Cross-MVS system serialized device control
First Claim
1. A method for cross-resource sharing of a limited number of serially accessible devices which are physically connected in a complex of MVS images, comprising the steps of:
- a) providing a control database shared by all MVS images in the complex;
b) periodically monitoring the control database for devices which have been allocated and by which image;
c) intercepting a device allocation request from a MVS image;
d) performing a request/release operation on the control database to determine if a device or devices satisfy the request;
e) granting allocation of the available devices in the control database to the requesting MVS image if the request is satisfied;
f) updating the control database for flagging an allocated device or devices as being unavailable, regardless of which image made the allocation; and
g) releasing the control database.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Method and apparatus for serializing access to devices across multiple OS/390 systems. A subsystem intercepts device allocation requests and manages reserve/release operation of a shared control database. The control database flags allocated device as being in use, regardless of which image on which system or image reserved it. The control database can be queried by any system at anytime, preferably on a regular heartbeat basis, for information on the availability of a resource or health of a system and if a system has become non-responsive, the resource can be released for other images to use.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method for cross-resource sharing of a limited number of serially accessible devices which are physically connected in a complex of MVS images, comprising the steps of:
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a) providing a control database shared by all MVS images in the complex;
b) periodically monitoring the control database for devices which have been allocated and by which image;
c) intercepting a device allocation request from a MVS image;
d) performing a request/release operation on the control database to determine if a device or devices satisfy the request;
e) granting allocation of the available devices in the control database to the requesting MVS image if the request is satisfied;
f) updating the control database for flagging an allocated device or devices as being unavailable, regardless of which image made the allocation; and
g) releasing the control database. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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12. A system for cross-resource sharing of a serially accessible device or devices which are physically connected in a complex of MVS systems comprising:
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a) a shared control database;
b) means for request/release updating operations on the control database for flagging which device or devices are unavailable as having been allocated by an MVS system and which MVS system allocated the device or devices; and
c) means for intercepting a device allocation request and which MVS system made the request and using the request/release means for determining if the request can be satisfied from the available device or devices and if so, satisfying the requests and flagging the allocated devices as unavailable to any MVS system and updating the control database accordingly.
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Specification