Remote copy system

• US 20070174352A1
• Filed: 03/29/2007
• Published: 07/26/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hiroshi Arakawa, Kenta Ninose, Yoshihiro Asaka, Yusuke Hirakawa
• Original Assignee: Hiroshi Arakawa, Kenta Ninose, Yoshihiro Asaka, Yusuke Hirakawa
• Inventors: Ninose, Kenta, Arakawa, Hiroshi, Hirakawa, Yusuke, Asaka, Yoshihiro
• Granted Patent: US 8,176,010 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2058 using more than 2 mirrored copies
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2064 while ensuring consistency
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2071 using a plurality of controllers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2074 Asynchronous techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2082 Data synchronisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/82 Solving problems relating to consistency ensuring consistency in mirrored systems G06F11/2064
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/835 Timestamp
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99952 Coherency, e.g. same view to multiple users
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 Recoverability
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99955 Archiving or backup

Abstract

In a system in which data employed by a computer is stored in a storage system, the storage system transfers this data to another storage system and a copy of the data is maintained in the other storage system. The consistency of the copy is maintained even when data is written, to the storage system by a computer, without having a write time applied. A source storage system, when a write time is applied to a write request, records the write time and applies this write time to the received write data and, when no write time is applied, applies the recorded write time to the received write data and transfers the write data with this write time applied thereto, to a target storage system. The target storage system stores the write data in a logical volume in the target storage system in accordance with the write time.

Claims

1. A system for copying data between a plurality of storage systems, comprising:

a first storage system coupled to a plurality of computers, which comprises a first logical volume storing data received from the plurality of computers; and

a second storage system coupled to said first storage system, which comprises a second logical volume storing copy data of data stored in said first logical volume;

wherein said first storage system assigns time information to write data received from the plurality of computers and sends the write data and time information to said second storage system; and

said second storage system stores write data received from said first storage system in said second logical volume in an order based on the time information assigned to this write data.