Method for managing a network including a storage system

• US 20040068561A1
• Filed: 01/31/2003
• Published: 04/08/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Yamamoto, Masayuki, Oeda, Takashi
• Granted Patent: US 7,428,584 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0727 in a storage system, e.g. in a DASD or network based storage system drivers for digital recording or reproducing units G06F3/06; circuits for error detection or correction within digital recording or reproducing units G11B20/18; 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], H04L67/1097
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0748 in a remote unit communicating with a single-box computer node experiencing an error/fault remote testing G06F11/2294
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0769 Readable error formats, e.g. cross-platform generic formats, human understandable formats
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0784 Routing of error reports, e.g. with a specific transmission path or data flow
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2007 using redundant communication media
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0605 by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0614 Improving the reliability of storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0631 by allocating resources to storage systems
• 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: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0677 Localisation of faults
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/069 using logs of notifications; Post-processing of notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/342 between virtual entities, e.g. orchestrators, SDN or NFV entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/40 using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/106 using time related information in packets, e.g. by adding timestamps
• 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]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A SAN manager acquires information which each unit manages from a management agent of each unit connected to a SAN, detects virtual volume mapping and real volume mapping in the SAN based upon the acquired information and manages them. A SAN management server holds an event translation dictionary for translating contents of a failure notification message received from each unit in the SAN and detects an effect which failure has upon I/O access of a virtual volume if a failure notification message is received. Further, a function for checking a request for generating a virtual volume from a SAN administrator based upon virtual volume mapping information and real volume mapping information is realized.

Claims

1. A method for displaying information of a network by a management server, comprising the steps of:

receiving network configuration information related to topology of said network from said one or plural storage systems and a virtualization system;

receiving real volume information related to a volume with which said one or plural storage systems are provided from said one or plural storage systems;

receiving virtual volume information related to a virtual volume from said virtualization system; and

relating and displaying said real volume information and said virtual volume information based upon said network configuration information,

said network including;

said one or plural storage systems;

said virtualization system that provides one or plural real volumes with which said one or plural storage systems are provided to a server as a virtual volume; and

said one or plural servers that access a volume with which said one or plural storage systems are provided via said virtualization system

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein

said virtual volume information includes information showing correspondence between a virtual volume provided to a server by said virtualization system and one or plural real volumes forming the virtual volume.

3. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

receiving, from said one or plural servers, connection information related to a unit to which said one or plural servers are connected and access destination information related to a real volume or a virtual volume which said one or plural servers access; and

displaying correspondence between a real volume and a virtual volume based upon said network configuration information, said real volume information, said virtual volume information as well as connection information and access destination information respectively received from said one or plural servers.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein

the management server copies:

data interface management information of said one or plural servers from said one or plural servers and management information of a volume which the one or plural servers access;

information showing topology among the virtualization system, said one or plural servers and said one or plural storage systems from said virtualization system, data interface management information of the virtualization system and management information of a virtual volume which said virtualization system provides to said one or plural servers; and

data interface management information of the one or plural storage systems from said one or plural storage systems and management information of a real volume in said one or plural storage systems; and

said management server generates virtual volume mapping based upon said copied information, further generates real volume mapping based upon said copied information and said virtual volume mapping and displays topology among said one or plural servers, said virtualization system and said one or plural storage systems.

5. A method according to claim 4, wherein

said topology includes topology among said one or plural servers, said virtualization system and a real volume in said one or plural storage systems and topology among said one or plural servers, said virtualization system and a virtual volume in said one or plural storage systems.

6. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

receiving a failure notification message from a unit that detects failure caused in said network; and

displaying a real volume and a virtual volume respectively influenced by said failure based upon said failure notification message.

7. A method according to claim 6, further comprising the steps of:

specifying a location in which failure occurs in said network based upon said failure notification message; and

displaying the specified location in which the failure occurs.

8. A method according to claim 6, wherein

said failure notification message is a message according to a format defined in an SNMP protocol.

