Parallel remote administration of mirrored and alternate volume groups in a distributed data processing system

• US 6,247,140 B1
• Filed: 07/07/1998
• Issued: 06/12/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 07/07/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Chase-Salerno, Michael S., Ferri, Richard
• Primary Examiner(s): Beausoleil, Robert
• Assistant Examiner(s): ZIEMER, RITA A
• Application Number:
  US09/111,626
• Time in Patent Office: 1,071 Days
• Field of Search: 714/2, 714/1, 714/100, 714/20, 714/6, 714/5, 714/3, 713/1, 713/2
• US Class Current: 714/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2058 using more than 2 mirrored copies
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2069 Management of state, configuration or failover
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0605 by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/065 Replication mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0689 Disk arrays, e.g. RAID, JBOD

Abstract

A technique for remotely administering one or more nodes of a distributed data processing system to provide mirroring of operating system images, and/or designating of alternate volume groups for the one or more nodes. A new data class is defined in a system data repository (SDR) coupled to a control node of the distributed system. A set of commands are provided to initiate and discontinue mirroring from the control node on a nodal volume group, along with designating alternate volume groups for remote installation on one or more nodes of the system in parallel. An interface to add, delete, modify or display information about nodal volume groups is also provided.

Claims

1. At least one computer readable medium for storing data usable by a storage controller coupled to a storage device of a distributed processing system, said at least one computer readable medium comprising:

a data structure stored within said at least one computer readable medium, said data structure comprising;

(i) Node object information usable by said storage controller in identifying at least one target node within the distributed processing system; and

(ii) a Volume_Group object comprising information on at least one volume group of at last one target node in the distributed processing system, said Volume_Group object being usable by said storage controller in remotely administering volume groups of said at least one target node.

2. At least one program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying at least one program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method for administering at least one of a mirrored volume group or an alternate volume group of at least one target node of a computer system, said computer system comprising a plurality of processors coupled to a storage controller, said storage controller coupled to said storage unit, said method comprising:

storing information in a Node object and Volume_Group object in said storage unit, said Node object and said Volume_Group object providing information on each volume group of the at least one target node in the computer system; and

performing at the at least one target node at least one of mirroring of a volume group or designating an alternate volume group, said performing being initiated by said storage controller remote from said at least one target node.

3. An article of manufacture, comprising:

at least one computer useable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for administering at least one of a mirrored volume group or an alternate volume group on at least one target node in a distributed processing system having a control node coupled to a system data repository (SDR), the computer readable program code means in the article of manufacture comprising;

(i) computer readable program code means for causing a computer to store information in a Node object and Volume_Group object in said SDR, said Node object in said Volume_Group object providing information on each volume group of the at least one target node in the distributed processing system; and

(ii) computer readable program code means for causing a computer to perform at the at least one target node at least one of mirroring of a volume group or designating an alternate volume group, said performing being initiated at said control node remote from said at least one target node.

4. The article of manufacture of claim 3, wherein multiple other processors are designated target nodes and said at least one target node comprises a plurality of target nodes, said computer readable program code means for causing a computer to perform comprising computer readable program code means for causing a computer to perform mirroring of a volume group or designating an alternate volume group for each node of said plurality of target nodes of the distributed processing system, and wherein said article of manufacture comprises computer readable program code means for causing a computer to initiate said performing in parallel for said plurality of target nodes.

5. The article of manufacture of claim 3, further comprising computer readable program code means for causing a computer to perform at least one of adding, deleting, modifying, or displaying information in said SDR about at least one volume group of at least one target node of the distributed processing system.

6. The article of manufacture of claim 5, wherein said computer readable program code means for causing a computer to perform at least one of adding, deleting, modifying, or displaying information in said SDR comprises computer readable program code means for causing a computer to perform at least one of adding, deleting, modifying, or displaying said Volume_Group object information for said at least one volume group of said at least one target node of the distributed processing system.

7. The article of manufacture of claim 6, wherein said computer readable program code means for causing a computer to perform comprises computer readable program code means for causing a computer to make a new Volume_Group object, wherein said making comprises receiving user-defined parameters for the new Volume_Group object, determining that said user-defined parameters comprise a new, unique Volume_Group object, and updating said SDR with the new Volume_Group object.

