Computer system
First Claim
1. A system comprising a computer and a plurality of storage systems, said plurality of storage systems for providing a group of logical storage areas to the computer, said system comprising:
- the plurality of storage systems coupled together via a network;
a storage system of said plurality of storage systems, comprising;
a logical storage area of said group of logical storage areas;
an acquisition module for acquiring usage of at least one storage system resource for the logical storage area; and
the computer coupled to said plurality of storage systems, comprising;
a gathering module for obtaining usage information on the usage of the storage system resource by said logical storage area.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides techniques, including a method and system, for relocating data between storage systems. In one embodiment of the present invention a host collects usage information from a plurality of storage systems, and determines the relocation destination LU for data stored in the LU to be relocated. The host alters an LU logical position name table that determines matching between the logical position names of data and LUs. It also carries out data relocation between storage subsystems by shifting data stored in an origin LU to be relocated to a destination LU. In another embodiment relocation of files is provided.
-
Citations
43 Claims
-
1. A system comprising a computer and a plurality of storage systems, said plurality of storage systems for providing a group of logical storage areas to the computer, said system comprising:
-
the plurality of storage systems coupled together via a network;
a storage system of said plurality of storage systems, comprising;
a logical storage area of said group of logical storage areas;
an acquisition module for acquiring usage of at least one storage system resource for the logical storage area; and
the computer coupled to said plurality of storage systems, comprising;
a gathering module for obtaining usage information on the usage of the storage system resource by said logical storage area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. A system, comprising a computer and a plurality of distributed storage systems coupled together by a network, said system comprising:
-
an acquisition means for acquiring, for storage areas of at least two storage systems of the plurality of distributed storage systems, usage information of storage system resources used for the storage areas, and a notifying means for notifying the computer, responsive to a request from the computer, of the usage information; and
the computer comprising;
a requesting means for requesting the storage systems to notify the computer of the usage information.
-
-
8. A system comprising a computer and at least one storage system, comprising:
-
a control means for controlling physical relocation of data among storage areas of the at least one storage system;
a matching table for defining matching between a logical position indicating the logical position of data perceived by an application operating on the computer and a storage area of a storage system of the at least one storage system storing the data; and
an updating means for updating the matching table so that the storage area of the storage system, which is the relocation destination of data relocated by the control means, matches the logical position of the data.
-
-
9. A method for managing an information item used by an application program and located in a plurality of storage systems, said plurality of storage systems coupled together via a network, said method comprising:
-
storing said information item in a first storage system of said plurality of storage systems;
accessing said information item by said application program using a logical position name; and
relocating said information item from said first storage system to a second storage system of said plurality of storage systems, wherein said application program accesses said information item in said second storage system by using said logical position name;
- View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A method for managing storage of a first storage system of a plurality of storage systems and a second storage system of said plurality of storage systems, wherein said plurality of storage systems are coupled together by a network, said method comprising:
-
a manager module receiving a first logical volume usage for a first logical volume of said first storage system;
said manager module receiving a second logical volume usage for a second logical volume of said second storage system; and
displaying to a user storage usage information, including said first logical volume usage and said second logical volume usage. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A method for relocating information from an origin logical unit (LU) of a plurality of logical units on a origin storage system to a destination LU of said plurality of logical units on a destination storage system, said origin storage system coupled to said destination storage system by a Fibre channel network, said method comprising:
-
receiving said relocation instruction by said destination storage system;
preparing a copy area management table comprising one or more origin LU No. of said origin LU, one or more destination LU No. of said destination LU, and a bit map of blocks of information to be relocated; and
relocating of each block of information from said origin LU to said destination LU using said copy area management table. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
-
-
23. A relocation system for relocating information from an origin logical unit to a destination logical unit while said destination logical unit is being read to or written from by a host system, said relocation system comprising:
-
a first disk array of a plurality of disk arrays, comprising said origin logical unit for storing an information item;
a second disk array of a plurality of disk arrays, comprising said destination logical unit, said second disk array couple with said first disk array via a Fibre channel switch; and
the host system for controlling relocating said information item from said origin logical unit to said destination logical unit, while concurrently reading to or writing from said destination logical unit.
-
-
24. A method for relocating a file from a first storage system of a plurality of distributed storage systems to a second storage system of said plurality of distributed storage systems, wherein said plurality of distributed storage systems are part of a Storage Area Network (SAN), said method comprising:
-
storing said file in an origin area on said first storage system, wherein a file position of said file in a metadata table refers to said origin area;
reserving in said metadata table a destination area in said second storage system;
copying said file from said origin area to said destination area; and
modifying said metadata table such that said file position is modified to refer to said destination area. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. A system for a client relocating a file from a Fibre channel storage area network comprising a plurality of storage systems coupled with a host system to said client, said system, comprising:
-
said client for requesting from a file system of said host system, access to said file; and
said file system for determining a file location of said file in a storage system of said plurality of storage systems and returning said file location to said client; and
wherein said client after receiving said file location, relocates said file directly from said storage system using said file location. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
-
-
33. A network storage system for providing a plurality of distributed storage systems viewed by a client as one virtual storage system, said network storage system comprising:
-
said client for sending a request to a server system for a file;
said server system, responsive to said request, and coupled to said plurality of distributed storage systems, for retrieving said file from said plurality of distributed storage systems, and sending said file to said client; and
said plurality of distributed storage systems coupled together via Fibre channels and organized into an integrated area for access by said server system. - View Dependent Claims (34)
-
-
35. A system for managing relocation of data between a plurality of logical units, comprising:
-
a LU management table, comprising a unique LU No. for each logical unit (LU) of said plurality of logical units and LU information associated with each unique LU No.;
a manager for receiving from a user a relocation origin LU No. and user requirements for a relocation destination LU; and
a LU pool manager for determining a relocation destination LU using said LU management table and said user requirements. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37)
-
-
38. A method for sharing files between a client, a host, and a plurality of disk arrays, all coupled together by both a standard network and Fibre channels, said method comprising:
-
receiving a request by said host from said client for access to a shared file, wherein said request includes a type of use and an intra-area address;
determining by said host of a location of said shared file, said location including a disk array of said plurality of disk arrays; and
said host allowing said client access to said shared file as determined by said type of use. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41)
-
-
42. A computer program product stored on a computer readable medium for managing an information item used by an application program and located in a plurality of storage systems, said plurality of storage systems coupled together via a network, said computer program product comprising:
-
code for storing said information item in a first storage system of said plurality of storage systems;
code for accessing said information item by said application program using a logical position name; and
code for relocating said information item from said first storage system to a second storage system of said plurality of storage systems, wherein said application program accesses said information item in said second storage system by using said logical position name.
-
-
43. A computer program product stored on a computer readable medium for managing storage of a first storage system of a plurality of storage systems and a second storage system of said plurality of storage systems, wherein said plurality of storage systems are coupled together by a network, said computer program product comprising:
-
code for a manager module receiving a first logical volume usage for a first logical volume of said first storage system;
code for said manager module receiving a second logical volume usage for a second logical volume of said second storage system; and
code for displaying to a user storage usage information, including said first logical volume usage and said second logical volume usage.
-
Specification