Method for reconfiguring containers without shutting down the system and with minimal interruption to on-line processing
First Claim
1. A method for reconfiguring containers in an I/O subsystem of a data processing system, the I/O subsystem executing I/O requests received from at least one application running on the system and directed to at least one container of the I/O subsystem, each container having a container driver adapted to process I/O requests received by the I/O subsystem, the I/O subsystem having an entry point for each container that references a container driver and the associated data structures for that container, each I/O request referencing a specific entry point, said method comprising the steps of:
- maintaining a process count of I/O requests previously received by the I/O subsystem;
initiating a reconfiguration process by asserting a configuration flag in response to an I/O request to reconfigure the containers;
blocking all new I/O requests to the I/O subsystem in response to the initiated reconfiguration process;
decrementing the process count upon completing processing of the I/O requests previously received by the I/O subsystem;
sending a signal to the I/O subsystem when the process count equals zero;
reconfiguring the containers in the I/O subsystem in accordance with the reconfiguration process;
unblocking the blocked I/O requests; and
executing each unblocked I/O request by means of the specified entry point.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The system enables on-line container reconfiguration with minimal interference to the on-line processing by blocking all incoming I/O requests into the container drivers. The drivers queue the incoming I/O requests, continue to process all the preexisting I/O requests and signal the system upon completion. Upon receiving signals from all the container drivers with preexisting I/O requests, the system reconfigures the container tables as requested in the reconfiguration request. When the reconfiguration is complete, the system unblocks the blocked I/O requests and processes them and subsequent requests in accordance with the new configuration. By temporarily blocking the I/O requests and dynamically reconfiguring the container tables while the file system is still processing other I/O requests, the system performs on-line container reconfigurations with minimal interference with other on-line processing.
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Citations
8 Claims
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1. A method for reconfiguring containers in an I/O subsystem of a data processing system, the I/O subsystem executing I/O requests received from at least one application running on the system and directed to at least one container of the I/O subsystem, each container having a container driver adapted to process I/O requests received by the I/O subsystem, the I/O subsystem having an entry point for each container that references a container driver and the associated data structures for that container, each I/O request referencing a specific entry point, said method comprising the steps of:
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maintaining a process count of I/O requests previously received by the I/O subsystem; initiating a reconfiguration process by asserting a configuration flag in response to an I/O request to reconfigure the containers; blocking all new I/O requests to the I/O subsystem in response to the initiated reconfiguration process; decrementing the process count upon completing processing of the I/O requests previously received by the I/O subsystem; sending a signal to the I/O subsystem when the process count equals zero; reconfiguring the containers in the I/O subsystem in accordance with the reconfiguration process; unblocking the blocked I/O requests; and executing each unblocked I/O request by means of the specified entry point. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method for reconfiguring containers in an I/O subsystem of a data processing system, the I/O subsystem executing I/O requests received from at least one data processing application and directed to at least one container, the I/O subsystem including at least one container, each container having a container driver for processing I/O requests received by the I/O subsystem, the I/O subsystem having a separate entry point for each container, each entry point pointing to a specific container driver and to specific data structures for that container, each I/O request pointing to a specific entry point, said method comprising the steps of:
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maintaining a process count of I/O requests currently in process at the container driver; initiating a reconfiguration process; blocking all new I/O requests pointing to the entry point for the container that is to be reconfigured; decrementing the process count upon completing processing of the I/O requests previously received by the container that is to be reconfigured; reconfiguring at least one container to satisfy a reconfiguration request in the reconfiguration process when the process count equals zero; and unblocking the blocked I/O requests and executing them by means of the same entry points to which they pointed prior to reconfiguration. - View Dependent Claims (7)
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8. A method for reconfiguring a container in an I/O subsystem of a data processing system, the I/O subsystem including a container manager and the container having a container driver for processing I/O requests received by the I/O subsystem, said method comprising the steps of:
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maintaining a process count of I/O requests currently in process at the container driver; asserting a configuration flag in response to issuance of a reconfiguration I/O request by an application to the container driver, the reconfiguration I/O request requesting reconfiguration of the container; blocking new I/O requests directed to the container in response to assertion of the configuration flag; decrementing the process count upon completion of processing of each I/O request currently in process at the container driver; sending a completion signal to a container manager when the process count reaches zero; executing a configuration process at the configuration manager in response to receiving the completion signal, the configuration process reconfiguring the container; clearing the configuration flag; unblocking the blocked I/O requests; and directing the unblocked I/O requests to the container driver.
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Specification