Patent ID: 8874867

Claim:
A method for managing a storage array, the storage array including a plurality of storage pools including at least a first storage pool and a second storage pool, each of the plurality of storage pools including at least one storage volume, each of the least one storage volume including a plurality of virtual volume segments, each of the plurality of virtual volume segments including at least one cluster, the method comprising: measuring data loads on each of a plurality of clusters of the at least one virtual volume of the first storage pool; determining that one or more clusters of the plurality of clusters of the at least one virtual volume of the first storage pool have measured data loads which exceed a threshold of activity; designating the one or more clusters of the plurality of clusters as one or more hot-spots upon determining that the one or more clusters of the plurality of clusters of the at least one virtual volume of the first storage pool have measured data loads which exceed the threshold of activity; reconfiguring one or more particular virtual volume segments to contain the one or more hot-spots; and transferring the one or more particular virtual volume segments, which contain the one or more clusters having been designated as the one or more hot-spots, from the first storage pool to the second storage pool, wherein the second storage pool is associated with a storage tier having a higher performance relative to a storage tier associated with the first storage pool.