Methods and apparatuses for providing copies of stored data for disaster recovery and other uses
First Claim
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1. In a system comprising a first computer coupled to first and second storage devices, a method for providing copies of data, the method comprising:
- cross-referencing (a) a hardware address identifying the first storage device and (b) a first device identifier for representing the first storage device to a program in the first computer;
cross-referencing (a) a hardware address identifying the second storage device and (b) a first device identifier for representing the second storage device to a program in the first computer;
pairing the first and second storage devices;
adding the pair, by information other than first device identifiers, to a copy group already containing another storage-device pair;
identifying the copy group;
cross-referencing the copy-group identifier and the first device identifiers of the pair; and
preparing to copy data, using the cross-reference.
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Abstract
A disaster recovery technique for computer systems obtains backup copies of data by arranging recording devices like direct-access disk devices into copy pairs of primary and secondary devices. Management of the device copy pairs within a single system and across multiple systems is facilitated by constructing maps of device information that provide a cross-reference between I/O subsystem device numbers and hardware addresses. Information structures are constructed from the maps and used to facilitate defining and managing groups of device copy pairs.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. In a system comprising a first computer coupled to first and second storage devices, a method for providing copies of data, the method comprising:
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cross-referencing (a) a hardware address identifying the first storage device and (b) a first device identifier for representing the first storage device to a program in the first computer; cross-referencing (a) a hardware address identifying the second storage device and (b) a first device identifier for representing the second storage device to a program in the first computer; pairing the first and second storage devices; adding the pair, by information other than first device identifiers, to a copy group already containing another storage-device pair; identifying the copy group; cross-referencing the copy-group identifier and the first device identifiers of the pair; and preparing to copy data, using the cross-reference. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification