Non-disruptive storage server migration

• US 8,452,856 B1
• Filed: 08/04/2010
• Issued: 05/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NetApp, Inc.
• Original Assignee: NetApp, Inc.
• Inventors: Lent, Arthur F., Somavarapu, Nagender, Nazeem, Mohammed, Kulkarni, Aditya Rajeev, Dronamraju, Ravikanth
• Primary Examiner(s): Joo, Joshua
• Application Number:
  US12/850,486
• Time in Patent Office: 1,028 Days
• Field of Search: 709/248, 709217-226
• US Class Current: 709/219
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0617 in relation to availability
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0647 Migration mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 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]

Abstract

The techniques introduced here provide a storage server migration that is non-disruptive to client applications. The techniques described here allow the migration of data from a source storage server to a destination storage server without the need for planned downtime typically associated with storage server migration. Using the techniques described here, data migration operations are performed while client applications continue to run and access data from the source storage server. Once data migration operations are complete, all applications and clients are transitioned to the destination storage server without disruption to the client applications.

Claims

1. A method for non-disruptive migration of a storage server, comprising:

creating a baseline copy of a source storage server, including storage server configuration information, on a destination storage server, wherein a client application has data access to the source storage server;

mirroring data written to the source storage server, on the destination storage server, in response to the data being written to the source storage server;

performing a migration from the source storage server to the destination storage server, wherein the migration does not require reconfiguring the client application prior to the client application accessing data from the destination storage server; and

monitoring whether the migration can be successfully completed within an allotted cutover period, wherein a portion of the allotted cutover period is reserved for performing a fallback procedure if the migration cannot be successfully completed within the allotted cutover period.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the source storage server and the destination storage server are virtual storage servers.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the migration includes stopping data access and administrative access to the source storage server without disruption to the client application during the allotted cutover period.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein in response to a determination that the migration cannot be successfully completed within the allotted cutover period, the data access and the administrative access are restored to the source storage server.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the allotted cutover period is less than or equal to a protocol timeout period.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein performing the migration includes unbinding a first storage address from the source storage server and configuring a second storage address at the destination storage server during the cutover period, wherein the second storage address is the same as the first storage address.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein performing the migration further includes initiating data access and administrative access to the destination storage server, without client side reconfiguration, upon completion of the cutover period.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein reconfiguring the client application includes restarting the client application and configuring storage addresses.

9. A network storage system comprising:

a source storage server including a plurality of data volumes;

a destination storage server; and

wherein the source storage server and the destination storage server are configured to perform a migration of the plurality of data volumes and access to the plurality of data volumes from the source storage server to the destination storage server, the migration including monitoring whether the migration can be successfully completed within a cutover period that includes a reserved period for performing a fallback procedure if the migration cannot be successfully completed within the cutover period, wherein the migration occurs without reconfiguring a client application prior to the client application accessing data from the destination storage server.

10. The network storage system of claim 9, wherein the source storage server and the destination storage server are virtual storage servers.

11. The network storage system of claim 9, wherein the cutover period is an allotted non-disruptive time limit for the migration.

12. The network storage system of claim 11, wherein the allotted non-disruptive time limit is less than or equal to a protocol specified timeout period.

13. The network storage system of claim 9, wherein the migration further includes transferring an storage address from the source storage server to the destination storage server during the cutover period.

14. The network storage system of claim 13, wherein the migration further includes stopping data access and administrative access to the source storage server during the cutover period without disruption to the client application.

15. The network storage system of claim 14, wherein the migration further includes resuming the data access and the administrative access to the source storage server in response to a determination that a successful migration will not be completed within the cutover period.

16. The network storage system of claim 15, wherein the migration further includes initiating data access and administrative access to the destination storage server, without client side reconfiguration, upon completion of the cutover period.

17. The network storage system of claim 9 wherein reconfiguring the client application includes restarting the client application and configuring storage addresses.

18. A method for non-disruptive migration of a storage server, comprising:

creating a copy of data from a source storage server on a destination storage server while maintaining client data access and administrative access to the source storage server;

mirroring data written to the source storage server, on the destination storage server, in response to the data being written to the source storage server;

stopping data access and administrative access to the source storage server without interrupting operation of client applications, in response to the data on the source storage server and the destination storage server reaching a synchronized state; and

monitoring a cutover period to determine whether a migration will complete within an allotted non-disruptive time limit for the cutover period, wherein a portion of the cutover period is reserved for performing a fallback procedure if the migration cannot be successfully completed within the cutover period;

wherein, in response to a determination that the migration will not complete within the allotted non-disruptive time limit, restoring the data access and the administrative access to the source storage server; and

wherein, in response to a determination that the migration will complete within the allotted non-disruptive time limit, initializing the destination storage server to begin serving data and initiating data access and administrative access to the destination storage server without client side reconfiguration.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the source storage server and the destination storage server are virtual storage servers.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein initializing the destination storage server comprises releasing a first storage address from the source storage server and configuring a second storage address to the destination storage server, wherein the second storage address configured at the destination storage server is the same as the first storage address released from the source storage server.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein the allotted non-disruptive time limit for the cutover period is less than or equal to a protocol specified timeout period.

22. A network storage server system comprising:

a source storage server and a destination storage server, each including;

a network interface through which to communicate with a client application over a network;

a storage interface through which to communicate with a nonvolatile mass storage subsystem; and

a processor configured to cause the network storage server system to perform a plurality of operations, including;

transferring a copy, including storage server configuration information, of the mass storage subsystem of the source storage server from the source storage server to the destination storage server, wherein the client application continues to access data from the source storage server;

mirroring data written to the source storage server, on the destination storage server, in response to the data being written to the source storage server; and

performing a cutover from data access and administrative access provided by the source storage server to data access and administrative access provided by the destination storage server without interrupting operation of the client application, wherein performing the cutover includes determining whether the cutover can be successfully completed within an cutover period that includes a reserved period for performing a fallback procedure if the cutover cannot be successfully completed within the cutover period.

23. The network storage server system of claim 22, wherein the source storage server and the destination storage server are virtual storage servers.

24. The network storage system of claim 22, wherein determining whether the cutover can be successfully completed includes determining if a step associated with the cutover has been completed within a portion of the cutover period budgeted for the step.

25. The network storage system of claim 24, wherein the cutover period is less than or equal to a protocol specified timeout period.

26. The network storage system of claim 22, wherein the plurality of operations further includes transferring an storage address from the source storage server to the destination storage server during the cutover period.

27. The network storage system of claim 26, wherein the plurality of operations further includes resuming the data access and the administrative access to the source storage server when the cutover will not be completed within the cutover period.