Method and apparatus for managing virtual storage devices in a storage system
First Claim
1. A method of managing a plurality of logical volumes in a computer system, the computer system including a processor and a storage system coupled to the processor, the storage system including at least one storage device, the storage system storing the plurality of logical volumes on the at least one storage device, the method comprising steps of:
- (A) combining, in the storage system, at least two of the plurality of logical volumes into a virtual volume that includes the at least two of the plurality of logical volumes;
(B) presenting the virtual volume to the processor as a single logical volume; and
(C) presenting the processor with information that enables the processor to deconstruct the virtual volume into the at least two of the plurality of logical volumes.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for managing a plurality of logical volumes in a computer system, the computer system including a processor and a storage system coupled to the processor, the storage system including at least one storage device, the storage system storing the plurality of logical volumes on the at least one storage device. At least two of the plurality of logical volumes are combined in the storage system into a virtual volume that is presented to the processor as a single logical volume. The storage system also presents the processor with information that enables the processor to deconstruct the virtual volume into the at least two of the plurality of logical volumes. Another aspect is directed to a multi-path computer system including a processor, a storage system including at least one storage device to store Y logical volumes, and X paths coupling the processor to the storage system. The processor is capable of accessing each of the Y logical volumes through each of the X paths, and includes Z unique target address identifiers identifying the Y logical volumes, wherein Z is less than X times Y.
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Citations
53 Claims
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1. A method of managing a plurality of logical volumes in a computer system, the computer system including a processor and a storage system coupled to the processor, the storage system including at least one storage device, the storage system storing the plurality of logical volumes on the at least one storage device, the method comprising steps of:
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(A) combining, in the storage system, at least two of the plurality of logical volumes into a virtual volume that includes the at least two of the plurality of logical volumes;
(B) presenting the virtual volume to the processor as a single logical volume; and
(C) presenting the processor with information that enables the processor to deconstruct the virtual volume into the at least two of the plurality of logical volumes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
subdividing the at least one storage device to form each of the at least two of the plurality of logical volumes, so that each of the at least two of the plurality of logical volumes is a hyper-volume; and
combining the hyper-volumes into the virtual volume.
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6. The method of claim 1, wherein:
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the step (A) includes a step of combining, in the storage system, a first pair of the plurality of logical volumes into a first virtual volume that includes the first pair of the plurality of logical volumes, and a step of combining, in the storage system, a second pair of the plurality of logical volumes into a second virtual volume that includes the second pair of the plurality of logical volumes;
the step (B) includes a step of presenting each of the first and second virtual volumes to the processor as a single logical volume; and
the step (C) includes a step of presenting the processor with information that enables the processor to deconstruct the first and second virtual volumes, respectively, into the first and second pairs of the plurality of logical volumes.
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7. The method of claim 1, further including a step of:
(D) deconstructing, in the processor, the virtual volume into the at least two of the plurality of logical volumes.
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8. The method of claim 7, further including a step of:
(E) independently accessing, from the processor, the at least two of the plurality of logical volumes.
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9. The method of claim 1, wherein the computer system is an open computer system, and wherein the method further includes a step of:
(D) deconstructing, in the processor, the virtual volume into the at least two of the plurality of logical volumes.
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10. The method of claim 1, wherein the computer system is a multi-path computer system including X paths coupling the processor to the storage system, wherein the step (A) includes a step of combining Y of the plurality of logical volumes into the virtual volume, wherein the processor is capable of accessing each of the Y logical volumes through each of the X paths, and wherein the method further includes a step of:
generating Z unique target address identifiers corresponding to the Y logical volumes, wherein Z is less than X times Y.
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11. The method of claim 10, further including a step of accessing, from the processor, each of the Y logical volumes through each of the X paths.
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12. The method of claim 4, wherein the step (A) includes steps of:
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subdividing the at least one storage device to form each of the at least two of the plurality of logical volumes, so that each of the at least two of the plurality of logical volumes is a hyper-volume; and
combining the hyper-volumes into the virtual volume.
