Redundant manager for a storage system

• US 7,603,580 B2
• Filed: 07/07/2004
• Issued: 10/13/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Helman, Haim, Zohar, Ofir, Schwartz, Shemer, Revah, Yaron, Cohen, Dror
• Primary Examiner(s): Beausoliel; Robert
• Assistant Examiner(s): Manoskey; Joseph D
• Application Number:
  US10/886,359
• Publication Number:
  US 20050015658A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,924 Days
• Field of Search: 714/4, 714/5, 714/6, 714/11, 714/13, 714/42, 714/7, 714/8, 714/10
• US Class Current: 714/6.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/00 Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring error detection, correction or monitoring in information storage based on relative movement between record carrier and transducer G11B20/18; monitoring, i.e. supervising the progress of recording or reproducing G11B27/36; in static stores G11C29/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2002 where interconnections or communication control functionality are redundant flexible arrangements for bus networks involving redundancy H04L12/40176
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2017 where memory access, memory control or I/O control functionality is redundant redundant communication control functionality G06F11/2005; redundant storage control functionality G06F11/2089
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2082 Data synchronisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2092 Techniques of failing over between control units
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3006 where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3034 where the computing system component is a storage system, e.g. DASD based or network based digital input from or digital output to record carriers G06F3/06; digital recording or reproducing G11B20/18; for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS], H04L67/1097
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3055 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the status of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring if the computing system is on, off, available, not available error or fault processing without redundancy G06F11/0703; error detection or correction by redundancy in data representation G06F11/08; error detection or correction by redundancy in operation G06F11/14; error detection or correction by redundancy in hardware G06F11/16
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/08 in hierarchically structured memory systems, e.g. virtual memory systems

Abstract

A method for managing activity of a data storage system, including at least partly managing and performing an operator interaction with the storage system using a first processing system, and monitoring operation of the first processing system using a second processing system. The method further includes detecting a failure in operation of the first processing system using the second processing system and at least partly managing and performing the operator interaction using the second processing system in response to detecting the failure.

Claims

1. A method for managing a storage system including a plurality of caches coupled to a plurality of disks, comprising:

addressing data in a uniform, fine address pace of data tracks, the data tracks having respective data tack numbers;

forming a mapping of the data tracks to the disks by hashing a modulus of the data track numbers;

configuring a system manager of the storage system to comprise a first distributed management processing system and a second distributed management processing system sharing a first common system element, and a third distributed management processing system and a fourth distributed management processing system sharing a second common system element, each of the first, the second, the third, and the fourth distributed management processing systems being configured to perform an operator interaction with the storage system, the first and the second distributed management processing systems being configured to check each other for failure, and the third and the fourth distributed management processing systems being configured to check each other for failure;

detecting, by the system manager, a failure in the first common system element; and

remapping only the data tracks mapped to the first common system element to the third or the fourth distributed management processing system, using at least one of the first or the second management processing systems to perform the remapping, so as to update the mapping to an updated mapping.

2. The method of claim 1, the method farther comprising:

coupling interfaces, that transfer data from hosts of the storage system, to the caches;

configuring the system manager to have farther distributed management processing systems, so that a total number of the distributed management processing systems equals a number of the interfaces and the caches; and

respectively installing the total number of the distributed management processing systems on the interfaces and the caches, and running the distributed management processing systems thereon.

3. The method of claim 1, the method farther comprising:

coupling interfaces, that transfer data from hosts of the storage system, to the caches;

configuring the system manager to have farther distributed management processing systems, so that a total number of the distributed management processing systems is less than a number of the interfaces and the caches; and

installing respective distributed management processing systems on an equal number of interfaces and the caches, and running the distributed management processing systems thereon.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the respective mapping comprises a function.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the respective mapping comprises a lookup table.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein performing the remapping comprises performing the remapping using only the first management processing system.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein performing the remapping comprises performing the remapping using the first management processing system and the second management processing system.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein performing the remapping comprises the at least one management processing system redistributing the data tracks one track at a time in response to the updated mapping.

9. A hardware configuration in a computing system, comprising:

a first configuration comprising;

a first processing system configured to perform a first activity, the first processing system comprising a first processor unit and a first memory, and

a second processing system configured to perform a second activity, the second processing system comprising the first processor unit and a second memory; and

a second configuration in communication with the first configuration, the second configuration comprising;

a third processing system configured to perform the first activity, the third processing system comprising a second processor unit and a third memory, and

a fourth processing system configured to perform the second activity, the fourth processing system comprising the second processor unit and a fourth memory.

10. The hardware configuration of claim 9, wherein the first processing system is configured to:

detect a first failure in the second processing system while the second processing system is actively performing the second activity; and

de-activate the second processing system and activate the fourth processing system such that the fourth processing system begins performing the second activity.

11. The hardware configuration of claim 10, wherein the first processing system is further configured to:

detect a second failure in the first processing system while the first processing system is actively performing the first activity; and

de-activate the first processing system and activate the third processing system such that the third processing system begins performing the first activity.

12. The hardware configuration of claim 11, wherein the second processing system is configured to:

detect a third failure in the fourth processing system while the fourth processing system is actively performing the second activity; and

de-activate the fourth processing system and activate the second processing system such that the second processing system begins performing the second activity.

13. The hardware configuration of claim 12, wherein the second processing system is further configured to:

detect a fourth failure in the third processing system while the third processing system is actively performing the first activity; and

de-activate the third processing system and activate the first processing system such that the first processing system begins performing the first activity.

14. A hardware configuration in a computing system, comprising:

a first configuration comprising;

a first processing system configured to perform a first activity, the first processing system comprising a first processor unit and a first memory, and

a second processing system configured to perform a second activity, the second processing system comprising a second processor unit and the first memory; and

a second configuration in communication with the first configuration, the second configuration comprising;

a third processing system configured to perform the first activity, the third processing system comprising a third processor unit and a second memory, and

a fourth processing system configured to perform the second activity, the fourth processing system comprising a fourth processor unit and the second memory.

15. The hardware configuration of claim 14, wherein the first processing system is configured to:

detect a first failure in the second processing system while the second processing system is actively performing the second activity; and

de-activate the second processing system and activate the fourth processing system such that the fourth processing system begins performing the second activity.

16. The hardware configuration of claim 15, wherein the first processing system is further configured to:

detect a second failure in the first processing system while the first processing system is actively performing the first activity; and

de-activate the first processing system and activate the third processing system such that the third processing system begins performing the first activity.

17. The hardware configuration of claim 16, wherein the second processing system is configured to:

detect a third failure in the fourth processing system while the fourth processing system is actively performing the second activity; and

de-activate the fourth processing system and activate the second processing system such that the second processing system begins performing the second activity.

18. The hardware configuration of claim 17, wherein the second processing system is further configured to:

detect a fourth failure in the third processing system while the third processing system is actively performing the first activity; and

de-activate the third processing system and activate the first processing system such that the first processing system begins performing the first activity.