Grouping shared resources into one or more pools and automatically re-assigning shared resources from where they are not currently needed to where they are needed

• US 6,154,787 A
• Filed: 01/21/1998
• Issued: 11/28/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Unisys Corporation
• Original Assignee: Unisys Corporation
• Inventors: Ethen, Donald J., Malnati, James R., Urevig, Paul D., Weber, Herbert L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Thomas C.
• Assistant Examiner(s): ELAMIN, ABDELMONIEM I
• Application Number:
  US09/010,099
• Time in Patent Office: 1,042 Days
• Field of Search: 710/8, 709/5, 709/223, 709/226, 709/249
• US Class Current: 710/8
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/5011 Pool
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5061 Partitioning or combining of resources

Abstract

Method and apparatus for providing a timely, automated re-assignment of resources, such as peripheral devices, memory, and/or processing capacity, among a number of host data processing systems. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention allows peripheral devices, such as tape drives, to be configured as shareable units, and accessed by any participating host data processing system as the need arises. The invention preferably includes a central coordinating facility, which evaluates the device status information gathered, from each participating host data processing system. The device status information is used to determine which host data processing systems have free devices available for use. Within these constraints, the invention automatically orchestrates the re-assignment of selected peripheral devices from where they are not currently needed to where they are needed, with little or no operator interaction.

Claims

1. An apparatus for the automated management of peripheral devices of a data processing complex, the data processing complex having one or more data processing systems and one or more peripheral devices comprising:

a. shared device manager means for coordinating the management of shared peripheral devices;

b. grouping means within said shared device manager means for organizing the peripheral devices assigned to a host system into one or more pools of shared devices;

c. notification means by which a requesting data processing system issues a request to said shared device manager means that an additional resource of said peripheral devices is required;

d. allocation means by which said shared device manager means receives said request from said notification means, selects one or more peripheral devices from said pools, and allocates the selected peripheral devices to the requesting data processing system;

e. configuration means by which said shared device manager means automatically assigns the selected peripheral devices to the requesting data processing system; and

f. wherein said data processing complex further comprises one or more Unisys 2200 series managed systems, a UNIX based Single Point Operations (SPO) Server, one or more large screen SPO display devices connected to said SPO Server via an Ethernet LAN, a TCP/IP network connecting said SPO Server and each of said managed systems, SPO Console software residing on said SPO Server to display, monitor and control the operation of said managed systems, Single Point Interface (SPI) software residing on one or more of said managed systems, connecting each of said managed systems with said SPO Console, one or more tape drives connected to said managed systems, Shared Tape Drive Manager (STDM) software running in a SPO Telnet session on said SPO Server, SPO Status software for dynamically representing which of said peripheral devices are assigned to which of said data processing systems, and Single Point Autoaction Message System (SP-AMS) software to process operator messages received from said managed systems.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said Single Point Operations (SPO) Server is selected from the group consisting of an Aquanta server running UnixWare, a U6000 server running SVR4, and a Sun SPARC server running Solaris.

3. An apparatus for the automated management of peripheral devices of a data processing complex, the data processing complex having one or more data processing systems and one or more peripheral devices comprising:

a. shared device manager means for coordinating the management of shared peripheral devices;

b. grouping means within said shared device manager means for organizing the peripheral devices assigned to a host system into one or more pools of shared devices;

c. notification means by which a requesting data processing system issues a request to said shared device manager means that an additional resource of said peripheral devices is required;

d. allocation means by which said shared device manager means receives said request from said notification means, selects one or more peripheral devices from said pools, and allocates the selected peripheral devices to the requesting data processing system;

e. configuration means by which said shared device manager means automatically assigns the selected peripheral devices to the requesting data processing system; and

f. wherein said grouping means further comprises a peripheral management means which initially configures said pools of shared devices, edits said pools of shared devices, lists the contents of said pools of shared devices, and adds or removes said shared devices.

