Patent ID: 8315973

Claim:
A method, comprising: a host for a multi-device file system instructing a data mover to move data of a file of the multi-device file system from a source storage device of a plurality of storage devices of the multi-device file system to one or more destination storage devices of the plurality of storage devices, wherein the data is accessible through the multi-device file system using a file identifier associated with the file, wherein the data mover is external to each of the plurality of storage devices and wherein the data mover is configured to copy data between any of the plurality of data storage devices; the data mover in response to said instructing, moving the data from the source storage device to the one or more destination storage devices over a same network fabric used by the host to access data of the multi-device file system without the host reading the data from the source storage device as part of said moving; and wherein after said moving the data remains accessible from the one or more destination storage devices through the multi-device file system using the same file identifier.