Storage Capacity Reallocation Based on Hot and Cold Data

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing storage technologies fail to optimally adjust the capacity of storage media to maximize utilization and minimize costs across different service scenarios, leading to inefficiencies and increased overheads due to inadequate consideration of various storage media types.

Innovation Solution

A method and system that analyzes the cold and hot attributes of data to determine the required cache and persistent storage capacities, dynamically adjusting the purpose of each storage medium based on these requirements, thereby optimizing the utilization of diverse storage media.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Speed

If data is stored in high-performance storage medium for frequent access, then access speed is improved, but storage cost increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata access speedVSAvoidstorage cost
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by differentiating storage media based on data access patterns. Hot data (frequently accessed) is stored in high-performance storage media, while cold data (infrequently accessed) is stored in low-performance storage media. This creates a hybrid storage architecture where each data portion is placed in the most appropriate storage medium according to its access characteristics, thereby optimizing both access speed and storage cost.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Adaptability or versatility

If storage capacity is increased to meet service requirements, then service capability is improved, but utilization efficiency decreases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveservice capabilityVSAvoidstorage utilization efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements dynamics by enabling dynamic adjustment of storage capacity allocation between different storage pools based on real-time service requirements and data access patterns. The system can flexibly allocate storage resources between high-performance and low-performance media, adjusting capacities dynamically rather than using fixed allocations, thereby maintaining high utilization efficiency while meeting varying service capabilities.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

3Adaptability or versatility

If high-performance storage medium is used for both cache and persistent storage, then functionality is improved, but overhead increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvestorage functionalityVSAvoidstorage overhead
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies segmentation by dividing the storage system into distinct high-performance storage pool and low-performance storage pool, each serving specific functions. The high-performance pool handles cache and frequently accessed data, while the low-performance pool stores cold data and archived information. This segmentation allows each pool to be optimized for its specific purpose, reducing overall system overhead while maintaining full functionality.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP4270167B1Capacity adjustment method and related device
Publication Date: 2025.12.31 HUAWEI TECH CO LTD
  • EP4270167B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4270167B1 patent drawingFigure 2~3
  • EP4270167B1 patent drawingFigure 4~5

AI summary

Embodiments of this application disclose a capacity adjustment method and a related apparatus, applied to a storage system, to maximize utilization of various types of storage media and meet capacity requirements of storage media for different purposes in different services. In addition, corresponding data is stored by using capacities of the storage media for the different purposes, thereby greatly improving system performance and effectively reducing storage costs. The method includes: analyzing cold and hot attributes of data stored in the storage system, to obtain an amount of hot data and an amount of cold data in the data; determining, based on the amount of hot data and the amount of cold data, a capacity of a cache required by the storage system and a capacity of a persistent storage required by the storage system, where the cache required by the storage system comes from a first storage medium set, and the persistent storage required by the storage system comes from a second storage medium set; and adjusting, based on the capacity of the cache and the capacity of the persistent storage, a purpose of a storage medium included in the storage system.