4. An apparatus for the automated management of peripheral devices of a data processing complex, the data processing complex having one or more data processing systems and one or more peripheral devices comprising:

a. shared device manager means for coordinating the management of shared peripheral devices;

b. grouping means within said shared device manager means for organizing the peripheral devices assigned to a host system into one or more pools of shared devices;

c. notification means by which a requesting data processing system issues a request to said shared device manager means that an additional resource of said peripheral devices is required;

d. allocation means by which said shared device manager means receives said request from said notification means, select one or more peripheral devices from said pools, and allocates the selected peripheral devices to the requesting data processing system;

e. configuration means by which said shared device manager means automatically assigns the selected peripheral devices to the requesting data processing system; and

f. wherein one or more of said devices re-assigned manually by a computer operator to a first system but not removed from said pools remains on said first system until the need for a new device on a second system causes said shared device manager to select said devices of said first system when said devices become available.

5. An apparatus for the automated management of peripheral devices of a data processing complex, the data processing complex having one or more data processing systems and one or more peripheral devices comprising:

a. shared device manager means for coordinating the management of shared peripheral devices;

b. grouping means within said shared device manager means for organizing the peripheral devices assigned to a host system into one or more pools of shared devices;

c. notification means by which a requesting data processing system issues a request to said shared device manager means that an additional resource of said peripheral devices is required;

d. allocation means by which said shared device manager means receives said request from said notification means, selects one or more peripheral devices from said pools, and allocates the selected peripheral devices to the requesting data processing system;

e. configuration means by which said shared device manager means automatically assigns the selected peripheral devices to the requesting data processing system; and

f. wherein said notification means further comprises a messaging means for sending a message alerting a tape hold condition to a system console of a data processing system.

6. An apparatus for the automated management of peripheral devices of a data processing complex, the data processing complex having one or more data processing systems and one or more peripheral devices comprising:

a. shared device manager means for coordinating the management of shared peripheral devices;

b. grouping means within said shared device manager means for organizing the peripheral devices assigned to a host system into one or more pools of shared devices;

c. notification means by which a requesting data processing system issues a request to said shared device manager means that an additional resource of said peripheral devices is required;

d. allocation means by which said shared device manager means receives said request from said notification means, selects one or more peripheral devices from said pools, and allocates the selected peripheral devices to the requesting data processing system;

e. configuration means by which said shared device manager means automatically assigns the selected peripheral devices to the requesting data processing system; and

f. wherein said notification means further comprises a messaging means for sending a device request to a system console of said data processing system from a batch procedure.

7. An apparatus for the automated management of peripheral devices of a data processing complex, the data processing complex having one or more data processing systems and one or more peripheral devices comprising:

a. shared device manager means for coordinating the management of shared peripheral devices;

b. grouping means within said shared device manager means for organizing the peripheral devices assigned to a host system into one or more pools of shared devices;

c. notification means by which a requesting data processing system issues a request to said shared device manager means that an additional resource of said peripheral devices is required;

d. allocation means by which said shared device manager means receives said request from said notification means, selects one or more peripheral devices from said pools, and allocates the selected peripheral devices to the requesting data processing system;

e. configuration means by which said shared device manager means automatically assigns the selected peripheral devices to the requesting data processing system; and

f. wherein said allocation means further comprises a message matching means which interprets said device request displayed on said system console, and issues a request for a set of available peripheral devices to said device manager means.

8. An apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said allocation means further comprises an analysis means which examines a peripheral device availability database, and builds the set of available peripherals to satisfy said request from said data processing systems having the most free peripheral devices.

