Source: http://patents.com/us-8140720.html
Timestamp: 2018-05-28 09:35:50
Document Index: 442475795

Matched Legal Cases: ['art.\n4', 'art 1011', 'art 1012', 'art 911', 'art 911', 'art 912', 'art 912', 'art 913', 'art 913', 'art 914', 'art 914']

US Patent # 8,140,720. Method of setting communication path in storage system, and management apparatus therefor - Patents.com
United States Patent 8,140,720
Noborikawa , et al. March 20, 2012
Method of setting communication path in storage system, and management apparatus therefor
Inventors: Noborikawa; Yoshiyuki (Odawara, JP), Nagata; Koji (Kaisei, JP), Sakai; Kosuke (Isehara, JP)
Appl. No.: 12/311,421
PCT Filed: February 09, 2009
PCT No.: PCT/JP2009/052174
371(c)(1),(2),(4) Date: March 30, 2009
PCT Pub. No.: WO2010/089897
PCT Pub. Date: August 12, 2010
Current U.S. Class: 710/38 ; 340/2.1; 709/238; 710/36
Current International Class: G06F 3/00 (20060101); G06F 15/173 (20060101)
6266797 July 2001 Godfrey et al.
2002/0107989 August 2002 Johnson et al.
2005/0021627 January 2005 Achiwa et al.
2005/0220038 October 2005 Muto et al.
2005/0281251 December 2005 Yumoto et al.
2006/0021057 January 2006 Risan et al.
2006/0069889 March 2006 Nagaya et al.
2006/0184809 August 2006 Kojou et al.
2007/0233992 October 2007 Sato
2008/0304494 December 2008 Yokoyama
2005-208906 Jan., 2004 JP
2007-028474 Jul., 2005 JP
2006-099440 Apr., 2006 JP
2008-262600 Jul., 2008 JP
International Search Report dated May 19, 2009, in Japanese with English written opinion. cited by other.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Stites & Harbison, PLLC Marquez, Esq.; Juan Carlos A.
1. A method of setting communication paths between storage apparatuses in a storage system having a plurality of the storage apparatuses, the method comprising: storing in each of the storage apparatuses coupling mode information that is indicative of whether the storage apparatus is in a first mode or a second mode where, in the first mode, the storage apparatus is permitted setting of a communication path between the storage apparatus and each of a plurality of others of the storage apparatuses and, in the second mode, the storage apparatus is permitted setting of a communication path only between the storage apparatus and one of the other storage apparatuses; and communicatively coupling a management apparatus that comprises a communication path setting part that provides a user interface for setting communication paths to each of the storage apparatuses; wherein the communication path setting part does not permit setting of a communication path between any two of the plurality of storage apparatuses, at the time of setting the communication path, when the coupling mode information of both of the two of the plurality of storage apparatuses indicate the first mode.
2. The method of setting communication paths in a storage system of claim 1, wherein the setting of a communication path by the communication path setting part is performed by linking to each other communication ports of the storage apparatuses between which the communication path is set with a link, including: storing in each of the storage apparatuses for which a communication path therebetween is set the link for the communication path set for each of the storage apparatuses themselves; and providing the management apparatus with a replication management function setting part that provides a user interface for setting a replication management function of data performed between the storage apparatuses, the setting of the replication management function by the replication management function setting part is performed by linking a storage area of the storage apparatus as a replication source to a storage area of the storage apparatus as a replication target with a link, including: providing the management apparatus with a coupling mode setting part that provides a user interface for setting the coupling mode information on each of the storage apparatuses; and storing in each of the storage apparatuses the link for the storage areas set for each of the storage apparatuses themselves, and the replication management function setting part permits a linking of the storage area of a replication source to the storage area of a replication target only between the storage apparatuses for which a communication path therebetween is set by the communication path setting part.
4. The method of setting communication paths in a storage system of claim 2, further comprising: providing the management apparatus with an encryption information setting part that provides a user interface for setting encryption information on each of the communication ports where the encryption information is requested by a user when the communication path setting part sets a communication path; and storing in each of the storage apparatuses the encryption information set on a communication port for each of the storage apparatuses, and wherein the coupling mode setting part, when receiving an instruction to change the coupling mode information of one of the storage apparatuses from indicating the first mode to indicating the second mode, does not permit the coupling mode change in a case in which a plurality of the communication paths are set for the one of the storage apparatuses.
7. The method of setting communication paths in a storage system of claim 2, wherein the storage apparatus comprises: a communication interface for communicating with a host apparatus; a disc controller that carries out data write or data read to or from a storage device; a control processor that carries out data transfer between the communication interface and the disc controller; a cache memory on which data to be written to the storage device or data to be read from the storage device is stored; a shared memory that stores data thereon; and a switch that communicatively couples the communication interface, the disc controller, the control processor, the cache memory, and the shared memory.
