Patent ID: 8650168

Claim:
A system for managing storage of file data in multiple storage tiers, the system comprising: a plurality of data storage subsystems providing multiple classes of storage; a management controller, in communication with the plurality of data storage subsystems, and operable to associate each of a plurality of storage tiers with one or more of the plurality of data storage subsystems and to manage migration of file data across the plurality of storage tiers according to a set of predefined migration rules; a management client in communication with the management controller over a communications network, the management client having a graphical user interface that permits a user to interact with the file data via a standard file system protocol as a contiguous file system having a hierarchical set of directories each having a set of files, each directory being a parent of a synthetic namespace having a set of synthetic file paths each corresponding to at least one of the set of predefined migration rules, so that: the management controller associates one of the set of files with a first predefined migration rule when the file is not associated with any of the set of synthetic file paths; and the management controller associates the file with a second predefined migration rule that corresponds with one of the set of synthetic file paths and supersedes the first predefined migration rule when the file is associated with the synthetic file path by the user via the graphical user interface.