Receiving buffer credits by a plurality of channels of one or more host computational devices for transmitting data to a control unit

• US 9,864,716 B2
• Filed: 05/20/2015
• Issued: 01/09/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hathorn, Roger G., Holley, Bret W., Kalos, Matthew J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Snyder, Steven
• Application Number:
  US14/717,733
• Publication Number:
  US 20160342549A1
• Time in Patent Office: 965 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/1642 with request queuing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/1673 using buffers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/36 for access to common bus or bus system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4027 using bus bridges G06F13/4022 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2205/126 Monitoring of intermediate fill level, i.e. with additional means for monitoring the fill level, e.g. half full flag, almost empty flag
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2213/0008 High speed serial bus, e.g. Fiber channel
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0613 in relation to throughput
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0656 Data buffering arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 5/12 Means for monitoring the fill level; Means for resolving contention, i.e. conflicts between simultaneous enqueue and dequeue operations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/39 Credit based

Abstract

A channel of a host computational device sends a command to transfer data to a control unit included in a storage controller. The channel of the host computational device receives a number of buffer credits from the control unit for communication with the control unit, where the number of buffer credits that is received is based on the control unit monitoring a number of transfer ready operations and a number of retry operations during a monitoring period while communicating with a plurality of channels that includes the channel.

Claims

1. A method, performed by a host computational device communicatively coupled via a switch to a storage controller through a plurality of channels, the method comprising:

sending, by a channel of the host computational device, a command to transfer data to a control unit included in the storage controller; and

receiving, by the channel of the host computational device, a number of buffer credits from the control unit for communication with the control unit, wherein the number of buffer credits that is received is based on the control unit monitoring a number of transfer ready operations and a number of retry operations during a monitoring period while communicating with the plurality of channels that includes the channel, and wherein the channel of the host computational device receives an increased number of buffer credits, in response to the control unit determining that there is use of transfer ready operations but no use of retry operations during the monitoring period, and in response to the control unit determining that the number of transfer ready operations is greater than a transfer ready threshold.

2. A method, performed by a host computational device communicatively coupled via a switch to a storage controller through a plurality of channels, the method comprising:

sending, by a channel of the host computational device, a command to transfer data to a control unit included in the storage controller; and

receiving, by the channel of the host computational device, a number of buffer credits from the control unit for communication with the control unit, wherein the number of buffer credits that is received is based on the control unit monitoring a number of transfer ready operations and a number of retry operations during a monitoring period while communicating with the plurality of channels that includes the channel, and wherein the channel of the host computational device receives a decreased number of buffer credits, in response to the control unit determining that there is use of retry operations but no use of transfer ready operations during the monitoring period, and in response to the control unit determining that the number of retry operations is greater than a retry low threshold.

3. A method, performed by a host computational device communicatively coupled via a switch to a storage controller through a plurality of channels, the method comprising:

sending, by a channel of the host computational device, a command to transfer data to a control unit included in the storage controller; and

receiving, by the channel of the host computational device, a number of buffer credits from the control unit for communication with the control unit, wherein the number of buffer credits that is received is based on the control unit monitoring a number of transfer ready operations and a number of retry operations during a monitoring period while communicating with the plurality of channels that includes the channel, and wherein the channel of the host computational device receives a decreased number of buffer credits, in response to the control unit determining that there is use of both transfer ready operations and retry operations during the monitoring period, and in response to the control unit determining that the number of retry operations is greater than a retry high threshold.

4. A method, performed by a host computational device communicatively coupled via a switch to a storage controller through a plurality of channels, the method comprising:

sending, by a channel of the host computational device, a command to transfer data to a control unit included in the storage controller; and

receiving, by the channel of the host computational device, a number of buffer credits from the control unit for communication with the control unit, wherein the number of buffer credits that is received is based on the control unit monitoring a number of transfer ready operations and a number of retry operations during a monitoring period while communicating with the plurality of channels that includes the channel, and wherein the method further comprises;

receiving, by each of the plurality of channels, at an initiation of a startup phase of communication between the plurality of channels and the control unit, the number of buffer credits, wherein the received number of buffer credits when used for transferring data causes transfer ready operations but no retry operations; and

receiving iteratively, by each of the plurality of channels, an increased number of buffer credits that is high enough to eliminate any transfer ready operations or cause retry operations to occur within a predetermined amount of time from the initiation of the startup phase.

5. The method of claim 4, the method further comprising:

receiving, by each of the plurality of channels, an identical number of buffer credits from the control unit.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the initiation of the startup phase occurs when the plurality of channels log on to the control unit.

7. A system communicatively coupled via a switch to a storage controller through a plurality of channels, the system comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor performs operations, the operations comprising;

sending, by a channel, a command to transfer data to a control unit included in the storage controller; and

receiving, by the channel, a number of buffer credits from the control unit for communication with the control unit, wherein the number of buffer credits that is received is based on the control unit monitoring a number of transfer ready operations and a number of retry operations during a monitoring period while communicating with the plurality of channels that includes the channel, and wherein the channel receives an increased number of buffer credits, in response to the control unit determining that there is use of transfer ready operations but no use of retry operations during the monitoring period, and in response to the control unit determining that the number of transfer ready operations is greater than a transfer ready threshold.

