Patent ID: 7984251

Claim:
A system for storing a plurality of data in a plurality of available storage devices in a storage virtualization system, the system comprising: a computer having a processor connected to a network, a computer readable memory, and a computer readable tangible storage device; first program instructions to poll each of the plurality of available storage devices in the storage virtualization system to acquire a class of service of each of the plurality of available storage devices; second program instructions to compare, responsive to an operator inputting a required class of service for the plurality of data, the class of service of each of the plurality of available storage devices with the required class of service for the plurality of data; and third program instructions to identify a first storage device having a class of service greater than or equal to the required class of service; wherein the first through the third program instructions are stored in the computer readable tangible storage device for running by the processor via the computer readable memory; wherein each of the plurality of available storage devices internally evaluates its own class of service by polling a plurality of characteristics of itself, and comparing the plurality of characteristics to a table containing, for each class of service, a set of required characteristics, matching its plurality of characteristics to a corresponding class of service, and sending the corresponding class of service to the computer.