9. The management apparatus used in the method of setting communication paths of claim 4, comprising a CPU, a memory, a communication interface for coupling to the storage apparatus, the communication path setting part, the replication management function setting part, the coupling mode setting part, and the encryption information setting part.
The storage apparatus 10 includes one or more communication interfaces (hereinafter "communication I/F 11"), one or more control processors (microprocessor) 12, one or more disc controllers 13, a cache memory 14, a shared memory 15, an internal switch 16, a storage device 17, and a maintenance device (service processor) 18. Among these, the communication I/F 11, the control processor 12, the disc controller 13, the cache memory 14, and the shared memory 15 are coupled to one another via the internal switch 16.
The cache memory 14 is configured with a RAM (Random Access Memory) and the like, enabling high-speed access. The cache memory 14 has stored thereon, for example, data to be written to the storage device 17 (hereinafter "write data") and data read out from the storage device 17 (hereinafter "read data"). The shared memory 15 has stored thereon various pieces of information used for controlling the storage apparatus 10.
FIG. 2A depicts a hardware configuration of the communication I/F 11. As shown in FIG. 2A, the communication I/F 11 has an external communication interface (hereinafter "external communication I/F 111"), a processor 112, a memory 113, and an internal communication interface (hereinafter "internal communication I/F 114"). The external communication I/F 111 is, for example, an NIC (Network Interface Card) or an HBA (Host Bus Adaptor). The processor 112 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) and the like. The memory 113 is a RAM or a ROM (Read Only Memory). The internal communication I/F 114 communicates with the control processor 12, the disc controller 13, the cache memory 14, and the shared memory 15 via the internal switch 16.
FIG. 2B depicts a hardware configuration of the control processor 12. As shown in FIG. 2B, the control processor 12 has an internal communication interface (hereinafter "internal communication I/F 121"), a processor 122, and a memory 123. The internal communication I/F 121 communicates with the communication I/F 11, the disc controller 13, the cache memory 14, and the shared memory 15 via the internal switch 16. The processor 122 is a CPU, an MPU, a DMA (Direct Memory Access) and the like. The memory 123 is a RAM or a ROM.
FIG. 2C depicts a hardware configuration of the disc controller 13. As shown in FIG. 2C, the disc controller 13 has an internal communication interface (hereinafter "internal communication I/F 131"), a processor 132, a memory 133, and a disc interface (hereinafter "disc I/F 134"). The internal I/F 131 communicates with the communication I/F 11, the control processor 12, the cache memory 14, the shared memory 15 and the like, via the internal switch 16. The processor 132 is a CPU, an MPU and the like. The memory 133 is a RAM or a ROM. The disc I/F 134 communicates with the storage device 17.
FIG. 3 depicts an example of a computer (information processing apparatus) that can be used as the management apparatus 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the computer 30 has a CPU 31, a volatile or nonvolatile memory 32 (RAM or ROM), a storage device 33 (e.g., hard disc or semiconductor storage device (SSD)), an input device 34 such as a keyboard and a mouse, an output device 35 such as a liquid crystal monitor and a printer, and a communication interface (hereinafter "communication I/F 36"), such as an NIC and an HBA.
The storage apparatus 10 configures a logical volume (hereinafter "logical volume" or "LU (Logical Unit)") based on a storage area (e.g., the above described LDEV) provided by the storage device 17, and provides storage area in units of logical volumes to the host apparatus 2. The host apparatus 2 specifies the identifier of a communication port (hereinafter, also referred to as "port ID") of the storage apparatus 10 and the identifier of a logical volume (hereinafter, also referred to as "LUN") to identify a storage area of the storage apparatus 10. FIG. 4 depicts the relation between a communication port 41 of the host apparatus 2, a communication port 43 of a network switch 42 configuring the communication networks 5 and 6, communication ports 44 of the storage apparatuses 10 and 50, and logical volumes (LU) 45 provided by the storage apparatuses 10 and 50.
When data is transferred between the storage apparatuses 10 and 50, a communication path (hereinafter "path") must be set between the storage apparatuses 10 and 50. Path setting, specifically, is carried out by linking the identifier of a communication port of the storage apparatus 10 to correspond to the identifier of a communication port of the remote storage apparatus 50. The storage apparatuses 10 and 50 store information of a path set in such a manner (hereinafter "path defining information"), for example, on the shared memory 15 or the storage device 17 as a path defining table. Upon transferring data, the storage apparatuses 10 and 50, referring to the path defining information, identify a path leading from a source to a target.
Each of the storage apparatuses 10 and 50 has a function of automatically storing a replication of data stored in a logical volume 45 into another logical volume 45 (replication management function (replication)). A combination (hereinafter may be referred as "replication pair") of a logical volume as a replication source (hereinafter "replication source LU") and a logical volume as a replication target (hereinafter "replication target LU") must be set when the replication management function is used. The storage apparatuses 10 and 50 store information of a set replication pair (hereinafter "replication pair defining information"), for example, on the shared memory 15 and the storage device 17 as a replication pair defining table 800. Upon carrying out a process of the replication management function, the storage apparatuses 10 and 50 refer to the replication pair defining table 800.
