Storage system

• US 8,332,480 B2
• Filed: 08/28/2006
• Issued: 12/11/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Ohta, Mitsuhiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Etienne, Ario
• Assistant Examiner(s): NANO, SARGON N
• Application Number:
  US11/510,984
• Publication Number:
  US 20070204023A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,297 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/217, 709/225, 709/229, 709/202, 709208-211, 709213-216, 709/219
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3221 of disk drive devices
• 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 3/0683 Plurality of storage devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A plurality of storage nodes are connected via a network to build a storage system. Each of the storage nodes includes a storage device. A condition holding unit holds a state condition indicating an inactive state and an active state of the storage device. A state control unit controls a state of the storage device between the inactive state and the active state based on the state condition held by the condition holding unit.

Claims

1. A storage system comprising:

a first storage node and a second storage node that are connected to each other,

the first storage node including;

a first storage unit that stores data; and

a controller that controls the first storage unit to be in either an active state or an inactive state, according to a state condition indicating allocation of the inactive state and the active state to the first storage node and the second storage node, respectively;

the second storage node including;

a second storage unit that stores data;

a determining unit that determines the second storage unit to be in either the inactive state or the active state according to the state condition;

an I/O processing unit that processes an access request transmitted to the first storage node, in place of the controller in the first storage node, by writing data to or reading data from the second storage unit, when the second storage unit is in the active state; and

a transmitting unit that transmits management information of the second storage node to the first storage node in the inactive state, deletes management information of the first storage unit temporarily stored in the second storage unit, changes the operating state of the second storage unit to be in the inactive state, and changes into a flag corresponding to a self-inactive state (SLP) indicating the inactive state 0, when the flag indicates the active state 1.

2. The storage system according to claim 1, wherein

the I/O processing unit reads out, when there is a read-out request to the first storage unit, data corresponding to the read-out request from the second storage unit, and transmits the read data to a request source of the read-out request.

3. The storage system according to claim 1, wherein

the controller makes the first storage unit store the management information transmitted from the second storage node.

4. The storage system according to claim 1, wherein

the management information is index information that is frcqucntly retrieved by a user.