At any given moment, the Content Software for File system releases the filesystem data of a single interval, transferring it from the SSD to the object-store. The release process is based on data aging characteristics (as implemented through the intervals system and revolving tags). Consequently, if there is sufficient SSD capacity, only data modified or written before seven intervals will be released. The release process also considers the amount of available SSD capacity through the mechanism of Backpressure. Backpressure works against two watermarks - 90% and 95%. It kicks in when SSD utilization per file system crosses above 95% and stops when it crosses below 90%. It's also important to understand that Backpressure works in parallel and independently of the Tiering Policy. If the SSD utilization crosses the 95% watermark, then data will be released from SSD and sent to the object-store sooner than was configured.
Now consider a situation where the total capacity of the SSD is 100 TB. The situation in the example above will be as follows:
Since the resolution in the Content Software for File system is the interval, in the example above the SSD capacity of 100 TB is insufficient for all data written over the defined 35-day Retention Period. Consequently, the oldest, most non-accessed, or modified data, has to be released to the object store. In this example, this release operation will have to be performed in the middle of interval 6 and will involve the release of data from interval 0.
This counting of the age of the data in resolutions of 5 days is performed according to 8 different categories. A constantly rolling calculation, the following will occur in the example above:
- Data from days 1-30 (January 1-30) will all be on the SSD. Some of it may be tiered to the object store, depending on the defined Tiering Cue.
- Data from more than 35 days will be released to the object-store.
- Data from days 31-35 (January 31-February 4) will be partially on the SSD and partially tiered to the object store. However, there is no control over the order in which data from days 31-35 is released to the object store.
For example: If no data has been accessed or modified since creation, then the data from interval 0 will be released and the data from intervals 1-6 will remain on the SSDs. If, on the other hand, 8 TB of data is written every day, meaning that 40 TB of data is written in each interval (as shown below), then the last two intervals, i.e., data written, accessed, or modified in a total of 10 days will be kept on the SSD, while other data will be released to the object-store.
Now consider the following filesystem scenario, where the whole SSD storage capacity of 100 TB is utilized in the first 3 intervals:
When much more data is written and there is insufficient SSD capacity for storage, the data from interval 0 will be released when the 100 TB capacity is reached. This represents a violation of the Retention Period. In such a situation, it is also possible to either increase the SSD capacity or reduce the Retention Period.