Abstract: An apparatus in one embodiment includes at least one processing device configured to receive at least one notification from a switch of a switch fabric coupled between one or more host devices and a storage system, to select a particular one of a plurality of zoning sets based at least in part on the one or more received notifications, and to send an indication of the selected zoning set to the switch. The indication of the selected zoning set illustratively comprises a command that instructs the switch to alter its zoning configuration in accordance with the selected zoning set. In some embodiments, the processing device comprises a data protection appliance coupled to a storage area network that includes the switch fabric. The switch may comprise a Fibre Channel (FC) switch of an FC switch fabric, and the notification may comprise a fabric performance impact notification (FPIN) generated by the switch.

Abstract: Snapshots are processed without holding all write operations while the snapshots are being activated. Rather than holding all write operations until snapshots are activated, write operations may be allowed to proceed. Snapshot write processing may be temporarily suspended while the snapshots are being activated, including snapshot metadata being updated, while write operations received while the snapshots are being activated are logged. After snapshots have been activated for all logical LSUs for which snapshots were instructed to be activated, the logging of write operations may be stopped, and the logged write entries processed to determine whether any of the logged write operations require updating snapshot information of any logical storage elements (LSEs) of the LSUs. While the logged write operations are being processed, any write operations received from a host for an LSE having a logged write operation may be held until the held operation, or all held operations are processed.

Abstract: A host system may include a computational processing unit implemented using hardware and a hardware virtualizing and remote sharing (HVRS) server that virtualizes and shares the computational processing unit with other host systems, where the host system is directly connected to an internal fabric of a storage system. A storage system interface (SSI) of the host system may be directly connected to the internal fabric of the storage system and also directly connected to a same peripheral device interconnect as the CPU, the computational processing unit and/or other hardware resources of the host system. The SSI may communicate with storage resources of the storage system using remote direct memory access (RDMA) and zero-copy technologies. Such a host system may provide the storage capacity and data protection services of a storage system at relatively fast speeds e.g., comparable to non-volatile RAM on a host system configured for use as persistent memory.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to traffic class management of NVMe (non-volatile memory express) traffic. One or more virtual controllers for at least one host adapter (HA) of a storage device are generated. Each virtual controller is assigned a unique controller identifier (ID) Additionally, one or more input/output (IO) queues for each virtual controller are established. Further, IO workloads are processed via each IO queue.

Abstract: An information handling system may include at least one processor; a plurality of physical storage resources; and a network interface configured to communicatively couple the information handling system to a plurality of host systems; wherein the information handling system is configured to: determine a likelihood of compromise for each of the plurality of host systems; and in response to the likelihood of compromise for a particular host system exceeding a threshold likelihood, carry out a remedial action with respect to the particular host system, wherein the remedial action includes restricting access from the particular host system to the plurality of physical storage resources.

Abstract: An apparatus comprises at least one processing device. The at least one processing device is configured to detect a write pressure condition by identifying at least a first set of one or more logical storage devices having a first service level objective for which at least one performance metric has a value that exceeds a specified threshold, and responsive to the detected write pressure condition, to identify at least a second set of one or more logical storage devices, having a second service level objective that is lower than the first service level objective, and that are contributing to the detected write pressure condition. The at least one processing device is further configured, for each of the identified logical storage devices of the second set, to provide a write pressure indication to control throttling of write operations directed to that logical storage device of the second set.

Abstract: A host device is configured to communicate over a network with a storage system. The host device comprises a multi-path input-output (MPIO) driver configured to control delivery of input-output (IO) operations from the host device to the storage system over selected ones of a plurality of paths through the network. The MPIO driver is further configured to send one or more requests to the storage system for data corresponding to performance of one or more switch fabrics in the network, and to receive the data corresponding to the performance of the one or more switch fabrics from the storage system. The MPIO driver is also configured to identify one or more performance issues associated with at least one of the selected ones of the plurality of paths based on the received data, and to manage one or more of the input-output operations responsive to the identified performance issues.

Abstract: An apparatus comprises at least one processing device. The at least one processing device is configured, for each of a plurality of logical storage devices of a storage system, to determine in a multi-path layer of a layered software stack of a host device a performance level for that logical storage device, to communicate the performance levels for respective ones of the logical storage devices from the multi-path layer of the layered software stack of the host device to at least one additional layer of the software stack above the multi-path layer, and to select particular ones of the logical storage devices for assignment to particular storage roles in the additional layer based at least in part on the communicated performance levels. The additional layer in some embodiments comprises an application layer configured to automatically select a particular one of the logical storage devices for a particular storage role.

Abstract: One example method includes receiving, by a backup appliance, a request concerning a dataset, performing, by the backup appliance, an inquiry to determine if end-to-end encryption is enabled for a volume of a target storage array, receiving, by the backup appliance, confirmation from the storage array that end-to-end encryption is enabled for the volume, and based on the confirmation that end-to-end encryption is enabled for the volume, storing the dataset in the volume without performing encryption, compression, or deduplication, of the dataset prior to storage of the dataset in the volume.

Abstract: One example method includes accessing augmented metadata that was stored in connection with a backup dataset, analyzing the augmented metadata, based on the analyzing, creating a guide that identifies processes which, when performed, cause the restoration of the backup dataset to an unsupported target array, and presenting the guide to a user by way of a user interface. The user may then perform the actions indicated in the guide to restore the backup dataset to the unsupported target array.

