, rollup process10may query704distributed data for each storage appliance in the cluster based upon, at least in part, determining that the upgrade to the plurality of storage appliances in the cluster has completed, and in some implementations, querying704distributed data for each storage appliance in the cluster may include querying712the secondary storage appliance for object metrics specific to the secondary storage appliance, where, in some implementations, the object metrics specific to the secondary storage appliance may be stored locally in one of the secondary storage appliance and the management database in the primary storage appliance. For instance, once it has been determined that the upgrade has been completed, distributed data may be queried704/712. As an example, rollup process10may setup a transaction log (e.g., postgresql foreign data wrappers) so that using a single database (DB) connection, rollup process10may be enabled to query704/712data that is combined from databases in multiple storage appliances in the cluster. In some implementations, this may also enable rollup process10to support Metrics REST API (or other similar API) that needs to provide metrics stored in each individual storage appliance in the cluster.

In some implementations, rollup process10may combine706data stored in a management database in the primary storage appliance and data stored locally in the secondary storage appliance based upon, at least in part, querying the distributed data for each storage appliance in the cluster, and in some implementations, rollup process10may query714the primary storage appliance for the data stored in the management database in the primary storage appliance and the data stored locally in the secondary storage appliance for performing a first combined rollup for the secondary storage appliance. For example, to help ensure data integrity in each appliance, a combined rollup service may be setup by rollup process10to run the first collection and this rollup. When issuing the example rollup SQL, rollup process10may query714the management DB in primary storage appliance that combines706the data stored in the management DB in the primary storage appliance and data stored in the local DB in each respective secondary storage appliance. As such, the aggregation of the data may happen on the combined data (management DB of primary storage appliance and local data of the secondary storage appliances), and the rolled up data may be stored in the local DB in the respective secondary appliances.

In some implementations, the secondary storage appliance may use only data stored in the local database for subsequent rollups. For instance, the combined rollup may be setup by rollup process10so that it is (and need be) run only once per rollup interval. The subsequent rollups may just use the data stored in their respective local DBs as the storage appliance already would have been persisting data locally since it was upgraded. In this example, a twenty seconds to five minute combined rollup will run only once. A five minute to one hour combined rollup will run only once. A one hour to one day combined rollup will run only once, etc. An example of the result of a first rollup after upgrade with rollup process10may be seen in the example implementation ofFIG.9, where there is shown a fully upgraded cluster900with a combined rollup in the secondary local DB. Comparing withFIG.6(an example of the result of a first rollup after upgrade without the benefits of rollup process10of the present disclosure), it can be seen that the object O metrics are partially in the cluster DB in the primary storage appliance (A1) and the rest of the metrics are in the local DB in A2after the upgrade. The one-time combined rollup may run and pull data from both A1and A2and considers data from 12:02:20 to 12:05:00 for a five minute rollup for the average. In this example, the average will be correctly computed as 122.33 for the rollup timestamp 12:05:00. In all examples discussed, a normal rollup rolling up metrics stored only in the local DB and persisting the rolled up data in the local DB, will run subsequently.

As such, rollup process10provides example and non-limiting benefits over prior rollup methods, which enables the databases of each storage appliance in a cluster to provide a combined dataset combining data from multiple databases from each storage appliance in the cluster, to intelligently enable a combined rollup in all storage appliances in the cluster when a cluster upgrade is complete, and enables it in such a way that it need only run once for every rollup interval.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular implementations only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the language “at least one of A, B, and C” (and the like) should be interpreted as covering only A, only B, only C, or any combination of the three, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps (not necessarily in a particular order), operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps (not necessarily in a particular order), operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents (e.g., of all means or step plus function elements) that may be in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the disclosure in the form disclosed. Many modifications, variations, substitutions, and any combinations thereof will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. The implementation(s) were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the disclosure and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosure for various implementation(s) with various modifications and/or any combinations of implementation(s) as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

Having thus described the disclosure of the present application in detail and by reference to implementation(s) thereof, it will be apparent that modifications, variations, and any combinations of implementation(s) (including any modifications, variations, substitutions, and combinations thereof) are possible without departing from the scope of the disclosure defined in the appended claims.