Computer system, data management method, and program

• US 20060218367A1
• Filed: 10/06/2005
• Published: 09/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Takamoto, Yoshifumi, Yasuda, Yoshiko, Shimizu, Masaaki, Ukai, Toshiyuki
• Granted Patent: US 7,395,370 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/165
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/061 Improving I/O performance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0647 Migration mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0665 at area level, e.g. provisioning of virtual or logical volumes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

A technology capable of achieving the LU migration in terms of a file system and a logical volume and the effective migration in a host computer which provides a file system function and a logical volume function is provided. A computer system has I/O access unification and management means that obtains RAID configuration information and RAID statistical information in a disk array system and manages an I/O access unified management table in which file system configuration information and logical volume configuration information managed by an OS are unified. Also, the computer system has migration volume deciding means that determines a migration method based on the I/O access unified management table, migration influence predicting means that obtains migration influence prediction information, and RAID linkage migration performing means.

Claims

1. A computer system formed of one or more computers and one or more secondary storages, the system comprising:

first means which unifies said secondary storages and manages the unified secondary storages as a virtual storage device;

second means which obtains configuration information of physical storage devices forming said secondary storages;

third means which obtains performance statistical information collected in said secondary storages; and

a table which relates said virtual storage device and the performance statistical information collected in said secondary storages.

2. The computer system according to claim 1,

wherein said table has a threshold for first information included in said performance statistical information, and

said computer system further comprises:

fourth means which decides whether the secondary storage used as said virtual storage device is changed from a first secondary storage unified into said virtual storage device to a second secondary storage not unified into said virtual storage device when said first information exceeds said threshold.

3. A data management method in a computer system formed of one or more computers and one or more secondary storages, the method comprising:

a first step of unifying said secondary storages and managing the unified secondary storages as a virtual storage device;

a second step of obtaining configuration information of physical storage devices forming said secondary storages;

a third step of obtaining performance statistical information collected in said secondary storages and relating said virtual storage device and the performance statistical information collected in said secondary storages to a table; and

a fourth step of deciding whether the secondary storage used as said virtual storage device is changed from a first secondary storage unified into said virtual storage device to a second secondary storage not unified into said virtual storage device when first information included in said performance statistical information exceeds the threshold.

4. The data management method according to claim 3,

wherein said first information is a utilization ratio of said secondary storages.

5. The data management method according to claim 4,

wherein, in said fourth step, at the time of a decision whether a change from said first secondary storage to said second secondary storage is made, a predicted value of said utilization ratio after the change is calculated, and the decision is made based on the calculated predicted value.

6. The data management method according to claim 5,

wherein, in the case where there are a plurality of candidates each usable as said second secondary storage, the predicted value of said utilization ratio is calculated assuming that each of the candidates is used as the second secondary storage, and one of the second secondary storages is selected by comparing the calculated predicted values with each other.

7. The data management method according to claim 6,

wherein, when the predicted value of said utilization ratio is calculated, a predicted value calculated by a computer for managing the secondary storages which is communicable with each of the secondary storages is used.

8. A program which executes a data management method in a computer system formed of one or more computers and one or more secondary storages, the program executing:

a first step of unifying said secondary storages and managing the unified secondary storages as a virtual storage device;

a second step of obtaining configuration information of physical storage devices forming said secondary storages;

a third step of obtaining performance statistical information collected in said secondary storages and relating said virtual storage device and the performance statistical information collected in said secondary storages to a table; and

a fourth step of deciding whether the secondary storage used as said virtual storage device is changed from a first secondary storage unified into said virtual storage device to a second secondary storage not unified into said virtual storage device when first information included in said performance statistical information exceeds a threshold.

9. A computer system formed of one or more computers, one or more secondary storages, and a computer for managing the secondary storages which is communicable with said secondary storages, the system comprising:

first means which unifies said secondary storages and manages the unified secondary storages as a virtual storage device; and

second means which obtains configuration information of physical storage devices forming said secondary storages,

wherein said computer for managing the secondary storages includes third means which obtains performance statistical information of said secondary storages and a table which relates said virtual storage device and the performance statistical information of said secondary storages.

10. The computer system according to claim 9,

wherein said table has a threshold for first information included in said performance statistical information, and

said computer system further comprises:

fourth means which decides whether the secondary storage used as said virtual storage device is changed from a first secondary storage unified into said virtual storage device to a second secondary storage not unified into said virtual storage device when said first information exceeds said threshold.

