Method of storing data on a secondary storage device

• US 20080133827A1
• Filed: 09/27/2004
• Published: 06/05/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/08/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Martin, Christopher, Topham, Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 7,979,647 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/111
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1456 Hardware arrangements for backup
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1464 for networked environments
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1469 Backup restoration techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0607 by facilitating the process of upgrading existing storage systems, e.g. for improving compatibility between host and storage device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0664 at device level, e.g. emulation of a storage device or system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0686 Libraries, e.g. tape libraries, jukebox

Abstract

A backup method relies on a single secondary storage device, such as a tape storage device, which emulates multiple secondary storage devices. The emulated secondary storage devices are coupled to data sources. Data which is received from the data sources is tagged with respective unique identifiers, interleaved and stored on a removable storage medium, such as a tape. This facilitates maximum usage of the media access bandwidth of the single secondary storage device.

Claims

1. A method of storing data from at least first and second data sources using a single secondary storage device, the method comprising:

emulating at least first and second secondary storage devices using the single secondary storage device,

receiving first data from the first data source using the emulated first secondary storage device and tagging the received first data with a unique identifier of the first data source,

receiving second data from the second data source using the emulated second secondary storage device and tagging the received second data with a unique identifier of the second data source,

storing the tagged first and second data on a storage medium using the single secondary storage device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second data sources are first and second host computers.

3. The method of claim 1, the at least first and second data sources being coupled to the single secondary storage device via a storage area network (SAN).

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing a first communication link between the first data source and the emulated first secondary storage device and establishing a second communication link between the second data source and the emulated second secondary storage device, wherein the first and second communication links are established by means of a fibre channel protocol.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving the unique identifier of the first data source from the first data source and receiving the unique identifier of the second data source from the second data source.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the unique identifier of the first data source is the world wide name (WWN) of the first data source and the unique identifier of the second data source is the world wide name of the second data source.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second data are received as first and second data packets, and further comprising tagging each one of the data packets with the respective unique identifier and interleaving of the tagged data packets for sequential storage on the storage medium by the single secondary storage device.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing in non-volatile memory an index comprising the unique identifiers.

9. The method of claim 8, the non-volatile memory being the storage medium.

10. The method of claim 8, the non-volatile memory being a cartridge memory of the storage medium.

11. The method of claim 1, the single secondary storage device being a tape drive residing in a tape library comprising a plurality of tape drives.

12. The method of claim 8, the index comprising a mapping table of the unique identifiers and respective names of the data sources.

13. A computer readable medium or a storage device storing a computer program product for enabling a computer arrangement to store data of at least first and second data sources using a single secondary storage device, the medium or device comprising a program for:

emulating at least first and second secondary storage devices by using the single secondary storage device,

receiving first data from the first data source using the emulated first secondary storage device and tagging the received first data with a unique identifier of the first data source,

receiving second data from the second data source using the emulated second secondary storage device and tagging the received second data with a unique identifier of the second data source,

storing the tagged first and second data on a storage medium using the single secondary storage device.

14. The medium or device of claim 13, the program being adapted to store a list of the unique identifiers and respective names of the data sources on non-volatile memory.

15. A method of restoring data to a data source of a plurality of data sources, the method comprising:

identifying data packets tagged with a unique identifier of the data source in a sequence of data packets stored on a removable storage medium, each one of the data packets being tagged with a unique identifier of a respective one of the plurality of data sources,

restoring the identified data packets to the data source.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising replacing the data source by another data source and mapping the unique identifier of the data source to the unique identifier of the replacement data source for restoring the identified data packets to the replacement data source.

17. The method of claim 16, whereby the data source is replaced for the purpose of disaster recovery or migration.

18. A computer readable medium or a storage device storing a computer program product for enabling a computer arrangement to restore data to a data source of a plurality of data sources, the medium or device comprising a program for:

identifying data packets tagged with a unique identifier of the data source in a sequence of data packets stored on a removable storage medium, each one of the data packets tagged with a unique identifier of a respective one of the plurality of data sources,

restoring the identified data packets to the data source.

19. The medium or device of claim 18, the program being adapted to map the unique identifier of the data source to a unique identifier of a replacement data source in order to restore the identified data packets to the replacement data source.

20. A method of replacing a data source of a plurality of data sources by a replacement data source, the method comprising:

reading a look up table from non-volatile memory of a removable storage medium, the look up table comprising unique identifiers of the data sources and respective data source names,

visualising the look up table on a user interface,

enabling selection of one of the data sources by a user via the user interface, mapping the unique identifier of the replacement data source to the unique identifier of the selected data source,

identifying data packets tagged with the unique identifier of the selected data source in a sequence of data packets stored on the removable storage medium,

restoring the identified data packets to the replacement data source.

21. A computer readable medium or storage device storing a computer program product for enabling a computer arrangement to replace a data source of a plurality of data sources by a replacement data source, the medium or device comprising a program for:

reading a look up table from non-volatile memory of a removable storage medium, the look up table comprising unique identifiers of data sources and respective data source names,

visualising the look up table on a user interface for a user'"'"'s selection of one of the data sources to be replaced,

mapping the unique identifier of the selected data source to the unique identifier of the replacement data source,

receiving data packets tagged with the unique identifier of the selected data source for restoring to the replacement data source.

22. A secondary storage device for storing data of at least first and second data sources on a removable storage medium, the secondary storage device comprising:

means for emulating at least first and second secondary storage devices,

means for tagging data received from one of the at least first and second data sources with a unique identifier of the one of at least first and second data sources,

means for storing of the tagged data on a removable storage medium.

23. The secondary storage device of claim 22, further comprising means for generating a look up table comprising unique identifiers of the at least first and second data sources and respective names of the at least first and second data sources, and means for storing of the look up table on non-volatile memory of the removable storage medium.

24. The secondary storage device of claim 22, further comprising means for interleaving of the tagged data.

25. A tape backup storage apparatus comprising:

a plurality of emulated tape drives for coupling of a plurality of data sources,

a program component for tagging data packets received from one of the data sources of the plurality of data sources with a unique identifier of the one of the data sources and for interleaving the tagged data of different ones of the data sources,

a tape drive for sequential storage of the interleaved, tagged data on a backup tape.

26. The tape backup storage apparatus of claim 25, further comprising a program component for generating a look up table comprising unique identifiers of the data sources and data source names and for storing of the look up table on non-volatile memory of the backup tape.

27. A tape drive operable to:

emulate at least first and second tape drives,

receive first data from a first data source using the emulated first tape drive and tag the received first data with the unique identifier of the first data source,

receive second data from the second data source using the emulated second tape drive and tag the received second data with the unique identifier of the second data source,

storing the tagged first and second data on a tape medium.

28. The tape drive of claim 27, the tape drive being adapted to be coupled to at least first and second host computers providing the first and second data sources, respectively.

29. A tape library comprising a plurality of tape drives, at least one of the tape drives of the plurality of tape drives being operable to:

emulate at least first and second tape drives

receive first data from a first data source using the emulated first tape drive and tagging the received first data with the unique identifier of the first data source,

receive second data from the second data source using the emulated second tape drive and tagging the received second data with the unique identifier of the second data source, and

store the tagged first and second data on a tape medium.