Control states of a replication pair include a synchronizing state (pair state)), a split state (pair suspend)), a data transfer state (copying state), and a halt state (failure state.) The user is allowed to change a control state of the replication pair by operating the management apparatus 3. When the control state of the replication pair is in a synchronizing state among the above control states, data is replicated instantly upon formation of a finite difference between data in a replication source LU and data in a replication target LU to ensure the real-time coincidence of the replication source LU with the replication target LU. When the control state of the replication pair is in a split state, a finite difference between data stored in the replication source LU and data stored in the replication target LU (hereinafter "finite difference information") is managed, but real-time coincidence of the data in the replication source LU with the data in the replication target LU is not ensured.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining a process that is carried out by the write process part 1011 of the storage apparatus (hereinafter "data write process S1100") when the storage apparatus 10 receives a data write request as the above I/O request from the host apparatus 2. The data write process S1100 will now be described referring to FIG. 11.
Receiving the notice from the communication I/F 11, the control processor 12 writes data to be written in accordance with the data write request (hereinafter "write data"), to the cache memory 14 (S1118). The control processor 12 transfers the data written on the cache memory 14 to the disc controller 13 whenever necessary (S1119). The disc controller 13 then writes the data transferred from the control processor 12, to the storage device 17 (S1120).
FIG. 12 a flowchart for explaining a process that is carried out by the read process part 1012 (hereinafter "data read process S1200") when the storage apparatus 10 receives a data read request as the above I/O request from the host apparatus 2. The data read process S1200 will be described referring to FIG. 12.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining a process that is carried out mainly by the path setting part 911 of the management apparatus 3 (hereinafter "path setting process S1300") when a user carries out path setting on the management apparatus 3. The path setting process S1300 will be described referring to FIG. 13.
The path setting part 911 then displays a screen for path setting by the user (hereinafter "path setting screen") to prompt the user to input path defining information (S1313, S1314). FIG. 14 depicts an example of a path setting screen. As shown in FIG. 14, the path setting screen 1400 displays a list of currently set paths together with input fields (1411 to 1414) for inputting path defining information to be set anew. To set a new path, the user inputs path defining information to the input fields (1411 to 1414), and operates a setting button 1421 to fix the setting contents.
FIG. 15 is a flowchart for explaining a process that is carried out mainly by the coupling mode setting part 912 of the management apparatus 3 (hereinafter "coupling mode setting process S1500") when a user carries out coupling mode setting on the management apparatus 3. The coupling mode setting process S1500 will be described referring to FIG. 15.
The coupling mode setting part 912 then displays a screen for coupling mode setting by the user (hereinafter "coupling mode setting screen") to prompt the user to input path defining information (S1514, S1515). FIG. 16 depicts an example of a coupling mode setting screen. As shown in FIG. 16, the coupling mode setting screen 1600 displays currently set coupling modes based on coupling modes acquired from the storage apparatuses 10 and 50. As shown in FIG. 16, the coupling mode setting screen 1600 includes display fields 1611 for the identifiers of the storage apparatuses 10 and 50, display fields 1612 for the coupling mode setting function, and setting fields 1613 for coupling modes. The contents of the coupling mode setting function display fields 1612 cannot be changed on this screen. The contents of the display fields 1612 are set in advance, for example, when the storage apparatuses 10 and 50 are incorporated in the system.
A coupling mode currently set on each of the storage apparatuses 10 and 50 is displayed in each coupling mode setting field 1613, to which a selection button 1614 is provided. When the user operates the selection button 1614, a pull-down menu for selecting "enabled" or "disabled" is displayed. The user selects "enabled" or "disabled" from the pull-down menu to set a coupling mode. As shown in FIG. 16, the selection button 1614 is not displayed for storage apparatuses 10 and 50 having no coupling-mode-related function, and the user cannot set a coupling mode for such an apparatus.
FIG. 17 is a flowchart for explaining a process that is carried out mainly by the encryption information setting part 913 of the management apparatus 3 (hereinafter "encryption information setting process S1700") when a user carries out encryption information setting. The encryption information setting process S1700 will be described referring to FIG. 17.
The encryption information setting part 913 then displays a screen for encryption information setting by the user (hereinafter "encryption information setting screen") to prompt the user to input encryption information (S1712).
FIG. 19 is a flowchart for explaining a process that is carried out mainly by the replication management function setting part 914 of the management apparatus 3 (hereinafter "replication pair setting process S1900") when a user carries out replication pair setting by the replication management function. The replication pair setting process S1900 will be described referring to FIG. 19.
The replication management function setting part 914 then displays a screen for replication pair setting by the user (hereinafter "replication pair setting screen") to prompt the user to input replication pair defining information (S1913, S1914). FIG. 20 depicts an example of a replication pair setting screen.
Previous Patent US 8,140,719 | Next Patent US 8,140,721