In a file system in which data is distributively stored on a plurality of volumes
in compliance with file storage requests from business applications, the present
invention calculates reliability requirements or performance requirements which
represent storage requirements for the storage of individual files requested for
storage, selects an actual file storage destination volume in accordance with the
reliability characteristics or performance characteristics of each volume, and
storage file data on the selected storage destination volume. Since the storage
requirements are calculated to select a storage destination volume for each file,
data storage destination optimization can be achieved on an individual file basis.