Virtual path storage system and control method for the same

• US 20070180188A1
• Filed: 03/27/2006
• Published: 08/02/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Fujibayashi, Akira, Hosoya, Mutsumi, Nakamura, Shuji
• Granted Patent: US 7,587,551 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/112
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/061 Improving I/O performance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0635 by changing the path, e.g. traffic rerouting, path reconfiguration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0658 Controller construction arrangements
• 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 2101/622 Layer-2 addresses, e.g. medium access control [MAC] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2596 Translation of addresses of the same type other than IP, e.g. translation from MAC to MAC addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/59 using proxies for addressing
• 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]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/563 Data redirection of data network streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/40 for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06

Abstract

Provided is a storage system having improved access performance. The storage system includes: a hard disk drive, and a storage controller for reading/writing data from/to the hard disk drive, the storage controller including: at least one interface connected to a host computer through a network; and a plurality of processors connected to the interface through an internal network. The storage system is characterized in that: the processor provides at least one logical access port to the host computer; and the interface stores routing information including a processor which processes an access request addressed to the logical access port, extracts an address from the received access request upon reception of the access request from the host computer, specifies the processor which processes the received access request based on the routing information and the extracted address, and transfers the received access request to the specified processor.

Claims

1. A storage system, comprising:

a hard disk drive; and

a storage controller for reading/writing data from/to the hard disk drive,

the storage controller comprising;

at least one interface connected to a host computer through a external network; and

a plurality of processors connected to the interface through an internal network, wherein;

the processor provides at least one logical access port to the host computer; and

the interface stores routing information indicating the processor which processes an access request addressed to the logical access port, extracts an address from the received access request upon reception of the access request from the host computer, specifies the processor which processes the received access request based on the routing information and the extracted address, and transfers the received access request to the specified processor.

2. The storage system according to claim 1, wherein:

the interface comprises at least one physical port; and

the logical access port is correlated to the physical port.

3. The storage system according to claim 1, wherein:

the processor provides a storage area of the hard disk drive as at least one logical volume to the host computer;

the routing information includes a correspondence between the logical volume and a processor which accesses the logical volume; and

the interface extracts the address and a identifier of the logical volume requested to be accessed from the received access request upon reception of the access request from the host computer, and specifies the processor which processes the received access request based on the routing information, the extracted address, and the extracted identifier of the logical volume.

4. The storage system according to claim 3, wherein:

the processor provides at least one logical device of the hard disk drive as a logical volume to the host computer;

the routing information includes a correspondence between the logical volume and the logical device; and

the interface specifies the logical device corresponding to the extracted identifier of the logical volume based on the routing information, and adds a identifier of the specified logical device to the received access request.

5. The storage system according to claim 1, wherein the storage controller further comprises a cache memory for temporarily storing data stored in the hard disk drive.

6. The storage system according to claim 1, wherein the processor receives the access request from the interface, and reads/writes data from/to the hard disk drive based on the received access request.

7. The storage system according to claim 1, wherein:

the processor transmits information regarding the provided logical access port to another processor after a load state satisfies predetermined conditions; and

the another processor provides the logical access port to the host computer based on the transmitted information regarding the logical access port and takes over processing of the logical access port provided by the processor.

8. The storage system according to claim 7, wherein the information regarding the logical access port includes information regarding a configuration of the logical access port, and information regarding the access request received through the logical access port.

9. The storage system according to claim 1, wherein:

the storage controller comprises a control unit for controlling the storage system;

the interface comprises at least one physical port;

the logical access port is correlated to the physical port; and

the control unit correlates, when a fault occurs in the physical port, another physical port to the logical access port in place of the faulty physical port.

10. A storage controller to be connected to a hard disk drive, comprising:

at least one interface connected to a host computer through a external network; and

a plurality of processors connected to the interface through an internal network, wherein;

the processor provides at least one logical access port to the host computer; and

the interface stores routing information indicating the processor which processes an access request addressed to the logical access port, extracts an address from the received access request upon reception of the access request from the host computer, specifies the processor which processes the received access request based on the routing information and the extracted address, and transfers the received access request to the specified processor.

11. The storage controller according to claim 10, wherein:

the interface comprises at least one physical port; and

the logical access port is correlated to the physical port.

12. The storage controller according to claim 10, wherein:

the processor provides a storage area of the hard disk drive as at least one logical volume to the host computer;

the routing information includes a correspondence between the logical volume and a processor which accesses the logical volume; and

the interface extracts the address and a identifier of the logical volume requested to be accessed from the received access request upon reception of the access request from the host computer, and specifies the processor which processes the received access request based on the routing information, the extracted address, and the extracted identifier of the logical volume.

13. The storage controller according to claim 12, wherein:

the processor provides at least one logical device of the hard disk drive as a logical volume to the host computer;

the routing information includes a correspondence between the logical volume and the logical device; and

the interface specifies the logical device corresponding to the extracted identifier of the logical volume based on the routing information, and adds a identifier of the specified logical device to the received access request.

14. The storage controller according to claim 10, further comprising a cache memory for temporarily storing data stored in the hard disk drive.

15. The storage controller according to claim 10, wherein the processor receives the access request from the interface, and reads/writes data from/to the hard disk drive based on the received access request.

16. The storage controller according to claim 10, wherein:

the processor transmits information regarding the provided logical access port to another processor after a load state satisfies predetermined conditions; and

the another processor provides the logical access port to the host computer based on the transmitted information regarding the logical access port and takes over processing of the logical access port provided by the processor.

17. The storage controller according to claim 16, wherein the information regarding the logical access port includes information regarding a configuration of the logical access port, and information regarding the access request received through the logical access port.

18. The storage controller according to claim 10, further comprising a control unit for controlling the storage system, wherein:

the interface comprises at least one physical port;

the logical access port is correlated to the physical port; and

the control unit correlates, when a fault occurs in the physical port, another physical port to the logical access port in place of the faulty physical port.

19. A computer system, comprising:

a first storage system;

a second storage system;

a host computer; and

a external network for interconnecting the first storage system, the second storage system, and the host computer,

the first storage system comprising;

a first hard disk drive; and

a first storage controller for reading/writing data from/to the first hard disk drive,

the second storage system comprising;

a second hard disk drive; and

a second storage controller for reading/writing data from/to the second hard disk drive,

the second storage system providing a storage area of the second hard disk drive as at least one third logical volume to the first storage system,

the first storage controller comprising;

at least one interface connected to the host computer through the external network; and

a plurality of processors connected to the interface through an internal network, wherein;

the processor provides at least one logical access port to the host computer, a storage area of the first hard disk drive as at least one first logical volume to the host computer, and the provided third logical volume as at least one second logical volume of the first storage system to the host computer; and

the interface stores routing information indicating the processor which processes an access request addressed to the logical access port, extracts an address of the received access request upon reception of the access request from the host computer, specifies the processor which processes the received access request based on the routing information and the extracted address, and transfers the received access request to the specified processor.

20. The computer system according to claim 19, wherein:

the routing information further includes pieces of information regarding a correspondence between the second and third logical volumes, and regarding the interface for transferring the access request addressed to the logical access port to the second storage system; and

the interface extracts an address and a identifier of the second logical volume requested to be accessed from the received access request upon reception of the access request from the host computer, specifies a identifier of the third logical volume corresponding to the extracted identifier of the second logical volume and the interface for transferring the received access request to the specified processor based on the routing information, the extracted address, and the extracted identifier of the second logical volume, changes the identifier of the second logical volume to the specified identifier of the third logical volume in the received access request, and transfers the changed access request to the specified interface.