Patent ID: 7979738
Filing Date: 2011-07-12
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A virtual tape library (VTL) backup system, comprising: a VTL device comprising a disk control module (DCM), a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) including a plurality of hard-disk drives (HDDs), and a RAID management module configured to perform read/write operations targeted at the RAID and to control a power state of the plurality of HDDs included in the RAID; and a backup server comprising a backup application module (BAM) configured to send data to the VTL device when a backup operation is triggered and to read data from the VTL device when a disaster-recovery (DR) operation is triggered, and further comprising an agent module configured to communicate with the DCM; wherein the agent module is configured to (i) send an operation-start notification to the DCM when a backup operation and/or DR operation is triggered at the BAM, (ii) send an operation-start notification to the BAM in response to receipt of a success response from the DCM, and (iii) send an operation-end notification to the DCM when the backup operation and/or DR operation ends; and wherein the DCM is configured to trigger the RAID management module to power on all of the plurality of HDDs in the RAID array in response to receiving the operation-start notification and to return a success response to the agent module in response to determining that all of the plurality of HDDs are powered on, and is further configured to trigger the RAID management module to power off all of the plurality of HDDs in the RAID array in response to receiving the operation-end notification.