Method and system for maintaining disk location via homeness
First Claim
1. A method for managing ownership of one or more storage devices in a storage network, comprising:
- writing ownership information to a predetermined area of each storage device, wherein said information includes;
current owner information, identifying a node that currently serves data access requests directed to a storage device;
home owner information, identifying an originally assigned node that serves data access requests directed to the storage device when the originally assigned node is operational;
performing a takeover of the originally assigned node by a takeover node;
reading the ownership information to determine storage devices to be taken over by the takeover node; and
updating the ownership information stored on each storage device to be taken over to reflect the takeover node as the current owner of the storage devices.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system manages ownership information about disks in a storage network without the need for an emulated, partner mode system. The method and system provides for ownership information, including a current owner and a home owner for resources, such as disks, to be stored on each disk in a storage system, as well as to be stored in memory on each storage system node in the network. A further aspect of the invention is a disk homeness application program interface (API), which provides commands that can be utilized by an administrator at a host computer to set, modify and display ownership information about each disk in the cluster. Upon a takeover, any node in the network can takeover one or more disks by reading the ownership information stored on the disks or in the tables.
63 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method for managing ownership of one or more storage devices in a storage network, comprising:
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writing ownership information to a predetermined area of each storage device, wherein said information includes; current owner information, identifying a node that currently serves data access requests directed to a storage device; home owner information, identifying an originally assigned node that serves data access requests directed to the storage device when the originally assigned node is operational; performing a takeover of the originally assigned node by a takeover node; reading the ownership information to determine storage devices to be taken over by the takeover node; and updating the ownership information stored on each storage device to be taken over to reflect the takeover node as the current owner of the storage devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A computer readable medium containing executable program instructions executed by a processor, comprising:
program instructions that configure application program interface messages for reading, writing and modifying ownership information in an ownership location on a storage device including at least one of current owner information of a node that currently serves data access requests directed to that storage device, and home owner information identifying an originally assigned node that serves data access requests directed to that storage device when the originally assigned node is operational, wherein a takeover node can read the ownership information to determine the storage device belonging to the originally assigned node to perform a takeover for the originally assigned node, and wherein the ownership information stored on the storage device is updated to reflect a takeover node as the current owner of the storage device. - View Dependent Claims (9)
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10. A storage network, comprising:
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one or more storage system nodes each having a least one disk element module, said nodes being configured to be in communication with one another; a plurality of disks each disk having an ownership and configured to store ownership information including a current owner of the disk and a home owner of the disk, each disk connected to at least one of the disk element modules in the network; and a processor executing a storage operating system running on each disk element module, the storage operating system having an ownership module that maintains an ownership table configured to store ownership information about one or more disks associated with the network, wherein said ownership module updates the ownership information stored on each disk to reflect a takeover node as the current owner of each disk. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
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13. A computer readable medium containing executable program instructions executed by a processor, comprising:
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program instructions that write ownership information to a predetermined area of a storage device, wherein said information includes; current owner information identifying a node that currently serves data access requests directed to that storage device; home owner information identifying an originally assigned node that serves data access requests directed to the storage device when the originally assigned node is operational program instructions that perform a takeover of the originally assigned node by a takeover node; program instructions that read the ownership information to determine storage devices to be taken over by the takeover node; and program instructions that update the ownership information stored on each storage device to be taken over to reflect the takeover node as the current owner of the storage devices. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A system for using a computer for managing ownership of one or more storage devices in a storage network, the system comprising:
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means for writing ownership information to a predetermined area of each storage device, wherein said information includes; current owner information, identifying a node that currently serves data access requests directed to a storage device; home owner information, identifying an originally assigned node that serves data access requests directed to the storage device when the originally assigned node is operational; means for performing a takeover of the originally assigned node by a takeover node, wherein the takeover node comprises a processor executing the means for performing the takeover; means for reading the ownership information to determine storage devices to be taken over by the takeover node; and means for updating the ownership information stored on each storage device to be taken over to reflect the takeover node as the current owner of the storage devices.
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18. A storage network, comprising:
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one or more storage system nodes each having a least one disk element module, said nodes being configured to be in communication with one another; a plurality of storage devices each storage device having an ownership and configured to store ownership information including a current owner of the storage device and a home owner of the storage device, each storage device connected to at least one of the disk element modules in the network; and a processor executing a storage operating system running on each disk element module, the storage operating system having an ownership module that maintains an ownership table configured to store ownership information about one or more storage devices associated with the network, wherein said ownership module updates the ownership information stored on each storage device to reflect a takeover node as the current owner of each storage device.
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Specification