Patent Abstract:
Provided are a method, system, and program for performing a data transfer operation with respect to a source and target storage devices in a network, wherein storage devices in the network are assigned temporary network addresses. Device information is maintained and includes for each identified device a fixed address that does not change and a temporary network address. A data transfer request is received to transfer data between a source and target devices. The network is queried to determine changes to the temporary network addresses of the storage devices in response to receiving the data transfer request and the device information is updated to include any changed determined temporary network addresses for the storage devices. A data transfer command is constructed to transfer data between the source and target storage devices, wherein the data transfer command includes the temporary network addresses of the source and target devices in the device information.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention is related to a method, system, and program for a data transfer operation with respect to source and target storage devices in a network.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    The Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) extended copy command allows one application in a network to issue a command to another device, referred to as the copy manager, to copy data from one set of source logical devices to another set of target logical devices, where the source and target logical devices may be separate from the system initiating the command. The extended copy command is issued to a copy manager that is responsible for copying data from the source device(s) to the destination device(s). Further details of the SCSI extended copy command are described in the publication “SCSI Primary Commands-2 (SPC-2)”, Rev. 20, Reference No. ISO/IEC 14776-312 : 200x (Jul. 18, 2001), which publication is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.  
           [0005]    In a Fibre Channel Storage Area Network (SAN), each device is identified with a fixed identifier that does not change, such as a World Wide Name (WWN) assigned at the factory, and a temporary Fibre Channel static address assigned during initialization by the Fibre Channel fabric. If an administrator or program is unaware of these changes to the static Fibre Channel address of the device, then an extended copy operation using an invalid Fibre Channel address as the source or target device would result in an error. If the old incorrect address points to a different device than the one intended to be the source or target, then the wrong storage device would be involved in the copy operation. This could result in the unintended loss of important data by overwriting an unintended target storage device or copying an unintended source.  
         SUMMARY OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
         [0006]    Provided are a method, system, and program for performing a data transfer operation with respect to a source and target storage devices in a network, wherein storage devices in the network are assigned temporary network addresses. Device information is maintained and includes for each identified device a fixed address that does not change and a temporary network address. A data transfer request is received to transfer data between a source and target devices. The network is queried to determine changes to the temporary network addresses of the storage devices in response to receiving the data transfer request and the device information is updated to include any changed determined temporary network addresses for the storage devices. A data transfer command is constructed to transfer data between the source and target storage devices, wherein the data transfer command includes the temporary network addresses of the source and target devices in the device information.  
           [0007]    In further implementations, the network comprises a Fibre Channel network, the temporary network address comprises a Fibre Channel address, and the fixed address comprises a world wide name and logical unit number for the device.  
           [0008]    Still further, the data transfer request may comprise a backup request to backup data from the source device to the target device. Alternatively, the data transfer request may comprise a restore request to restore backed-up data from the source device to the target device.  
           [0009]    Described implementations provide techniques to perform a data transfer operation in a manner that minimizes the risks associated with specifying a wrong source or target address for the data transfer, including data errors and destruction of existing data.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numbers represent corresponding parts throughout:  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 illustrates a network computing environments in which aspects of the invention are implemented;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate information included in a device database and backup database, respectively, in accordance with implementations of the invention;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate operations performed to backup and restore data, respectively, in a network environment in accordance with implementations of the invention; and  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 6 illustrates a computing architecture that may be used to implement the network components described with respect to FIG. 1. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0015]    In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and which illustrate several embodiments of the present invention. It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural and operational changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 1 illustrates a server-free network computing environment in which certain embodiments of the invention are implemented. Two host systems  2   a ,  2   b , are connected to two networks, shown as a Local Area Network (LAN)  4 , using the Ethernet protocol, and a Storage Area Network (SAN)  6 , using the Fibre Channel protocol. In alternative implementations, networks and connections other than SAN and LAN may be used to implement the two networks  4 ,  6  to which the hosts  2   a ,  2   b  connect. A data mover  8 , backup storage device  10 , and storage system  11  on which logical volume  12  resides are shown as coupled to the SAN  6 . The logical volume  12  may include user data. Host  2   a  includes a storage client  14  program to perform storage client operations, such as managing the backup and restore of data on volume  12 . The host  2   b  includes a storage server  16  program to perform storage server operations in response to requests from multiple storage clients  14 , such as managing the backup and restore of the data with respect to storage clients  14 , discovering devices in the SAN  6 , ensuring all the required paths defined between devices in the SAN  6  exist, mounting and positioning tape devices, recording information about the backup/restore operations in a database, etc. A topology database  18  is further coupled to the SAN  6  fabric and includes information on all the devices connected to the SAN  6 , such as the Fibre Channel addresses, world wide names, LUN numbers, serial numbers, vendor identification, etc. The topology database  18 , also known as the Fibre Channel name server, is created during initialization of the SAN  6  and devices coupled to the SAN  6  may access information in the topology database  18  to determine information about other devices connected to the SAN  6  with which they may communicate.  
