Intelligent rolling upgrade for data storage systems

• US 8,479,056 B2
• Filed: 07/14/2011
• Issued: 07/02/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Andrews, Benjamin L., Ciaravella, Anthony J., Dain, Joseph W., Khandelwal, Nikhil
• Primary Examiner(s): Manoskey, Joseph D
• Application Number:
  US13/183,376
• Publication Number:
  US 20110271091A1
• Time in Patent Office: 719 Days
• Field of Search: 714/4.1, 714/4.3, 714/4.4, 714/38.1, 714/42, 714/47.1, 714/47.2, 714/47.3, 717/168, 717/171
• US Class Current: 714/47.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0709 in a distributed system consisting of a plurality of standalone computer nodes, e.g. clusters, client-server systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0754 by exceeding limits
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2007 using redundant communication media
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/30 Monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/302 where the computing system component is a software system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/36 Preventing errors by testing or debugging software
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/85 Active fault masking without idle spares
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0607 by facilitating the process of upgrading existing storage systems, e.g. for improving compatibility between host and storage device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0629 Configuration or reconfiguration of storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0653 Monitoring storage devices or systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0689 Disk arrays, e.g. RAID, JBOD
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/656 while running
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/082 the condition being updates or upgrades of network functionality

Abstract

Various method, system, and computer program product embodiments for facilitating upgrades in a computing storage environment are provided. In one such embodiment, one of an available plurality of rolling upgrade policies registering at least one selectable upgrade parameter for an upgrade window is selected. A node down tolerance factor is set for at least one node in the computing storage environment. The node down tolerance factor specifies a percentage of elements of the at least one node taken offline to apply the selected one of the available plurality of rolling upgrade policies during the upgrade window.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating upgrades in a computing storage environment by a processor in communication with a memory device, comprising:

selecting one of an available plurality of rolling upgrade policies registering at least one selectable upgrade parameter for an upgrade window;

setting a node down tolerance factor for at least one node in the computing storage environment, wherein the node down tolerance factor specifies a percentage of elements of the at least one node taken offline to apply the selected one of the available plurality of rolling upgrade policies during the upgrade window;

determining if a number of at least one of a plurality of nodes in the computing storage environment currently down, including a target node to be upgraded, does not exceed the node down tolerance factor; and

if the node down tolerance factor has not been exceeded, checking a cluster health by checking a general parallel file system (GPFS) cluster quorum to determine if taking the target node to be upgraded offline does not break the GPFS quorum.

2. The method of claim 1, further including defining each of the plurality of rolling upgrade policies.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the defining includes specifying the at least one selectable upgrade parameter, including specifying one of a commencement time and duration of an upgrade procedure.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the plurality of nodes includes one of an interface node and a storage node.

5. The method of claim 1, further including, if the target node to be upgraded is an interface node, determining if at least one additional interface node is available to fail over internet protocol (IP) addresses exported by the interface node

6. A system for facilitating upgrades in a computing storage environment, comprising:

a processor in communication with a memory device, the processor operational on a management node in the computing storage environment, wherein the processor is adapted for;

selecting one of an available plurality of rolling upgrade policies registering at least one selectable upgrade parameter for an upgrade window,

setting a node down tolerance factor for at least one node in the computing storage environment, wherein the node down tolerance factor specifies a percentage of elements of the at least one node taken offline to apply the selected one of the available plurality of rolling upgrade policies during the upgrade window,

determining if a number of at least one of a plurality of nodes in the computing storage environment currently down, including a target node to be upgraded, does not exceed the node down tolerance factor, and

if the node down tolerance factor has not been exceeded, checking a cluster health by checking a general parallel file system (GPFS) cluster quorum to determine if taking the target node to be upgraded offline does not break the GPFS quorum.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the processor is further adapted for defining each of the plurality of rolling upgrade policies.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the processor is further adapted for, pursuant to the defining, specifying the at least one selectable upgrade parameter, including specifying one of a commencement time and duration of an upgrade procedure.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the at least one of the plurality of nodes includes one of an interface node and a storage node.

10. The system of claim 6, further including, if the target node to be upgraded is an interface node, determining if at least one additional interface node is available to fail over internet protocol (IP) addresses exported by the interface node.

11. A computer program product for facilitating upgrades in a computing storage environment by a processor in communication with a memory device, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising:

a first executable portion for selecting one of an available plurality of rolling upgrade policies registering at least one selectable upgrade parameter for an upgrade window;

a second executable portion for setting a node down tolerance factor for at least one node in the computing storage environment, wherein the node down tolerance factor specifies a percentage of elements of the at least one node taken offline to apply the selected one of the available plurality of rolling upgrade policies during the upgrade window;

a third executable portion for determining if a number of at least one of a plurality of nodes in the computing storage environment currently down including a target node to be upgraded, does not exceed the node down tolerance factor; and

a fourth executable portion for, if the node down tolerance factor has not been exceeded, checking a cluster health by checking a general parallel file system (GPFS) cluster quorum to determine if taking the target node to be upgraded offline does not break the GPFS quorum.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, further including a fifth executable portion for defining each of the plurality of rolling upgrade policies.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, further including a sixth executable portion for, pursuant to the defining, specifying the at least one selectable upgrade parameter, including specifying one of a commencement time and duration of an upgrade procedure.

14. The computer program product of claim 11, further including a fifth executable portion for, if the target node to be upgraded is an interface node, determining if at least one additional interface node is available to fail over internet protocol (IP) addresses exported by the interface node.