Information recording apparatus and control method thereof

• US 6,606,683 B2
• Filed: 12/26/2000
• Issued: 08/12/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Mori, Yoshiaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Ellis, Kevin L.
• Application Number:
  US09/745,732
• Publication Number:
  US 20010008008A1
• Time in Patent Office: 959 Days
• Field of Search: 711/112, 711/114, 714/6
• US Class Current: 711/114
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2089 Redundant storage control functionality
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2092 Techniques of failing over between control units
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2097 maintaining the standby controller/processing unit updated initialisation or re-synchronisation thereof G06F11/1658 and subgroups

Abstract

To provide an information recording apparatus capable of continuing appropriate update processing in the case where data updating processing is stopped on one processing apparatus due to a power failure or memory failure, etc. by using un-updated data stored in duplicate in the other processing apparatus. There is provided an information recording apparatus including a plurality of controlling units for recording data received from a host device on an information recording medium, each of which has memory, characterized in that the data is temporarily stored in memory of one controlling unit and at the same time is stored in duplicate in memory of another controlling unit and, when data recording processing carried out by the one controlling unit is stopped, the recording processing is continued by the other controlling unit by using the duplicated data, and a point at which the data updating processing in the one control apparatus becomes irreversible is notified from the control apparatus to the control apparatus having the duplicated data.

Claims

1. An information recording apparatus configured in such a way as to comprise a plurality of controlling means for recording data received from a host device on an information recording medium with each controlling means having memory, temporarily store said data in memory of one controlling means and at the same time store said data in duplicate in memory of the other controlling means and, when data recording processing carried out by said one controlling means is stopped, allow said other controlling means to continue the recording processing by using said duplicated data and allow said other controlling means to continue processing of updating said data by using said duplicated data, wherein a point at which the data updating processing in said one control apparatus becomes irreversible is notified from the control apparatus to the control apparatus having said duplicated data, said each controlling means comprising:

interface means for communicating with said recording medium;

parity generating means for generating parity data on said data;

inter-controlling-means information communicating means for communicating information between control means; and

a parity generation disabling flag.

4. An information recording method using the information recording apparatus according to claim 1, said one controlling means configured in such way as to create new parity data on un-updated data from said un-updated data sent from said host device, old data recorded in an area of said recording medium in which said un-updated data is to be recorded and parity data of said old data and write said un-updated data and said new parity data in a predetermined area of said recording medium, wherein when said one controlling means writes said un-updated data or said new parity data in said disk, said parity generation disabling flag of the other controlling means that stores said duplicated data is set to a parity generation disabled state.

5. The information recording method according to claim 4, wherein when said one controlling means stops data writing to the recording medium after the other controlling means that stores said duplicated data is notified of parity data recreation disabling, it is decided whether there is redundancy in said information recording apparatus or not, and if no redundancy exists, the duplicated data stored in said other controlling means is written in a predetermined recording medium and the memory of said other controlling means that stores said duplicated data stores information that parity data on said data is invalid.

6. The information recording method according to claim 5, wherein when said one controlling means stops data writing to the recording medium after the other controlling means that stores said duplicated data is notified of parity data recreation disabling, it is decided whether there is redundancy in said information recording apparatus or not, and if no redundancy exists, the duplicated data stored in said other controlling means is read, new parity is generated from data stored in a data recording area other than the area in which said data is to be recorded, this parity is overwritten in a parity data write area and the information that the parity data in memory of said other controlling means is invalid is erased.

2. An information recording apparatus configured in such a way as to comprise a plurality of controlling means for recording data received from a host device on an information recording medium with each controlling means having memory, temporarily store said data in memory of one controlling means and at the same time store said data in duplicate in memory of the other controlling means and, when data recording processing carried out by said one controlling means is stopped, allow said other controlling means to continue the recording processing by using said duplicated data and allow said other controlling means to continue processing of updating said data by using said duplicated data, wherein a point at which the data updating processing in said one control apparatus becomes irreversible is notified from the control apparatus to the control apparatus having said duplicated data, said each controlling means comprising:

interface means for communicating with said recording medium;

parity generating means for generating parity data on said data;

inter-controlling-means information communicating means for communicating information between control means,

wherein when said one recording means stops data recording processing, notification that the data recording processing becomes irreversible is made by storing parity data on the data to be subjected to said recording processing created by said one controlling means in the memory of the other recording means that stores said duplicated data.

7. An information recording method using the information recording apparatus according to claim 2, said one controlling means configured in such way as to create new parity data on un-updated data from said un-updated data sent from said host device, old data recorded in an area of said recording medium in which said un-updated data is to be recorded and parity data of said old data and write said un-updated data and said new parity data in a predetermined area of said recording medium, wherein when said one controlling means writes said un-updated data or said new parity data in said disk, said new parity data is copied and stored in the other controlling means that stores said duplicated data.

3. An information recording method using an information recording apparatus configured in such a way as to comprise a plurality of controlling means for recording data received from a host device on an information recording medium with each controlling means having memory, temporarily store said data in memory of one controlling means and at the same time store said data in duplicate in memory of the other controlling means and, when data recording processing carried out by said one controlling means is stopped, allow said other controlling means to continue the recording processing by using said duplicated data and allow said other controlling means to continue processing of updating said data by using said duplicated data, wherein a point at which the data updating processing in said one control apparatus becomes irreversible is notified from the control apparatus to the control apparatus having said duplicated data, wherein the method

records the data received from the host device on a recording medium, creates parity data on this data and records the parity data on a predetermined recording medium, configured in such as way as to temporarily store un-updated data sent from said host device in memory of one of a plurality of recording medium controlling means each having memory, store said un-updated data in duplicate in the other controlling means, allow said one controlling means to create new parity data on said un-updated data from un-updated data sent from the host device, old data recorded in an area of said recording medium in which said un-updated data is to be recorded and parity data of said old data, write said un-updated data and said new parity data in a predetermined area of said recording medium,

wherein when said one controlling means writes said un-updated data or said new parity data in said disk, the other controlling means that stores said duplicated data is notified of the point at which processing of recording said un-updated data becomes irreversible.