Patent ID: 7206946
Filing Date: 2007-04-17
Classification: G06F,Y02D

Abstract:
1. A disk array system comprising: at least one disk controller including: at least one channel control unit for receiving an input/output request of data from an information processor and exchanging said data with said information processor, at least one disk control unit for exchanging said data with a disk drive in accordance with said input/output request, a cache memory unit for storing said data exchanged between said channel control unit and said disk control unit, a plurality of power units for supplying power to each of said at least one disk control unit, and said cache unit, a casing for storing said at least one channel control unit, said at least one disk control unit, and said cache memory; a plurality of Hard Disk Drive (HDD) boxes each including at least one disk drive controlled by said at least one disk control unit; a fibre channel switch, coupled between said at least one disk control unit and said at least one disk drive, for selectively supplying said input/output request to said at least one disk drive, said fibre channel switch including a power unit for supplying power to said fibre channel switch; a first Alternating Current/Direct Current (AC/DC) power supply which inputs AC power from an AC power supply and outputs DC power to said HDD boxes and said power units of said at least one disk controller each of which converts the DC power supplied by said AC/DC power supply to an appropriate voltage for each of said at least one disk control unit, said cache memory unit and said shared memory unit of said at least one disk controller; a battery unit connected between said first AC/DC power supply unit and said power units for precharging power being supplied to said power unit, and wherein said at least one disk control unit and said fibre channel switch perform a destaging process such that all data stored in said cache memory that has not been written in the at least one disk drive is written in the at least one disk drive upon detection that the voltage of the DC power output by the AC/DC power supply falls below a predetermined value, and wherein said at least one disk control unit and said fibre channel switch controls to stop supplying DC power to a disk drive, said disk drive having finished the destaging process, on a disk drive by disk drive basis.