Quorum resource arbiter within a storage network

• US 6,615,256 B1
• Filed: 11/29/1999
• Issued: 09/02/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: van Ingen, Catharine, Gamache, Rod N., Kusters, Norbert P., Rinne, Robert D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Eng, David Y.
• Application Number:
  US09/449,579
• Time in Patent Office: 1,373 Days
• Field of Search: 709/220, 709/223
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/505 Clust
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0604 Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. storage management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0631 by allocating resources to storage systems
• 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 9/5011 the resources being hardware resources other than CPUs, Servers and Terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5061 Partitioning or combining of resources

Abstract

The invention provides a method and system for arbitrating for ownership of a logical quorum resource, such as a logical quorum volume, comprising one or more physical quorum resources so as to form a storage network having a plurality of storage devices. Arbitration and volume management responsibilities are cleanly divided between cluster management software and volume management software. The cluster management software handles the arbitration process without knowing the details of how the logical quorum resource is formed. The volume management software handles the formation and management of the logical quorum volume without having details of the arbitration process.

Claims

1. In a system that includes a plurality of computing nodes and a storage subsystem that includes physical quorum resources contained within one or more storage devices, a method for forming a storage network in which the physical quorum resources can be utilized by the computing nodes of the storage network, the method for forming a storage network comprising:

an act of terminating any current ownership over the physical quorum resources of the storage subsystem by each of the computing nodes in the system;

an act of scanning each other computing node in the system to update configuration information for a new storage network;

an act of invoking arbitration techniques to determine ownership of the physical quorum resources by one or more of the computing nodes; and

an act of mounting a quorum volume comprising the physical quorum resources to the storage network.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the acts of terminating current ownership and invoking arbitration are performed by a first module and wherein the acts of scanning each other computing node and mounting a quorum volume are performed by a second module that is different than the first module.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of terminating current ownership includes blocking access to the storage subsystem.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of terminating current ownership includes resetting a bus of each computing node.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of terminating current ownership includes waiting a predetermined period of delay prior to invoking arbitration techniques.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, further including an act of generating a list that identifies each storage device in the storage subsystem that includes physical quorum resources that were owned by the computing nodes of the storage network.

7. A method as recited in claim 6, further including an act of processing volume information from each storage device contained in the generated list to rebuild an internal configuration database.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of mounting the quorum volume is only performed when a computing node has acquired ownership of all storage devices necessary for a quorum volume.

9. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of mounting the quorum volume is only performed when a computing node has acquired ownership of a majority of the physical quorum resources.

10. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the quorum volume includes one or more of concatenated and striped extents, and wherein the act of mounting the quorum volume is only performed when ownership is obtained for more than one of the concatenated and striped extents.

11. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the quorum volume includes one or more of concatenated and striped extents, and wherein the act of mounting the quorum volume is only performed when ownership is obtained for a simple majority of the one or more concatenated and striped extents.

12. A computer program product for use in a system that includes a plurality of computing nodes and a storage subsystem that includes physical quorum resources contained within one or more storage devices, the computer program product comprising:

a computer readable media having computer-executable instructions for implementing a method for forming a storage network in which the physical quorum resources can be utilized by the computing nodes of the storage network, the method for forming a storage network including;

an act of terminating any current ownership over the physical quorum resources of the storage subsystem by each of the computing nodes in the system;

an act of scanning each other computing node in the system to update configuration information for a new storage network;

an act of invoking arbitration techniques to determine ownership of the physical quorum resources by one or more of the computing nodes; and

an act of mounting a quorum volume comprising the physical quorum resources to the storage network.

13. A computer program product as recited in claim 12, wherein the acts of terminating current ownership and invoking arbitration are performed by a first module and wherein the acts of scanning each other computing node and mounting a quorum volume are performed by a second module that is different than the first module.

14. A computer program product as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of terminating current ownership includes blocking access to the storage subsystem.

15. A computer program product as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of terminating current ownership includes resetting a bus of each computing node.

16. A computer program product as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of terminating current ownership includes waiting a predetermined period of delay prior to invoking arbitration techniques.

17. A computer program product as recited in claim 12, wherein the method further includes an act of generating a list that identifies each storage device in the storage subsystem that includes physical quorum resources that were owned by the computing nodes of the storage network.

18. A computer program product as recited in claim 17, wherein the method further includes an act of processing volume information from each storage device contained in the generated list to rebuild an internal configuration database.

19. A computer program product as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of mounting the quorum volume is only performed when a computing node has acquired ownership of all storage devices necessary for a quorum volume.

20. A computer program product as recited in claim 12, wherein the act of mounting the quorum volume is only performed when a computing node has acquired ownership of a majority of the physical quorum resources.

21. A computer program product as recited in claim 12, wherein the quorum volume includes one or more of concatenated and striped extents, and wherein the act of mounting the quorum volume is only performed when ownership is obtained for more than one of the concatenated and striped extents.

22. A computer program product as recited in claim 12, wherein the quorum volume includes one or more of concatenated and striped extents, and wherein the act of mounting the quorum volume is only performed when ownership is obtained for a simple majority of the one or more concatenated and striped extents.