Collision avoidance using dynamic target volume allocation

• US 9,672,118 B2
• Filed: 04/02/2014
• Issued: 06/06/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dain, Joseph W., Zaremba, Christopher, Kishi, Gregory T., Shasha, Osnat
• Primary Examiner(s): Bragdon, Reginald
• Assistant Examiner(s): Namazi, Mehdi
• Application Number:
  US14/243,237
• Publication Number:
  US 20150286540A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,161 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1435 using file system or storage system metadata
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1448 Management of the data involved in backup or backup restore
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1451 by selection of backup contents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1458 Management of the backup or restore process
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1464 for networked environments
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1469 Backup restoration techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/82 Solving problems relating to consistency
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/84 Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data

Abstract

A collision is avoided between a new Flashcopy backup and an existing Flashcopy target volume containing an older Flashcopy backup being ingested during one of a mount operation, a restore operation, and a clone operation by dynamically allocating a new Flashcopy target volume for the new Flashcopy backup.

Claims

1. A method for collision avoidance using dynamic target volume allocation from a shared resource pool by a processor device in a computing environment, the method comprising:

maintaining a global pool of allocated resources available for reuse for avoiding a collision between a new point-in-time copy backup and an existing point-in-time copy target volume containing an older point-in-time copy backup being ingested during one of a mount operation, a restore operation, and a clone operation when dynamically allocating a new point-in-time copy target volume for the new point-in-time copy backup.

2. The method of claim 1, further including dynamically reusing from the global pool of allocated resources an existing point-in-time copy target volume containing an older point-in-time copy backup and a consistency group for one of a mount operation, a restore operation, and a clone operation.

3. The method of claim 2, further including creating a copy of the older point-in-time copy backup by creating a temporary target volume and establishing a point-in-time copy map between the existing point-in-time copy target volume containing the older point-in-time copy backup and the temporary target volume, where in the global pool of allocated resources include a plurality of target volumes and consistency groups.

4. The method of claim 3, further including performing at least one of:

mounting the temporary target volume onto a host, and

placing the plurality of target volumes and consistency groups in the global pool of allocated resources during an unmount operation.

5. The method of claim 4, further including removing the point-in-time copy map between the existing point-in-time copy target volume and the temporary target volume when un-mounting the temporary target volume from the host or upon completion of the restore operation.

6. The method of claim 5, further including managing the point-in-time copy backup target volumes by using at least one of a plurality of high-water marks and a low-water marks.

7. The method of claim 6, further including dynamically spreading the global pool of allocated resources amongst a plurality of device classes.

8. A system for collision avoidance using dynamic target volume allocation from a shared resource pool in a computing storage environment, the system comprising:

at least one processor device operable in the computing storage environment, wherein processor device;

maintains a global pool of allocated resources available for reuse for avoiding a collision between a new point-in-time copy backup and an existing point-in-time copy target volume containing an older point-in-time copy backup being ingested during one of a mount operation, a restore operation, and a clone operation when dynamically allocating a new point-in-time copy target volume for the new point-in-time copy backup.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor device dynamically reuses from the global pool of allocated resources an existing point-in-time copy target volume containing an older point-in-time copy backup and a consistency group for one of a mount operation, a restore operation, and a clone operation.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least one processor device creates a copy of the older point-in-time copy backup by creating a temporary target volume and establishing a point-in-time copy map between the existing point-in-time copy target volume containing the older point-in-time copy backup and the temporary target volume, where in the global pool of allocated resources include a plurality of target volumes and consistency groups.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor device performs at least one of:

mounting the temporary target volume onto a host, and

placing the plurality of target volumes and consistency groups in the global pool of allocated resources during an unmount operation.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor device removes the point-in-time copy map between the existing point-in-time copy target volume and the temporary target volume when un-mounting the temporary target volume from the host or upon completion of the restore operation.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one processor device manages the point-in-time copy backup target volumes by using at least one of a plurality of high-water marks and a low-water marks.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor device dynamically spreads the global pool of allocated resources amongst a plurality of device classes.

15. A computer program product for collision avoidance using dynamic target volume allocation from a shared resource pool in a computing environment by a processor 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 that maintains a global pool of allocated resources available for reuse for avoiding a collision between a new point-in-time copy backup and an existing point-in-time copy target volume containing an older point-in-time copy backup being ingested during one of a mount operation, a restore operation, and a clone operation when dynamically allocating a new point-in-time copy target volume for the new point-in-time copy backup.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, further including a second executable portion that dynamically reuses from the global pool of allocated resources an existing point-in-time copy target volume containing an older point-in-time copy backup and a consistency group for one of a mount operation, a restore operation, and a clone operation.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, further including a third executable portion that creates a copy of the older point-in-time copy backup by creating a temporary target volume and establishing a point-in-time copy map between the existing point-in-time copy target volume containing the older point-in-time copy backup and the temporary target volume, where in the global pool of allocated resources include a plurality of target volumes and consistency groups.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, further including a fourth executable portion that performs at least one of:

mounting the temporary target volume onto a host,

placing the plurality of target volumes and consistency groups in the global pool of allocated resources during an unmount operation, and

removing the point-in-time copy map between the existing point-in-time copy target volume and the temporary target volume when un-mounting the temporary target volume from the host or upon completion of the restore operation.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, further including a fifth executable portion that manages the point-in-time copy backup target volumes by using at least one of a plurality of high-water marks and a low-water marks.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, further including a sixth executable portion that dynamically spreads the global pool of allocated resources amongst a plurality of device classes.