Copying data from a first cluster to a second cluster to reassign storage areas from the first cluster to the second cluster

• US 7,761,680 B2
• Filed: 04/03/2007
• Issued: 07/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Lowe, Steven Robert, Gupta, Lokesh Mohan, Todd, Kenneth Wayne, Sanchez, Alfred Emilio, Ash, Kevin John
• Primary Examiner(s): Chace; Christian P
• Assistant Examiner(s): Farrokh; Hashem
• Application Number:
  US11/696,099
• Publication Number:
  US 20080250210A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,204 Days
• Field of Search: 711/165, 711/162, 711/120
• US Class Current: 711/165
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2033 switching over of hardware resources
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2046 where the redundant components share persistent storage G06F11/2043 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2097 maintaining the standby controller/processing unit updated initialisation or re-synchronisation thereof G06F11/1658 and subgroups
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0873 Mapping of cache memory to specific storage devices or parts thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/284 being distributed

Abstract

Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture for copying data from a first cluster to a second cluster to reassign storage areas from the first cluster to the second cluster. An operation is initiated to reassign storage areas from a first cluster to a second cluster, wherein the first cluster includes a first cache and a first storage unit and the second cluster includes a second cache and a second storage unit. Data in the first cache for the storage areas to reassign to the second cluster is copied to the second cache. Data in the first storage unit for storage areas remaining assigned to the first cluster is copied to the second storage unit.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

initiating an operation to reassign storage areas from a first cluster to a second cluster, wherein the first cluster includes a first cache and a first storage unit and the second cluster includes a second cache and a second storage unit;

copying data in the first cache for the storage areas to reassign to the second cluster to the second cache; and

copying data in the first storage unit for storage areas remaining assigned to the first cluster to the second storage unit.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the data copied from the first storage unit to the second storage unit comprises identifiers of data for the storage areas remaining assigned to the first cluster in the first cache.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the copied identifiers are for data of a first type of data in the first cache, further comprising:

copying a copy of data of a second type in the first cache that remains assigned to the first cluster to the second storage unit.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the copying of the data from the first cache to the second cache comprises:

copying, by the first cache, the data to copy from the first cache to the second cache;

sending, by the first cache, a first message to the second cache to commit the copied data, wherein the second cluster initiates management of the storage areas of the copied data in response to the first message;

sending, by the second cache, a second message to the first cache indicating that the copied data was committed; and

discarding, by the first cache, the copied data from the first cache in response to the second message.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the operation of copying data for storage areas remaining assigned to the first cluster to the second storage unit comprises:

sending, by the first cache, a first message to the second storage unit to add an identifier of the data in the first cache that remains assigned to the first cluster;

sending, by the second storage unit, a second message to the first cache indicating that the identifier was added; and

removing, by the first cache, the identifier added to the second storage unit from the first storage unit.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein an identifier of the copied data is maintained in the first storage unit, further comprising:

sending, by the first cache, the identifier in the first storage unit of the copied data; and

updating, by the second cache, a cache control block for the copied data to indicate the identifier in the first storage unit.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the operation of copying the data for storage areas remaining assigned to the first cluster to the second storage unit comprises:

copying, by the first cache, the data to copy from the first cache to the second storage unit;

sending, by the first cache, a first message to the second storage unit to commit the copied data, wherein the second cluster takes ownership of the copied data in response to the first message;

sending, by the second storage unit, a second message to the first cache indicating that the copied data was committed;

in response to the second message, updating, by the first cache, a cache control block to indicate the copied data in the second storage unit; and

discarding, by the first cache, the copied data from the first storage unit.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to the reassign operation, issuing a command to destage data from the first cache and the first storage unit to the storage areas; and

in response to the destage of data failing, performing the operations of moving the data from the first cache to the second cache and moving the data from the first storage unit to the second storage unit, wherein the data is not moved from the first cache and the first storage unit in response to the destage of the data completing.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

discarding data in the first cache copied to the second cache; and

discarding data in the first storage unit copied to the second storage unit.