         [0017]    The host systems  2   a ,  2   b  may comprise any computing device known in the art, such as a server class machine, workstation, desktop computer, etc. The backup storage device  10  may comprise a mass storage device known in the art suitable for backing-up data, such as a tape storage device, e.g., a tape library, or one or more interconnected disk drives configured as a Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID), Just a Bunch of Disks (JBOD), Direct Access Storage Device (DASD), etc. The storage system  11  may comprise a mass storage device comprised of hard disk drives in any configuration, or another type of storage device. The data mover  8  may comprise a SAN data gateway, router or any other device suitable for moving data from one component to another in a network. The data mover  8  is capable of accessing the data in the volume  12 . In further implementations, the data mover  8  may have alternative connections to the volume  12  or backup storage device  10 , such as through a Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) connection separate from the SAN  6  or LAN  4 . In certain implementations, the storage system  11  may include disk drive storage and the backup storage device  10  may be comprised of tape media or hard disk drives. The storage system  11  in which the volume  12  is configured may include additional volumes accessible to the SAN  6 . Moreover, additional hosts, storage systems, backup storage systems, data movers, etc. may be coupled to the networks, and there may be additional networks therebetween.  
         [0018]    The storage client  14  would initiate an operation to backup or restore data at the volume  12  by communicating the request for such operation to the storage server  16  via LAN  4 . The storage server  16  would then prepare a copy command, such as the SCSI extended copy command, to perform the copy operation between the volume  12  and backup storage device  10  to implement the backup or restore operation, and send the copy command to the data mover  8  to perform the data copy operation. Further details of a server free backup are disclosed in the publication “IBM Tivoli Storage Manager Version 5.1: Technical Guide”, document no. SG24-6554-00 (Copyright International Business Machines Corp., June 2002), which publication is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.  
         [0019]    To manage backup and restore operations, the storage server  16  maintains a device database  20  including information on each device in the SAN  6  with which the storage server  16  interfaces and a backup database  22  including information on backup data sets managed by the storage server  16 .  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 2 illustrates information that may be included in each record  50  in the device database  20  for each storage device and storage volume accessible to the storage server  16 , including:  
         [0021]    World Wide Name (WWN)  52 : The world wide name is a unique identifier assigned by the manufacturer, usually 64 bits.  
         [0022]    LUN  54 : provides a logical unit name assigned to a logical device, where a storage system may have multiple LUNs. Each disk drive storage, which may include storage system  11 , has a logical volume name, as well as LUNs.  
         [0023]    Fibre Channel Address  56 : A temporary address assigned automatically each time an interconnect initializes. A device may receive a new address each time a Fibre channel is reconfigured and reinitialized from the Fibre Channel component running the initialization routine.  
         [0024]    Device Name  58 : an arbitrary name assigned to the device, which may comprise a descriptive name.  
         [0025]    Serial Number  60 : A unique identifier assigned to the device by the manufacturer.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 3 illustrates information that may be included with each record  60  in the backup database  22  including information on backed-up data sets. Each backup record  60  includes:  
         [0027]    Backup ID  62 : a unique identifier of the record providing information on a backup.  
         [0028]    Backup Storage Location  64 : the logical volume name including the backed-up image or object. For instance, when the backup storage device  10  comprises a tape device, the backup data would be stored within one logical volume on the tape.  
         [0029]    Offset Into Backup Location  66 : an offset in units of bytes, fixed blocks, records or a file mark of the start of the backup data in the backup device.  
         [0030]    Size of Backup Data Set  68 : The number of bytes of the backed-up data.  
         [0031]    Client Name  70 : the name of the storage client  14  that initiated the backup operation, which may comprise the device name  58  (FIG. 2) assigned to the device.  
         [0032]    File Name  72 : a name of the file to backup, i.e., the identifier the client uses to access the data.  
