Patent ID: 7013372
Filing Date: 2006-03-14
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method for controlling an information processing system which includes a first storage apparatus and a first information processing apparatus that accesses the first storage apparatus installed on a first site, a second storage apparatus and a second information processing apparatus that accesses the second storage apparatus installed on a second site, and a third storage apparatus and a third information processing apparatus that accesses the third storage apparatus installed on a third site, the method comprising the steps of: communicatively connecting the first, second and third information processing apparatuses by a first network; communicatively connecting at least two pairs of ones of the first, second and third storage apparatuses by a second network; configuring the first, second and third information processing apparatuses in a cluster for control; and setting one of the first, second and, third storage apparatuses as a replication source storage apparatus, and the other two of the storage apparatuses as replication destination storage apparatuses, wherein said cluster is implemented by cluster software installed in each of said information processing apparatuses, wherein each cluster software installed in each information processing apparatus, being executed by said information processing apparatus, monitors operation of each of said information processing apparatuses, and when a failure occurs in any one of said information processing apparatuses, informs information processing apparatuses other than the failed information processing apparatus and the storage apparatuses of the failure and initiates execution of failover from one of the information processing apparatuses to another one of the information processing apparatuses so that operations normally performed by the failed information processing apparatus are transferred to one of the information processing apparatuses other than the failed information processing apparatuses, wherein, upon receiving a data write request from one of the information processing apparatuses, the replication source storage apparatus stores data, the replication source storage apparatus sends the data to the two replication destination storage apparatuses, and upon receiving the data from the replication source storage apparatus, the two replication destination storage apparatuses store the data, such that a copy of the data stored in the replication source storage apparatus is stored in the two replication destination storage apparatuses, wherein when a failover is executed from one of the first, second and third information processing apparatuses to another of the first, second and third information processing apparatuses, settings of each storage apparatuses as set forth in a management table stored in each of said storage apparatuses are automatically changed such that the replication source storage apparatus is switched to serve as a replication destination storage apparatus and one of the two replication destination storage apparatuses is switched to serve as a replication source storage apparatus, and wherein said settings as set forth in the management table of each of said storage apparatuses indicates whether each of said storage apparatuses is functioning as the replication source storage apparatus or one of the two replication destination storage apparatuses and in which mode, synchronous or asynchronous, of remote copy each of said storage apparatuses is operating with respect to a corresponding storage apparatus.