A storage system is a computer that provides storage service relating to the organization of information on writable persistent storage devices, such as memories, tapes or disks. The storage system is commonly deployed within a storage area network (SAN) or a network attached storage (NAS) environment. When used within a NAS environment, the storage system may be embodied as a file server including an operating system that implements a file system to logically organize the information as a hierarchical structure of directories and files on, e.g. the disks. Each “on-disk” file may be implemented as a set of data structures, e.g., disk blocks, configured to store information, such as the actual data for the file. A directory, on the other hand, may be implemented as a specially formatted file in which information about other files and directories are stored.
The file server, or filer, may be further configured to operate according to a client/server model of information delivery to thereby allow many client systems (clients) to access shared resources, such as files, stored on the filer. Sharing of files is a hallmark of a NAS system, which is enabled because of its semantic level of access to files and file systems. Storage of information on a NAS system is typically deployed over a computer network comprising a geographically distributed collection of interconnected communication links, such as Ethernet, that allow clients to remotely access the information (files) on the filer. The clients typically communicate with the filer by exchanging discrete frames or packets of data according to pre-defined protocols, such as the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
In the client/server model, the client may comprise an application executing on a computer that “connects” to the filer over a computer network, such as a point-to-point link, shared local area network, wide area network or virtual private network implemented over a public network, such as the Internet. NAS systems generally utilize file-based access protocols; therefore, each client may request the services of the filer by issuing file system protocol messages (in the form of packets) to the file system over the network identifying one or more files to be accessed without regard to specific locations, e.g., blocks, in which the data are stored on disk. By supporting a plurality of file system protocols, such as the conventional Common Internet File System (CIFS), the Network File System (NFS) and the Direct Access File System (DAFS) protocols, the utility of the filer may be enhanced for networking clients.
A SAN is a high-speed network that enables establishment of direct connections between a storage system and its storage devices. The SAN may thus be viewed as an extension to a storage bus and, as such, an operating system of the storage system enables access to stored information using block-based access protocols over the “extended bus”. In this context, the extended bus is typically embodied as Fibre Channel (FC) or Ethernet media adapted to operate with block access protocols, such as Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) protocol encapsulation over FC or TCP/IP/Ethernet.
A SAN arrangement or deployment allows decoupling of storage from the storage system, such as an application server, and some level of information storage sharing at the application server level. There are, however, environments wherein a SAN is dedicated to a single server. In some SAN deployments, the information is organized in the form of databases, while in others a file-based organization is employed. Where the information is organized as files, the client requesting the information maintains file mappings and manages file semantics, while its requests (and server responses) address the information in terms of block addressing on disk using, e.g., a logical unit number (lun).
Typical approaches generally address the SAN and NAS environments using two separate solutions. For those approaches that provide a single solution for both environments, the NAS capabilities are typically “disposed” over the SAN storage system platform using, e.g., a “sidecar” device attached to the SAN platform. However, even these prior systems typically divide storage into distinct SAN and NAS storage domains. That is, the storage spaces for the SAN and NAS domains do not coexist and are physically partitioned by a configuration process implemented by, e.g., a user (system administrator). The system administrator makes decisions as to the number of disks and the locations of “slices” (extents) of those disks that are aggregated to construct “user-defined volumes” and, thereafter, how those volumes are used. The term “volume” as conventionally used in a SAN environment implies a storage entity that is constructed by specifying physical disks and extents within those disks via operations that combine those extents/disks into a user-defined volume storage entity.
Typically, the system administrator renders its decisions through a complex user interface oriented towards users that are knowledgeable about the underlying physical aspects of the system. That is, the user interface revolves primarily around physical disk structures and management that the system administrator must manipulate in order to present a view of the SAN platform on behalf of a client. For example, the user interface may prompt the administrator to specify the physical disks, along with the sizes of extents within those disks, needed to construct the user-defined volume. In addition, the interface prompts the administrator for the physical locations of those extents and disks, as well as the manner in which they are “glued together” (organized) and made visible (exported) to a SAN client as a user-defined volume corresponding to a disk or lun. Once the physical disks and their extents are selected to construct a volume, only those disks/extents comprise that volume. The system administrator must also specify the form of reliability, e.g., a Redundant Array of Independent (or Inexpensive) Disks (RAID) protection level and/or mirroring, for that constructed volume. RAID groups are then overlaid on top of those selected disks/extents.
In sum, the prior system approach requires a system administrator to finely configure the physical layout of the disks and their organization to create a user-defined volume that is exported as a single lun to a SAN client. All of the administration associated with this prior approach is grounded on a physical disk basis. For the system administrator to increase the size of the user-defined volume, disks are added and RAID calculations are re-computed to include redundant information associated with data stored on the disks constituting the volume. Clearly, this is a complex and costly approach.
Thus, conventional user interface systems for SAN and NAS storage environments require large amounts of administrator intervention to manage the disks, volumes and/or file systems involved. Additionally, as NAS capabilities are typically overlaid onto a SAN system, any user interface differences force the system administrator to manage multiple sets of commands to configure and control the file systems, disks and/or volumes contained within the storage system environment.