Method and apparatus for managing replication volumes
First Claim
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1. A method for storage management comprising:
- receiving a command of a first kind, said command comprising first information;
identifying at least one production volume based on said first information;
selecting a candidate storage volume from among a plurality of storage volumes; and
initiating mirroring of said production volume with said candidate storage volume, wherein said candidate storage volume is a mirror volume, wherein said first information is representative of a plurality of production volumes, said selecting includes determining a corresponding candidate storage volume for each of said production volumes, and said initiating includes initiating mirroring of each of said production volumes with its corresponding candidate mirror volume.
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Abstract
Replication of volumes is facilitated by tools which provide and manage a pool of mirror volumes. Primary (or production) volumes containing user provided data are easily mirrored by volumes selected from the pool. User criteria can be provided to limit the selection of candidate volumes for mirroring.
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Citations
53 Claims
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1. A method for storage management comprising:
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receiving a command of a first kind, said command comprising first information;
identifying at least one production volume based on said first information;
selecting a candidate storage volume from among a plurality of storage volumes; and
initiating mirroring of said production volume with said candidate storage volume, wherein said candidate storage volume is a mirror volume, wherein said first information is representative of a plurality of production volumes, said selecting includes determining a corresponding candidate storage volume for each of said production volumes, and said initiating includes initiating mirroring of each of said production volumes with its corresponding candidate mirror volume. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for storage management comprising:
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receiving a command of a first kind, said command comprising first information;
identifying at least one production volume based on said first information;
selecting a candidate storage volume from among a plurality of storage volumes;
initiating mirroring of said production volume with said candidate storage volume, wherein said candidate storage volume is a mirror volume; and
receiving a command of a second kind, said command of second kind including second information indicative of one or more storage volumes being used to perform mirroring of one or more production volumes, and in response to receiving said command of a second kind, ceasing mirroring of said one or more production volumes and designating said one or more storage volumes as being no longer in use as mirror volumes so that said one or more storage volumes can be selected as candidate volumes in a subsequent selecting step.
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16. A method for managing a data storage system comprising:
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storing first information relating to a plurality of storage units, said first information defining a pool of mirror volumes;
receiving second information representative of one or more production volumes;
selecting one or more candidate mirror volumes from said pool of mirror volumes, each candidate mirror volume associated with a production volume;
for each production volume, initiating a mirroring operation for said each production volume using its associated candidate mirror volume; and
for each candidate mirror volume designating it as being not available. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. In a data storage system comprising primary volumes and mirror volumes, an interface for exchanging information with said data storage system to effect management of said mirror volumes comprising:
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first computer program code effective to operate a computer to receive a first command comprising first information indicative one or more primary volumes and to communicate a first request to said data storage system, said first request comprising information representative of said one or more primary volumes and absent information identifying pairings of primary volumes and mirror volumes;
second computer program code effective to operate said computer to receive second information from said data storage system, said second information identifying one or more mirror volumes;
third computer program code effective to operate said computer to obtain approval of said one or more mirror volumes; and
fourth computer program code effective to operate said computer to detect receipt of said approval and in response thereto to communicate a second request to said data storage system, said second request effective to cause said data storage system to initiate mirroring of said one or more primary volumes using said one or more mirror volumes. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A data storage manager suitable for use in a data storage system comprising a plurality of storage volumes, the data storage manager comprising:
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a data store to store information representative of one or more of said storage volumes as mirror volumes;
a first component operable to receive commands; and
a second component cooperative with said first component and in data communication with said data store, said first component operable to communicate information indicative of said commands to said second component, said second component operable to effect control of mirroring operations in said data storage system in accordance with said commands, said second component, in response to a first command comprising information representative of one or more of said storage volumes used as primary volumes, being operable to identify said primary volumes, to select one or more candidate mirror volumes from among said one or more mirror volume, to associate each primary volume with one of said candidate mirror volumes, and to effect a mirroring operation of said each primary volume with its associated candidate volume. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A data storage manager comprising:
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storage pool means for storing first information relating to a plurality of storage units, said first information defining a pool of mirror volumes;
means for receiving second information representative of one or more production volumes;
means, in data communication with said storage pool means, for selecting one or more candidate mirror volumes, each candidate mirror volume associated with a production volume; and
means for initiating a mirroring operation for each production volume using its associated candidate mirror volume. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53)
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Specification