Disk array apparatus and method for controlling the same

• US 7,461,203 B2
• Filed: 02/14/2005
• Issued: 12/02/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Hirasawa, Akihisa, Suzuki, Katsuyoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Ellis; Kevin L
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bertram; Ryan
• Application Number:
  US11/056,006
• Publication Number:
  US 20050149673A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,387 Days
• Field of Search: 711/114
• US Class Current: 711/114
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0607 by facilitating the process of upgrading existing storage systems, e.g. for improving compatibility between host and storage device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0625 Power saving in storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0658 Controller construction arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0661 Format or protocol conversion arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0689 Disk arrays, e.g. RAID, JBOD
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/415 Redundant array of inexpensive disks [RAID] systems
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/002 Programmed access in sequence to a plurality of record carriers or indexed parts, e.g. tracks, thereof, e.g. for editing; transfer of record carriers from magazine G11B15/68, G11B17/10; G11B17/22
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/34 Indicating arrangements indicating means incorporated in magazine or cassette G11B23/046 and G11B23/0875; indicating measured values in general G01D
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/36 Monitoring, i.e. supervising the progress of recording or reproducing for digital recording G11B20/00 and s.gr.; for monitoring, testing or measuring of TV recorders of the type covered by H04N5/76 and subgroups, see H04N17/06
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 33/144 by detection, control, regulation of the temperature
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/20836 Thermal management, e.g. server temperature control
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

An apparatus includes a controller and a plurality of disk drives. The controller has a communication control unit for accepting a data input/output request, a disk controller unit for controlling a disk drive, and a cache memory for temporarily storing data transferred between the communication control unit and the disk controller unit. The plurality of disk drives has different communication interfaces and connected to the disk controller unit to communicate with the disk controller unit.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a disk controller controlling data to be transmitted to or received from at least one of plurality of computers and controlling data to be read from or written to a plurality of storage areas via a Fibre Channel (FC) interface;

a plurality of first disk drives each comprising a Serial ATA (SATA) interface and at least one of said plurality of storage areas, and each corresponding to a converter, said converter performing conversion of a communication interface between said FC interface of said disk controller and said SATA interface of one of said plurality of first disk drives;

a basic casing comprising said disk controller; and

an additional casing being capable of mounting either said plurality of first disk drives or a plurality of second disk drives, said plurality of second disk drives each comprising an FC interface; and

said disk controller controlling information to be acquired from at least one disk drive mounted in said additional casing, so that a software program on at least one of said plurality of computers can cause to display interface type information, said interface type information identifying a type of interface of said at least one disk drive mounted in said additional casing.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein, if said additional casing mounts said plurality of first disk drives, said disk controller acquires said information from said plurality of first disk drives.

3. A system according to claim 1, wherein said disk controller controls information to be acquired from a plurality of disk drives mounted in said additional casing, so that said software program can cause to displays said interface type information of said plurality of disk drives on a disk drive basis.

4. A system according to claim 1, wherein, if said additional casing mounts said plurality of first disk drives, said disk controller controls said information to be acquired from said plurality of first disk drives mounted in said additional casing, so that said software program can cause to displays said interface type information of at least one of said plurality of first disk drives and an identifier of said at least one of said plurality of first disk drives.

5. A system according to claim 1:

wherein said software program can cause to displays a relationship among said interface type information of a plurality of disk drives comprised in said additional casing, an identifier of said plurality of disk drives comprised in said additional casing and an identifier of said additional casing.

6. A system according to claim 1, wherein, if said additional casing mounts said plurality of first disk drives, said interface type information indicates said SATA interface.

7. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a memory storing said interface type information on a disk drive basis.

8. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a memory, in said disk controller, storing said information in a table.

9. A system according to claim 1, wherein, if said additional casing mounts said plurality of first disk drives, said disk controller acquires said information from said plurality of first disk drives, and

wherein said interface type information is stored in a memory.

10. A system according to claim 1, wherein, if said additional casing mounts said plurality of first disk drives, said disk controller inquires as to said information to at least one of said plurality of first disk drives and acquires said information from said at least one of said plurality of first disk drives.

11. A system according to claim 1, wherein, if said additional casing mounts said plurality of first disk drives, said disk controller inquires as to said information to at least one of said plurality of first disk drives via a Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) and acquires said information from said at least one of said plurality of first disk drives.

12. A system according to claim 1, wherein, if said additional casing mounts said plurality of first disk drives, said disk controller inquires as to said information to one of said plurality of first disk drives via said converter and acquires said information from said one of said plurality of first disk drives.

13. A system according to claim 1, wherein, if said additional casing mounts said plurality of first disk drives, at least one of said plurality of first drives is used for storing backup data of data stored in at least one of said plurality of second disk drives based on said interface type information.