9. A method for managing a network by a management server, comprising the steps of:

receiving network configuration information related to topology of said network from one or plural storage systems and virtualization system;

receiving real volume information related to a volume with which said one or plural storage systems are provided from said one or plural storage systems;

receiving virtual volume information related to virtual volume from said virtualization system;

receiving a volume allocation request requesting any of one or plural servers to allocate a volume with which said one or plural storage systems are provided;

retrieving a candidate of a volume to be allocated to a server according to said volume allocation request based upon said network configuration information, said real volume information and said virtual volume information; and

outputting a result of the retrieval,

said network including;

said one or plural storage systems;

said virtualization system that provides one or plural real volumes with which said one or plural storage systems are provided to a server as a virtual volume; and

said one or plural servers that access a volume with which said one or plural storage systems are provided via said virtualization system;

10. A method according to claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

outputting, as the case may be, a message that the candidate of said volume is a volume with which the same storage system as a volume already allocated to said server is provided;

receiving an instruction related to whether or not a volume is to be allocated to a server according to a result of said retrieval; and

allocating the volume to the server according to said instruction.

11. A method according to claim 10, further comprising the step of:

controlling so that the candidate of the volume is not allocated to the server when the candidate of said volume shares a resource with a volume already allocated to said server.

12. A management server connected via a network to one or plural storage systems each of which is provided with one or plural real volumes and a virtualization system that provides one or plural real volumes to a server as a virtual volume, comprising:

an interface connected to said network;

a processor; and

an output device, wherein

connection destination information related to a unit to which said one or plural storage systems and said virtualization system are connected is received from said one or plural storage systems and said virtualization system via said interface;

real volume information related to one or plural real volumes with which said one or plural storage systems are provided is received from said one or plural storage systems via said interface;

virtual volume information related to a virtual volume is received from said virtualization system via said interface;

said processor relates and manages said connection destination information, said real volume information and said virtual volume information; and

said output device outputs correspondence between a real volume and a virtual volume based upon information managed by said processor.

13. A management server according to claim 12, wherein

the management server is further connected to one or plural servers via said interface;

server connection destination information related to a unit to which said one or plural servers are connected and access destination information related to a real volume or a virtual volume to which said one or plural servers access are received from said one or plural servers via the interface; and

said processor relates and manages said connection destination information, said server connection destination information, said real volume information, said virtual volume information and said access destination information.

14. A management server according to claim 12, further comprising:

a record medium storing failure information related to failure which may occur in a unit to which said management server is connected via said network, wherein

if a failure notification message is received via said interface from any unit connected via said network, said processor analyzes said failure notification message using said failure information and specifies a real volume or a virtual volume influenced by failure; and

said output device outputs information for specifying a real volume or a virtual volume influenced by the failure.

15. A management server according to claim 14, wherein

said processor analyzes said failure notification message using said failure information and specifies a unit in which failure occurs and a part in the unit in which the failure occurs;

and

said output device outputs information showing the part in which said failure occurs.

16. A management server according to claim 12, further comprising:

an input device, wherein

if a volume allocation request for requesting to allocate a real volume or a virtual volume to a server is received via said input device, said processor retrieves a candidate of a real volume or a virtual volume allocated to said server according to said volume allocation request, based upon said connection destination information, said real volume information and said virtual volume information; and

said output means display a result of the retrieval by said processor.

17. A management server according to claim 16, wherein

an instruction to allocate a real volume or a virtual volume to a server based upon said result of the retrieval by said processor is further received via said input device;

and

said processor allocates a real volume or a virtual volume to said server based upon said result of the retrieval.

18. A computer program product for displaying information of a network on an output device comprising:

one or plural storage systems each of which is provided with one or plural real volumes;

a virtualization system that provides one or plural real volumes to a server as a virtual volume; and

one or plural servers that access a virtual volume via said virtualization system, wherein

said computer program product comprises;

a code that receives connection information of said network from said one or plural storage systems and said virtualization system;

a code that receives real volume information related to a volume with which the one or plural storage systems are provided from said one or plural storage systems;

a code that receives virtual volume information related to a virtual volume provided to a server by the virtualization system from said virtualization system;

a code that relates the connection information, said real volume information and said virtual volume information and outputs them to said output device; and

a computer readable storage medium for storing said codes.

19. A computer program product according to claim 18, further comprising:

a code that receives a failure notification message from a unit in said network in which failure occurs;

a code that specifies a real volume and a virtual volume respectively influenced by said failure based upon said failure notification message; and

a code that outputs information for specifying a real volume and a virtual volume respectively influenced by said failure to said output device.

20. A computer program product according to claim 18, further comprising:

a code that receives a volume allocation request for requesting to allocate a volume to a server;

a code that specifies a volume allocated to said server according to said volume allocation request, based upon said connection information, said real volume information and said virtual volume information;

a code that outputs information related to a specified volume to said output device;

a code that receives an instruction to allocate a volume to said server based upon the information output to said output device; and

a code that controls to allocate a volume to said server according to said instruction.