STORAGE APPARATUS AND STORAGE CONTROL METHOD FOR THE SAME
First Claim
1. A storage apparatus comprising:
- a virtual volume accessed by a host computer;
a storage pool having a storage resource associated with the virtual volume; and
a controller for controlling allocation of a storage area from the storage resource in response to write access from the host computer to the virtual volume;
wherein a plurality of storage devices that provide the storage pool with the storage resource constitute a plurality of first groups according to a RAID system and constitute a plurality of second groups including one or more first groups; and
wherein the controller sets some of the plurality of second groups to an active mode in which the storage devices belonging to the some groups are made to enter an activated state;
sets other groups, excluding a group which is set to the active mode from among the plurality of second groups, to a power-saving mode in which the storage devices belonging to those other groups are made to enter a power-saving state;
sequentially switches between the group, which is set to the active mode, and the group, which is set to the power-saving mode, from among the plurality of second groups; and
stores data by allocating a storage area from the storage resource for the second group in the active mode in response to write access by the host computer to the virtual volume.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A storage apparatus and its control method capable of implementing thin provisioning and reducing power consumption of storage devices are provided.
A storage apparatus classifies a plurality of storage devices, which provide a pool with a storage resource, into a plurality of groups; performs thin provisioning operation by setting some of the plurality of groups to an active mode, in which the storage devices belonging to the groups are made to enter an activated state; sets other groups to a power-saving mode in which the storage devices are made to enter a power-saving state; and sequentially switches between the group(s) in the active mode and the group(s) in the power-saving mode among the plurality of groups.
64 Citations
13 Claims
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1. A storage apparatus comprising:
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a virtual volume accessed by a host computer; a storage pool having a storage resource associated with the virtual volume; and a controller for controlling allocation of a storage area from the storage resource in response to write access from the host computer to the virtual volume; wherein a plurality of storage devices that provide the storage pool with the storage resource constitute a plurality of first groups according to a RAID system and constitute a plurality of second groups including one or more first groups; and wherein the controller sets some of the plurality of second groups to an active mode in which the storage devices belonging to the some groups are made to enter an activated state; sets other groups, excluding a group which is set to the active mode from among the plurality of second groups, to a power-saving mode in which the storage devices belonging to those other groups are made to enter a power-saving state; sequentially switches between the group, which is set to the active mode, and the group, which is set to the power-saving mode, from among the plurality of second groups; and stores data by allocating a storage area from the storage resource for the second group in the active mode in response to write access by the host computer to the virtual volume. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A storage control method for a storage apparatus comprising:
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a volume accessed by a host computer; a pool having a storage resource; and a controller for controlling allocation of a storage area from the storage resource in response to write access from the host computer to the volume; wherein the controller classifies a plurality of storage devices that provide the pool with the storage resource, into a plurality of groups; wherein the controller sets some of the plurality of groups to an active mode in which the storage devices belonging to the some groups are made to enter an activated state; sets other groups to a power-saving mode in which the storage devices belonging to those other groups are made to enter a power-saving state; sequentially switches between the group, which is set to the active mode, and the group, which is set to the power-saving mode, from among the plurality of groups; and allocates the storage area from the storage resource for the group to the volume in response to write access by the host computer while the group is in the active mode.
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Specification