Patent ID: 7386596

Claim:
A system comprising: a plurality of storage systems including a first storage system and a second storage system, each of the plurality of storage systems being configured with a data volume and a storage controller, wherein the storage controller receives a write request from a host computer associated with the storage system and stores write data associated with the write request to the data volume, the storage controller being further operable to execute a remote data copy operation by executing a data send process or a data receive process; and a directory server coupled to the plurality of storage systems via a network, to be configured to manage group information including correspondence between a first data volume in the first storage system and a second data volume in the second storage system to specify a copy volume group and to manage address information on data volumes and host computers; wherein the directory server selects the first data volume as a primary volume to be accessed and provides address information of the first data volume to a terminal via the network based on the group information and the address information when an access request is received from the terminal closer to the host computer associated with the first storage system than the second storage system, the access request being target to the copy volume group including the first data volume and the second data volume, wherein when the directory server selects the first data volume of the first storage system as the primary volume, the first storage system is operable to change a status of the first data volume to the primary volume, wherein the directory server selects the second data volume as a primary volume to be accessed and provides address information of the second data volume to a terminal via the network based on the group information and the address information when an access request is received from the terminal closer to the host computer associated with the second storage system than the first storage system via the network, the access request being target to the copy volume group including the first data volume and the second data volume, and wherein when the directory server selects the second data volume of the second storage system as the primary volume, the second storage system is operable to change a status of the second data volume to the primary volume.