Storage system and control method for storing write data requested by a host computer

• US 8,667,331 B2
• Filed: 06/16/2011
• Issued: 03/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Hori, Masanori
• Primary Examiner(s): MCCARTHY, CHRISTOPHER S
• Application Number:
  US13/142,517
• Publication Number:
  US 20120324274A1
• Time in Patent Office: 992 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 714/22
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/263 Arrangements for using multiple switchable power supplies, e.g. battery and AC G06F1/30 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/30 Means for acting in the event of power-supply failure or interruption, e.g. power-supply fluctuations for resetting only G06F1/24
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1441 Resetting or repowering
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2015 Redundant power supplies power supply failure G06F1/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0802 Addressing of a memory level in which the access to the desired data or data block requires associative addressing means, e.g. caches

Abstract

It is provided a storage system for storing write data requested by a host computer, comprising: a data storage device, first and second cache memories, first and second non-volatile memories and at least one power storage device, wherein the storage system stores the requested write data in the data storage device, without storing the requested write data in neither the first cache memory nor the second cache memory in a case where the amount of charge of the at least one power storage device is smaller than the predetermined amount of power, and stores the requested write data in at least one of the first and second cache memories, and then store the requested write data in the data storage device in a case where the amount of charge of the at least one power storage device is equal to or larger than the predetermined amount of power.

Claims

1. A storage system for storing write data requested by a host computer, comprising:

a data storage device which stores the write data requested by the host computer; and

a first controller and a second controller which control input and output of the data to and from the data storage device,

wherein the first controller includes;

at least one host interface which receives a write request from the host computer;

a first cache memory which temporarily stores the write data requested by the host computer; and

a first non-volatile memory to which the data stored in the first cache memory is backed up in a power outage,

wherein the second controller includes;

at least one host interface which receives a write request from the host computer;

a second cache memory which temporarily stores the write data requested by the host computer; and

a second non-volatile memory to which the data stored in the second cache memory is backed up in a power outage,

wherein the storage system further comprises at least one power storage device which supplies electric power to the first and second cache memories and the first and second non-volatile memories during a power outage, and

wherein at least one of the first and second controllers is configured to;

determine whether an amount of charge of the at least one power storage device is equal to or larger than a predetermined amount of power, which is one of an amount of power necessary to transfer the data stored in the first cache memory to the first non-volatile memory, and an amount of power necessary to transfer the data stored in the second cache memory to the second non-volatile memory after power is restored from a power outage;

store the write data requested by the host computer in the data storage device, without storing the requested write data in neither the first cache memory nor the second cache memory in a case where the amount of charge of the at least one power storage device is smaller than the predetermined amount of power; and

store the write data requested by the host computer in at least one of the first and second cache memories, and then store the requested write data in the data storage device in a case where the amount of charge of the at least one power storage device is equal to or larger than the predetermined amount of power;

wherein the at least one power storage device includes a first power storage device, which supplies electric power to the first cache memory and the first non-volatile memory during a power outage, and a second power storage device, which supplies electric power to the second cache memory and the second non-volatile memory during a power outage, and

wherein the at least one of the first and second controllers is configured to;

determine whether an amount of charge of the first power storage device is equal to or larger than the amount of power necessary to transfer the data stored in the first cache memory to the first non-volatile memory after power is restored from a power outage;

charge the first power storage device with a current larger than a normal charging current in a case where the amount of charge of the first power storage device is smaller than the amount of power necessary to transfer the data stored in the first cache memory to the first non-volatile memory; and

store the write data requested by the host computer in the at least one of the first and second cache memories, and then store the requested write data in the data storage device in a case where the amount of charge of the first power storage device is equal to or larger than the amount of power necessary to transfer the data stored in the first cache memory to the first non-volatile memory.

2. The storage system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one power storage device is one power storage device, and

wherein the at least one of the first and second controllers is configured to:

determine whether a failure occurs in the first cache memory and the first non-volatile memory in a case where an amount of charge of the one power storage device is equal to or larger than the predetermined amount of power; and

in a case where a failure occurs in neither the first cache memory nor the first non-volatile memory, store the write data requested by the host computer in the at least one of the first and second cache memories, then store the requested write data in the data storage device, and charge the one power storage device.