14. A system according to claim 1:

wherein, if said additional casing mounts said plurality of second disk drives, said interface type information indicates said FC interface.

15. A system according to claim 1:

wherein, if said additional casing mounts said plurality of first disk drives, said interface type information identifies that at least one of said plurality of first disk drives comprises said SATA interface,

wherein, if said additional casing mounts said plurality of second disk drives, said interface type information identifies that at least one of said plurality of second disk drives comprises said FC interface.

16. A disk array system comprising:

a plurality of Serial ATA (SATA) disk drives each corresponding to one converter on a disk drive basis and each storing data received via said converter, said converter converting communication of a Fibre Channel (FC) interface into communication of a SATA interface of one of said SATA disk drives;

a disk controller, to be coupled to a plurality of computers, and writing data received from at least one of said plurality of computers to at least one of a plurality of storage areas composed of at least one of said plurality of SATA disk drives by using said FC interface;

a basic casing comprising said disk controller; and

an additional casing being adapted to comprise either said plurality of SATA disk drives or a plurality of FC disk drives;

wherein said disk controller is adapted to acquire information of at least one disk drive in said additional casing so that a software program of at least one of said plurality of computers is adapted to control disk drive information to be displayed, said disk drive information identifying that at least one of said plurality of SATA disk drives is at least one SATA disk drive, if said additional casing comprises said plurality of SATA disk drives.

17. A disk array system according to claim 16, wherein, if said additional casing comprises said plurality of SATA disk drives, said disk controller is adapted to acquire said information from said at least one of said plurality of SATA disk drives.

18. A disk array system according to claim 16, wherein said disk controller is adapted to acquire information of a plurality of disk drives in said additional casing so that said software program is adapted to control said disk drive information to be displayed on a disk drive basis.

19. A disk array system according to claim 16, wherein said disk drive information includes an identifier of said at least one of said plurality of SATA disk drives in said additional casing.

20. A disk array system according to claim 16:

wherein said disk drive information includes an identifier that one of said plurality of SATA disk drives in said additional casing is a SATA disk drive, an identifier of said one of said plurality of SATA disk drives and an identifier of said additional casing.

21. A disk array system according to claim 16, further comprising:

a memory storing said disk drive information on a disk drive basis.

22. A disk array system according to claim 16, further comprising:

a memory, in said disk controller, storing said information in a table.

23. A disk array system according to claim 16, wherein said disk controller is adapted to acquire said information from said at least one of said plurality of SATA disk drives in said additional casing, and

said disk drive information is stored in a memory.

24. A disk array system according to claim 16, wherein said disk controller is adapted to inquire said information to said at least one of said plurality of SATA disk drives in said additional casing, and to acquire said information from said at least one of said plurality of SATA disk drives.

25. A disk array system according to claim 16, wherein said disk controller is coupled to a plurality of said converters via a Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL), and said disk controller is adapted to inquire said information to said at least one of said plurality of SATA disk drives in said additional casing via said FC-AL, and to acquire said information from said at least one of said plurality of SATA disk drives.

26. A disk array system according to claim 16, wherein said disk controller is adapted to inquire said information to said at least one of said plurality of SATA disk drives in said additional casing via said converter and to acquire said information from said at least one of said plurality of SATA disk drives.

27. A disk array system according to claim 16, wherein, if said additional casing comprises said plurality of SATA disk drives, said at least one of said plurality of SATA disk drives is used for storing backup data of data stored in at least one FC disk drive based on said disk drive information.

28. A disk array system according to claim 16:

wherein, if said additional casing comprises said plurality of FC disk drives, said disk drive information identifies that at least one of said plurality of FC disk drives is at least one FC disk drive.

29. A disk array system comprising:

a disk controller reading/writing data from/to a disk drive via a Fibre Channel (FC) interface,

a basic casing comprising said disk controller; and

an additional casing being capable of mounting either a plurality of sets, each including a first disk drives and a converter, or a plurality of second disk drives, said first disk drives comprising a Serial ATA (SATA) interface said converter performing conversion of a communication interface between said FC interface of said disk controller and said SATA interface of first disk drives, said plurality of second disk drives each comprising an FC interface;

wherein said disk controller acquires information from at least one of a plurality of disk drives mounted in said additional casing so that a program on at least one computer can display interface type information based on said information, said interface type information identifying a type of interface of said at least one of said plurality of disk drives mounted in said additional casing.

30. A disk array system according to claim 29, wherein said program on said at least one computer can displays said interface type information of said at least one of said plurality of disk drives mounted in said additional casing, and an identifier of said at least one of said plurality of disk drives mounted in said additional casing.

