Storage Network Path Management for Unoptimized Access
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In storage networks, hosts may be left with unoptimized paths to logical storage volumes during mobility events, leading to inefficient access due to manual and non-automatic procedures for updating access paths.
Innovation Solution
A path management technique where hosts detect unoptimized paths and send instructions to a management entity to update the reporting nodes parameter, adding new owner and partner nodes to ensure optimized access paths are available, allowing hosts to discover new paths and maintain efficient access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual procedures are used to update access paths during mobility events, then hosts can be updated with optimized paths, but the process is time-consuming and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The host is empowered to autonomously detect unoptimized paths and initiate path update requests without requiring manual intervention. The host self-services by monitoring its own path optimization status and automatically communicating with the management entity when updates are needed, eliminating the inefficiency of manual procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The host continuously monitors the optimization status of its access paths and provides feedback to the management entity when unoptimized paths are detected. This feedback mechanism enables dynamic, automated path updates based on real-time conditions, significantly improving update efficiency compared to static manual procedures.
2Productivity
If hosts autonomously detect and request path updates, then path optimization efficiency improves, but host complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The management entity serves as an intermediary between the host and the path optimization process. The host's role is simplified to detecting unoptimized paths and requesting updates, while the complex tasks of determining optimized paths and updating the advertising node are handled by the management entity, thus maintaining host simplicity while achieving autonomous optimization.
Solution Approach 2:
The path optimization functionality is segmented between the host and the management entity. The host handles path detection and request generation, while the management entity handles path determination and configuration updates. This segmentation allows the host to gain autonomous optimization capabilities without bearing the full complexity of the optimization process.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the management entity advertises all available paths, then hosts have more path options, but hosts may receive unoptimized paths that reduce access efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The set of advertised paths dynamically adapts based on the host's specific needs and the current optimization status. Rather than statically advertising all paths or limiting to a fixed set, the management entity dynamically adjusts the advertised paths to include only those that are optimized for the particular host, thereby maintaining both flexibility and efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The path advertising is customized for each host based on its specific characteristics and requirements. The management entity determines which paths are optimized for each individual host and advertises only those paths to that host, rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach. This local customization ensures each host receives the most efficient paths while maintaining overall system versatility.
Data Source
AI summary
Improved path management techniques for storage networks are described. In one embodiment, for example, an apparatus may comprise a processor circuit, a detection component for execution by the processor circuit to receive an advertisement of a set of paths for accessing a logical storage volume and determine whether the set of paths comprises an optimized path, and a modification component for execution by the processor circuit to, when the set of paths does not comprise an optimized path, send a first instruction to update a reporting nodes parameter for the logical storage volume to identify an owner node for the logical storage volume and a corresponding partner node. Other embodiments are described and claimed.