Patent ID: 6654769
Filing Date: 2003-11-25
Classification: G06F,Y10S

Abstract:
A computer system comprising:a first node including a first I/O interface for coupling to a physical disk; a second node including a second I/O interface for coupling to a physical disk, said second node coupled to said first node via a network; and a physical disk connecting to a first disk controller for coupling to said first I/O interface and a second disk controller for coupling to said second I/O interface, wherein each of said first node and said second node comprises: a file management table containing a file ID and a logical disk ID of a logical disk, said logical disk representative of a storage area in a physical disk, said file ID corresponding to a file contained in said storage area; and a logical disk management table containing said logical disk ID, first path information designating a first path for accessing said logical disk, and second path information designating a second path for accessing said logical disk, said first path information including a first node ID designating said first node, a first I/O interface ID designating said first I/O interface, a first disk controller ID designating said first disk controller, and a first status designating availability of said first path, said second path information including a second node ID designating said second node, a second I/O interface ID designating said second I/O interface, a second disk controller ID designating said second disk controller, and a second status designating availability of said second path, wherein each of said first node and said second node, in response to receiving a file access request, accesses a corresponding logical disk via one of said first path or said second path based on a requested file ID contained in said file access request, information in its file management table, and information in its logical disk management table, wherein when said first path becomes unavailable, said first node updates information in its logical disk management table, including said first status and said second status, to indicate a new access path to said corresponding logical disk, and communicates to said second node updated information contained in its logical disk management table, including a logical disk ID of said corresponding logical disk, updated first path information, and updated second path information.