Computer system, data management method, and program for determining a migration method based on prediction of a migration influence

• US 7,395,370 B2
• Filed: 10/06/2005
• Issued: 07/01/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Takamoto, Yoshifumi, Yasuda, Yoshiko, Shimizu, Masaaki, Ukai, Toshiyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Verbrugge; Kevin
• Application Number:
  US11/244,038
• Publication Number:
  US 20060218367A1
• Time in Patent Office: 999 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 711/114
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/061 Improving I/O performance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0647 Migration mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0665 at area level, e.g. provisioning of virtual or logical volumes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

A technology capable of achieving the LU migration in terms of a file system and a logical volume and the effective migration in a host computer which provides a file system function and a logical volume function is provided. A computer system has I/O access unification and management means that obtains RAID configuration information and RAID statistical information in a disk array system and manages an I/O access unified management table in which file system configuration information and logical volume configuration information managed by an OS are unified. Also, the computer system has migration volume deciding means that determines a migration method based on the I/O access unified management table, migration influence predicting means that obtains migration influence prediction information, and RAID linkage migration performing means.

Claims

1. A computer system formed of one or more computers and one or more physical volumes, the system comprising:

first means which unifies said physical volumes and manages the unified physical volumes as a logical volume;

second means which obtains configuration information of physical storage devices forming said physical volumes;

third means which obtains performance statistical information collected in said physical volumes; and

a table which relates said logical volume and the performance statistical information collected in said physical volumes.

2. The computer system according to claim 1,

wherein said table has a threshold for first information included in said performance statistical information, and

wherein said computer system further comprises:

fourth means which decides whether the physical volume used as said logical volume is changed from a first physical volume unified into said logical volume to a second physical volume not unified into said logical volume when said first information exceeds said threshold.

3. A data management method in a computer system formed of one or more computers and one or more physical volumes, the method comprising:

a first step of unifying said physical volumes and managing the unified physical volumes as a logical volume;

a second step of obtaining configuration information of physical storage devices forming said physical volumes;

a third step of obtaining performance statistical information collected in said physical volumes and relating said logical volume and the performance statistical information collected in said physical volumes to a table; and

a fourth step of deciding whether the physical volumes used as said logical volume is changed from a first physical volume unified into said logical volume to a second physical volume not unified into said logical volume when first information included in said performance statistical information exceeds a threshold.

4. The data management method according to claim 3,

wherein said first information is a utilization ratio of said physical volumes.

5. The data management method according to claim 4,

wherein, in said fourth step, at the time of a decision whether a change from said first physical volume to said second physical volume is made, a predicted value of said utilization ratio after the change is calculated, and the decision is made based on the calculated predicted value.

6. The data management method according to claim 5,

wherein, in the case where there are a plurality of candidates, each usable as said second physical volumes, the predicted value of said utilization ratio is calculated assuming that each of the candidates is used as the second physical volume, and one of the second physical volumes is selected by comparing the calculated predicted values with each other.

7. The data management method according to claim 6,

wherein, when the predicted value of said utilization ratio is calculated, a predicted value calculated by a computer for managing the physical volumes which is communicable with each of the physical volumes is used.

8. A program tangibly embodied on a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the program causes one or more computers in a computer system to execute steps of a data management method, wherein said computer system comprises said one or more computers and one or more physical volumes, the program causing said one or more computers to execute:

a first step of unifying said physical volumes and managing the unified physical volumes as a logical volume;

a second step of obtaining configuration information of physical storage devices forming said physical volumes;

a third step of obtaining performance statistical information collected in said physical volumes and relating said logical volume and the performance statistical information collected in said physical volumes to a table; and

a fourth step of deciding whether the physical volume used as said logical volume is changed from a first physical volume unified into said logical volume to a second physical volume not unified into said logical volume when first information included in said performance statistical information exceeds a threshold.

9. A computer system formed of one or more computers, one or more physical volumes, and a computer for managing the physical volumes which is communicable with said physical volumes, the system comprising:

first means which unifies said physical volumes and manages the unified physical volumes as a logical volume; and

second means which obtains configuration information of physical storage devices forming said physical volumes,

wherein said computer for managing the physical volumes includes third means which obtains performance statistical information of said physical volumes and a table which relates said logical volume and the performance statistical information of said physical volumes.

10. The computer system according to claim 9,

wherein said table has a threshold for first information included in said performance statistical information, and

said computer system further comprises:

fourth means which decides whether the physical volume used as said logical volume is changed from a first physical volume unified into said logical volume to a second secondary storage physical volume not unified into said logical volume when said first information exceeds said threshold.