         [0033]    [0033]FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate operations performed by the storage server  16  to perform backup and restore operations, respectively. With respect to FIG. 4, the backup operation would begin when the storage server  16  receives (at block  100 ) a backup request from one storage client  14 , including the serial number  60  of the source volume to backup. This backup request may be communicated using a backup command implemented in the backup program providing the storage client  14  and server  16 , such as the Tivoli® Storage Manager client and server. (Tivoli is a registered trademark of International Business Machines, Corp.) The storage server  16  would select (at block  102 ) a backup target device (WWN and LUN) from the device database  20 , where the selected backup device may comprise one or more volumes from one or more backup storage devices  10  (e.g., tape devices), to store the source volume  12  being backed-up.  
         [0034]    To ensure that the correct Fibre Channel address is used with the copy command to perform the backup operation, the storage server  16  would query (at block  104 ) the SAN  6  using Fibre Channel discovery commands to rediscover the Fibre Channel addresses for the WWN and LUN of all Fibre Channel devices in the device database  20  and update (at block  106 ) device records  50  (FIG. 2) in the device database  20  with any changed Fibre Channel addresses determined from the discovery.  
         [0035]    The storage server  16  then constructs (at block  108 ) an extended copy command specifying the source (the requested volume to backup) and the target device (the selected backup volume). To identify the source and target volumes in the extended copy command, the storage server  16  may include the Fibre Channel addresses of the source and target devices indicated in the device database  20 , the length of the source data to transfer and target data to write, which is the length of the image to backup, and the block addresses where the source data begins in the source device  12  and the backup begins in target device  10 . If the backup storage location is in a tape device, then the block address of where to write the backup image may comprise a record or file mark number. The extended copy command may include additional information on the source and target locations, such as the WWN and LUN number, as well as other information and parameters.  
         [0036]    The storage server  16  transfers (at block  110 ) the extended copy command to the data mover  8  to copy the specified data at the source volume  12  to the specified target volume in the backup storage device  10 . A backup record would be added (at block  112 ) to the backup database  22  providing information on the backed-up data set, including the location of the source  70  and target  64 , length of backup  68 , and offsets into source  72  and target  66  storage devices (FIG. 3) where the backup data is stored.  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 5 illustrates the operations the storage server  16  performs to accomplish a restore operation. The storage client  14  would transmit a restore request to the storage server  16  including a file name and client name of the volume to restore. In response (at block  150 ) to receiving such restore request, the storage server  16  would query (at block  152 ) the backup database  22  to locate the backup record  60  having the client name  70  of the storage client  14  that initiated the request and the specified file name  72 . To ensure that the correct Fibre Channel address is used with the copy command to perform the restore operation, the storage server  16  would query (at block  154 ) the SAN  6  using Fibre Channel discovery commands to rediscover the Fibre Channel addresses for the WWN, LUN, and/or serial number of all Fibre Channel devices in the device database  20  and update (at block  156 ) device records  50  (FIG. 2) in the device database  20  with any changed Fibre Channel addresses for those rediscovered Fibre Channel devices.  
         [0038]    The storage server  16  then determines (at block  157 ) the Fibre Channel address  56  from the device database record  50  identifying the client name in the restore request in the device name field  58 . The storage server  16  then constructs (at block  158 ) an extended copy command specifying the source (backup storage location in backup record) and target device (the determined Fibre Channel address of device having client name of device to restore). The source and target devices specified in the extended copy command would be identified by the Fibre Channel address  54  of source and target devices indicated in the device records  50  in the device database  20  of the target specified in the restore request and the source identified in the backup storage location field  64  of the located backup record  60 . The extended copy command may further include as parameters the length of the source data to transfer and target data to write, which is the size  68  of the backup data set in the located backup record  60  (FIG. 3); block address where the source backup data to restore begins in the source device, which is the offset into the backup location  66  in the located backup record  60 ; and block address where the restore begins in the target device, which is the offset into the source data location in backup record  72 . If the backup storage location to restore is in a tape device, then the block address of where to restore the backup image may comprise a record or file mark number. The extended copy command may include additional information on the source and target locations, such as the WWN and LUN number, as well as other information and parameters. The storage server  16  then transfers (at block  160 ) the generated extended copy command to the data mover  8  to copy the specified data at the backup storage device  10  to the target volume  12  being restored.  
         [0039]    With the described implementations, before performing an extended copy backup or restore, which offloads the data movement from the storage server to a data mover device, the Fibre Channel addresses are confirmed so that the current and correct Fibre Channel address are specified in the extended copy command. This avoids any errors or destruction of existing data that would result from using an invalid Fibre Channel address.  