9. An apparatus for the automated management of peripheral devices of a data processing complex, the data processing complex having one or more data processing systems and one or more peripheral devices comprising:

a. shared device manager means for coordinating the management of shared peripheral devices;

b. grouping means within said shared device manager means for organizing the peripheral devices assigned to a host system into one or more pools of shared devices;

c. notification means by which a requesting data processing system issues a request to said shared device manager means that an additional resource of said peripheral devices is required;

d. allocation means by which said shared device manager means receives said request from said notification means, selects one or more peripheral devices from said pools, and allocates the selected peripheral devices to the requesting data processing system;

e. configuration means by which said shared device manager means automatically assigns the selected peripheral devices to the requesting data processing system; and

f. wherein said configuration means further comprises an automated un-assignment of said peripheral devices on corresponding host data processing systems, and an assignment of said peripheral devices on said requesting data processing systems.

10. An apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said configuration means further has a messaging means for sending a request to said shared device manager means to un-assign said selected peripheral on said corresponding host data processing system, and if no response is received or said request cannot be completed, another said device is chosen.

11. An apparatus according to claim 10 wherein after said selected peripheral device has been un-assigned, said device manager instructs said requesting data processing system to assign said peripheral device.

12. An apparatus according to claim 11 wherein if said peripheral device cannot be successfully assigned, an alert message is sent to an operator console.

13. An apparatus for the automated management of peripheral devices of a data processing complex, the data processing complex having one or more data processing systems and one or more peripheral devices comprising:

a. shared device manager means for coordinating the management of shared peripheral devices;

b. grouping means within said shared device manager means for organizing the peripheral devices assigned to a host system into one or more pools of shared devices;

c. notification means by which a requesting data processing system issues a request to said shared device manager means that an additional resource of said peripheral devices is required;

d. allocation means by which said shared device manager means receives said request from said notification means, selects one or more peripheral devices from said pools, and allocates the selected peripheral devices to the requesting data processing system;

e. configuration means by which said shared device manager means automatically assigns the selected peripheral devices to the requesting data processing system; and

f. wherein said peripheral devices in said pools remain available to the last of said data processing systems that used said peripheral device.

14. An apparatus according to claim 13 wherein a computer operator can return said peripheral devices on said selected data processing system to an available status within said pools by manually un-assigning said peripheral device on said selected data processing system and manually assigning the drive on another said data processing system where said shared device manager means is active.

15. An apparatus for the automated management of peripheral devices of a data processing complex, the data processing complex having one or more data processing systems and one or more peripheral devices comprising:

a. shared device manager means for coordinating the management of shared peripheral devices;

b. grouping means within said shared device manager means for organizing the peripheral devices assigned to a host system into one or more pools of shared devices;

c. notification means by which a requesting data processing system issues a request to said shared device manager means that an additional resource of said peripheral devices is required;

d. allocation means by which said shared device manager means receives said request from said notification means, selects one or more peripheral devices from said pools, and allocates the selected peripheral devices to the requesting data processing system;

e. configuration means by which said shared device manager means automatically assigns the selected peripheral devices to the requesting data processing system; and

f. wherein said shared device manager means further comprises an archival means for recording said automated management of said peripheral devices in a history file for later reference.

16. An apparatus for the automated management of peripheral devices of a data processing complex, the data processing complex having one or more data processing systems and one or more peripheral devices comprising:

a. shared device manager means for coordinating the management of shared peripheral devices;

b. grouping means within said shared device manager means for organizing the peripheral devices assigned to a host system into one or more pools of shared devices;

c. notification means by which a requesting data processing system issues a request to said shared device manager means that an additional resource of said peripheral devices is required;

d. allocation means by which said shared device manager means receives said request from said notification means, selects one or more peripheral devices from said pools, and allocates the selected peripheral devices to the requesting data processing system;

e. configuration means by which said shared device manager means automatically assigns the selected peripheral devices to the requesting data processing system; and

f. wherein said shared device manager means can be activated or disabled for a selected data processing system via a keyin sequence entered by a computer operator at a computer console on said selected data processing system.

17. An apparatus according to claim 16 wherein if said shared device manager means is disabled on said selected data processing system, any of said peripheral devices on said selected data processing system assigned to said pools of shared devices are not available to other said data processing systems.

