Balancing data distribution in a fault-tolerant storage system based on the movements of the replicated copies of data

摘要

The disclosed embodiments relate to a system for managing replicated copies of data items in a storage system. During operation, the system obtains a current configuration of the storage system, wherein the current configuration specifies locations of replicated copies of data items. Next, the system analyzes the current configuration to identify possible movements of copies of data items among locations in the storage system. The system then assigns utilities to the identified movements, wherein a utility assigned to a movement reflects a change in reliability resulting from the movement. Finally, the system selects a utility-maximizing set of movements and performs the utility-maximizing set of movements to improve the reliability of the storage system.