11. A data management method in a computer system formed of one or more computers, one or more physical volumes, and a computer for managing the physical volumes which is communicable with said physical volumes, the method comprising:

a first step of unifying said physical volumes and managing the unified physical volumes as a logical volume;

a second step of obtaining configuration information of physical storage devices forming said physical volumes;

a third step, performed by said computer for managing the physical volumes, of obtaining performance statistical information of the secondary storages and relating said logical volume and the performance statistical information of said physical volumes to a table; and

a fourth step, performed by said computer for managing the physical volumes, of deciding whether a physical volume used as said logical volume is changed from a first physical volume unified into said logical volume to a second physical volume not unified into said logical volume when first information included in said performance statistical information exceeds a threshold.

12. The data management method according to claim 11,

wherein said first information is a utilization ratio of said physical volumes.

13. The data management method according to claim 12,

wherein, in said fourth step, at the time of a decision whether a change from said first physical volume to said second physical volume is made, a predicted value of said utilization ratio after the change is calculated, and the decision is made based on the calculated predicted value.

14. The data management method according to claim 13,

wherein, in the case where there are a plurality of candidates, each usable as said second physical volume, the predicted value of said utilization ratio is calculated assuming that each of the candidates is used as the second physical volume, and one of the second physical volumes is selected by comparing the calculated predicted values with each other.

15. A program tangibly embodied on a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the program causes one or more computers in a computer system to execute steps of a data management methods, wherein said computer system comprises said one or more computers, one or more physical volumes, and a computer for managing the physical volumes and which is communicable with said physical volumes, the program causing said one or more computers to execute;

a first step of unifying said physical volumes and managing the unified physical volumes as a logical volume;

a second step of obtaining configuration information of physical storage devices forming said physical volumes;

a third step, performed by said computer for managing the physical volumes, of obtaining performance statistical information of said physical volumes and relating said logical volume and the performance statistical information of said physical volumes to a table; and

a fourth step, performed by said computer for managing the physical volumes, of deciding whether the physical volumes used as said logical volume is changed from a first physical volume unified into said logical volume to a second physical volume not unified into said logical volume when first information included in said performance statistical information exceeds a threshold.

16. A computer system formed of one or more computers, one or more physical volumes, and a computer for managing the physical volumes which is communicable with said physical volumes, the system comprising:

first means which unifies said physical volumes and manages the unified physical volumes as a logical volume; and

in the case where a mirror in which a first physical volume and a second physical volume have same contents can be formed as said logical volume and said physical volumes and said computer for managing the physical volumes have a function of data copying among the physical volumes,

second means which decides, by using a table which relates said logical volume and said physical volumes, whether said function of data copying among the physical volumes can be used for synchronization of the contents of said first and second physical volumes to form the mirror between said first and second physical volumes.

17. The computer system according to claim 16, further comprising:

third means which instructs said physical volumes and said computer for managing the physical volumes to perform said function of data copying among the physical volumes when it is decided that said function of data copying among the physical volumes can be used for synchronization of the contents of said first and second physical volumes.

18. A data management method in a computer system formed of one or more computers, one or more physical volumes, and a computer for managing the physical volumes which is communicable with said physical volumes, the method comprising:

a first step of unifying said physical volumes and managing the unified physical volumes as logical volume; and

in the case where a mirror in which a first physical volume and a second physical volume have same contents can be formed as said logical volume and said physical volumes and said computer for managing the physical volumes have a function of data copying among the physical volumes,

a second step of deciding, by using a table which relates said logical volume and said physical volumes, whether said function of data copying among the physical volumes can be used for synchronization of the contents of said first and second physical volumes to form the mirror between said first and second physical volumes.

19. The data management method according to claim 18, further comprising:

a third step of instructing said physical volumes and said computer for managing the physical volumes to perform said function of data copying among the physical volumes when it is decided that said function of data copying among the physical volumes can be used for synchronization of the contents of said first and second physical volumes.

20. A program tangibly embodied on a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the program causes one or more computers in a computer system to execute steps of a data management method, wherein said computer system comprises said one or more computers, one or more physical volumes, and a computer for managing the physical volumes and which is communicable with said physical volumes, the program causing said one or more computers to execute:

a first step of unifying said physical volumes and managing the unified physical volumes as a logical volume; and

in the case where a mirror in which a first physical volume and a second physical volume have same contents can be formed as said logical volume and the physical volumes and said computer for managing the physical volumes have a function of data copying among the physical volumes,

a second step of deciding, by using a table which relates said logical volume and said physical volumes, whether said function of data copying among the physical volumes can be used for synchronization of the contents of said first and second physical volumes to form the mirror between said first and second physical volumes.