Patent ID: 7617497

Claim:
A system comprising: a plurality of storage devices each configured to store a plurality of data units; the plurality of data units, wherein at least one of the plurality of data units is a collection of data associated with a data thread, wherein the data thread comprises a data thread lifespan and a tuple, wherein the tuple comprises an attribute characterizing the at least one of the plurality of data units and an attribute duration associated with the attribute; a storage management device configured to manage the plurality of data units and each data thread associated with the plurality of data units using the plurality of storage devices; and a processor for executing a data scheduler configured to schedule a first action to perform on the at least one of the plurality of data units using the data thread, wherein the first action is determined based on the attribute while the attribute is alive, wherein the data thread lifespan is a first assigned duration of time for which the data thread is alive, and wherein the attribute duration is a second assigned duration of time for which the attribute is alive.