Storage subsystem and performance tuning method

• US 7,155,587 B2
• Filed: 01/11/2005
• Issued: 12/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Satoyama, Ai, Yamamoto, Yasutomo, Eguchi, Yoshiaki, Shimada, Akinobu
• Primary Examiner(s): Peugh, Brian R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bradley, Matthew
• Application Number:
  US11/032,172
• Publication Number:
  US 20050193168A1
• Time in Patent Office: 714 Days
• Field of Search: 711/162
• US Class Current: 711/162
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3485 for I/O devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2206/1012 Load balancing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/061 Improving I/O performance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0631 by allocating resources to storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0635 by changing the path, e.g. traffic rerouting, path reconfiguration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0647 Migration mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0653 Monitoring storage devices or systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

In a storage subsystem, performance tuning is performed with respect to all of the logical devices including external storage subsystems that are not directly connected to host computers. The physical storage units presented by the external storage subsystems are defined as logical devices of the storage subsystem, and I/O processing requests from the host computers are relayed to the logical devices. At the time of relaying, I/O processing conditions are monitored. When the load of an external storage subsystem is high, then operating conditions of ports and processors are examined. When the load can be reduced by changing the configuration of those ports and processors, the configuration is changed to reduce the load. When the load can not be reduced, data is migrated from a logical device having a high load to a logical device having a sufficient performance.

Claims

1. A method for managing a performance of a storage system, the storage system including a first storage subsystem and a second storage subsystem, the first storage subsystem being coupled to a computer and including a plurality of first logical devices, the second storage subsystem being coupled to the first storage subsystem and including a plurality of second logical devices, the method comprising the steps of:

storing, at the first storage subsystem, relationship information indicating a relation between a first logical device of the plurality of first logical devices and a second logical device of the plurality of second logical devices;

receiving, at the first storage subsystem, a first access request to said first logical device from the computer;

sending, from the first storage subsystem, a second access request for said second logical device to the second storage subsystem via an interface in the first storage subsystem coupled to the second storage subsystem, said second logical device being specified based on the relationship information when the first storage subsystem receives the first access request;

calculating, at the first storage subsystem, performance related to the second access request from the interface to said second logical device by using the relationship information, in order to determine operating information associated with said second logical device by the first storage subsystem;

reading out, by the first storage subsystem in a manner transparent to the computer, data stored in said second logical device from the second storage subsystem if the operating information associated with said second logical device indicates a predetermined amount of deterioration in performance of the second logical device;

storing, at the first storage subsystem in a manner transparent to the computer, the data read out from said second logical device in the second storage subsystem into a storage device in the first storage subsystem;

changing the relationship information to indicate a new relation between said first logical device and the storage device; and

executing, at the first storage subsystem, a third access request for accessing the storage device in the first storage subsystem in response to receiving a fourth access request for said first logical device at the first storage subsystem after the storing step based on the new relation.

2. A method for managing a performance of a storage system according to claim 1, wherein the operating information associated with said second logical device is information indicating throughput, which is calculated within the interface of the first storage subsystem, associated with the second access request issued from the first storage subsystem to said second logical device via the interface.

3. A method for managing a performance of a storage system according to claim 1, wherein the operating information associated with said second logical device is information about data transfer amount during a predetermined period, which is calculated within the interface of the first storage subsystem, associated with the second access request.

4. A method for managing a performance of a storage system according to claim 1, wherein the operating information associated with said second logical device is information about a number of I/Os during a predetermined period, which is calculated within the interface of the first storage subsystem, associated with the second access request.

5. A method for managing a performance of a storage system according to claim 1, wherein the operating information associated with said second logical device is information about response time, which is calculated within the interface of the first storage subsystem, associated with the second access request.

6. A method for managing a performance of a storage system according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

preparing, at the first storage subsystem, dummy data used for performance calculating of an I/O operation concerned with the second access request between the first storage subsystem and said second logical device within the interface of the first storage subsystem; and

transmitting the dummy data as the second access request from the first storage subsystem to said second logical device via the interface of the first storage subsystem,

wherein the I/O operation associated with the dummy data is monitored within the interface at the first storage subsystem to determine the operating information associated with said second logical device.

7. A method for managing a performance of a storage system according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

outputting information used for management of the storage system based on the determined operating information.

8. A method for managing a performance of a storage system according to claim 7, wherein the output information is a configuration change plan prepared by the first storage subsystem based on the determined operating information.

9. A method for managing a performance of a storage system, the storage system including a first storage subsystem and a second storage subsystem, the first storage subsystem being coupled to a computer and including a plurality of first logical devices, the second storage subsystem being coupled to the first storage subsystem and including a plurality of second logical devices, the method comprising the steps of:

storing, at the first storage subsystem, relationship information indicating a relation between a first logical device of the plurality of first logical devices and a second logical device of the plurality of second logical devices;

receiving, at the first storage subsystem, a first access request to said first logical device from the computer;

sending, from the first storage subsystem, a second access request for said second logical device to the second storage subsystem via an interface in the first storage subsystem coupled to the second storage subsystem, said second logical device being specified based on the relationship information when the first storage subsystem receives the first access request;

calculating, at the first storage subsystem, performance related to the second access request from the interface to said second logical device by using the relationship information, in order to determine operating information associated with said second logical device by the first storage subsystem;

reading out, by the first storage subsystem in a manner transparent to the computer, data stored in said second logical device from the second storage subsystem if the operating information associated with said second logical device indicates that a predetermined condition is satisfied;

storing, at the first storage subsystem in a manner transparent to the computer, the data read out from said second logical device in the second storage subsystem into a storage device in the first storage subsystem;

changing the relationship information to indicate a new relation between said first logical device and the storage device; and

executing, at the first storage subsystem, a third access request for accessing the storage device in the first storage subsystem in response to receiving a fourth access request for said first logical device at the first storage subsystem after the storing step based on the new relation.

