Method and apparatus of redundant path validation before provisioning

• US 10,223,144 B2
• Filed: 01/12/2016
• Issued: 03/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Kano, Yoshiki, Ritchie, Dan, Chong, Randy, Masood, Abid
• Primary Examiner(s): Moise, Emmanuel L
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ye, Zi
• Application Number:
  US14/993,186
• Publication Number:
  US 20160127472A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,148 Days
• Field of Search: 709223, 370216
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2007 using redundant communication media
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45579 I/O management, e.g. providing access to device drivers or storage
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0605 by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0617 in relation to availability
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0619 in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0632 by initialisation or re-initialisation of storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0635 by changing the path, e.g. traffic rerouting, path reconfiguration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0665 at area level, e.g. provisioning of virtual or logical volumes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/467 Arrangements for supporting untagged frames, e.g. port-based VLANs
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0873 Checking configuration conflicts between network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/356 for storage area networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/552 by ensuring the integrity of packets received through redundant connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

Exemplary embodiments of the invention provide a technique to validate physical cabling and logical path before provisioning volume. In accordance with an aspect, a computer comprises a memory storing software and a processor executing the software. The software is operable to: identify first server port and second server port forming redundant ports of a server and first storage port and second storage port forming redundant ports of a storage system; and check whether a redundant relationship is formed by at least one of (i) a physical connection between the first server port and the first storage port and a physical connection between the second server port and the second storage port, or (ii) a logical connection between the first server port and the first storage port and a logical connection between the second server port and the second storage port.

Claims

1. A computer comprising a memory storing a software and a processor executing the software, wherein the software is operable to:

receive an identification of storage ports of a storage system corresponding to a volume to be provisioned;

check, in response of receiving the identification of the storage ports, whether a redundant relationship is formed by a first physical connection between a first server port of a plurality of servers and a first storage port of the identified storage ports of the storage system and a second physical connection between a second server port of the plurality of servers and a second storage port of the identified storage ports of the storage system to validate the first and second physical connections;

after validating the redundant relationship of the first and second physical connections, gather preset zone information showing correspondence between zones and WWNs of server ports of the plurality of servers and storage ports of the storage system for each Domain ID of each corresponding FC-SW;

check whether a redundant relationship is formed by a first logical connection between the first server port and the first storage port by matching a WWN of the first server port and a WWN of the first storage port with gathered WWNs of the server ports and the storage ports corresponding to the zone for each Domain ID and a second logical connection between the second server port and the second storage port by matching a WWN of the second server port and a WWN of the second storage port with gathered WWNs of the server ports and the storage ports corresponding to the zone for each Domain ID, to validate the first and second logical connections;

gather storage information showing correspondence between the storage port, a host group and WWNs of server ports;

check whether each of the first and second storage ports has a host group with the WWNs of the first and second server ports by using the gathered storage information to determine whether the storage system has host group redundancy in validating the first and second logical connections; and

provision the volume from the storage system after validating the redundant relationship of the first and second logical connections.

2. The computer according to claim 1,

wherein if the software does not validate the redundant relationship of the first and second logical connections, the software is operable to repair one or both of the first and second logical connections by repairing zones by:

adding the WWN of the first or second storage port to a zone having the WWN of the first or second server port;

adding the WWN of the first or second server port to a zone having the WWN of the first or second storage port;

or

creating a zone having the WWN of the first or second server ports and the WWN of the first or second storage ports.

3. The computer according to claim 1, wherein the software is operable to:

create a host group with the WWNs of the first and second server ports or add the first or second server port on the host group, when the first or second storage port does not have a host group with the WWNs of the first and second server ports as a result of the check.

4. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a plurality of instructions for controlling a processor to validate redundant paths, the plurality of instructions comprising:

instructions that cause the processor to receive an identification of storage ports of a storage system corresponding to a volume to be provisioned;

instructions that cause the processor to check, in response of receiving the identification of the storage ports, whether a redundant relationship is formed by a first physical connection between a first server port of a plurality of servers and a first storage port of the identified storage ports of the storage system and a second physical connection between a second server port of the plurality of servers and a second storage port of the identified storage ports of the storage system to validate the first and second physical connections;

instructions that cause the processor to, after validating the redundant relationship of the first and second physical connections, gather preset zone information showing correspondence between zones and WWNs of server ports of the plurality of servers and storage ports of the storage system for each Domain ID of each corresponding FC-SW;

instructions that cause the processor to check whether a redundant relationship is formed by a first logical connection between the first server port and the first storage port by matching a WWN of the first server port and a WWN of the first storage port with gathered WWNs of the server ports and the storage ports corresponding to the zone for each Domain ID and a second logical connection between the second server port and the second storage port by matching a WWN of the second server port and a WWN of the second storage port with gathered WWNs of the server ports and the storage ports corresponding to the zone for each Domain ID, to validate the first and second logical connections;

instructions that cause the processor to gather storage information showing correspondence between the storage port, a host group and WWNs of server ports;

instructions that cause the processor to check whether each of the first and second storage ports has a host group with the WWNs of the first and second server ports by using the gathered storage information to determine whether the storage system has host group redundancy in validating the first and second logical connections; and

instructions that cause the processor to provision the volume from the storage system after validating the redundant relationship of the first and second logical connections.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 4,

instructions that cause the processor to, if the processor does not validate the redundant relationship of the first and second logical connections, repair one or both of the first and second logical connections by repairing zones by:

adding the WWN of the first or second storage port to a zone having the WWN of the first or second server port;

adding the WWN of the first or second server port to a zone having the WWN of the first or second storage port;

or

creating a zone having the WWN of the first or second server ports and the WWN of the first or second storage ports.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of instructions comprise:

instructions that cause the processor to create a host group with the WWNs of the first and second server ports or add the first or second server port on the host group, when the first or second storage port does not have a host group with the WWNs of the first and second server pods as a result of the check.