18. An apparatus for the automated management of tape drives of a data processing complex, the data processing complex having one or more data processing systems and one or more tape drives comprising:

a. shared tape drive manager means for coordinating the management of shared tape drives;

b. grouping means within said shared tape drive manager means for organizing the tape drives assigned to a host system into one or more pools of shared tape drives;

c. notification means by which a requesting data processing system issues a request to said shared tape drive manager means that an additional resource of said tape drives is required;

d. allocation means by which said shared tape drive manager means receives said request from said notification means, selects one or more tape drives from said pools, and allocates the selected tape drives to the requesting data processing system;

e. configuration means by which said shared tape drive manager means automatically assigns the selected tape drives to the requesting data processing system;

f. display means for displaying a dynamically updated status of the current allocations of said tape drives to said data processing systems; and

g. archival means for archiving the automatic tape drive management activities in a history file for future reference.

19. A method for managing peripheral devices of a data processing complex, the data processing complex having one or more data processing systems and one or more peripheral devices comprising:

a. grouping one or more of said peripheral devices assigned to a host system into one or more pools of shared devices, wherein said pools of shared devices are created and maintained by a peripheral device configuration means which, in addition to defining an initial configuration of said pools of shared devices, may also be used to edit existing pool files, list the contents of said pools, and add or remove said peripheral devices from said pools;

b. monitoring said data processing complex for requests for additional peripheral device resources;

c. matching said requests for said additional peripheral device resources against available resources in said pools of shared devices; and

d. assigning said available resources in said pools of shared devices to service said requests.

20. The method according to claim 19 wherein said peripheral device configuration means stores a dynamic configuration for said pools in a series of pool configuration files located within said data processing complex.

21. The method according to claim 20 wherein said set of pool configuration files includes a file listing which of said data processing systems have access to said peripheral devices in said pool and whether said data processing systems have been enabled or disabled to said peripheral device management means.

22. The method according to claim 20 wherein said set of pool configuration files includes a file showing the available, unavailable, in use, unknown, or in-transition status of each said peripheral device on each said data processing system.

23. The method according to claim 20 wherein said set of pool configuration files includes a file which lists all said peripheral devices in each of said pools, and whether said peripheral devices are enabled or disabled.

24. The method according to claim 20 wherein said set of pool configuration files includes a file which is used to further qualify said peripheral devices within said pools to further identify peripheral device connectivity restrictions.

25. The method according to claim 19 wherein said monitoring utilizes the Single Point Operations (SPO) Console, available commercially from Unisys Corporation, to intercept, interpret, and manage requests for additional peripheral device resources.

26. The method according to claim 25 wherein said requests for additional peripheral device resources are communicated to said SPO through a cross system automation facility.

27. The method according to claim 26 wherein said cross system automation facility comprises the Single Point Autoaction Message System (SP-AMS) component of said SPO Console.

28. The method according to claim 19 wherein said matching of said request for said additional peripheral devices resources is done by a shared peripheral device manager facility.

29. The method according to claim 28 wherein said shared peripheral device manager facility evaluates the peripheral device status information from each said data processing system, determines which of said data processing systems has free peripheral devices available for use, and requests the appropriate reconfiguration of said shared peripheral devices from each of said data processing systems.

30. The method according to claim 29 wherein said shared peripheral device manager facility is a Unix shell script executing in a read-only SPO telnet session.

31. The method according to claim 30 wherein said shared peripheral device manager facility manages only tape drives in a Unisys 2200 data processing complex.

32. The method according to claim 19 wherein said assigning of said available resources in said pools of shared devices to service said request further comprises the automated un-assignment of said peripheral devices on corresponding host data processing systems, and the assignment of said peripheral devices on said requesting data processing systems.