Abstract: Application discovery from access patterns is disclosed. Access histories from multiple servers are collected and stored at a warehouse, which may be part of a data protection system. A time series analysis is performed on the access history to identify consistency groups and applications from the perspective of devices and storage arrays. Data protection operations such as backup operations can then be performed on the basis of devices or storage in storage arrays or other arrangements that pertain to specific consistency groups or to specific applications.

Abstract: Improved mechanisms and techniques for recording and aggregating trace information from multiple computing modules of a storage system may be provided. On a storage system having multiple computing modules, where each computing module has multiple processing cores, processing cores may record trace information for I/O operations in dedicated local memory—i.e., memory in the same computing module as the processing core that is dedicated to the computing module. One of the processing cores may be configured to aggregate trace information from across multiple computing modules into its dedicated local memory by accessing trace information from the dedicated local memories of the other computing modules in addition to its own. The aggregated information in one dedicated local memory then may be analyzed for functionality and/or performance and additional action taken based on the analysis.

Abstract: Embodiments provide for a primary storage array having multiple storage tiers. The multiple storage tiers include one or more performance tiers and at least one deduplicated storage tier storing deduplicated data. One embodiment provides for a data storage system including the storage array and an I/O engine to manage I/O requests for the storage array. The data storage system additionally includes a virtual execution environment to execute a virtual backup engine, the virtual backup engine to generate backup data for the one or more storage tiers of primary storage and deduplicate the backup data and a resource manager to manage a resource allocation to the virtual backup engine based on a hint received from the virtual backup engine, the hint associated with a backup operation that has a characterization selected from a set including computationally intensive and I/O intensive.

Abstract: An apparatus comprises at least one processing device. The at least one processing device is configured to detect a write pressure condition by identifying at least a first set of one or more logical storage devices having a first service level objective for which at least one performance metric has a value that exceeds a specified threshold, and responsive to the detected write pressure condition, to identify at least a second set of one or more logical storage devices, having a second service level objective that is lower than the first service level objective, and that are contributing to the detected write pressure condition. The at least one processing device is further configured, for each of the identified logical storage devices of the second set, to provide a write pressure indication to control throttling of write operations directed to that logical storage device of the second set.

Abstract: Systems and methods for performing data protection operations including replication management or data copy operations. Agent-less data protections are performed. A management server is configured to perform data operations on a production host without installing an agent on the production host. A driver is adapted to aid in performing the data protection operations and communications between the management server and the driver such as commands are achieved via a storage array.

Abstract: A trust relationship may be established between a host system and a storage system. An asymmetric key pair including a private key unique to a host system and a public key may be generated. During provisioning of the host system to the storage system, the host system may send the public key to the storage system. The storage system may be configured to record the public key for the host system, for example, in a masking table that defines I/O connectivity for logical storage units between a host system and the storage system. The public key may be used later to validate the host system to the storage system. The private key may be stored on the host system and be unreadable, or may be encrypted with an unreadable encryption key stored on the host system.

Abstract: An apparatus comprises at least one processing device comprising a processor coupled to a memory. The at least one processing device is configured to initiate generation of a remote backup copy for a consistency group subject to replication from a first storage system to a second storage system, and responsive to receipt of a freeze indication from at least one application that utilizes the consistency group in the first storage system, to direct the first storage system to enter a write hold state. The at least one processing device is further configured to direct the second storage system to generate the remote backup copy from the consistency group as currently replicated from the first storage system to the second storage system, and responsive to receipt of a copy complete indication from the second storage system, to direct the first storage system to exit the write hold state.

Abstract: Processing I/O operations may include: receiving, at a data storage system, an I/O operation from a host, wherein the I/O operation is directed to a logical address and includes an I/O tag used in connection with performing data reduction processing for first data stored at the logical address; and performing processing to back up a data set including the first data stored at the logical address. The processing may include: sending, from the data storage system to a backup application, the data set and hints regarding the first data set, wherein the hints include a first hint determined in accordance with the I/O tag from the host; performing, in accordance with the hints, data reduction processing of the data set to generate a second data set; and storing the second data set on one or more backup storage devices.

Abstract: Decrypting data at a first storage system that has been encrypted at a second, separate, storage system includes the first storage system requesting a key that decrypts the data from the second storage system, the second storage system determining if the first storage system is authorized for the key, the second storage system providing the key to the first storage system in response to the first storage system being authorized, a host that is coupled to the first storage system obtaining the key from the first storage system, and the host using the key to decrypt and access the data at the first storage system. The host and the first storage system may provide failover functionality for a system that includes the second storage system. The host may obtain the key from the first storage system in response to a failure of the system that includes the second storage system.

Abstract: Techniques for transmitting data may include: statically allocating a first buffer by a first entity; determining, by the second code entity, whether first data to be returned to the first entity fits into a data area of the first buffer; storing the first data in the data area of the first buffer responsive to determining the first data fits into the data area of the first buffer; and responsive to determining the first data does not fit into the data area of the first buffer, performing first processing by the second entity to store the first data in a dynamically allocated second buffer having a descriptor stored in the first buffer. The descriptor may include the address and size of the second buffer. The first and second entity may be code entities in the same system, or may be different systems that communicate using a remote direct memory access protocol.