Mapping of hosts to logical storage units and data storage ports in a data processing system

• US 20040054866A1
• Filed: 09/05/2003
• Published: 03/18/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Emc IP Holding Company LLC (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Steven M. Blumenau, Yoav Raz
• Inventors: Blumenau, Steven M., Raz, Yoav
• Granted Patent: US 7,051,182 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/202
• 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 3/0635 by changing the path, e.g. traffic rerouting, path reconfiguration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0662 Virtualisation aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/35 involving non-standard use of addresses for implementing network functionalities, e.g. coding subscription information within the address or functional addressing, i.e. assigning an address to a function
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/564 Enhancement of application control based on intercepted application data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

An apparatus has host ports for coupling hosts to data storage devices. The data storage devices are configured into logical storage units, and the apparatus is programmed with a mapping of the hosts to respective logical storage units. The apparatus decodes a host identifier and a logical storage unit specification from each data access request received at each host port, and determines whether or not the decoded host identifier and logical storage unit specification are in conformance with the mapping in order to permit or deny data access of the logical storage unit through the host port. For example, the apparatus includes a switch for routing the data storage access requests from the host ports to ports that provide access to the data storage, and a set of logical volumes of storage are accessible from each of the ports that provide access to the data storage.

Claims

1. A data processing system, comprising:

a plurality of hosts;

a plurality of data storage devices; and

an apparatus coupling the hosts to the data storage devices, the apparatus having host ports connected to the hosts, wherein the data storage devices are configured into logical storage units, the apparatus is programmed with a mapping of the hosts to respective logical storage units, and the apparatus is programmed to permit data access of a logical storage unit by the host to occur through a host port upon receipt at the host port of a request from the host for access to the logical storage unit when the request, from the host for access to the logical storage unit is in conformance with the mapping, and the apparatus is programmed to deny data access by the host through the host port upon receipt at the host port of a request from the host for data access that is not in conformance with the mapping.

2. The data processing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the apparatus is programmed to respond to receipt at the host port of the request from the host for access to the logical storage unit by decoding a host identifier and a logical storage unit specification from the request for access to the logical storage unit, and determining whether or not the host identifier and the logical storage unit specification decoded from the request for access to the logical storage unit are in conformance with the mapping, and upon determining that the host identifier and the logical storage unit specification decoded from the request for access to the logical storage unit are in conformance with the mapping, permitting data access of the logical storage unit to occur at the host port.

3. The data processing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mapping prohibits each host from accessing all of the logical storage units.

4. The data processing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mapping includes a respective mapping for each host of logical unit numbers of storage to data storage volumes configured from the data storage devices.

5. The data processing system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the mapping restricts the data storage volumes that are visible to said each host.

6. The data storage system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the apparatus is programmed to report to said each host the logical unit numbers of storage accessible to said each host.

7. The data processing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the apparatus includes a graphical user interface for permitting a user to program the mapping of the hosts to the respective logical storage units.

8. The data processing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the apparatus includes a switch for routing the data storage access requests from the host ports to ports that provide access to the data storage.

9. The data processing system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the apparatus is programmed with a mapping of the hosts to the ports that provide access to the data storage.

10. The data processing system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the apparatus is programmed with a mapping of logical volumes of storage that are accessible from each of the ports that provide access to the data storage.

11. The data processing system as claimed in claim 8, wherein one or more of the ports that provide access to the data storage are assigned to each host, a set of storage volumes are made accessible from each of the ports that provide access to the data storage, and the apparatus is programmed so that said each host can access storage at said each of the ports that provide access to the data storage only if said each of the ports that provide access to the data storage has been assigned to said each host.

12. The data processing system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the mapping includes a respective mapping for each host of logical unit numbers of storage to data storage volumes that are configured from the data storage devices and are accessible to said each host, and the apparatus is programmed to respond to a request directed to said each of the ports from said each host for a report of the logical unit numbers of storage that are accessible to said each host from said each of the ports that provide access to the data storage by providing a report of the logical unit numbers of storage that are accessible to said each host from said each of the ports that provide access to the data storage.