33. A method for managing the peripheral devices of a data processing complex, the data processing complex having one or more data processing systems and one or more peripheral devices comprising:

a. grouping one or more of said peripheral devices assigned to a host system into one or more pools of shared devices;

b. managing said pools though a peripheral device configuration means;

c. monitoring said data processing complex for requests for additional peripheral device resources;

d. matching said requests for said additional peripheral devices resources against available resources in said pools of shared devices;

e. assigning said available resources in said pools of shared devices to service said request;

f. displaying a dynamically updated status of the current allocations of said peripheral devices to said data processing systems; and

g. archiving the automatic peripheral device management activities in a history file for further reference.

34. A method of managing the tape drive devices of a data processing complex, the data processing complex having one or more data processing systems and one or more tape drives comprising:

a. grouping one or more tape drives assigned to said data processing systems into one or more pools of shared tape drives;

b. managing said pools through a shared tape drive manager (STDM) utility;

c. monitoring said data processing complex for requests for additional tape drives;

d. matching said requests for said additional tape drive resources against available resources in said pools of tape drives;

e. assigning said available resources in said pools of tape drives to service said request;

f. displaying a dynamically updated status of the current allocations of said tape drives to said data processing systems; and

g. archiving the tape drive management activities in a history file for further reference.

35. The method according to claim 34 wherein said data processing complex comprises one or more Unisys 2200 series mainframe computers.

36. The method according to claim 35 wherein said monitoring utilizes the Single Point Operations (SPO) Console, available commercially from Unisys Corporation, to intercept, interpret, and manage requests for additional tape drive resources.

37. The method according to claim 36 wherein a minimum SPO console configuration comprises a SPO server, one or more large screen display devices, TCP/IP network connections between said SPO Server and each managed data processing system, SPO Console software to run on the SPO Server, and Single Point Interface software for each managed system.

38. The method according to claim 37 wherein said Single Point Operations (SPO) Server is selected from the group consisting of an Aquanta server running UnixWare, a U6000 server running SVR4, and a Sun SPARC server running Solaris.

39. The method according to claim 34 wherein said Shared Tape Drive Manager (STDM), in addition to defining an initial configuration of said pools, may also be used to edit existing pool files, list the contents of said pools, and add or remove said peripheral devices from said pools.

40. The method according to claim 34 wherein each said tape drives within each of said pools are of the same device type.

41. The method according to claim 34 wherein said requests for additional tape drive resources are communicated to said SPO through a cross system automation facility.

42. The method according to claim 34 wherein said monitoring further comprises a messaging means wherein a batch procedure sends a tape drive request to a system console of said data processing system.

43. The method according to claim 34 wherein said matching further comprises a message matching means which interprets said tape drive request displayed on said system console, and issues a request for a set of available peripheral devices to said Shared Tape Drive Manager (STDM).

44. The method according to claim 43 wherein said matching further comprises an analysis means which examines a tape drive availability database, and builds a set of available tape drives to satisfy said request from said data processing systems having the most free tape drives.

45. The method according to claim 34 wherein said assigning further comprises the automated un-assignment of said tape drives on corresponding host data processing systems, and the assignment of said tape drives on said requesting data processing systems.

46. The method according to claim 45 wherein said assigning further comprises said Shared Tape Drive Manager (STDM) sending a request to un-assign a selected tape drive on said corresponding host data processing system, and if no response is received or said request cannot be completed, another said tape drive is chosen.

47. The method according to claim 46 wherein after said selected tape drive has been un-assigned, said Shared Tape Drive Manager (STDM) instructs said requesting data processing system to assign said tape drive.

48. The method according to claim 34 wherein said tape drives in said pools remain available to the last of said data processing systems that used said tape drive.

49. The method according to claim 34 wherein said Shared Tape Drive Manager facility is a Unix shell script executing in a read-only SPO telnet session.

50. An apparatus according to claim 34 wherein if said tape drives in said pools comprise Cartridge Tape Library (CTL) units, said CTL units must have equal access to the same tape media within the CTL, and each of said pools may not span more than one of said CTLs without a pass through capability.