8. The article of manufacture of claim 6, wherein said computer readable program code means for causing a computer to perform comprises computer readable program code means for causing a computer to change said Volume_Group object information of said at least one volume group of said at least one target node, said changing including receiving user-defined parameters for said Volume_Group object, determining that said Volume_Group object exists by a user-defined name for said at least one target node, and updating said SDR with changed volume group information for said at least one target node.

9. The article of manufacture of claim 6, wherein said computer readable program code means for causing a computer to perform comprises computer readable program code means for causing a computer to remove Volume_Group object information of said at least one target node, said removing comprising receiving valid user-defined parameters for said removing, determining that said Volume_Group object exists for said at least one target node, and thereafter, removing the Volume_Group object information specified in the user-defined parameters from the SDR.

10. The article of manufacture of claim 3, wherein said computer readable program code means for causing a computer to perform comprises computer readable program code means for causing a computer to perform mirroring of said volume group of said at least one target node of the distributed processing system, said performing being initiated at said control node remote from said at least one target node, wherein said mirroring comprises for each target node:

determining that said Node object and said Volume_Group object are valid for mirroring;

confirming that the control node is in communication with said at least one target node; and

initiating mirroring of said volume group from said control node remotely from said at least one target node.

11. The article of manufacture of claim 3, wherein said computer readable program code means for causing a computer to perform comprises computer readable program code means for causing a computer to perform unmirroring of said volume group of said at least one target node of the distributed processing system, said unmirroring comprising for each target node:

determining that the Node object and Volume_Group object are valid for unmirroring;

confirming that the control node is in communication with said at least one target node; and

initiating unmirroring of said volume group from said control node remotely from said at least one target node.

12. The article of manufacture of claim 3, wherein said computer readable program code means for causing a computer to perform comprises computer readable program code means for causing a computer to designate said alternate volume group of said at least one target node of the distributed processing system, said designating comprising:

designating said alternate volume group within said SDR for installation on said at least one target node; and

invoking commands to install said alternate volume group on said at least one target node based on SDR data for said at least one target node.

13. An article of manufacture, comprising:

at least one computer usable medium having computer readable program code means embodied therein for administering a volume group on at least one target node of a distributed processing system having multiple processors, one processor being designated a control node and one or more other processors being designated a target node, said control node being coupled to a system data repository (SDR), the computer readable program code means in the article of manufacture comprising;

(i) computer readable program code means for causing a computer to store information in a Node object and a Volume_Group object in said SDR, said Node object and said Volume_Group object providing information on each volume group of the at least one target node in the distributed processing system; and

(ii) computer readable program code means for causing a computer to perform at the control node at least one of adding, deleting, modifying, or displaying information about at least one volume group of said at least one target node of the distributed processing system using at least one of said Node object and said Volume_Group object in said SDR.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 13, wherein said computer readable program code means for causing a computer to perform at least one of adding, deleting, modifying, or displaying information comprises computer readable program code means for causing a computer to perform at least one of adding, deleting, modifying, or displaying said volume_group information for said at least one volume group of said at least one target node of the distributed processing system.

15. The article of manufacture of claim 13, further comprising computer readable program code means for causing a computer to provide an interface to allow a user to control said computer readable program code means for causing a computer to perform at least one of adding, deleting, modifying, or displaying information about said at least one volume group of said at least one target node of the distributed processing system.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 13, wherein said computer readable program code means for causing a computer to perform comprises computer readable program code means for causing a computer to make a new Volume_Group object, wherein said making comprises receiving user-defined parameters for the new Volume_Group object, determining that said user-defined parameters comprise a new, unique Volume_Group object, and updating the SDR with the new Volume_Group object.

17. The article of manufacture of claim 13, wherein said computer readable program code means for causing a computer to perform comprises computer readable program code means for causing a computer to change said Volume_Group object information of said at least one volume group of said at least one target node, said changing including receiving user-defined parameters for said Volume_Group object, determining that said Volume_Group object exists for said at least one target node, and updating the SDR with changed volume group information for said at least one target node.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 13, wherein said computer readable program code means for causing a computer to perform comprises computer readable program code means for causing a computer to remove Volume_Group object information for said at least one volume group of said at least one target node, said removing comprising receiving valid user-defined parameters for said removing, determining that said Volume_Group object exists for said at least one target node, and thereafter, removing the Volume_Group object information specified in the user-defined parameters from the SDR.