8. A system communicatively coupled via a switch to a storage controller through a plurality of channels, the system comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor performs operations, the operations comprising;

sending, by a channel, a command to transfer data to a control unit included in the storage controller; and

receiving, by the channel, a number of buffer credits from the control unit for communication with the control unit, wherein the number of buffer credits that is received is based on the control unit monitoring a number of transfer ready operations and a number of retry operations during a monitoring period while communicating with the plurality of channels that includes the channel, and wherein the channel receives a decreased number of buffer credits, in response to the control unit determining that there is use of retry operations but no use of transfer ready operations during the monitoring period, and in response to the control unit determining that the number of retry operations is greater than a retry low threshold.

9. A system communicatively coupled via a switch to a storage controller through a plurality of channels, the system comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor performs operations, the operations comprising;

sending, by a channel of the system, a command to transfer data to a control unit included in the storage controller; and

receiving, by the channel of the system, a number of buffer credits from the control unit for communication with the control unit, wherein the number of buffer credits that is received is based on the control unit monitoring a number of transfer ready operations and a number of retry operations during a monitoring period while communicating with the plurality of channels that includes the channel, and wherein the channel receives a decreased number of buffer credits, in response to the control unit determining that there is use of both transfer ready operations and retry operations during the monitoring period, and in response to the control unit determining that the number of retry operations is greater than a retry high threshold.

10. A system communicatively coupled via a switch to a storage controller through a plurality of channels, the system comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor performs operations, the operations comprising;

sending, by a channel of the system, a command to transfer data to a control unit included in the storage controller; and

receiving, by the channel of the system, a number of buffer credits from the control unit for communication with the control unit, wherein the number of buffer credits that is received is based on the control unit monitoring a number of transfer ready operations and a number of retry operations during a monitoring period while communicating with the plurality of channels that includes the channel, and wherein the operations further comprise;

receiving, by each of the plurality of channels, at an initiation of a startup phase of communication between the plurality of channels and the control unit, the number of buffer credits, wherein the received number of buffer credits when used for transferring data causes transfer ready operations but no retry operations; and

receiving iteratively, by each of the plurality of channels, an increased number of buffer credits that is high enough to eliminate any transfer ready operations or cause retry operations to occur within a predetermined amount of time from the initiation of the startup phase.

11. The system of claim 10, the operations further comprising:

receiving, by each of the plurality of channels, an identical number of buffer credits from the control unit.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the initiation of the startup phase occurs when the plurality of channels log on to the control unit.

13. A computer program product, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code configured to perform operations on a host computational device communicatively coupled via a switch to a storage controller through a plurality of channels, the operations comprising:

sending, by a channel of the host computational device, a command to transfer data to a control unit included in the storage controller; and

receiving, by the channel of the host computational device, a number of buffer credits from the control unit for communication with the control unit, wherein the number of buffer credits that is received is based on the control unit monitoring a number of transfer ready operations and a number of retry operations during a monitoring period while communicating with the plurality of channels that includes the channel, and wherein the channel receives an increased number of buffer credits, in response to the control unit determining that there is use of transfer ready operations but no use of retry operations during the monitoring period, and in response to the control unit determining that the number of transfer ready operations is greater than a transfer ready threshold.

14. A computer program product, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code configured to perform operations on a host computational device communicatively coupled via a switch to a storage controller through a plurality of channels, the operations comprising:

sending, by a channel of the host computational device, a command to transfer data to a control unit included in the storage controller; and

receiving, by the channel of the host computational device, a number of buffer credits from the control unit for communication with the control unit, wherein the number of buffer credits that is received is based on the control unit monitoring a number of transfer ready operations and a number of retry operations during a monitoring period while communicating with the plurality of channels that includes the channel, and wherein the channel receives a decreased number of buffer credits, in response to the control unit determining that there is use of retry operations but no use of transfer ready operations during the monitoring period, and in response to the control unit determining that the number of retry operations is greater than a retry low threshold.

15. A computer program product, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code configured to perform operations on a host computational device communicatively coupled via a switch to a storage controller through a plurality of channels, the operations comprising:

sending, by a channel of the host computational device, a command to transfer data to a control unit included in the storage controller; and

receiving, by the channel of the host computational device, a number of buffer credits from the control unit for communication with the control unit, wherein the number of buffer credits that is received is based on the control unit monitoring a number of transfer ready operations and a number of retry operations during a monitoring period while communicating with the plurality of channels that includes the channel, and wherein the channel receives a decreased number of buffer credits, in response to the control unit determining that there is use of both transfer ready operations and retry operations during the monitoring period, and in response to the control unit determining that the number of retry operations is greater than a retry high threshold.

16. A computer program product, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code configured to perform operations on a host computational device communicatively coupled via a switch to a storage controller through a plurality of channels, the operations comprising:

sending, by a channel of the host computational device, a command to transfer data to a control unit included in the storage controller; and

receiving, by the channel of the host computational device, a number of buffer credits from the control unit for communication with the control unit, wherein the number of buffer credits that is received is based on the control unit monitoring a number of transfer ready operations and a number of retry operations during a monitoring period while communicating with the plurality of channels that includes the channel, the operations further comprising;

receiving, by each of the plurality of channels, at an initiation of a startup phase of communication between the plurality of channels and the control unit, the number of buffer credits, wherein the received number of buffer credits when used for transferring data causes transfer ready operations but no retry operations; and

receiving iteratively, by each of the plurality of channels, an increased number of buffer credits that is high enough to eliminate any transfer ready operations or cause retry operations to occur within a predetermined amount of time from the initiation of the startup phase.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, the operations further comprising:

receiving, by each of the plurality of channels, an identical number of buffer credits from the control unit.

18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the initiation of the startup phase occurs when the plurality of channels log on to the control unit.