Data reallocation among storage systems

• US 20040236772A1
• Filed: 06/07/2004
• Published: 11/25/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Mogi, Kazuhiko, Arakawa, Hiroshi, Eguchi, Yoshiaki, Arai, Kouji
• Granted Patent: US 7,260,696 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1096 Parity calculation or recalculation after configuration or reconfiguration of the system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2087 with a common controller
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0866 for peripheral storage systems, e.g. disk cache
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0605 by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0608 Saving storage space on storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0613 in relation to throughput
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0631 by allocating resources to storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0635 by changing the path, e.g. traffic rerouting, path reconfiguration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0647 Migration mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0659 Command handling arrangements, e.g. command buffers, queues, command scheduling
• 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 61/457 containing identifiers of data entities on a computer, e.g. file names
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 Recoverability
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99955 Archiving or backup

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.

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44. A computer system comprising:

a plurality of storage systems each of which comprises at least one logical unit and a control unit coupled to said at least one logical unit, and

a computer comprising an application, said application configured to issue an access request to access data stored in a logical unit in a storage system of the plurality of storage systems,

wherein said application is configured to issue an access request to access target data in a logical unit by using a first ID, and wherein a storage system of the plurality of storage systems comprises a logical unit configured to store said target data and access said target data by using a second ID of said logical unit, said second ID corresponding to said first ID, and

wherein a source storage system of the plurality of storage systems is configured to receive a data reallocation command, and to transfer data stored in a source logical unit in said source storage system to a target logical unit in a target storage system of the plurality of storage systems based on the data reallocation command, wherein said target logical unit is determined based on characteristic information of logical units in said plurality of storage systems, wherein the first ID of the data transferred from said source logical unit is correlated with the second ID of the data received by said target logical unit to update correlation information between first IDs associated with access requests and second IDs associated with target data corresponding to the access requests in order to allow said application to access data in said target logical unit by using the same first ID as the first ID used by said application before data transfer from said source logical unit to said target logical unit.

45. A computer system according to claim 44,

wherein said computer further comprises a file system managing said correlation information between first IDs and second IDs, wherein said file system is configured to receive an access request including a first ID from said application, convert the received first ID to a second ID according to said correlation information, and issue an access request including the second ID to a storage system, and wherein said file system is configured to update said correlation information according to the data transfer from said source logical unit to said target logical unit.

46. A computer system according to claim 44,

wherein said characteristic information comprises performance information of logical units in said plurality of storage systems and stored in said computer, and wherein said target logical unit is determined by said computer according to said characteristic information.

47. A computer system according to claim 44,

wherein said characteristic information comprises usage information of logical units in said plurality of storage systems, wherein each of said plurality of storage systems is configured to update usage information of logical units in the storage system according to data access to logical units in the storage system and send the usage information to said computer, and wherein said computer is configured to determine said target logical unit according to usage information received from said plurality of storage systems.

48. A computer system according to claim 44, further comprising:

another computer including a file system, said file system managing said correlation information,

wherein said another computer is configured to receive an access request including a first ID from said application in said computer, wherein said file system in said another computer is configured to convert the received first ID to a second ID according to said correlation information, wherein said another computer is configured to notify the second ID to said computer, and wherein said computer is configured to issue an access request including the notified second ID to a storage system, and

wherein said file system in said another computer is configured to update said correlation information according to the data transfer from said source logical unit to said target logical unit.

49. A computer system comprising:

a plurality of storage systems each of which comprises at least one logical unit and a control unit coupled to said at least one logical unit;

a computer comprising an application, said application configured to issue an access request to access data stored in a logical unit in a storage system of the plurality of storage systems, and

a switch coupled to said plurality of storage systems and said computer,

wherein said application is configured to issue an access request to access target data in a logical unit by using a first ID, and wherein a storage system of the plurality of storage systems comprises a logical unit configured to store said target data and access said target data by using a second ID of said logical unit, said second ID corresponding to said first ID, and

wherein said switch is configured to receive a data reallocation command, and to transfer data stored in a source logical unit in a source storage system of the plurality of storage systems to a target logical unit in a target storage system of the plurality of storage systems, wherein said target logical unit is determined based on characteristic information of logical units in said plurality of storage systems, and

wherein the first ID of the data transferred from said source logical unit is correlated with the second ID of the data received by said target logical unit to update correlation information between first IDs associated with access requests and second IDs associated with target data corresponding to the access requests in order to allow said application to access data in said target logical unit by using the same first ID as the first ID used by said application before data transfer from said source logical unit to said target logical unit.

