System and method for storage system

• US 20060020755A1
• Filed: 09/23/2005
• Published: 01/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/01/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Yagisawa, Ikuya, Yagi, Satoshi, Mitsutake, Daisuke, Jiang, Xiaoming
• Granted Patent: US 7,181,571 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/114
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/061 Improving I/O performance
• 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 3/0658 Controller construction arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0659 Command handling arrangements, e.g. command buffers, queues, command scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0689 Disk arrays, e.g. RAID, JBOD
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/52 Program synchronisation; Mutual exclusion, e.g. by means of semaphores

Abstract

In a storage system including a plurality of data controllers that receive a data input/output request that is input via an external communication path and perform data input/output processing with respect to a storage resource in response to this request, the plurality of data controllers being connected by a data communication path and being able to communicate with one another, if a data input/output request has been input into one of the controllers, the plurality of data controllers and shares execution of the data input/output processing by communication through the data communication path.

Claims

1. A storage system having a plurality of data controllers that receive a data input/output request that is input via an external communication path from a host computer and perform data input processing with respect to a storage resource in response to said data input/output request, said plurality of data controllers being connected by a data communication path and being able to communicate with one another;

said plurality of data controllers comprising;

a first data controller that, if a data input request has been received via said external communication path from said host computer, communicates said received data input request via said data communication path to at least one second data controller and writes a portion of data for which said input request has been received into said storage resource;

wherein said second data controller, based on said data input request that has been received from said first controller, performs a writing process with respect to said storage resource for another portion of data for which said input request has been received.

2. The storage system according to claim 1,

wherein said first and second data controllers manage said storage resource by one of schemes of RAID 3 to 6;

and

wherein when said first data controller has received a data write request as said data input/output request, said first data controller divides the data to be written into writing units in accordance with said one of the schemes of RAID 3 to 6, and performs an assignment process, in which said first data controller assigns said second data controllers that is to handle the writing process to the divided writing units one by one.

3. The storage system according to claim 2, wherein a data controller performing parity calculation is selected in said assignment process, and the selected data controller executes said parity calculation.

4. The storage system according to claim 3,

wherein for each stripe that is composed when managing said storage resource with said RAID scheme, a state of the assignment of the data controller handling the parity calculation of the stripe is stored;

and

wherein the data controller handling the stripe to be a writing target executes the parity calculation of the stripe when writing data into said storage resource.

5. The storage system according to claim 4, wherein said assignment process dynamically changes said data controller in charge of said parity calculation.

6. The storage system according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of data controllers share execution of a process of writing, into said storage resource, with respect to data that are written as one stripe that is composed when managing said storage resource with a RAID scheme.

7. A storage system having a plurality of data controllers that receive a data input/output request that is input via an external communication path from a host computer and perform data input processing with respect to a storage resource in response to said data input/output request, said plurality of data controllers being connected by a data communication path and being able to communicate with one another;

said plurality of data controllers comprising;

a first data controller that, if a data read request has been accepted via said external communication path from said host computer, communicates said received data read request via said data communication path to at least one second data controller, reads out from said storage resource a portion of the data for which said data read request has been received and sends said read portion of the data to said external communication path;

wherein said second data controller, based on said data read request that has been received from said first controller, performs a process of reading out from said storage resource another portion of the data for which said data read request has been received and sends said read portion of the data to said external communication path.

8. The storage system according to claim 7,

wherein said first and second data controllers manage said storage resource by one of schemes of RAID 3 to 6;

and

wherein, when said first data controller has received a data read request as said data input/output request, said first data controller divides the data to be read out into reading units in accordance with said one of the schemes of RAID 3 to 6, and performs an assignment process, in which the first data controller assigns said second data controller that is to handle the reading process to the divided reading units one by one.

9. The storage system according to claim 8, further comprising a reading process of reading, from said storage resource, data that are read out as one stripe that is composed when managing said storage resource with said RAID scheme, after assigning the data controller that is to handle said reading process among said plurality of data controllers.

10. A control method for a storage system having a plurality of data controllers that receive a data input/output request that is input via an external communication path and perform data input/output processing with respect to a storage resource in response to said data input/output request, said plurality of data controllers being connected by a data communication path and being able to communicate with one another;

said control method comprising;

receiving said input/output request by a first data controller, which is one of said plurality of data controllers;

communicating said data input/output request received by said first data controller to a second data controller;

executing by said first data controller a portion of the received processing of said input/output request with respect to said storage resource; and

executing by said second data controller another portion of the processing of said data input/output request with respect to said storage resource which said second data controller has received from said first data controller.

13. The control method according to claim 10, further comprising managing said storage resource by one of schemes of RAID 3 to 6.

11. A control method for a storage system having a plurality of data controllers that receive a data input/output request that is input via an external communication path and perform data input/output processing with respect to a storage resource in response to said data input/output request, said plurality of data controllers being connected by a data communication path and being able to communicate with one another;

said control method comprising;

if said data input/output request is a data write request, then receiving said data write request by a first data controller, which is one of said plurality of data controllers;

communicating said data write request received by said first data controller to a second data controller;

executing by said first data controller executes a portion of the processing of said received data write request with respect to said storage resource; and

executing by said second controller another portion of the processing of said write request with respect to said storage resource, which said second controller has received from said first controller.

14. The control method according to claim 11, further comprising:

said first data controller dividing the data to be written into writing units in accordance with said one of schemes of RAID 3 to 6, and performing an assignment process, in which said first data controller assigns said second data controllers that is to handle the writing process to the divided writing units one by one.

15. The control method according to claim 14, further comprising:

selecting a data controller to perform parity calculation in said assignment process.

16. The control method according to claim 15, further comprising:

for each stripe that is composed when managing said storage resource with said RAID scheme, storing a state of the assignment of the data controller handling the parity calculation of the stripe; and

executing the parity calculation of the stripe by the data controller handling the stripe to be a writing target when writing data into said storage resource.

17. The control method according to claim 16, wherein said assignment process dynamically changes said data controller in charge of said parity calculation.

18. The control method according to claim 11, further comprising sharing execution of a process of writing by said plurality of data controllers, into said storage resource, with respect to data that are written as one stripe that is composed when managing said storage resource with a RAID scheme.

12. (canceled)

19. A storage system having a plurality of data controllers that receive a data input/output request that is input via an external communication path from a host computer and perform data input processing with respect to a storage resource in response to said data input/output request, said plurality of data controllers being connected by a data communication path and being able to communicate with one another;

said plurality of data controllers comprising;

a first data controller that, if a data input request has been received via said external communication path from said host computer, communicates said received data input request via said data communication path to at least one second data controller and writes a portion of data for which said input request has been received into said storage resource;

wherein said second data controller, based on said data input request that has been received from said first controller, performs a writing process with respect to said storage resource for another portion of data for which said input request has been received; and

a data controller that performs parity calculation of a parity disk drive of a stripe which is to be a writing target for the writing process.

20. The storage system according to claim 19,

wherein said first and second data controllers manage said storage resource by one of schemes of RAID 3 to 6;

wherein when said first data controller has received a data write request as said data input/output request, said first data controller divides the data to be written into writing units in accordance with said one of the schemes of RAID 3 to 6, and performs an assignment process, in which said first data controller assigns said second data controllers that is to handle the writing process to the divided writing units one by one; and

wherein the data controller performing parity calculation is selected in said assignment process.

21. The storage system according to claim 20, wherein said assignment process dynamically changes said data controller in charge of said parity calculation.

22. The storage system according to claim 19, wherein said data controller in charge of said parity calculation is different from said second data controller that performs said writing process.