13. The data processing system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the apparatus is programmed to provide different storage access characteristics for the ports that provide access to the data storage.

14. The data processing system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the apparatus is programmed with a respective private/shared flag for each port that provides access to the data storage for indicating whether or not said each port that provides access to the data storage provides access to data storage that is private to a respective one of the hosts.

15. The data processing system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the apparatus includes a graphical user interface for permitting a user to program the mapping of the hosts to the respective logical storage units, and the graphical user interface indicates which of the ports that provide access to the data storage are accessible to each host.

16. The data processing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data storage devices include disk drives in a cached disk storage subsystem.

17. The data processing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the apparatus includes at least one fibre-channel switch providing the host ports, and wherein the hosts are connected to the fibre-channel switch by a fibre-channel data network.

18. The data processing system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the apparatus includes a first switch coupling the hosts to the data storage devices and a second switch coupling the hosts to the data storage devices, wherein each switch has a host port coupled to each host.

19. The data processing system as claimed in claim 18, wherein the apparatus includes a controller for each switch, wherein each controller is programmed with the mapping of the hosts to the respective logical storage units.

20. An apparatus for coupling a plurality of hosts to a plurality of data processing devices, the apparatus comprising a switch having host ports for connection to the hosts and ports for providing access to the data storage devices, and a controller programmed with a mapping of the hosts to respective logical storage units configured from the data storage devices, wherein the controller is programmed for controlling the switch to respond to data storage access requests received at the host ports from the hosts for access to the logical storage units by decoding a host identifier and a logical storage unit specification from each data access request received at each host port, and determining whether or not the host identifier and the logical storage unit specification decoded from said each data access request are in conformance with the mapping, in order to permit data access of the logical storage unit to occur through said each host port when the host identifier and the logical storage unit specification decoded from said each data access request are in conformance with the mapping, and to deny access of the logical storage unit by said each host from occurring through said each host port when the host identifier and the logical storage unit specification decoded from said each data access request are in not conformance with the mapping.

21. The apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein the mapping prohibits each host from accessing all of the logical storage units.

22. The apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein the mapping includes a respective mapping for each host of logical unit numbers of storage to data storage volumes configured from the data storage devices.

23. The apparatus as claimed in claim 22, wherein the mapping restricts the data storage volumes that are visible to said each host.

24. The apparatus as claimed in claim 22, wherein the apparatus is programmed to report to said each host the logical unit numbers of storage accessible to said each host.

25. The apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein the apparatus is programmed with a mapping of the hosts to the ports that provide access to the data storage, and a mapping of logical volumes of storage that are accessible from each of the ports that provide access to the data storage.

26. The apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein one or more of the ports that provide access to the data storage are assigned to each host, a set of storage volumes are made accessible from each of the ports that provide access to the data storage, and the apparatus is programmed so that said each host can access storage at said each of the ports that provide access to the data storage only if said each of the ports that provide access to the data storage has been assigned to said each host.

27. The apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein the mapping includes a respective mapping for each host of logical unit numbers of storage to data storage volumes that are configured from the data storage devices and are accessible to said each host, and the apparatus is programmed to respond to a request directed to said each of the ports from said each host for a report of the logical unit numbers of storage that are accessible to said each host from said each of the ports that provide access to the data storage by providing a report of the logical unit numbers of storage that are accessible to said each host from said each of the ports that provide access to the data storage.

28. The apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein the apparatus is programmed to provide different storage access characteristics for the ports that provide access to the data storage.

29. The apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein the apparatus is programmed with a respective private/shared flag for each port that provides access to the data storage for indicating whether or not said each port that provides access to the data storage provides access to data storage that is private to a respective one of the hosts.