3. The storage system according to claim 1,

wherein the at least one power storage device is one power storage device, and wherein the at least one of the first and second controllers is configured to:

determine whether a failure occurs in the first cache memory and the first non-volatile memory in a case where an amount of charge of the one power storage device is equal to or larger than the predetermined amount of power;

determine whether a failure occurs in the second cache memory and the second non-volatile memory in a case where a failure occurs in any one of the first cache memory and the first non-volatile memory; and

in a case where a failure occurs in neither the second cache memory nor the second non-volatile memory, store the write data requested by the host computer in the at least one of the first and second cache memories, then store the requested write data in the data storage device, and charge the one power storage device.

4. The storage system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the first and second controllers is configured to:

charge the second power storage device with a current larger than the normal charging current after the amount of charge of the first power storage device becomes equal to or larger than the amount of power necessary to transfer the data stored in the first cache memory to the first non-volatile memory; and

subsequently, charge the first and second power storage devices with the normal charging current after an amount of charge of the second power storage device becomes equal to or larger than the amount of power necessary to transfer the data stored in the second cache memory to the second non-volatile memory.

5. The storage system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the first and second controllers is configured to:

stop charging the first power storage device and charge the second power storage device in a case where a failure occurs in at least one of the first cache memory and the first non-volatile memory; and

stop charging the second power storage device and charge the first power storage device in a case where a failure occurs in at least one of the second cache memory and the second non-volatile memory.

6. The storage system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the first and second controllers is configured to:

store the write data requested by the host computer in the data storage device, without storing the requested write data in neither the first cache memory nor the second cache memory in a case where neither the first power storage device nor the second power storage device has an amount of charge that equals the one of the amount of power necessary to transfer the data stored in the first cache memory to the first non-volatile memory, and the amount of power necessary to transfer the data stored in the second cache memory to the second nonvolatile memory;

in a case where the amount of charge of the first power storage device is equal to or larger than the amount of power necessary to transfer the data stored in the first cache memory to the first non-volatile memory, store the write data requested by the host computer in the at least one of the first and second cache memories, then store the requested write data in the data storage device, and stop charging the first power storage device;

determine whether a failure occurs in the second cache memory and the second non-volatile memory in a case where the amount of charge of the second power storage device is smaller than the amount of power necessary to transfer the data stored in the second cache memory to the second non-volatile memory; and

charge the second power storage device with a current larger than the normal charging current in a case where a failure occurs in neither the second cache memory nor the second non-volatile memory.

7. A control method to be executed in a storage system for storing write data that is requested by a host computer,

the storage system including a data storage device which stores the write data requested by the host computer, and a first controller and a second controller which control input and output of the data to and from the data storage device,

the first controller including at least one host interface which receives a write request from the host computer, a first cache memory which temporarily stores the write data requested by the host computer, and a first non-volatile memory to which the data stored in the first cache memory is backed up in a power outage, the second controller including at least one host interface which receives a write request from the host computer, a second cache memory which temporarily stores the write data requested by the host computer, and a second non-volatile memory to which the data stored in the second cache memory is backed up in a power outage, the storage system further including at least one power storage device which supplies electric power to the first and second cache memories and to the first and second non-volatile memories during a power outage,

the method including:

a determination step of determining, by at least one of the first and second controllers, whether an amount of charge of the at least one power storage device is equal to or larger than a predetermined amount of power, which is one of an amount of power necessary to transfer the data stored in the first cache memory to the first non-volatile memory, and an amount of power necessary to transfer the data stored in the second cache memory to the second non-volatile memory after power is restored from a power outage;

a cache-through operation step of controlling, by the at least one of the first and second controllers, the storage system to store the write data requested by the host computer in the data storage device, without storing the requested write data in neither the first cache memory nor the second cache memory in a case where it is determined that the amount of charge of the at least one power storage device is smaller than the predetermined amount of power; and

a cache using operation step of controlling, by the at least one of the first and second controllers, the storage system to store the write data requested by the host computer in at least one of the first and second cache memories, and then store the requested write data in the data storage device in a case where it is determined that the amount of charge of the at least one power storage device is equal to or larger than the predetermined amount of power;

wherein the at least one power storage device includes a first power storage device, which supplies electric power to the first cache memory and the first non-volatile memory during a power outage, and a second power storage device, which supplies electric power to the second cache memory and the second non-volatile memory during a power outage,

wherein the determination step includes the step of determining whether an amount of charge of the first power storage device is equal to or larger than the amount of power necessary to transfer the data stored in the first cache memory to the first non-volatile memory after power is restored from a power outage,

wherein the cache using operation step includes a step of controlling the storage system, by the at least one of the first and second controllers, to store the write data requested by the host computer in the at least one of the first and second cache memories, and then store the requested write data in the data storage device in a case where it is determined that the amount of charge of the first power storage device is equal to or larger than the amount of power necessary to transfer the data stored in the first cache memory to the first non-volatile memory, and

wherein the method further includes the step of controlling the storage system to charge the first power storage device with a current larger than a normal charging current in a case where it is determined that the amount of charge of the first power storage device is smaller than the amount of power necessary to transfer the data stored in the first cache memory to the first non-volatile memory.

