Method and system for non-intrusive monitoring of library components

• US 8,832,495 B2
• Filed: 05/11/2007
• Issued: 09/09/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: CF DB EZ LLC (FIG LLC (d/b/a Fortress Investment Group LLC))
• Original Assignee: KIP CR P1 LP (FIG LLC (d/b/a Fortress Investment Group LLC))
• Inventors: Foster, Michael R., Rohner, Allen J., Tou, Patrick S.
• Primary Examiner(s): SWIFT, CHARLES M
• Application Number:
  US11/801,809
• Publication Number:
  US 20080282265A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,678 Days
• Field of Search: 717/127, 714/25, 714/42, 714/44, 714/47, 710/15, 710/18
• US Class Current: 714/25
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0727 in a storage system, e.g. in a DASD or network based storage system drivers for digital recording or reproducing units G06F3/06; circuits for error detection or correction within digital recording or reproducing units G11B20/18; 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], H04L67/1097
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/079 Root cause analysis, i.e. error or fault diagnosis in a hardware test environment G06F11/22; in a software test environment G06F11/36
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3058 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring environmental properties or parameters of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring of power, currents, temperature, humidity, position, vibrations thermal management in cooling arrangements of a computing system G06F1/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3096 wherein the means or processing minimize the use of computing system or of computing system component resources, e.g. non-intrusive monitoring which minimizes the probe effect: sniffing, intercepting, indirectly deriving the monitored data from other directly available data
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 15/6835 the cassettes being transferred to a fixed recorder or player using a moving carriage
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 15/689 Control of the cassette changing arrangement
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 15/6895 Automatic tape changing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 17/228 Control systems for magazines G11B17/225 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/18 Error detection or correction; Testing , e.g. of drop-outs

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method for monitoring components in a library by tracking the movement of library components. By tracking the movement of library components, the degradation of library components can be monitored and the reliability of library components determined, allowing unreliable components to be bypassed or replaced, enhancing the reliability of the library and preventing data loss.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring library components implemented using non-transitory machine-readable media comprising:

sending a plurality of Read Element Status commands to a media library over a period of time;

tracking movement of tape cartridges in the media library based on differences between library states returned in response to Read Element Status commands, wherein each of the returned library states comprises an identifier of a current location of one or more tape cartridges; and

identifying a tape cartridge as an error source based on errors appearing on the tape cartridge and movements of tape cartridges.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying a drive as an error source based on errors appearing on multiple tape cartridges accessed by the drive.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the media library is a magnetic tape library.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is being implemented at least partially on a monitoring appliance.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the monitoring appliance is an out-of-band monitoring appliance.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the plurality of Read Element Status commands are sent from the monitoring appliance.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of Read Element Status commands are sent over the period of time such that a time duration between a first Read Element Status and a second Read Element Status command is less than a backup time or a tape movement time.

8. A system for monitoring library components, comprising a processor and a computer readable media storing computer instructions executable to:

send a plurality of Read Element Status commands to a media library over a period of time;

track the movement of tape cartridges in the media library based on differences between library states returned in response to Read Element Status commands, wherein each of the returned library states comprises an identifier of a current location of one or more tape cartridges; and

identify a tape cartridge as an error source based on errors appearing on the tape cartridge and movements of tape cartridges.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the computer instructions are further executable to identify a drive as an error source based on errors appearing on multiple tape cartridges accessed by the drive.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the media library is a magnetic tape library.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the computer readable media is at least a portion of a monitoring appliance.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the monitoring appliance is an out-of-band monitoring appliance.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the plurality of Read Element Status commands are sent from the monitoring appliance.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of Read Element Status commands are sent over the period of time such that a time duration between a first Read Element Status and a second Read Element Status command is less than a backup time or a tape movement time.

15. A software product comprising a a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a set of computer instructions, the set of computer instructions comprising computer instructions executable by a computer processor to:

send a plurality of Read Element Status commands to a media library over a period of time;

track movement of tape cartridges in the media library based on differences between library states returned in response to Read Element Status commands, wherein each of the returned library states comprises an identifier of a current location of one or more tape cartridges; and

identify a tape cartridge as an error source based on errors appearing on the tape cartridge and movements of tape cartridges.

16. The software product of claim 15, wherein the set of computer instructions further comprise computer instructions executable to identify a drive as an error source based on errors appearing on multiple tape cartridges accessed by the drive.

17. The software product of claim 15, wherein the media library is a magnetic tape library.

18. The software product of claim 15, wherein the software product is at least a portion of a monitoring appliance.

19. The software product of claim 18, wherein the monitoring appliance is an out-of-band monitoring appliance.

20. The software product of claim 18, wherein the plurality of Read Element Status commands are sent from the monitoring appliance.

21. The software product of claim 15, wherein the plurality of Read Element Status commands are sent over the period of time such that a time duration between a first Read Element Status and a second Read Element Status command is less than a backup time or a tape movement time.