Patent ID: 8725979

Claim:
A machine implemented method for allocating a storage volume from among a plurality of storage volumes for storing information in a storage system, comprising: maintaining a plurality of groups for segregating the plurality of storage volumes based on utilization of the plurality of storage volumes, where storage volume utilization indicates an amount of storage space used for each storage volume at any given time; determining if a threshold value for using a group that was previously used to select another storage volume has been reached; wherein the threshold value is used to determine a number of times the group is used to allocate storage volumes, before selecting a next group from among the plurality of groups; starting at a beginning of the group for selecting the storage volume, when the threshold value is not reached; and selecting the next group for allocating the storage volume, when the threshold value has been reached; wherein the next group is selected based on a number of times other groups from among the plurality of groups have been used for allocating storage volumes.