10. A method, comprising:

initiating an operation to reassign storage areas from a first cluster to a second cluster, wherein the first cluster includes a first cache and a first storage unit and the second cluster includes a second cache and a second storage unit;

for first data of a first type in the first cache for storage areas remaining assigned to the first cluster, copying data corresponding to the first data to the second storage unit and the first data is not copied to the second cache;

for second data of the first type in the first cache for storage areas reassigned to the second cluster, copying the second data from the first cache to the second cache;

for third data of a second type in the first cache for storage areas remaining assigned to the first cluster, copying a copy of the third data to the second storage unit and the third data in the first cache is not copied to the second cache; and

for fourth data of the second type in the first cache for storage areas reassigned to the second cluster, copying the fourth data in the first cache to the second cache.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first type of data comprises metadata or data from storage areas that is stored in one of the first and second caches and an identifier of the data or metadata stored in one of the first and second caches is stored in one of the first and second storage units respectively, and wherein the second type of data comprises data that is stored in one of the first and second caches and a copy of the data is stored in one of the second and first storage units, respectively.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

for fifth data of a third type for storage areas reassigned to the second cluster, the copying of the data from the first cache to the second cache comprises copying the fifth data from the first cache to the second cache, and wherein there is no data corresponding the data of the third type maintained in one of the first and second storage units.

13. A system, comprising:

a first cluster including a first cache and a first storage unit;

a second cluster including a second cache and a second storage unit; and

code executed in the first cluster to perform operations, the operations comprising;

initiating an operation to reassign storage areas from the first cluster to the second cluster;

copying data in the first cache for the storage areas to reassign to the second cluster to the second cache; and

copying data in the first storage unit for storage areas remaining assigned to the first cluster to the second storage unit.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the data copied from the first storage unit to the second storage unit comprises identifiers of data for the storage areas remaining assigned to the first cluster in the first cache.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the copying of the data from the first cache to the second cache comprises:

copying, by the first cache, the data to copy from the first cache to the second cache;

sending, by the first cache, a first message to the second cache to commit the copied data, wherein the second cluster initiates management of the storage areas of the copied data in response to the first message;

sending, by the second cache, a second message to the first cache indicating that the copied data was committed; and

discarding, by the first cache, the copied data from the first cache in response to the second message.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the operation of copying data for storage areas remaining assigned to the first cluster to the second storage unit comprises:

sending, by the first cache, a first message to the second storage unit to add an identifier of the data in the first cache that remains assigned to the first cluster;

sending, by the second storage unit, a second message to the first cache indicating that the identifier was added; and

removing, by the first cache, the identifier added to the second storage unit from the first storage unit.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the operation of copying the data for storage areas remaining assigned to the first cluster to the second storage unit comprises:

copying, by the first cache, the data to copy from the first cache to the second storage unit;

sending, by the first cache, a first message to the second storage unit to commit the copied data, wherein the second cluster takes ownership of the copied data in response to the first message;

sending, by the second storage unit, a second message to the first cache indicating that the copied data was committed;

in response to the second message, updating, by the first cache, a cache control block to indicate the copied data in the second storage unit; and

discarding, by the first cache, the copied data from the first storage unit.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to the reassign operation, issuing a command to destage data from the first cache and the first storage unit to the storage areas; and

in response to the destage of data failing, performing the operations of moving the data from the first cache to the second cache and moving the data from the first storage unit to the second storage unit, wherein the data is not moved from the first cache and the first storage unit in response to the destage of the data completing.

19. A system, comprising:

a first cluster including a first cache and a first storage unit;

a second cluster including a second cache and a second storage unit; and

code executed in the first cluster to perform operations, the operations comprising;

initiating an operation to reassign storage areas from the first cluster to the second cluster;

for first data of a first type in the first cache for storage areas remaining assigned to the first cluster, copying data corresponding to the first data to the second storage unit and the first data is not copied to the second cache;

for second data of the first type in the first cache for storage areas reassigned to the second cluster, copying the second data from the first cache to the second cache;

for third data of a second type in the first cache for storage areas remaining assigned to the first cluster, copying a copy of the third data to the second storage unit and the third data in the first cache is not copied to the second cache; and

for fourth data of the second type in the first cache for storage areas reassigned to the second cluster, copying the fourth data in the first cache to the second cache.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the first type of data comprises metadata or data from storage areas that is stored in one of the first and second caches and an identifier of the data or metadata stored in one of the first and second caches is stored in one of the first and second storage units respectively, and wherein the second type of data comprises data that is stored in one of the first and second caches and a copy of the data is stored in one of the second and first storage units, respectively.

21. An article of manufacture comprising a computer readable storage medium including code executed in a first cluster including a first cache and a first storage unit, wherein the first cluster is in communication with a second cluster including a second cache and a second storage unit, wherein the code causes operations to be performed, the operations comprising:

initiating an operation to reassign storage areas from a first cluster to a second cluster, wherein the first cluster includes a first cache and a first storage unit and the second cluster includes a second cache and a second storage unit;

copying data in the first cache for the storage areas to reassign to the second cluster to the second cache; and

copying data in the first storage unit for storage areas remaining assigned to the first cluster to the second storage unit.

