zfs discuss - Jul 2008 - File System snapshot and Hierarchical Storage Management

Hi. I am working on the ADM project within OpenSolaris. ADM is a Hierarchical
Storage manager (HSM) for ZFS. An HSM serves several purposes. One is a
virtualization of amount of disk space by copying (archiving to other media) a
files
data, then freeing that data space, when needed. Another is as a near continuous
backup
of users data. The archive process will capture file data at a much shorter
interval than
the typical backup cycle. These archives can be used as "vault"
copies, etc. A backup
has occurred when the complete data has been captured, and the ZFS metadata
referencing
those archive components has been made and retained.

Long background. Whew. My question to the communities is what a user or
administrators
expectation would be when an HSM is used in conjunction with a snapshot capable
file system like ZFS, which uses a block sharing technology for snapshots. The
project team and
I ave some ideas, but would appreciate some real-life application and use case
examples
for validation and/or course correction to the ADM project.

Although I am posting to zfs-discuss and storage-discuss, I would prefer replies
to storage-discuss.
 
 
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