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13. The method of claim 1, further including a step of merging, in the processor, the plurality of presentations of the virtual volume over the plurality of paths to form a single representation of the virtual volume in the processor.
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14. The method of claim 13, further including a step of:
(D) deconstructing, in the processor, the single representation of the virtual volume into the at least two of the plurality of logical volumes.
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15. A storage system for use in a computer system including a processor coupled to the storage system, the storage system comprising:
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at least one storage device to store a plurality of logical volumes; and
a controller to combine at least two of the plurality of logical volumes into a virtual volume that includes the at least two of the plurality of logical volumes, to present the virtual volume to the processor as a single logical volume, and to further present the processor with information that enables the processor to deconstruct the virtual volume into the at least two of the plurality of logical volumes. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
means for combining a first pair of the plurality of logical volumes into a first virtual volume that includes the first pair of the plurality of logical volumes, and for combining a second pair of the plurality of logical volumes into a second virtual volume that includes the second pair of the plurality of logical volumes;
means for presenting each of the first and second virtual volumes to the processor as a single logical volume; and
means for presenting the processor with information that enables the processor to deconstruct the first and second virtual volumes, respectively, into the first and second pairs of the plurality of logical volumes.
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21. The storage system of claim 15, in combination with the processor to form the computer system, wherein the processor includes means for deconstructing the virtual volume into the at least two of the plurality of logical volumes.
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22. The combination of claim 21, wherein the processor includes means for independently accessing the at least two of the plurality of logical volumes.
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23. The combination of claim 21, wherein the computer system is an open computer system.
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24. The storage system of claim 15, in combination with the processor to form the computer system, wherein the computer system is a multi-path computer system including X paths coupling the processor to the storage system, wherein the controller combines Y of the plurality of logical volumes into the virtual volume, wherein the processor is capable of accessing each of the Y logical volumes through each of the X paths, and wherein the processor generates Z unique target address identifiers corresponding to the Y logical volumes, wherein Z is less than X times Y.
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25. The combination of claim 24, wherein the processor includes means for accessing each of the Y logical volumes through each of the X paths.
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26. The storage system of claim 18, wherein the at least one storage device includes a plurality of storage devices, wherein the storage system further includes means for subdividing one of the plurality of storage devices to form each of the at least two of the plurality of logical volumes, so that each of the at least two of the plurality of logical volumes is a hyper-volume, and wherein the controller combines the hyper-volumes into the virtual volume.
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27. The storage system of claim 16, in combination with the processor to form the computer system, wherein the processor includes means for merging the plurality of presentations of the virtual volume received over the plurality of paths to form a single representation of the virtual volume in the processor.
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28. The combination of claim 27, wherein the processor further includes means for deconstructing the single representation of the virtual volume into the at least two of the plurality of logical volumes.
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29. The storage system of claim 15, wherein the at least one storage device is a disk drive.
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30. A host computer for use in a computer system including a storage system coupled to the host computer, wherein the storage system includes at least one storage device to store a plurality of logical volumes, wherein the storage system combines at least two of the plurality of logical volumes into a virtual volume and presents the virtual volume to the processor as a single logical volume, the host computer comprising:
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a processor; and
means for deconstructing the virtual volume into the at least two of the plurality of logical volumes. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A multi-path computer system comprising:
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a processor;
a storage system including at least one storage device to store a plurality of logical volumes, the plurality of logical volumes including at least Y logical volumes; and
a plurality of paths coupling the processor to the storage system, the plurality of paths including X paths coupling the processor to the storage system;
wherein the processor is capable of accessing each of the Y logical volumes through each of the X paths, and wherein the processor includes Z unique target address identifiers identifying the Y logical volumes, wherein Z is less than X times Y. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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48. A host computer for use in a multi-path computer system including a storage system having at least one storage device to store a plurality of logical volumes, the plurality of logical volumes including at least Y logical volumes, the multi-path computer system further including X paths coupling the host computer to the storage system, the host computer comprising:
a processor capable of accessing each of the Y logical volumes through each of the X paths, the processor including Z unique target address identifiers identifying the Y logical volumes, wherein Z is less than X times Y. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
Specification