Patent ID: 8713356

Claim:
A method of configuring logical volumes in a data storage system, the logical volumes being contained in volume groups of physical volumes of storage in the data storage system, the logical volumes and volume groups being defined in headers of the physical volumes, said method comprising a data processor of the data storage system executing computer instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium to perform the steps of: (a) creating a configuration database of configuration information about the physical volumes, volume groups, and logical volumes defined in the headers of the physical volumes, and storing the configuration database in storage separate from the physical headers of the physical volumes; and thereafter (b) checking the configuration of the physical volumes, volume groups, and logical volumes in the volume headers by capturing configuration information about the physical volumes, volume groups, and logical volumes from the headers of the physical volumes, and comparing the captured configuration information to the configuration information about the physical volumes, volume groups, and logical volumes in the configuration database to detect a configuration error in at least one of the headers of the physical volumes; and (c) upon detecting the configuration error in said at least one of the headers of the physical volumes, automatically correcting the configuration error in said at least one of the headers of the physical volumes; which includes performing step (b) automatically during a re-boot of the storage system to recover from a crash of the storage system.