Storage Capacity Planning

Abstract

A system and methods for capacity planning of electronic systems storage are provided. Features include a non-invasive data discovery and collection mechanism, an adaptive grouping mechanism, a flexible analysis mechanism, predictive modeling and forecasting mechanisms, and a business metric and correlation mechanism. A discovery engine that ascertains the availability of collectable entities. A collection engine in turn gathers information from and about entities discovered by the discovery engine. A grouping module groups together entities according to parameters specified by the user. An analysis and forecasting module allows a user to create, modify and save forecast scenarios from which a model is generated by a modeling module. Correlations can be identified between specified key business metrics and historical data. Once a model has been created, a forecast is generated and can then be analyzed using Bold Freehand Extrapolation, time-series analysis, and business trend-based forecasting.

1 . A computer-implemented method for forecasting electronic data storage requirements, the method comprising: 
 identifying a plurality of entities located on a network;    collecting storage-related information from each of the plurality of identified entities; and    forecasting, based on the collected information, storage requirements for a future time period.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein identifying a plurality of entities located on the network further comprises: 
 receiving criteria for entities to be identified;    querying the network to identify the entities matching the received criteria; and    generating a result list, the result list identifying the entities matching the received criteria and discovered from the query.    
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein collecting storage-related information from each of the plurality of identified entities further comprises: 
 receiving criteria for storage-related information to be collected;    collecting the storage-related information from the identified plurality of entities, the plurality of entities including a first set of entities supplying storage capacity, and a second set of entities consuming storage capacity provided by the first set of entities;    correlating the storage-related information from first set of entities with the storage-related information from the second set of entities to determine a mapping; and    wherein forecasting storage requirements for the future time period further comprises forecasting an amount of storage capacity of the first set of entities that will be consumed during the future time period by the second set of entities.    
     
     
         4 . A system for forecasting electronic data storage requirements, comprising: 
 a plurality of storage devices, each device associated with at least one host;    a discovery engine adapted to identify the storage devices forming the plurality of storage devices;    a collection engine, coupled to the discovery engine, adapted to collect storage-related information from the identified storage devices;    an analysis module, coupled to the collection engine, for analyzing historical storage usage from the storage-related information; and    a forecasting module, coupled to the analysis module, adapted to forecast storage requirements for a future time period.    
     
     
         5 . A computer program product for forecasting electronic data storage requirements, the computer program product stored on a computer readable medium and configured to cause a computer processor to execute the steps of: 
 identifying a plurality of entities located on a network;    collecting storage-related information from each of the plurality of identified entities; and    forecasting, based on the collected information, storage requirements for a future time period.    
     
     
         6 . The computer program product of  claim 5  wherein identifying a plurality of entities located on the network further comprises: 
 receiving criteria for entities to be identified;    querying the network to identify the entities matching the received criteria; and    generating a result list, the result list identifying the entities matching the received criteria and discovered from the query.    
     
     
         7 . The computer program product of  claim 5  wherein collecting storage-related information from each of the plurality of identified entities further comprises: 
 receiving criteria for storage-related information to be collected;    collecting the storage-related information from the identified plurality of entities, the plurality of entities including a first set of entities supplying storage capacity, and a second set of entities consuming storage capacity provided by the first set of entities;    correlating the storage-related information from first set of entities with the storage-related information from the second set of entities to determine a mapping; and    wherein forecasting storage requirements for the future time period further comprises forecasting an amount of storage capacity of the first set of entities that will be consumed during the future time period by the second set of entities.