       Additional Implementation Details  
       [0040]    The backup and restore operations described herein may be implemented as a method, apparatus or article of manufacture using standard programming and/or engineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein refers to code or logic implemented in hardware logic (e.g., an integrated circuit chip, Programmable Gate Array (PGA), Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), etc.) or a computer readable medium, such as magnetic storage medium (e.g., hard disk drives, floppy disks, tape, etc.), optical storage (CD-ROMs, optical disks, etc.), volatile and nonvolatile memory devices (e.g., EEPROMs, ROMs, PROMs, RAMs, DRAMs, SRAMs, firmware, programmable logic, etc.). Code in the computer readable medium is accessed and executed by a processor. The code in which preferred embodiments are implemented may further be accessible through a transmission media or from a file server over a network. In such cases, the article of manufacture in which the code is implemented may comprise a transmission media, such as a network transmission line, wireless transmission media, signals propagating through space, radio waves, infrared signals, etc. Thus, the “article of manufacture” may comprise the medium in which the code is embodied. Additionally, the “article of manufacture” may comprise a combination of hardware and software components in which the code is embodied, processed, and executed. Of course, those skilled in the art will recognize that many modifications may be made to this configuration without departing from the scope of the present invention, and that the article of manufacture may comprise any information bearing medium known in the art.  
         [0041]    In the described implementations, the network across which the backup and restore occurred comprised a Fibre Channel SAN network. In alternative implementations, the network may comprise any type of network known in the art that assigns temporary network addresses to the devices coupled to the network. In such additional implementations, the storage server would have to confirm the temporary network address using fixed identification information before initiating the data movement operation to avoid invalid address errors.  
         [0042]    In the described implementations, the SCSI-3 Extended Copy Command was used to transfer data between devices. In alternative implementations, other commands in alternative formats may be used to perform the device-to-device copy operations described herein.  
         [0043]    In the described implementations, the address checking and extended copy command was used to perform a restore or backup operation. In additional implementations, the extended copy command of the described embodiments may be used for any other type of data transfer operation known in the art to transfer data between volumes.  
         [0044]    In described implementations, the storage client would specify the user data volume to backup and restore, and the storage server would then determine the backup location to use for the backup or restore. In alternative implementations, the storage client may specify both the user data volume and backup location to use in the backup or restore operation. Still further, to perform a restore, the storage client may specify the backup record in the backup database, which would provide the source and target of the restore.  
         [0045]    In the described implementations, the fixed address or identifier of the network devices comprises the WWN, LUN, and serial number. In alternative implementations, other device information may be used to provide a fixed, permanent address of the devices, such as a serial number and vendor information.  
         [0046]    In the described implementations, when rediscovering the Fibre Channel addresses, the storage server would check all the Fibre Channel addresses in the device database. In alternative implementations, the storage server may only rediscover the Fibre Channel addresses of the volumes that are the source and target of the extended copy command.  
         [0047]    [0047]FIGS. 4 and 5 describe specific operations occurring in a particular order. In alternative implementations, certain operations may be performed in a different order, modified or removed. Morever, steps may be added to the above described logic and still conform to the described implementations. Further, operations described herein may occur sequentially or certain operations may be processed in parallel. Yet further, operations may be performed by a single processing unit or by distributed processing units.  
         [0048]    [0048]FIG. 6 illustrates one implementation of a computer architecture  300  of the network components shown in FIG. 1, such as the host, data mover, storage device, etc. The architecture  300  may include a processor  302  (e.g., a microprocessor), a memory  304  (e.g., a volatile memory device), and local storage  306  (e.g., a nonvolatile storage, such as magnetic disk drives, optical disk drives, a tape drive, etc.). The local storage  306  may comprise an internal storage device or an attached or network accessible storage. Programs in the local storage  306  are loaded into the memory  304  and executed by the processor  302  in a manner known in the art. The architecture further includes a network card  308  to enable communication with a network. An input device  310  is used to provide user input to the processor  302 , and may include a keyboard, mouse, pen-stylus, microphone, touch sensitive display screen, or any other activation or input mechanism known in the art. An output device  312  is capable of rendering information transmitted from the processor  302 , or other component, such as a display monitor, printer, storage, etc.  
         [0049]    The foregoing description of the implementations has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto. The above specification, examples and data provide a complete description of the manufacture and use of the composition of the invention. Since many implementations of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6