30. The apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein the apparatus includes a graphical user interface for permitting a user to program the mapping of the hosts to the respective logical storage units, and the graphical user interface indicates which of the ports that provide access to the data storage are accessible to each host.

31. The apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein the data storage devices include disk drives in a cached disk storage subsystem.

32. The apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein the switch is a fibre-channel switch, and wherein the hosts are connected to the fibre-channel switch by a fibre-channel data network.

33. In a data processing system including multiple hosts and multiple data storage devices, a method of operation of an apparatus for coupling the hosts to the data storage devices, the apparatus having host ports connected to the hosts, the data storage devices being configured into logical storage units, wherein the method includes:

programming the apparatus with a mapping of the hosts to the logical storage units; and

the apparatus responding to data storage access requests received at a host port from a host by permitting data access of a logical storage unit by the host to occur through a host port upon receipt at the host port of a request from the host for access to the logical storage unit when the request from the host for access to the logical storage unit is in conformance with the mapping, and denying data access by the host through the host port upon receipt at the host port of a request from the host for data access that is not in conformance with the mapping.

34. The method as claimed in claim 33, which includes the apparatus responding to receipt at the host port of the request from the host for access to the logical storage unit by decoding a host identifier and a logical storage unit specification from the request for access to the logical storage unit, and determining whether or not the host identifier and the logical storage unit specification decoded from the request for access to the logical storage unit are in conformance with the mapping, and upon determining that the host identifier and the logical storage unit specification decoded from the request for access to the logical storage unit are in conformance with the mapping, permitting data access of the logical storage unit to occur at the host port.

35. The method as claimed in claim 33, wherein the mapping prohibits each host from accessing all of the logical storage units.

36. The method as claimed-in claim 33, which includes programming the apparatus with a respective mapping for each host of logical unit numbers of storage to data storage volumes configured from the data storage devices.

37. The method as claimed in claim 36, wherein the mapping restricts the data storage volumes that are visible to said each host.

38. The method as claimed in claim 36, which includes the apparatus reporting to said each host the logical unit numbers of storage accessible to said each host.

39. The method as claimed in claim 33, wherein the apparatus includes a graphical user interface for permitting a user to program the mapping of the hosts to the respective logical storage units.

40. The method as claimed in claim 33, which includes the apparatus routing the data storage access requests from the host ports to ports that provide access to the data storage.

41. The method as claimed in claim 40, which includes programming the apparatus with a mapping of the hosts to the ports that provide access to the data storage.

42. The method as claimed in claim 41, which includes programming the apparatus with a mapping of logical volumes of storage that are accessible from each of the ports that provide access to the data storage.

43. The method as claimed in claim 40, which includes assigning to each host one or more of the ports that provide access to the data storage, and mapping a set of storage volumes to each port that provides access to the data storage, so that said each host can access storage at said each port that provides access to the data storage only if said each port that provides access to the data storage has been assigned to said each host.

44. The method as claimed in claim 40, wherein the mapping includes a respective mapping for each host of logical unit numbers of storage to data storage volumes that are configured from the data storage devices and are accessible to said each host, and which includes the apparatus responding to a request from said each host for a report of the logical unit numbers of storage that are accessible to said each host from said each of the ports that provide access to the data storage by providing a report of the logical unit numbers of storage that are accessible to said each host from said each of the ports that provide access to the data storage.

45. The method as claimed in claim 40, which includes the apparatus providing different storage access characteristics for the ports that provide access to the data storage.

46. The method as claimed in claim 40, which includes programming the apparatus with a respective private/shared flag for each of the ports that provide access to the data storage, the respective private/shared flag indicating whether or not said each of the ports that provides access to the data storage provides data storage that is private to a respective one of the hosts.

47. The method as claimed in claim 40, which includes operating a graphical user interface for programming the mapping of the hosts to the respective logical storage units, the graphical user interface indicating which of the ports that provide access to the data storage are accessible to each host.