8. The control method for a storage system according to claim 7, wherein the at least one power storage device is one power storage device, and wherein the cache using operation step including the steps of:

determining, by the at least one of the first and second controllers, whether a failure occurs in the first cache memory and the first non-volatile memory in a case where it is determined that an amount of charge of the one power storage device is equal to or larger than the predetermined amount of power; and

in a case where it is determined that a failure occurs in neither the first cache memory nor the first non-volatile memory, controlling the storage system, by the at least one of the first and second controllers, to store the write data requested by the host computer in the at least one of the first and second cache memories, then store the requested write data in the data storage device, and charge the one power storage device.

9. The control method for a storage system according to claim 7, wherein the at least one power storage device is one power storage device, and wherein the cache using operation step includes the steps of determining whether a failure occurs in the first cache memory and the first non-volatile memory in a case where it is determined that an amount of charge of the one power storage device is equal to or larger than the predetermined amount of power;

determining whether a failure occurs in the second cache memory and the second non-volatile memory in a case where it is determined that a failure occurs in any one of the first cache memory and the first non-volatile memory; and

in a case where it is determined that a failure occurs in neither the second cache memory nor the second non-volatile memory, controlling the storage system, by the at least one of the first and second controllers, to store the write data requested by the host computer in the at least one of the first and second cache memories, then store the requested write data in the data storage device, and charge the one power storage device.

10. The control method for a storage system according to claim 7, further including the steps of:

controlling the storage system, by the at least one of the first and second controllers, to charge the second power storage device with a current larger than the normal charging current after the amount of charge of the first power storage device becomes equal to or larger than the amount of power necessary to transfer the data stored in the first cache memory to the first non-volatile memory; and

subsequently, controlling the storage system, by the at least one of the first and second controllers, to charge the first and second power storage devices with the normal charging current after an amount of charge of the second power storage device becomes equal to or larger than the amount of power necessary to transfer the data stored in the second cache memory to the second non-volatile memory.

11. The control method for a storage system according to claim 7, further including the steps of:

controlling the storage system, by the at least one of the first and second controllers, to stop charging the first power storage device and charge the second power storage device in a case where it is determined that a failure occurs in at least one of the first cache memory and the first non-volatile memory; and

controlling the storage system, by the at least one of the first and second controllers, to stop charging the second power storage device and charge the first power storage device in a case where it is determined that a failure occurs in at least one of the second cache memory and the second non-volatile memory.

12. The control method for a storage system according to claim 7, wherein the cache-through operation step includes the step of, storing, by the at least one of the first and second controllers, the write data requested by the host computer in the data storage device, without storing the requested write data in neither the first cache memory nor the second cache memory in a case where it is determined that neither the first power storage device nor the second power storage device has an amount of charge that equals the one of the amount of power necessary to transfer the data stored in the first cache memory to the first non-volatile memory, and the amount of power necessary to transfer the data stored in the second cache memory to the second non-volatile memory, and wherein the cache using operation step includes the steps of:

in a case where it is determined that the amount of charge of the first power storage device is equal to or larger than the amount of power necessary to transfer the data stored in the first cache memory to the first non-volatile memory, controlling the storage system to store, by the at least one of the first and second controllers, the write data requested by the host computer in the at least one of the first and second cache memories, then store the requested write data in the data storage device, and stop charging the first power storage device;

determining whether a failure occurs in the second cache memory and the second non-volatile memory in a case where it is determined that the amount of charge of the second power storage device is smaller than the amount of power necessary to transfer the data stored in the second cache memory to the second non-volatile memory; and

controlling the storage system, by the at least one of the first and second controllers, to charge the second power storage device with a current larger than the normal charging current in a case where it is determined that a failure occurs in neither the second cache memory nor the second non-volatile memory.