Patent ID: 7620710

Claim:
A method for allocating data in a storage operation, the method comprising: receiving a storage policy that defines the migration of data in a multi-tier data storage system, wherein the storage policy comprises at least one storage operation for automatically migrating storage data from a first storage device to a second storage device based on retention criteria; in response to the storage policy, determining a size of the storage data to be moved to the second storage location in the storage operation; in response to a static mode of operation, polling the availability of a plurality of HBA communication paths assigned to the first storage device and if available, transferring the storage data to the second storage location via the HBA communications; in response to a dynamic mode of operation, determining whether the second storage device has adequate storage resources to store the storage data; if the storage resources in the second storage device are adequate to store a portion of the storage data, but not all of the storage data, selecting a third storage device; dynamically selecting at least first and second HBA communication paths to transfer the primary storage data to the second and third storage devices; receiving a threshold transmission capacity of each of the first and second HBA communication paths; parsing the storage data according to the threshold transmission capacity of the first and second HBA communication paths and wherein the parsing is further based on the storage resources available in the second and third storage devices, wherein the parsing creates at least a first set of parsed data units and a second set of parsed data units; transferring the first set of parsed data units via the first HBA communication path to the second storage device and transferring the second set of parsed data units via the second HBA communication path to the third storage device.