Method and apparatus for multistage volume locking

• US 20050216661A1
• Filed: 03/29/2004
• Published: 09/29/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Kano, Yoshiki
• Granted Patent: US 7,096,325 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/114
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0605 by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0622 in relation to access
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0662 Virtualisation aspects
• 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 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]

Abstract

A storage subsystem includes a controller having a plurality of ports and a plurality of storage devices configured store information. A lock table includes attribute information and retention information for each of a plurality of storage volumes presented to a host device. The plurality of storage volumes includes a non-virtual volume that maps to a first storage device of the storage subsystem and a virtual volume that maps to a second storage device of an associated storage subsystem. The associated subsystem is linked to the storage subsystem via a communication link. The controller is configured to receive and process a request from a host to modify an attribute of the virtual volume.

Claims

1. A storage subsystem, comprising:

a controller having a plurality of ports;

a plurality of storage devices configured store information;

a lock table including attribute information and retention information for each of a plurality of storage volumes presented to a host device, the plurality of storage volumes including a non-virtual volume that maps to a first storage device of the storage subsystem and a virtual volume that maps to a second storage device of an associated storage subsystem, the associated subsystem being linked to the storage subsystem via a communication link,

wherein the controller is configured to receive and process a request from a host to modify an attribute of the virtual volume.

2. The storage subsystem of claim 1, wherein the lock table includes a permission field and a retention period field.

3. The storage system of claim 1, wherein the controller includes a locker module that process the request from the host to modify the virtual volume that is located in the associated subsystem.

4. The storage system of claim 3, wherein the locker module sends a request to modify the attribute of the virtual volume to a locker module of the associated subsystem.

5. A method for managing a storage system, comprising:

presenting a plurality of storage volumes to a host via a first storage subsystem, the plurality of storage volumes including a non-virtual volume that maps to a storage area within the first storage subsystem and a virtual volume that maps to a storage area within a second storage subsystem that is different from the first subsystem;

receiving at the first subsystem a first request from a host to modify an attribute of a target storage volume, the target storage volume being one of the plurality of storage volumes presented to the host; and

sending a second request from the first subsystem to the second subsystem if the target volume is determined to be the virtual volume, the second request being a request to modify the attribute of the target volume.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

modifying the attribute of the target volume by a controller of the second subsystem according to the second request.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

sending a first report of the attribute modification from the second subsystem to the first subsystem; and

sending a second report of the attribute modification from the first subsystem to the host.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

modifying the attribute of the target volume by a controller of the first subsystem if the target volume is the non-virtual volume.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first subsystem includes a first locker module to process the first request from the host, and the second subsystem includes a second locker module to process the second request from the first subsystem.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein the first request is a request to lock the target volume to grant only read access to the target volume.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the second request is a request to lock the target volume to grant only read access to the target volume.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein a lock table associated with the target volume is updated once the attribute of the target volume has been modified.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the lock table includes an attribute field and a retention period field.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the attribute of the target volume cannot be modified if a retention period associated with the retention field for the target volume is not expired.

15. The method of claim 5, wherein the first and second subsystems are disk array units.

16. A computer readable medium including a computer program for managing a storage subsystem, the computer program comprising:

code for presenting a plurality of storage volumes to a host via a first storage subsystem, the plurality of storage volumes including a non-virtual volume that maps to a storage area within the first storage subsystem and a virtual volume that maps to a storage area within a second storage subsystem that is different from the first subsystem;

code for receiving at the first subsystem a first request from a host to modify an attribute of a target storage volume, the target storage volume being one of the plurality of storage volumes presented to the host; and

code for sending a second request from the first subsystem to the second subsystem if the target volume is determined to be the virtual volume, the second request being a request to modify the attribute of the target volume.

17. The computer program of claim 16, wherein the computer readable medium is provided in a storage subsystem.