Patent ID: 7631023

Claim:
A method, comprising: monitoring at a file system software level one or more performance characteristics for a plurality of storage devices virtualized by a multi-device file system software, wherein the multi-device file system software is configured to virtualize, for application access, data stored on the plurality of storage devices into a single, logical file system; receiving a plurality of requests to store data in the file system; determining, dependent on the one or more monitored performance characteristics an allocation pattern for storing data associated with the plurality of requests to store data in the file system, wherein the allocation pattern specifies a sequential order of the plurality of storage devices; in response to said receiving, applying the allocation pattern at the file system software level to select one or more of the plurality of storage devices for storing the data associated with each of the requests, wherein the allocation pattern repeats after a given number of requests; and storing the data associated with the requests to the respective one or more selected storage devices as indicated by the allocation pattern.