ESTABLISHING COMMUNICATIONS ACROSS VIRTUAL ENCLOSURE BOUNDARIES

• US 20080065824A1
• Filed: 09/07/2006
• Published: 03/13/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LinkedIn Corporation (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Elliott, John C., Kubo, Robert A., Lucas, Gregg S.
• Granted Patent: US 7,761,738 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/112
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/187 Mounting of fixed and removable disk drives
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2015 Redundant power supplies power supply failure G06F1/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2089 Redundant storage control functionality

Abstract

A high density storage enclosure houses first and second pluralities of hard disk drives (HDDs). The enclosure may be partitioned into a plurality of virtual enclosures, the first plurality of HDDs being associated with a first virtual enclosure and the second plurality of HDDs being associated with a second virtual enclosure. In the event of a failure within one of the virtual enclosures, an SES in the failed virtual enclosure is isolated from the rest of the virtual enclosure. Then, an inter-enclosure link may be enabled between the failed virtual enclosure and another virtual enclosure. The isolated SES processor may then be accessed to obtain data associated with the failure and to execute commands associated with a recovery process.

Claims

1. A high density data storage enclosure, comprising:

an enclosure connector plane;

a first plurality of hard disk drives (HDDs), each first hard disk drive coupled to the enclosure connector plane;

a second plurality of HDDs each second HDD coupled to the enclosure connector plane;

a first pair of redundant controller cards associated with the first plurality of HDDs, comprising;

a first controller card comprising a first switch coupled to the enclosure connector plane and a first storage enclosure services (SES) processor coupled to the first switch; and

a second controller card comprising a second switch coupled to the enclosure connector plane and a second SES processor coupled to the second switch;

a second pair of redundant controller cards associated with the second plurality of HDDs, comprising;

a third controller card comprising a third switch coupled to the enclosure connector plane and a third SES processor coupled to the third switch; and

a fourth controller card comprising a fourth switch coupled to the enclosure connector plane and a fourth SES processor coupled to the fourth switch;

a first virtual enclosure comprising;

the first and second controller cards;

a first virtual connector plane partitioned from the enclosure connector plane and to which the first and second controller cards are coupled, the first virtual connector plane including a path through which the first and second SES processors are coupled; and

the first plurality of HDDs;

a second virtual enclosure comprising;

the third and fourth controller cards;

a second virtual connector plane partitioned from the enclosure connector plane and to which the third and fourth controller cards are coupled, the second virtual connector plane including a path through which the third and fourth SES processors are coupled; and

the second plurality of HDDs;

an inter-enclosure link between the first and third SES processors, the inter-enclosure link being disabled during normal operations of the storage enclosure; and

a system control unit, comprising;

means for detecting a failure in the first virtual enclosure,

means for enabling the inter-enclosure link whereby the first SES processor is isolated from the balance of the first virtual enclosure; and

means for accessing the first SES processor to obtain data associated with the failure in the first virtual enclosure and to transmit commands associated with a recovery process of the first virtual enclosure.

2. The high density data storage enclosure of claim 1, wherein the inter-enclosure link comprises an FC-AL link.

3. The high density data storage enclosure of claim 1, wherein the inter-enclosure link comprises an out-of-band communication fabric.

4. The high density data storage enclosure of claim 3, wherein the out-of-band communication fabric comprises an I²C bus.

5. The high density data storage enclosure of claim 1, wherein, when the inter-enclosure link is enabled, the third SES processor is operable as a proxy for the first SES processor.

6. A method for managing a high density data storage enclosure configured into a plurality of virtual enclosures, the method comprising:

detecting a failure in a first of the virtual enclosures;

isolating a first storage enclosure services (SES) processor in the first virtual enclosure from the balance of the first virtual enclosure;

enabling an inter-enclosure link between the first virtual enclosure and a second of the virtual enclosures; and

accessing the first SES processor through a second SES processor in the second virtual enclosure.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein enabling the inter-enclosure link comprises enabling an FC-AL link.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein enabling the inter-enclosure link comprises enabling an out-of-band communication fabric.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein enabling the out-of-band communication fabric comprises enabling an I²C bus.

10. The method of claim 6, further comprising operating the second SES processor as a proxy for the first SES processor when the inter-enclosure link is enabled.

11. The method of claim 6, further comprising obtaining failure-related data from the first SES processor when the inter-enclosure link is enabled.

12. The method of claim 6, further comprising transmitting recover-related commands to the first SES processor when the inter-enclosure link is enabled.

13. A computer program product of a computer readable medium usable with a programmable computer, the computer program product having computer-readable code embodied therein for managing a high density data storage enclosure configured into a plurality of virtual enclosures, the computer-readable code comprising instructions for:

detecting a failure in a first of the virtual enclosures;

isolating a first storage enclosure services (SES) processor in the first virtual enclosure from the balance of the first virtual enclosure;

enabling an inter-enclosure link between the first virtual enclosure and a second of the virtual enclosures; and

accessing the first SES processor through a second SES processor in the second virtual enclosure.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the instructions for enabling the inter-enclosure link comprise instructions for enabling an FC-AL link.

15. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the instructions for enabling the out-of-band communication fabric comprise instructions for enabling an I²C bus.

16. The computer program product of claim 13, the computer-readable code further comprising instructions for operating the second SES processor as a proxy for the first SES processor when the inter-enclosure link is enabled.

17. A method for deploying computing infrastructure, comprising integrating computer readable code into a computing system for managing a high density data storage enclosure configured into a plurality of virtual enclosures, wherein the code, in combination with the computing system, is capable of performing the following:

detecting a failure in a first of the virtual enclosures;

isolating a first storage enclosure services (SES) processor in the first virtual enclosure from the balance of the first virtual enclosure;

enabling an inter-enclosure link between the first virtual enclosure and a second of the virtual enclosures; and

accessing the first SES processor through a second SES processor in the second virtual enclosure.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein enabling the inter-enclosure link comprises enabling an FC-AL link.

19. The method of claim 17 wherein enabling the out-of-band communication fabric comprises enabling an I²C bus.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising operating the second SES processor as a proxy for the first SES processor when the inter-enclosure link is enabled.