Patent ID: 8732130

Claim:
A virtualization switch that is configured to be connected to a host computer and a plurality of physical storage devices through communication lines, the virtualization switch comprising: a plurality of communication line connection terminals; a storage virtualizing unit configured to allow the host computer to recognize a storage area generated by combining at least a part of each of a storage area of the plurality of physical storage devices as a virtual storage device; a plurality of data pass controllers each configured to perform a copy process to copy data in the storage area virtualized by the storage virtualizing unit, each of the plurality of data pass controllers being connected to a corresponding communication line connection terminal; and a controller configured to control the copy process by assigning copy sessions to the plurality of data pass controllers based on instructions from the host computer, wherein, when the number of data pass controllers is larger than the number of copy sessions, the controller controls to divide data of a copy session assigned to a data pass controller that is currently performing the copy process and to allow a data pass controller that is free and not currently performing any copy process to perform a copy process of divided data of the copy session, wherein the controller determines whether a data pass controller that is free and not currently performing any copy process exists or not in the data controllers when the controller newly receives an instruction of a new copy session from the host computer, determines whether the data pass controllers that perform copy processes of the divided data of the copy session exist or not when determining that a data pass controller that is free and not currently performing does not exist in the data pass controllers, instructs the data pass controllers to stop performing the copy processes of the divided data of the copy session when determining that the data pass controllers that perform copy processes of the divided data of the copy session exist, instructs one of the data pass controllers that stop performing the copy processes of the divided data of the copy session to perform a copy process by combining the divided data of the copy session to generate a data pass controller that is free and not currently performing and instructs the generated data pass controller to perform a copy process of the new copy session from the host computer.