FAILURE RECOVERY METHOD, FAILURE RECOVERY PROGRAM AND MANAGEMENT SERVER

• US 20100138686A1
• Filed: 08/19/2009
• Published: 06/03/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Arata, Shigeki, Tameshige, Takashi
• Granted Patent: US 8,074,099 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2025 using centralised failover control functionality
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2033 switching over of hardware resources
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2038 with a single idle spare processing component
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2046 where the redundant components share persistent storage G06F11/2043 takes precedence

Abstract

In a computer system, including server apparatuses such as an active server and a standby server connected to a storage apparatus, when the active server fails, a management server changes over connection to the storage apparatus from the active server to standby server to thereby hand over operation to the standby server. The management server refers to a fail-over strategy table in which apparatus information of the server apparatuses is associated with fail-over methods to select fail-over strategy in consideration of apparatus information of the active and standby servers.

Claims

1. A failure recovery method in a management

server to manage accesses of a plurality of server apparatuses and memory devices in a storage apparatus, wherein

the plurality of server apparatuses include an active server and a standby server, and

the method comprises the following steps performed by the management server:

storing in a memory unit fail-over strategy information associating apparatus information related to the server apparatuses with fail-over methods defining how to change over from the server apparatus to another server apparatus in access of the memory device in the storage apparatus;

getting from the memory unit first apparatus information which is the apparatus information for a failed active server previously stored in the memory unit;

getting a first fail-over method which is at least one fail-over method for the failed active server from the fail-over strategy information in the memory unit on the basis of the gotten first apparatus information;

getting from the memory unit second apparatus information which is the apparatus information for the standby server previously stored in the memory unit;

getting a second fail-over method which is at least one fail-over method for the standby server from the fail-over strategy information in the memory unit on the basis of the gotten second apparatus information;

getting a third fail-over method which is common to the fail-over method contained in the first fail-over method and the fail-over method contained in the second fail-over method; and

changing over access of the storage apparatus from the failed active server to the standby server in accordance with the third fail-over method.

2. A failure recovery method according to claim 1, wherein

the fail-over strategy information further includes priority degrees of the fail-over methods and

the management server selects the fail-over method having a higher priority degree when plural third fail-over methods are gotten.

3. A failure recovery method according to claim 1, wherein

the memory unit further stores therein fail-over condition information containing permissible fail-over time in operation being executed by each server apparatus and

the fail-over strategy information further contains necessary fail-over time for each fail-over method,

the method further comprises the following steps performed by the management server:

getting, when plural third fail-over methods are gotten, the necessary fail-over time for each of the third fail-over methods from the fail-over strategy information and the permissible fail-over time from the fail-over condition information; and

excluding the fail-over method having the gotten necessary fail-over time longer than the gotten permissible fail-over time from the third fail-over methods.

4. A failure recovery method according to claim 1, wherein

when the standby servers are plural in number, the management server selects the standby server having lowest performance of the standby servers.

5. A failure recovery method according to claim 1, wherein

the memory unit further stores therein fail-over condition information containing performance necessary for operations executed by the server apparatuses and

the management server excludes from candidates the standby server which does not satisfy performance necessary for operation executed by the failed active server, contained in the fail-over condition information from among the standby servers.

6. A failure recovery method according to claim 1, wherein

the management server sets a deploy method as the first fail-over method when the memory device in the storage apparatus cannot access the failed active server.

7. A failure recovery method according to claim 1, wherein

the management server sets a deploy method as the third fail-over method when the storage apparatus accessible to the failed active server is different from the storage apparatus accessible to the standby server or when HBA in the failed active server is different from HBA in the standby server.

8. A failure recovery method according to claim 1, wherein

the management server deletes an adapter succession method from the third fail-over methods when a failure part is an input/output device.

9. A failure recovery method according to claim 1, wherein

the apparatus information contains an identifier and a port number of an access apparatus in the relevant server apparatus.

10. A program making a computer execute the failure recovery method according to claim 1.

11. A management server to manage accesses of a plurality of server apparatuses and memory devices in a storage apparatus, wherein

the plurality of server apparatuses include an active server and a standby server and

the management server comprises;

a memory unit in which fail-out strategy information associating apparatus information related to the server apparatuses with fail-over methods defining how to change over from the server apparatus to another server apparatus in access of the memory device in the storage apparatus;

an apparatus information getting unit to get from the memory unit first apparatus information which is the apparatus information for a failed active server previously stored in the memory unit and second apparatus information which is the apparatus information for the standby server;

a fail-over method selection method to get a first fail-over method which is at least one fail-over method for the failed active server from the fail-over strategy information in the memory unit on the basis of the gotten first apparatus information and a second fail-over method which is at least one fail-over method for the standby server from the fail-over strategy information in the memory unit on the basis of the gotten second apparatus information and to get a third fail-over method which is common to the fail-over method contained in the first fail-over method and the fail-over method contained in the second fail-over method; and

a server changing-over unit to change over access of the storage apparatus from the failed active server to the standby server in accordance with the third fail-over method.

12. A management server according to claim 11, wherein

the fail-over strategy information further contains priority degrees of the fail-over methods and

the management server further comprising

a fail-over condition management unit to select the fail-over method having higher priority degree when plural third fail-over methods are gotten.

13. A management server according to claim 11, wherein

the memory unit stores therein fail-over condition information containing permissible fail-over time in operation being executed by each server apparatus and

the fail-over strategy information further contains necessary fail-over time for each fail-over method,

the management server further comprising a fail-over condition management unit to get, when plural third fail-over methods are gotten, the necessary fail-over time for each of the third fail-over methods from the tail-over strategy information and the permissible fail-over time from the fail-over condition information and exclude the fail-over method having the gotten necessary fail-over time longer than the gotten permissible fail-over time from the third fail-over methods.

14. A management server according to claim 11, further comprising

a fail-over condition management unit to, when the standby servers are plural in number, select a standby server having lowest performance of the standby servers.

15. A management server according to claim 11, wherein

the memory unit further stores therein fail-over condition information containing performance necessary for operations executed by the server apparatuses and

the management server further comprising

a fail-over condition management unit to exclude from candidates the standby server which does not satisfy performance necessary for operation executed by the failed active server, contained in the fail-over condition information from among the standby servers.

16. A management server according to claim 11, wherein

the fail-over method selection unit further comprises means to set a deploy method as the first fail-over method when the memory device in the storage apparatus cannot access the failed active server.

17. A management server according to claim 11, wherein

the fail-over method selection unit further comprises means to set a deploy method as the third fail-over method when the storage apparatus accessible to the failed active server is different from the storage apparatus accessible to the standby server or when HBA in the failed active server is different from HBA in the standby server.

18. A management server according to claim 11, wherein

the fail-over method selection unit further comprises means to delete an adapter succession method from the third fail-over methods when a failure part is an input/output device.

19. A management server according to claim 11, wherein

the apparatus information in the memory unit contains an identifier and a port number of an access apparatus in the relevant server apparatus.