22. The article of manufacture of claim 21, wherein the data copied from the first storage unit to the second storage unit comprises identifiers of data for the storage areas remaining assigned to the first cluster in the first cache.

23. The article of manufacture of claim 22, wherein the copied identifiers are for data of a first type of data in the first cache, further comprising:

copying a copy of data of a second type in the first cache that remains assigned to the first cluster to the second storage unit.

24. The article of manufacture of claim 21, wherein the copying of the data from the first cache to the second cache comprises:

copying, by the first cache, the data to copy from the first cache to the second cache;

sending, by the first cache, a first message to the second cache to commit the copied data, wherein the second cluster initiates management of the storage areas of the copied data in response to the first message;

sending, by the second cache, a second message to the first cache indicating that the copied data was committed; and

discarding, by the first cache, the copied data from the first cache in response to the second message.

25. The article of manufacture of claim 21, wherein the operation of copying data for storage areas remaining assigned to the first cluster to the second storage unit comprises:

sending, by the first cache, a first message to the second storage unit to add an identifier of the data in the first cache that remains assigned to the first cluster;

sending, by the second storage unit, a second message to the first cache indicating that the identifier was added; and

removing, by the first cache, the identifier added to the second storage unit from the first storage unit.

26. The article of manufacture of claim 25, wherein an identifier of the copied data is maintained in the first storage unit, further comprising:

sending, by the first cache, the identifier in the first storage unit of the copied data; and

updating, by the second cache, a cache control block for the copied data to indicate the identifier in the first storage unit.

27. The article of manufacture of claim 21, wherein the operation of copying the data for storage areas remaining assigned to the first cluster to the second storage unit comprises:

copying, by the first cache, the data to copy from the first cache to the second storage unit;

sending, by the first cache, a first message to the second storage unit to commit the copied data, wherein the second cluster takes ownership of the copied data in response to the first message;

sending, by the second storage unit, a second message to the first cache indicating that the copied data was committed;

in response to the second message, updating, by the first cache, a cache control block to indicate the copied data in the second storage unit; and

discarding, by the first cache, the copied data from the first storage unit.

28. The article of manufacture of claim 21, further comprising:

in response to the reassign operation, issuing a command to destage data from the first cache and the first storage unit to the storage areas; and

in response to the destage of data failing, performing the operations of moving the data from the first cache to the second cache and moving the data from the first storage unit to the second storage unit, wherein the data is not moved from the first cache and the first storage unit in response to the destage of the data completing.

29. The article of manufacture of claim 21, further comprising:

discarding data in the first cache copied to the second cache; and

discarding data in the first storage unit copied to the second storage unit.

30. An article of manufacture comprising a computer readable storage medium including code executed in a first cluster including a first cache and a first storage unit, wherein the first cluster is in communication with a second cluster including a second cache and a second storage unit, wherein the code causes operations to be performed, the operations comprising:

initiating an operation to reassign storage areas from a first cluster to a second cluster, wherein the first cluster includes a first cache and a first storage unit and the second cluster includes a second cache and a second storage unit;

for first data of a first type in the first cache for storage areas remaining assigned to the first cluster, copying data corresponding to the first data to the second storage unit and the first data is not copied to the second cache;

for second data of the first type in the first cache for storage areas reassigned to the second cluster, copying the second data from the first cache to the second cache;

for third data of a second type in the first cache for storage areas remaining assigned to the first cluster, copying a copy of the third data to the second storage unit and the third data in the first cache is not copied to the second cache; and

for fourth data of the second type in the first cache for storage areas reassigned to the second cluster, copying the fourth data in the first cache to the second cache.

31. The article of manufacture of claim 30, wherein the first type of data comprises metadata or data from storage areas that is stored in one of the first and second caches and an identifier of the data or metadata stored in one of the first and second caches is stored in one of the first and second storage units respectively, and wherein the second type of data comprises data that is stored in one of the first and second caches and a copy of the data is stored in one of the second and first storage units, respectively.

32. The article of manufacture of claim 30, further comprising:

for fifth data of a third type for storage areas reassigned to the second cluster, the copying of the data from the first cache to the second cache comprises copying the fifth data from the first cache to the second cache, and wherein there is no data corresponding the data of the third type maintained in one of the first and second storage units.