31. A disk array system according to claim 29:

wherein said program on said at least one computer can display a relationship among said interface type information of said at least one of said plurality of disk drives mounted in said additional casing, an identifier of said at least one of said plurality of disk drives mounted in said additional casing, and an identifier of said additional casing.

32. A disk array system according to claim 29, wherein said interface type information indicates said SATA interface, if said additional casing mounts said plurality of sets.

33. A disk array system according to claim 29, further comprising:

a memory storing said interface type information on a disk drive basis.

34. A disk array system according to claim 29, further comprising:

a memory, in said disk controller, storing said information in a table.

35. A disk array system according to claim 29, wherein said disk controller inquires as to said information to said at least one of said plurality of disk drives mounted in said additional casing.

36. A disk array system according to claim 29, wherein said disk controller is coupled to a plurality of said converters of said plurality of sets via a Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL), if said additional casino mounts said plurality of sets, and

wherein said disk controller inquires as to said information a plurality of said first disk drives mounted in said additional casing via said FC-AL.

37. A disk array system according to claim 29, wherein said disk controller controls backup data of data stored in a disk drive comprising an FC interface to be stored into at least one of a plurality of said first disk drives mounted in said additional casing.

38. A disk array system according to claim 29, wherein interface type information indicates an FC interface, if said additional casing mounts said plurality of second disk drives.

39. A disk array apparatus comprising:

a controller, in a basic casing, being arranged to transmit data received from at least one of a plurality of computers to at least one of a plurality of storage areas via a Fibre Channel (FC) interface;

a plurality of first disk drive units each comprising a converter and a first disk drive, said converter converting communication with said FO interface into communication with a Serial ATA (SATA) interface, said first disk drive having said SATA interface and at least one of said plurality of storage areas;

an additional casing being capable of comprising either said plurality of first disk drive units or a plurality of second disk drive units, each of said plurality of second disk drive units having an FC interface; and

said controller being arranged to acquire information from at least one disk drive unit comprised in said additional casing so that a software program on at least one of said plurality of computers can cause to display the type of interface of at least one disk drive in said at least one disk drive unit comprised in said additional casing.

40. A disk array apparatus according to claim 39, wherein

if said at least one disk drive unit comprised in said additional casing is at least one of said plurality of first disk drive units, said type of interface displayed corresponds to said SATA interface, and

if said at least one disk drive unit comprised in said additional casing is at least one of said plurality of second disk drive units, said type of interface displayed corresponds to said FC interface.

41. A disk array apparatus according to claim 39, further comprising:

a transmission line, coupled to said controller, being arranged for communication from said controller to at least one disk drive in said at least one disk drive unit comprised in said additional casing via said Fibre Channel (FC) interface.

42. A disk array apparatus according to claim 39, wherein:

said controller is arranged to acquire information from a plurality of disk drive units comprised in said additional casing so that said software program can cause to display the type of interface of each of a plurality of disk drives of said plurality of disk drive units comprised in said additional casing.

43. A disk array apparatus comprising:

a basic casing comprising a controller, said controller being arranged to receive data from at least one of a plurality of computers and to transmit said received data via a Fibre Channel (FC) interface under management of a Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID);

an additional casing being capable of comprising either a plurality of sets, each set including a converter and a first disk drive, or a plurality of second disk drives, said converter converting communication with said FC interface into communication with a Serial ATA (SATA) interface, said first disk drive having said SATA interface, each of said plurality of second disk drives having an FC interface; and

said controller being arranged to acquire information from at least one disk drive comprised in said additional casing so that a software program on at least one of said plurality of computers can cause to display the type of interface of said at least one disk drive comprised in said additional casing.

44. A disk array apparatus according to claim 43, wherein

if said at least one disk drive comprised in said additional casing is at least one of said first disk drives in said plurality of sets, said type of interface displayed corresponds to said SATA interface, and

if said at least one disk drive comprised in said additional casing is at least one of said plurality of second disk drives, said type of interface displayed corresponds to said FC interface.

45. A disk array apparatus according to claim 43, further comprising:

a transmission line, coupled to said controller, being arranged for communication from said controller to said at least one disk drive comprised in said additional casing via said Fibre Channel (FC) interface.

46. A disk array apparatus according to claim 43, wherein:

said controller is arranged to acquire information from a plurality of disk drives comprised in said additional casing so that said software program can cause to display the type of interface of each of said plurality of disk drives comprised in said additional casing.

47. A disk array apparatus according to claim 43, wherein:

said controller is arranged to acquire information from a plurality of said first disk drives comprised in said additional casing so that said software program can cause to display the type of interface of each of said plurality of first disk drives comprised in said additional casing.