Patent ID: 7216263

Claim:
A management computer for managing a computer system which includes a data processor and a storage apparatus coupled to the data processor via a first network, the data processor and the storage apparatus being coupled to the management computer via a second network, the computer system further including a plurality of logical volumes allocated from the storage apparatus, each logical volume belonging to one of a plurality of redundant groups, the management computer comprising: a storage allocation unit that allocates said logical volumes; a performance information acquisition unit that periodically acquires, from said storage apparatus, latest performance values of each of the logical volumes, said latest performance values indicating states of said logical volumes; a threshold composing unit that determines a threshold performance value corresponding to each logical volume and maintains a threshold information comprising threshold performance values of said logical volumes; and a warning unit that selects a logical volume, conducts a comparison of a latest performance value of said selected logical volume with its corresponding threshold performance value, and notifies a user with a warning message when its latest performance value deviates from its corresponding threshold performance value, wherein said storage allocation unit is operable to receive from said user a request to create a new logical volume, said request including a plurality of hint values specified according to said Common Information Model (CIM) as parameters indicating a feature of said new logical volume, said hint values being stored on a per logical volume basis as allocation management information, said storage allocation unit is further operable to conduct, based on said allocation management information, a first-step search that searches already created redundancy groups to detect a redundant group including already created logical volumes having first predetermined hint values lower than said requested hint values of said new logical volume, if said first-step search was successful in detecting a redundancy group, said storage allocation unit determines said redundancy group thus detected as a redundancy group to which said new logical volume is to belong, otherwise, said storage allocation unit conducts, based on said allocation management information, a second-step search that searches said already created redundancy groups to detect a redundant group including already created logical volumes having second predetermined hint values higher than said first predetermined hint values, and if said second-step search was successful in detecting a redundancy group, said storage allocation unit determines said redundancy group thus detected in said second-step search as a redundancy group to which said new logical volume is to belong; otherwise, said storage allocation unit selects an arbitrary redundant group to which said new logical volume is to belong.