11. A data management method in a computer system formed of one or more computers, one or more secondary storages, and a computer for managing the secondary storages which is communicable with said secondary storages, the method comprising:

a first step of unifying said secondary storages and managing the unified secondary storages as a virtual storage device;

a second step of obtaining configuration information of physical storage devices forming said secondary storages;

a third step, performed by said computer for managing the secondary storages, of obtaining performance statistical information of the secondary storages and relating said virtual storage device and the performance statistical information of said secondary storages to a table; and

a fourth step, performed by said computer for managing the secondary storages, of deciding whether a secondary storage used as said virtual storage device is changed from a first secondary storage unified into said virtual storage device to a second secondary storage not unified into said virtual storage device when first information included in said performance statistical information exceeds a threshold.

12. The data management method according to claim 11,

wherein said first information is a utilization ratio of said secondary storages.

13. The data management method according to claim 12,

wherein, in said fourth step, at the time of a decision whether a change from said first secondary storage to said second secondary storage is made, a predicted value of said utilization ratio after the change is calculated, and the decision is made based on the calculated predicted value.

14. The data management method according to claim 13,

wherein, in the case where there are a plurality of candidates each usable as said second secondary storage, the predicted value of said utilization ratio is calculated assuming that each of the candidates is used as the second secondary storage, and one of the second secondary storages is selected by comparing the calculated predicted values with each other.

15. A program which executes a data management method in a computer system formed of one or more computers, one or more secondary storages, and a computer for managing the secondary storages which is communicable with said secondary storages, the program executing:

a first step of unifying said secondary storages and managing the unified secondary storages as a virtual storage device;

a second step of obtaining configuration information of physical storage devices forming said secondary storages;

a third step, performed by said computer for managing the secondary storages, of obtaining performance statistical information of said secondary storages and relating said virtual storage device and the performance statistical information of said secondary storages to a table; and

a fourth step, performed by said computer for managing the secondary storages, of deciding whether the secondary storage used as said virtual storage device is changed from a first secondary storage unified into said virtual storage device to a second secondary storage not unified into said virtual storage device when first information included in said performance statistical information exceeds a threshold.

16. A computer system formed of one or more computers, one or more secondary storages, and a computer for managing the secondary storages which is communicable with said secondary storages, the system comprising:

first means which unifies said secondary storages and manages the unified secondary storages as a virtual storage device; and

in the case where a mirror in which a first secondary storage and a second secondary storage have same contents can be formed as said virtual storage device and said secondary storages and said computer for managing the secondary storages have a function of data copying among the secondary storages,

second means which decides, by using a table which relates said virtual storage device and said secondary storages, whether said function of data copying among the secondary storages can be used for synchronization of the contents of said first and second secondary storages to form the mirror between said first and second secondary storages.

17. The computer system according to claim 16, further comprising:

third means which instructs said secondary storages and said computer for managing the secondary storages to perform said function of data copying among the secondary storages when it is decided that said function of data copying among the secondary storages can be used for synchronization of the contents of said first and second secondary storages.

18. A data management method in a computer system formed of one or more computers, one or more secondary storages, and a computer for managing the secondary storages which is communicable with said secondary storages, the method comprising:

a first step of unifying said secondary storages and managing the unified secondary storages as a virtual storage device; and

in the case where a mirror in which a first secondary storage and a second secondary storage have same contents can be formed as said virtual storage device and said secondary storages and said computer for managing the secondary storages have a function of data copying among the secondary storages,

a second step of deciding, by using a table which relates said virtual storage device and said secondary storages, whether said function of data copying among the secondary storages can be used for synchronization of the contents of said first and second secondary storages to form the mirror between said first and second secondary storages.

19. The data management method according to claim 18, further comprising:

a third step of instructing said secondary storages and said computer for managing the secondary storages to perform said function of data copying among the secondary storages when it is decided that said function of data copying among the secondary storages can be used for synchronization of the contents of said first and second secondary storages.

20. A program which executes a data management method in a computer system formed of one or more computers, one or more secondary storages, and a computer for managing the secondary storages which is communicable with said secondary storages, the program executing:

a first step of unifying said secondary storages and managing the unified secondary storages as a virtual storage device; and

in the case where a mirror in which a first secondary storage and a second secondary storage have same contents can be formed as said virtual storage device and the secondary storages and said computer for managing the secondary storages have a function of data copying among the secondary storages,

a second step of deciding, by using a table which relates said virtual storage device and said secondary storages, whether said function of data copying among the secondary storages can be used for synchronization of the contents of said first and second secondary storages to form the mirror between said first and second secondary storages.