10. A method for managing a performance of a storage system according to claim 9, wherein the operating information associated with said second logical device is information indicating throughput, which is calculated within the interface of the first storage subsystem, associated with the second access request issued from the first storage subsystem to said second logical device via the interface.

11. A method for managing a performance of a storage system according to claim 9, wherein the operating information associated with said second logical device is information about data transfer amount during a predetermined period, which is calculated within the interface of the first storage subsystem, associated with the second access request.

12. A method for managing a performance of a storage system according to claim 9, wherein the operating information associated with said second logical device is information about a number of I/Os during a predetermined period, which is calculated within the interface of the first storage subsystem, associated with the second access request.

13. A method for managing a performance of a storage system according to claim 9, wherein the operating information associated with said second logical device is information about response time, which is calculated within the interface of the first storage subsystem, associated with the second access request.

14. A method for managing a performance of a storage system according to claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

preparing, at the first storage subsystem, dummy data used for performance calculating of an I/O operation concerned with the second access request between the first storage subsystem and said second logical device within the interface of the first storage subsystem; and

transmitting the dummy data as the second access request from the first storage subsystem to said second logical device via the interface of the first storage subsystem,

wherein the I/O operation associated with the dummy data is monitored within the interface at the first storage subsystem to determine the operating information associated with said second logical device.

15. A method for managing a performance of a storage system according to claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

outputting information used for management of the storage system based on the determined operating information.

16. A method for managing a performance of a storage system according to claim 15, wherein the output information is a configuration change plan prepared by the first storage subsystem based on the determined operating information.

17. A method for managing a performance of a storage system, the storage system including a first storage subsystem and a second storage subsystem, the first storage subsystem being coupled to a computer and including a plurality of first logical devices, the second storage subsystem being coupled to the first storage subsystem and including a plurality of second logical devices, the method comprising the steps of:

storing, at the first storage subsystem, relationship information indicating a relation between a first logical device of the plurality of first logical devices and a second logical device of the plurality of second logical devices;

receiving, at the first storage subsystem, a first access request to said first logical device from the computer;

sending, from the first storage subsystem, a second access request for said second logical device to the second storage subsystem via an interface in the first storage subsystem coupled to the second storage subsystem, said second logical device being specified based on the relationship information when the first storage subsystem receives the first access request;

calculating, at the first storage subsystem, performance related to the second access request from the interface to said second logical device by using the relationship information, in order to determine operating information associated with said second logical device by the first storage subsystem;

reading out, by the first storage subsystem in a manner transparent to the computer, data stored in said second logical device from the second storage subsystem if a selected performance value of the operating information associated with said second logical device is less than a predetermined value;

storing, at the first storage subsystem in a manner transparent to the computer, the data read out from said second logical device in the second storage subsystem into a storage device in the first storage subsystem;

changing the relationship information to indicate a new relation between said first logical device and the storage device; and

executing, at the first storage subsystem, a third access request for accessing the storage device in the first storage subsystem in response to receiving a fourth access request for said first logical device at the first storage subsystem after the storing step based on the new relation.

18. A method for managing a performance of a storage system according to claim 17, wherein the operating information associated with said second logical device is information indicating throughput, which is calculated within the interface of the first storage subsystem, associated with the second access request issued from the first storage subsystem to said second logical device via the interface.

19. A method for managing a performance of a storage system according to claim 17, wherein the operating information associated with said second logical device is information about data transfer amount during a predetermined period, which is calculated within the interface of the first storage subsystem, associated with the second access request.

20. A method for managing a performance of a storage system according to claim 17, wherein the operating information associated with said second logical device is information about a number of I/Os during a predetermined period, which is calculated within the interface of the first storage subsystem, associated with the second access request.

21. A method for managing a performance of a storage system according to claim 17, wherein the operating information associated with said second logical device is information about response time, which is calculated within the interface of the first storage subsystem, associated with the second access request.

22. A method for managing a performance of a storage system according to claim 17, further comprising the steps of:

preparing, at the first storage subsystem, dummy data used for performance calculating of an I/O operation concerned with the second access request between the first storage subsystem and said second logical device within the interface of the first storage subsystem; and

transmitting the dummy data as the second access request from the first storage subsystem to said second logical device via the interface of the first storage subsystem,

wherein the I/O operation associated with the dummy data is monitored within the interface at the first storage subsystem to determine the operating information associated with said second logical device.

23. A method for managing a performance of a storage system according to claim 17, further comprising the steps of:

outputting information used for management of the storage system based on the determined operating information.

24. A method for managing a performance of a storage system according to claim 23, wherein the output information is a configuration change plan prepared by the first storage subsystem based on the determined operating information.