Automated on-line capacity expansion method for storage device

• US 20030009619A1
• Filed: 08/17/2001
• Published: 01/09/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Kitamura, Manabu, Kano, Yoshiki, Arai, Kouji
• Granted Patent: US 6,725,328 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/112
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0605 by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0608 Saving storage space on storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0644 Management of space entities, e.g. partitions, extents, pools
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0665 at area level, e.g. provisioning of virtual or logical volumes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0689 Disk arrays, e.g. RAID, JBOD

Abstract

A volume provider unit in a computer system detects a logical block address of a read or write I/O accessing a logical volume of a storage device from a host. According to the logical block address fetched, a storage domain of the logical volume is dynamically expanded. Moreover, the storage domain of the logical volume is reduced or expanded according to an instruction of a logical volume capacity reduction or expansion from a host commander part to a volume server.

Claims

1. An automated capacity expansion method in a volume provider unit connected to at least one host computer and at least one disk device, the method comprising:

a step of accepting an I/O request to a logical volume from the host computer;

a step of interpreting a logical block address of an access target of the I/O request; and

a step of allocating a storage domain from a free disk device to dynamically expand a storage domain of the logical volume if the storage domain of the logical block address accessed by the I/O request does not exist on the logical volume.

3. The automated capacity expansion method of a storage device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the storage domain of the logical volume is expanded according to an instruction from an application program.

2. An automated capacity reduction method in a volume provider unit connected to at least one host computer and at least one disk device, the method comprising:

a step of accepting a logical volume reduction request from the host computer;

a step of interpreting a logical block address of a target of the reduction request; and

a step of reducing a storage domain of the logical block address specified by the reduction request.

4. The automated capacity reduction method of a storage device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the storage domain of the logical volume is reduced according to an instruction from an application program.

5. A volume provider apparatus connected to at least one host computer and at least one disk device, the unit comprising:

means for accepting an I/O request from the host computer to a logical volume;

means for interpreting a logical block address of an access target of the I/O request; and

means for allocating a storage domain from a free disk device to dynamically expand a storage domain of a logical volume if the storage domain of the logical block address accessed by the I/O request does not exist on the logical volume.