Patent ID: 7487188
Filing Date: 2009-02-03
Classification: G06F,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A system for providing increased fault tolerance in a data storage environment, comprising: a first Database Management System (DBMS) instance that initiates at least one first process associated with execution of a request to interact with a data store, the first DBMS instance being a primary handler of requests to interact with the data store; and a second DBMS instance that initiates at least one second process associated with the at least one first process, the second DBMS instance being a shadow instance that monitors the first DBMS instance, wherein the first DBMS instance and the second DBMS instance are communicably coupled with the data store, wherein the first DBMS instance is communicably coupled to the second DBMS instance through a communication facility, and wherein the first DBMS instance uses the communication facility to notify the second DBMS instance of the at least one first process, wherein the at least one first process comprises execution of a first command to open a dataset in the data store, wherein notification by the first DBMS instance to the second DBMS instance comprises communicating a message to the second DBMS instance, the message notifying the second DBMS instance of the dataset to be opened, wherein the at least one second process comprises execution of a second command to open the dataset based, at least in part, on the message, wherein the dataset to be opened is opened in parallel by the first DBMS instance and the second DBMS instance, whereby the dataset to be opened is opened by the second DBMS instance before failure of the first DBMS instance.