Storage control device

• US 8,001,393 B2
• Filed: 01/08/2008
• Issued: 08/16/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Hori, Masanori, Honda, Kiyoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): DAVID, MATTHEW
• Application Number:
  US12/007,227
• Publication Number:
  US 20080201593A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,316 Days
• Field of Search: 713/300, 713/310, 713/320, 713/323, 713/324, 713/330, 710/317, 710/316, 711/114
• US Class Current: 713/300
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3203 Power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3268 Power saving in hard disk drive
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3287 by switching off individual functional units in the computer system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0625 Power saving in storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0634 by changing the state or mode of one or more devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0689 Disk arrays, e.g. RAID, JBOD
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

The storage control device of the present invention reduces the power consumption amount by stopping the transmission of power to enclosures that are not accessed. A plurality of additional enclosures are switch-connected via backend switches to a base enclosure. Drives that have not been accessed for a predetermined time or more undergo spin-down. When all of the drives in the enclosure enter a spin-down state, the supply of power from the power supply in the enclosure to the respective drives is stopped. The base enclosure that manages the system constitution of the storage control device turns OFF the switch connected to the enclosure when all of the drives in a certain enclosure have spun down. The transmission of power to this enclosure is accordingly stopped.

Claims

1. A storage control device comprising a plurality of enclosures, wherein

any one of the enclosures is a first enclosure for controlling data communications with a higher-level device and operation of the other enclosures;

the other enclosures other than the first enclosure are second enclosures that each comprise a plurality of storage devices;

the first enclosure and the respective second enclosures are connected via an interenclosure connection section for switch-connecting the first enclosure and the respective second enclosures; and

the first enclosure holds system constitution information for managing constitution of the storage control device and a power supply state thereof and, by controlling a power supply circuit section for supplying power to each of the second enclosures on the basis of the system constitution information, the supply of power or stoppage of power is controlled individually for each of the second enclosures.

2. The storage control device according to claim 1, wherein the first enclosure shifts to a power savings mode for suppressing power consumption for storage devices that have not been accessed for a preset predetermined time or more among the respective storage devices.

3. The storage control device according to claim 2, wherein, in cases where, among the respective second enclosures, a predetermined second enclosure in which all of the storage devices in the enclosure have shifted to the power savings mode is detected, the first enclosure stops supplying power to all of the storage devices in the predetermined second enclosure.

4. The storage control device according to claim 2, wherein, in cases where, among the respective second enclosures, a predetermined second enclosure in which all of the storage devices in the enclosure have shifted to the power savings mode is detected, the first enclosure stops supplying power to the predetermined second enclosure.

5. The storage control device according to claim 3, wherein the first enclosure stops supplying power to the predetermined second enclosure after stopping the supply of power to all of the storage devices in the predetermined second enclosure.

6. The storage control device according to claim 1, wherein, in cases where occurrence of a fault in the first enclosure is sensed, the power supply circuit section shifts to a state where power is supplied to the respective second enclosures.

7. The storage control device according to claim 4, wherein, in cases where power is again supplied to the predetermined second enclosure, the first enclosure controls the predetermined second enclosure so that the storage devices in the predetermined second enclosure are activated following division of the storage devices into groups by a predetermined number of storage devices.

8. The storage control device according to claim 4, having, as the power supply circuit sections, first and second power supply circuit sections that supply power via different power supply paths to each of the second enclosures, wherein

in cases where the supply of power to the predetermined second enclosure is stopped, the first enclosure controls each of the first and second power supply circuit sections:

(1) first to stop the supply of power from the first power supply circuit section to the predetermined second enclosure;

(2) to confirm that the supply of power from the first power supply circuit section to the predetermined second enclosure has stopped normally;

(3) then to stop the supply of power from the second power supply circuit section to the predetermined second enclosure; and

(4) to confirm that the supply of power from the second power supply circuit section to the predetermined second enclosure has stopped normally.

9. The storage control device according to claim 8, wherein the first enclosure judges whether, in cases where the supply of power from either the first power supply circuit section or the second power supply circuit section to the predetermined second enclosure has not been stopped normally, communication with a predetermined power supply circuit section for which the power supply has not been stopped normally among the first power supply circuit section and the second power supply circuit section is possible and provides an output to the effect that an anomaly has occurred in the predetermined power supply circuit section when communication is possible and provides an output to the effect that an anomaly has occurred in the communication path between the predetermined power supply circuit section and the first enclosure when communication is not possible.

10. The storage control device according to claim 1, wherein the first enclosure and the power supply circuit section are connected via a communication network, and the first enclosure controls the power supply circuit section by transmitting commands to instruct the start of the power supply or stoppage of the power supply to the power supply circuit section via the communication network.

11. The storage control device according to claim 1, wherein

the interenclosure connection section and the power supply circuit section are connected, and

the first enclosure instructs the power supply circuit section to start the power supply or stop the power supply via the interenclosure connection section.

12. The storage control device according to claim 1, wherein the first enclosure diagnoses whether the second enclosure to which the power supply has stopped is operating normally by supplying power thereto at regular or irregular intervals.

13. A storage control device having a plurality of enclosures, comprising:

a first enclosure;

second enclosures having a plurality of storage devices respectively;

a power supply circuit section for supplying external power to the first enclosure and the respective second enclosures; and

an interenclosure connection section for switch-connecting the first enclosure and the respective second enclosures, wherein

the first enclosure comprises at least;

a system constitution information management section for managing system constitution information related to constitution of the storage control device and a power supply state thereof;

a first control section for processing the power supply to the respective second enclosures and data I/O between a higher level device and the respective storage devices on the basis of the system constitution information managed by the system constitution information management section; and

a first enclosure-contained power supply section for supplying predetermined power to the first control section by converting the external power supplied via the power supply circuit section to a predetermined voltage, and wherein

the respective second enclosures comprise at least;

a plurality of the storage devices for storing data to be used by the higher-level device;

a second control section for controlling the data I/O to and from the respective storage devices and operation of a second enclosure-contained power supply section in accordance with instructions from the first control section; and

the second enclosure-contained power supply section for supplying power to the respective storage devices and the second control section by converting the external power supplied via the power supply circuit section to a predetermined voltage, and wherein

the power supply circuit section comprises switch sections that are each provided midway along a power supply path between the respective second enclosure-contained power supply sections and the external power supply, the respective switch sections opening or closing the respective power supply paths in accordance with an instruction from the first control section, and

the first control section closes the power supply path between the second enclosure-contained power supply section of a predetermined second enclosure for which judgment is made, based on the system constitution information, that access to the respective storage devices present in the second enclosure among the respective second enclosures is unnecessary, and the external power supply, by operating the switch section that is connected to the predetermined second enclosure.

14. The storage control device according to claim 13, wherein the first control section is able to execute:

(1) a first mode in which, among the respective storage devices, those that have not been accessed for a preset predetermined time or more are shifted to a power savings mode in which power consumption is suppressed;

(2) a second mode in which, when among the respective second enclosures a predetermined second enclosure in which all of the storage devices in the enclosure have shifted to the power savings mode is detected, the supply of power to all of the storage devices in the predetermined second enclosure is stopped; and

(3) a third mode in which the supply of power to the predetermined second enclosure is stopped after stopping the supply of power to all of the storage devices in the predetermined second enclosure.

15. The storage control device according to claim 13, wherein the power supply circuit section detects whether a fault has occurred in the first control section by communicating at regular intervals with the first control section and, in cases where the occurrence of a fault in the first control section is detected, turns ON the respective switch sections to allow power to pass through the respective power supply circuits.