50. A computer system according to claim 49,

wherein said computer further comprises a file system managing said correlation information between first IDs and second IDs, wherein said file system is configured to receive an access request including a first ID from said application, convert the received first ID to a second ID according to said correlation information, and issue an access request including the second ID to a storage system, and wherein said file system is configured to update said correlation information according to the data transfer from said source logical unit to said target logical unit.

51. A computer system according to claim 49,

wherein said characteristic information comprises performance information of logical units in said plurality of storage systems and stored in said computer, and wherein said target logical unit is determined by said computer according to said characteristic information.

52. A computer system according to claim 49,

wherein said characteristic information comprises usage information of logical units in said plurality of storage systems, wherein each of said plurality of storage systems is configured to update usage information of logical units in the storage system according to data access to logical units in the storage system and send the usage information to said computer, and wherein said computer is configured to determine said target logical unit according to usage information received from said plurality of storage systems.

53. A computer system according to claim 49, further comprising:

another computer including a file system, said file system managing said correlation information,

wherein said another computer is configured to receive an access request including a first ID from said application in said computer, wherein said file system in said another computer is configured to convert the received first ID to a second ID according to said correlation information, wherein said another computer is configured to notify the second ID to said computer, and wherein said computer is configured to issue an access request including the notified second ID to a storage system, and

wherein said file system in said another computer is configured to update said correlation information according to the data transfer from said source logical unit to said target logical unit.

54. A method of allocating data in a computer system which includes a plurality of storage systems each of which comprises at least one logical unit and a control unit coupled to the at least one logical unit, and a computer which includes an application configured to issue an access request to access data stored in a logical unit in a storage system of the plurality of storage systems, wherein the application is configured to issue an access request to access target data in a logical unit by using a first ID, and wherein a storage system of the plurality of storage systems comprises a logical unit configured to store the target data and access the target data by using a second ID of the logical unit, the second ID corresponding to the first ID, the method comprising:

receiving a data reallocation command to transfer data stored in a source logical unit in a source storage system to a target logical unit in a target storage system based on the data reallocation command;

determining the target logical unit based on characteristic information of logical units in the plurality of storage systems;

transferring the data from the source logical unit to the target logical unit based on the data reallocation command; and

correlating the first ID of the data transferred from the source logical unit with the second ID of the data received by the target logical unit to update correlation information between first IDs associated with access requests and second IDs associated with target data corresponding to the access requests in order to allow the application to access data in the target logical unit by using the same first ID as the first ID used by the application before data transfer from the source logical unit to the target logical unit.

55. A method according to claim 54, wherein the data reallocation command is received by the source storage system to transfer data stored in a source logical unit in a source storage system to a target logical unit in a target storage system.

56. A method according to claim 54, wherein the data reallocation command is received by a switch coupled to the plurality of storage systems and the computer to transfer data stored in a source logical unit in a source storage system to a target logical unit in a target storage system.

57. A method according to claim 54, further comprising

managing the correlation information between first IDs and second IDs by a file system in the computer, wherein the file system is configured to receive an access request including a first ID from the application, convert the received first ID to a second ID according to the correlation information, and issue an access request including the second ID to a storage system, and wherein the file system is configured to update the correlation information according to the data transfer from the source logical unit to the target logical unit.

58. A method according to claim 54,

wherein the characteristic information comprises performance information of logical units in the plurality of storage systems and stored in the computer, and wherein the target logical unit is determined by the computer according to the characteristic information.

59. A method according to claim 54, wherein the characteristic information comprises usage information of logical units in the plurality of storage systems, the method further comprising:

updating, by each of the plurality of storage systems, usage information of logical units in the storage system according to data access to logical units in the storage system; and

sending the usage information to the computer,

wherein the target logical unit is determined by the computer according to usage information received from the plurality of storage systems.

60. A method according to claim 54, further comprising:

providing another computer including a file system to manage the correlation information, wherein the another computer is configured to receive an access request including a first ID from the application in the computer, wherein the file system in the another computer is configured to convert the received first ID to a second ID according to the correlation information, wherein the another computer is configured to notify the second ID to the computer, and wherein the computer is configured to issue an access request including the notified second ID to a storage system, and

updating, by the file system in the another computer, the correlation information according to the data transfer from the source logical unit to the target logical unit.