Method for rolling back from snapshot with log

• US 20070094467A1
• Filed: 11/14/2005
• Published: 04/26/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Yamasaki, Yasuo
• Granted Patent: US 7,428,657 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/162
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2064 while ensuring consistency
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2074 Asynchronous techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2082 Data synchronisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/84 Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data

Abstract

High speed differential copy can be implemented in the fail-back after disaster recovery when the data of the primary site is protected safely. When a restore command is issued, the common snapshots of the snapshots of the primary site and the secondary site are extracted as the base snapshot by comparing the log tables of the primary site and secondary site. The volume of the primary site is rolled back with the extracted snapshots. The latest snapshot of the volume of the secondary site is transmitted to the primary site and it is applied to the volume of the primary site to synchronize the volumes of the primary site and the secondary site.

Claims

1. A restoring method of storage system comprising a first storage system including a first volume for making a reference to or updating stored data, a second storage system including a second volume for 5 storing a duplicate of the first volume, and a network for connecting the first storage system and the second storage system, in order to make a reference to or to update the data stored in the second volume when a failure occurs in the first volume and to restore the contents of the second volume in the first volume when the first volume recovers from the failure, the restoring method comprising the steps that;

the first storage system creates a snapshot of the first volume,

the first storage system transmits the snapshot to the second storage system,

the first storage system stores a communication history of the snapshot transmitted to the second storage system in a first log storage unit,

the second storage system synchronizes the second volume by applying thereto the snapshot received from the first storage system,

the second storage system stores a communication history of said received snapshot in a second log storage unit,

the second storage system creates a snapshot of the second volume after synchronization,

the second storage system accepts a restore command for data from the second volume to the first volume,

when the restore command is issued, the first log storage unit is compared with the second log storage unit and a common snapshot among the snapshots of the first volume and the second volume is extracted as a base snapshot,

rollback is conducted by applying the base snapshot of the first volume extracted by the first storage system to the first volume,

the second storage system transmits the latest snapshot of the second volume to the first volume, and

the snapshot received by the first storage system is applied to the first volume.

2. The restoring method of storage system according to claim 1, wherein the step for extracting common snapshots among the snapshots of the first volume and the second volume extracts the latest snapshot, as a base snapshot, from the common snapshots of the first volume and the second volume by comparing the first log storage unit with the second log storage unit.

3. The restoring method of storage system according to claim 1, further comprising a step for deleting communication histories when the communication histories stored in the first log storage unit and the second log storage unit have passed the predetermined period.

4. The restoring method of storage system according to claim 1, further comprising a step for deleting the snapshots corresponding to communication histories when the communication histories stored in the first log storage unit and the second log storage unit have passed the predetermined period.

5. The restoring method of storage system according to claim 1, wherein

the step that the first storage system transmits the snapshot to the second storage system transmits the differential data of the snapshot and the snapshot in the past to the second storage system,

the step that synchronization is set up by applying the snapshot received by the second storage system from the first storage system to the second volume establishes synchronization by applying the differential data received from the first storage system to the second volume,

the step that the second storage system transmits the latest snapshot of the second volume to the first storage system transmits the differential data of the latest snapshot and the base snapshot to the first storage system, and

the step that the snapshot received by the first storage system is applied to the first volume applies the differential data received from the second storage system to the first volume.

6. The restoring method of storage system according to claim 1, wherein the first log storage unit and the second log storage unit include creation time of the snapshot which has been transmitted and received and an identifier of the snapshot.

7. The restoring method of storage system according to claim 1, wherein the first log storage unit and the second log storage unit add creation time of the snapshot which has been transmitted received and an identifier of the snapshot to the snapshot as a transfer attribute.

8. The restoring method of storage system according to claim 7, wherein, the step that a common snapshot among the snapshots of the first volume and the second volume is extracted as a base snapshot compares the creation time and identifier of the snapshot by reading the first log storage unit and the second log storage unit of the first storage system with the second storage system.

9. A storage system comprising

a volume for storing data, and

a control unit for enabling backup of data by creating a snapshot of the volume and then transmitting the snapshot to a second storage system, wherein the control unit comprising

a snapshot creating unit for creating a snapshot of the volume,

a transmitting unit for transmitting the snapshot to the second storage system,

a synchronizing unit for applying the snapshot received from the second storage system to the volume,

a first log storage unit for storing a communication history of the transmitted and received snapshot,

a receiving unit for receiving a restore command from a management computer,

a base snapshot extracting unit for reading, upon acceptance of the restore command, the communication history from the first log storage unit, reading a communication history from a second log storage unit of the second storage system, and extracting the snapshot corresponding to the common communication history from these communication histories as a base snapshot,

a rollback instructing unit for instructing the second storage system to conduct rollback with the base snapshot, and

a synchronization instructing unit for transmitting the latest snapshot to the second storage system with the snapshot creating unit.

10. The storage system according to claim 9, wherein

the base snapshot extracting unit extracts the latest snapshot among the common snapshots of the volumes of the first storage system and the second storage system as a base snapshot by comparing the communication history of the first log storage unit with the communication history of the second log storage unit of the second storage system.

11. The storage system according to claim 9, wherein the control unit comprises a deleting unit for deleting communication histories when the communication histories stored in the first log storage unit and the second log storage unit have passed the predetermined period.

12. The storage system according to claim 9, wherein the control unit comprises a deleting unit for deleting the snapshots corresponding to communication histories when the communication histories stored in the first log storage unit and the second log storage unit have passed the predetermined period.

13. The storage system according to claim 9, wherein

the transmitting unit transmits the differential data between the snapshot and the snapshot in the past to the second storage system,

the synchronizing unit synchronizes the volume to the second storage system by applying, thereto, the differential data received from the second storage system, and

the synchronization instructing unit synchronizes the volume of the second storage system to the relevant volume by transmitting the differential data between the latest snapshot and the base snapshot to the second storage system.

14. The storage system according to claim 9, wherein the first log storage unit and the second log storage unit include a creation time of the snapshot which has been transmitted and received and an identifier of the snapshot.

15. The storage system according to claim 9, wherein the first log storage unit and the second log storage unit add a creating time of the snapshot which has been transmitted and received and an identifier of the snapshot as a transfer attribute of the snapshot.

16. The storage system according to claim 14, wherein the base snapshot extracting unit reads the first log storage unit and the second log storage unit and compares the creation time and identifier of a snapshot.