SHARED LIBRARY IN A DATA STORAGE SYSTEM

• US 20130326159A1
• Filed: 03/07/2013
• Published: 12/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Vijayan, Manoj Kumar, Kottomtharayil, Rajiv, Kochunni, Jaidev Oppath
• Granted Patent: US 9,189,167 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/148
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0605 by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0608 Saving storage space on storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0631 by allocating resources to storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0644 Management of space entities, e.g. partitions, extents, pools
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0659 Command handling arrangements, e.g. command buffers, queues, command scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0686 Libraries, e.g. tape libraries, jukebox

Abstract

The library server according to certain aspects can manage the use of tape drives according to the data requirements of different storage operation cells. The library server according to certain aspects can also facilitate automatic management of tape media in a tape library by allocating the tapes and slots to different cells. For instance, the library server can manage the positioning and placement of the tapes into appropriate slots within the tape library.

Claims

1. A method of administering access to a tape data storage library that is shared amongst a plurality of data storage cells to manage copies of production data, the method comprising:

allocating, by a library arbiter module executing on one or more computer processors and for each respective data storage cell of a plurality of data storage cells, a subset of storage space in a tape data storage library for use by the respective data storage cell, wherein access to the tape data storage library is shared by the data storage cells and each of the data storage cells comprises one or more client computing devices having at least one software application executing thereon generating production data;

receiving, by the library arbiter module and from a first data storage cell of the plurality of data storage cells, a request to access the subset of storage space allocated to the first data storage cell;

automatically scheduling, by the library arbiter module, the request in relation to requests for access to the tape data storage library by others of the plurality of data storage cells; and

based on the scheduling, providing the first data storage cell with temporary access to its allocated subset of storage space in the tape data storage library.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the tape library comprises a plurality of tapes and wherein said allocating comprises allocating to each respective data storage cell data storage space corresponding to a subset of one or more of the plurality of tapes.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the tape data storage library further comprises a plurality of slots each configured to receive one or more of the tapes, and wherein said allocating comprises allocating to each respective data storage cell a subset of one or more of the plurality of slots.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising, following insertion of at least one tape into a slot of the plurality of slots:

determining that the at least one tape is included in the subset of the plurality of tapes that is assigned to a first data storage cell of the plurality of data storage cells;

determining that the at least one tape was inserted into a slot that is not included in the subset of the plurality of slots that is assigned to the first data storage cell; and

re-positioning the at least one tape into a slot that is included in the subset of the plurality of slots that is assigned to the first data storage cell.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein each tape has an associated barcode that identifies a corresponding tape, and wherein said allocating comprises allocating to each respective data storage cell a range of barcodes corresponding to its corresponding subset of tapes.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the tape data storage library includes a plurality of drives that are each configured to load tape media in order to provide access to the tape data storage library, wherein the request includes a specified number drives for use in accessing the subset of storage space, said scheduling further comprising scheduling the request based on the specified number of drives.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising processing the request by the library arbiter module to determine a relative priority associated with the request, said scheduling further comprising scheduling the request based on the determined relative priority.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising, based on the determined relative priority, interrupting a second data storage cell of the plurality of data storage cells from accessing the data storage library in order to provide the first data storage cell with the temporary access.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the tape data storage library includes a plurality of drives that are each configured to load tape media in order to provide access to the tape data storage library, and wherein said interrupting comprises temporarily discontinuing use by the second data storage cell of a first set of one or more of the drives and allowing the first data storage cell to use the first set of one or more of the drives.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the relative priority is based on one or more of a type of storage operation associated with the request and an identity of the data storage cell that issued the request.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein, for each data storage cell of the plurality of data storage cells, storage operations involving the production data for the respective storage management cell are managed by a storage manager module within the data storage cell and independently from the other data storage cells.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein said temporary access is for a pre-defined interval of time and wherein the method further comprises determining whether to extend a duration of the pre-defined interval.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said determining whether to extend the duration of the pre-defined interval comprises determining one or more of whether or not a storage operation associated with the request is complete and whether or not the data storage cell that made the request is still utilizing the data storage library.

2. (canceled)

15. (canceled)

16. A data storage system configured to administer access to a tape data storage library that is shared amongst a plurality of data storage cells to manage copies of production data, comprising:

a library arbiter module executing on one or more computer processors and configured to;

allocate, for each respective data storage cell of a plurality of data storage cells, a subset of storage space in a tape data storage library for use by the respective data storage cell, wherein access to the tape data storage library is shared by the data storage cells and each of the data storage cells comprises one or more client computing devices having at least one software application executing thereon generating production data;

receive, from a first data storage cell of the plurality of data storage cells, a request to access the subset of storage space allocated to the first data storage cell;

automatically schedule the request in relation to requests for access to the tape data storage library by others of the plurality of data storage cells; and

based on the scheduling, provide the first data storage cell with temporary access to its allocated subset of storage space in the tape data storage library.

17. The data storage system of claim 16, wherein the allocated subset of storage space for each respective data storage cell of the plurality of data storage cells is dedicated for use by that data storage cell and not by others of the data storage cells.

18. The data storage system of claim 16, wherein the tape library comprises a plurality of tapes and wherein said allocating comprises allocating to each respective data storage cell data storage space corresponding to a subset of one or more of the plurality of tapes.

22. The data storage system of claim 16, wherein the tape data storage library includes a plurality of drives that are each configured to load tape media in order to provide access to the tape data storage library, wherein the request includes a specified number drives for use in accessing the subset of storage space, said scheduling further comprising scheduling the request based on the specified number of drives.

27. The data storage system of claim 16, wherein, for each data storage cell of the plurality of data storage cells, storage operations involving the production data for the respective storage management cell are managed by a storage manager module within the data storage cell and independently from the other data storage cells.

28. The data storage system of claim 16, wherein said temporary access is for a pre-defined interval of time and wherein the library arbiter module is further configured to determine whether to extend a duration of the pre-defined interval.

19. (canceled)

20. (canceled)

21. (canceled)

23. (canceled)

24. (canceled)

25. (canceled)

26. (canceled)

29. (canceled)

30. A data storage system configured to administer access to a data storage library that is shared amongst a plurality of data storage systems to manage copies of production data, comprising:

a library arbiter module executing on one or more computer processors and configured to;

allocate, for each respective data storage system of a plurality of data storage systems, a subset of storage space in a data storage library for use by the respective data storage system, wherein access to the data storage library is shared by the data storage systems and each of the data storage systems comprises one or more client computing devices having at least one software application executing thereon generating production data;

receive, from a first data storage system of the plurality of data storage systems, a request to access the subset of storage space allocated to the first data storage system;

automatically schedule the request in relation to requests for access to the data storage library by others of the plurality of data storage systems; and

based on the scheduling, provide the first data storage system with temporary access to its allocated subset of storage space in the data storage library.