Storage control system and storage control method

• US 7,895,467 B2
• Filed: 01/11/2008
• Issued: 02/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Onabe, Kenji, Morita, Seiki
• Primary Examiner(s): DUNCAN, MARC M
• Application Number:
  US12/007,532
• Publication Number:
  US 20090031167A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,138 Days
• Field of Search: 714/6, 714/7
• US Class Current: 714/6.32
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1092 Rebuilding, e.g. when physically replacing a failing disk
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1096 Parity calculation or recalculation after configuration or reconfiguration of the system

Abstract

Unique information including a logical type name is stored in a user data area of a management area as a media of the alternative disk drive to become an alternative of the storage device. Upon using the alternative disk drive, a disk controller reads the unique information of the alternative disk drive, and determines that copy back is unnecessary when the rotating speed and capacity belonging to the unique information of the alternative disk drive are the same as the rotating speed and capacity of the failed disk drive belonging to RAID, and otherwise determines that copy back is necessary.

Claims

1. A storage control system, comprising:

a plurality of storage apparatuses; and

a controller for sending and receiving data between said plurality of storage apparatuses and a host system;

each of said storage apparatuses includes;

a plurality of storage mediums configuring a plurality of RAID groups; and

a plurality of spare mediums for saving stored data of a storage medium subject to a failure among said plurality of storage mediums;

wherein each of said plurality of storage apparatuses stores a physical capacity, a physical performance, an operational capacity, and an operational performance thereof as unique information, said operational capacity and operational performance being used for managing a plurality of storage apparatuses having different physical capacities and physical performances, as same-type storage apparatuses,

wherein when one of said plurality of storage mediums failed, the controller;

searches for at least one spare medium whose operational performance and operational capacity are same as those of the failed storage medium, among said plurality of spare mediums;

determines, if no such at least one spare medium exists, that there is no spare medium capable of recovering data;

selects, if more than one spare medium exist, one of them based on comparison between physical performances and physical capacities of the spare mediums and those of the failed storage medium; and

recovers the data stored in the failed storage medium to the selected storage medium.

2. The storage control system according to claim 1, wherein when one of said plurality of storage mediums failed, the controller:

searches for at least one spare medium whose operational capacity are same as those of the failed storage medium, among said plurality of spare mediums; and

determines, if no such at least one spare medium exists, that there is no spare medium capable of recovering data.

3. The storage control system according to claim 1, wherein if at least one spare medium whose operational performance and operational capacity are the same as those of the failed storage medium exists, the controller:

searches for a spare medium with the same product name as the product name of the unique information of the failed disk drive among the foregoing spare mediums; and

determines whether there is a spare medium with the same product name as the product name of the unique information of the failed storage medium.

4. The storage control system according to claim 1, wherein the unique information is stored in a plurality of sections in each of the plurality of storage apparatuses according to a designated redundancy.

5. The storage control system according to claim 1, wherein after one of a plurality of storage mediums fail, the controller determines if the data should be copied from the selected spare medium to am alternative medium based on said unique information.

6. A storage control system, comprising:

a channel controller for controlling an I/O request to a plurality of storage apparatuses in response to a data I/O request from a host system;

a disk controller for controlling the I/O request of said data with said plurality of storage apparatuses;

a shared memory for storing control information;

a cache memory for temporarily storing control data;

a disk storage apparatus as plurality of storage apparatuses to be connected to said disk controller; and

a connection for mutually connecting said channel controller, said disk controller, said shared memory, and said cache memory;

wherein said disk storage apparatus includes;

a plurality of disk drives configuring a plurality of RAID groups;

a plurality of spare disk drives for saving stored data of a disk drive subject to a failure among said plurality of disk drives;

wherein each of said plurality of storage apparatuses stores a physical capacity, a physical performance, an operational capacity, and an operational performance thereof as unique information, said operational capacity and operational performance being used for managing a plurality of storage apparatuses having different physical capacities and physical performances, as same-type storage apparatuses,

wherein when one of said plurality of disk drives failed, said disk controller is configured to;

search for at least one spare disk drive whose operational performance and operational capacity are same as those of the failed disk drive, among said plurality of disk drives;

determine, if no such at least one spare disk drive exists, that there is no spare disk drive capable of recovering data;

select, if more than one spare disk drive exist, one of them based on comparison between physical performances and physical capacities of the spare disk drives and those of the failed storage disk drive; and

recover the data stored in the failed disk drive to the selected disk drive.

7. The storage control system according to claim 6,

wherein the unique information stored in the media of said alternative disk drive includes the rotating speed and capacity as with the disk drives configuring said RAID group;

and

said disk controller is configured to determine that said copy back is unnecessary when the rotating speed and capacity belonging to the unique information stored in the media of said alternative disk drive are the same as the rotating speed and capacity of the disk drives configuring said RAID group, and otherwise determine that said copy back is necessary.

8. A storage control method of controlling the transfer of data between a plurality of storage apparatuses comprising a plurality of storage mediums mutually configuring a plurality of RAID groups, a plurality of spare mediums for saving stored data of a storage medium subject to a failure among said plurality of storage mediums, wherein each of said plurality of storage apparatuses stores a physical capacity, a physical performance, an operational capacity, and an operational performance thereof as unique information, said operational capacity and operational performance being used for managing a plurality of storage apparatuses having different physical capacities and physical performances, as same-type storage apparatuses, said method, comprising:

detecting a failure in one of said plurality of storage mediums;

searching for at least one spare medium whose operational performance and operational capacity are same as those of the failed storage medium, among said plurality of spare mediums;

determining, if no such at least one spare medium exists, that there is no spare medium capable of recovering data;

selecting, if more than one spare medium exist, one of them based on comparison between physical performances and physical capacities of the spare mediums and those of the failed storage medium; and

recovering the data stored in the failed storage medium to the selected storage medium.

9. The storage control method according to claim 8, wherein when one of said plurality of storage mediums failed, the method further comprises the steps of:

searching for at least one spare medium whose operational capacity are same as those of the failed storage medium, among said plurality of spare mediums; and

determining, if no such at least one spare medium exists, that there is no spare medium capable of recovering data.

10. The storage control method according to claim 8, wherein if at least one spare medium whose operational performance and operational capacity are the same as those of the failed storage medium exists, the method further comprises the steps of:

searching for a spare medium with the same product name as the product name of the unique information of the failed disk drive among the foregoing spare mediums; and

determining whether there is a spare medium with the same product name as the product name of the unique information of the failed storage medium.

11. The storage control method according to claim 8, wherein the unique information is stored in a plurality of sections in each of the plurality of storage apparatuses according to a designated redundancy.

12. The storage control method according to claim 8, wherein after one of a plurality of storage mediums fail, the method further comprises the step of determining if the data should be copied from the selected spare medium to am alternative medium based on said unique information.