Abstract: A method for balancing performance in a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) made up of heterogeneous storage drives is disclosed. In one embodiment, such a method includes implementing a RAID on a set of storage drives. The set of storage drives includes a lower-performing storage drive that underperforms other storage drives in the set. In order to balance performance in the RAID, the method stripes data across the set of storage drives such that the lower-performing storage drive participates in only a selected percentage of strides. In certain embodiments, this percentage is selected based on an amount the lower-performing storage drive underperforms other storage drives in the set. A corresponding system and computer program product are also disclosed.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
October 12, 2016
Date of Patent:
January 8, 2019
Assignee:
International Business Machines Corporation
Inventors:
John P. Agombar, Ian Boden, Alastair Cooper, Gordon D. Hutchison