Storage apparatus
First Claim
1. A storage apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of primary disk controllers each including a cache memory, each primary disk controller coupled to at least one disk device, said plurality of primary disk controllers being connected to at least one host computer;
a secondary disk controller including a cache memory, said secondary disk controller being configured to receive data sent from the plurality of primary disk controllers by remote copy process; and
a disk device connected to the secondary disk controller, wherein the cache memory of each primary disk controller has a first area for storing update data that are to be written to the corresponding disk device connected thereto, and a second area for storing overwritten update data that are to be transferred to the secondary disk controller, each primary disk controller receives said updated data sent from the host computer so as to be stored into the second area of the cache memory as said overwritten update data that are to be transferred to the secondary disk controller, transfers the stored overwritten update data to the secondary disk controller, and performs remote copying to the secondary disk controller, each primary disk controller overwrites said overwritten update data during at least one time period in the second area of the cache memory, records in said update data sent from the host computer overwrite corresponding records defined in said overwritten update data during the at least one time period such that the overwritten update data overwritten and stored during the time period are transferred to the secondary disk controller together, and the secondary disk controller handles the overwritten update data sent from the plurality of primary disk controllers as real data having consistency.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A storage apparatus is provided in which the data amount of transfer data to a secondary disk controller from a primary disk controller at the event of remote copying can be reduced, and data integrity also can be assured. According to the storage apparatus, in the primary disk controller, overwriting update data in same records during a specified time between a preset first base point and a preset second base point on the update data that are stored in the second area of the cache memory and that are to be transferred to the secondary disk controller; and in the secondary disk controller, handling the update data between the first base point and the second base point as real data having consistency.
33 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A storage apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of primary disk controllers each including a cache memory, each primary disk controller coupled to at least one disk device, said plurality of primary disk controllers being connected to at least one host computer;
a secondary disk controller including a cache memory, said secondary disk controller being configured to receive data sent from the plurality of primary disk controllers by remote copy process; and
a disk device connected to the secondary disk controller, wherein the cache memory of each primary disk controller has a first area for storing update data that are to be written to the corresponding disk device connected thereto, and a second area for storing overwritten update data that are to be transferred to the secondary disk controller, each primary disk controller receives said updated data sent from the host computer so as to be stored into the second area of the cache memory as said overwritten update data that are to be transferred to the secondary disk controller, transfers the stored overwritten update data to the secondary disk controller, and performs remote copying to the secondary disk controller, each primary disk controller overwrites said overwritten update data during at least one time period in the second area of the cache memory, records in said update data sent from the host computer overwrite corresponding records defined in said overwritten update data during the at least one time period such that the overwritten update data overwritten and stored during the time period are transferred to the secondary disk controller together, and the secondary disk controller handles the overwritten update data sent from the plurality of primary disk controllers as real data having consistency. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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10. A storage apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of primary disk controllers including a cache memory, a primary write-data accepting section, a primary write-data transmitting section and a disk-data transmission/reception section, and connected to at least one host computer, each primary disk controller coupled to at least one disk device connected to the disk-data transmission/reception section of the primary disk controllers;
a secondary disk controller including a cache memory, a secondary write-data accepting section and a disk-data transmission/reception section, said secondary disk controller being configured to receive data sent from the plurality of primary disk controllers by remote copy process; and
a disk device connected to the disk-data transmission/reception section of the secondary disk controller, wherein the cache memory of each primary disk controller has a first area for storing update data that are to be written by the disk-data transmission/reception section to the disk device connected thereto, and a second area for storing overwritten update data that are to be transferred to the secondary disk controller, each primary disk controller accepts said update data from the host computer through the primary write-data accepting section, receives said updated data sent from the host computer so as to stored into the second area of the cache memory as said overwritten update data to be transferred to the secondary disk controller, transfers the stored overwritten update data to the secondary disk controller through the primary write-data transmitting section, and performs remote copying to the secondary disk controller, each primary disk controller overwrites said overwritten update data during a at least one time period in the second area of the cache memory, and storing the overwritten data into the cache memory of the primary disk controller, records in said update data sent from the host computer overwrite corresponding records defined in said overwritten update data during the at least one time period such that the overwritten update data overwritten and stored during the time period are transferred to the secondary disk controller together, and the secondary disk controller accepts through the secondary write-data accepting section the overwritten update data transferred from the primary write-data transmitting section, stores the accepted overwritten update data into the cache memory of the secondary disk controller, and handles the stored overwritten update data between the first base point and the synchronization point as real data having consistency. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification