Method and system for recovery from a coupling facility failure without preallocating space

In a parallel sysplex configuration, a method for recovering from a coupling facility failure, said method comprising the steps of:

• a) following the failure of a coupling facility in a parallel sysplex configuration, obtaining serialization on a cache control structure of said coupling facility to prevent said access to said coupling facility;
• b) analyzing said cache control structure of said coupling facility to determine which data was previously assigned to said coupling facility;
• c) performing a nominate cache process to select a new storage location for said data previously assigned to said coupling facility;
• and
• d) assigning said data previously assigned to said coupling facility to said new storage location, said step of assigning said data previously assigned to said coupling facility to said new storage location further comprising the steps of:
• d1) invalidating buffers associated with said data previously assigned to said coupling facility;
• and
• d2) moving a control structure of said data previously assigned to said coupling facility to a cache control structure representing said new storage location, said steps a) through d2) performed without requiring preallocation of white space in said new storage location prior to said failure of said coupling facility.

A computer readable medium having computer readable code stored thereon for causing a computer to perform the coupling facility failure recovery steps of:

• a) following the failure of a coupling facility, preventing access to said coupling facility;
• b) determining which data was previously assigned to said coupling facility;
• c) selecting a new storage location for said data previously assigned to said coupling facility;
• and
• d) assigning said data previously assigned to said coupling facility to said new storage location, said steps a) through d) performed without requiring preallocation of white space in said new storage location prior to said failure of said coupling facility.

A parallel sysplex computer system comprising:

• a plurality of computer systems;
• a shared direct access storage device coupled to said plurality of computer systems;
• a coupling facility coupled to said plurality of computer systems;
• a processor coupled to said coupling facility;
• a computer readable memory coupled to communicate with said processor, said processor for performing the coupling facility failure recovery steps of:
• a) following the failure of said coupling facility, determining which data was previously assigned to said coupling facility;
• b) preventing access to said coupling facility;
• c) selecting a new storage location for said data previously assigned to said coupling facility;
• and
• d) assigning said data previously assigned to said coupling facility to said new storage location, said steps a) through d) performed without requiring preallocation of white space in said new storage location prior to said failure of said coupling facility.

A method for transparently recovering from a coupling facility failure, said method comprising the steps of:

• a) following the failure of a coupling facility, preventing access to said coupling facility;
• b) determining which data was previously assigned to said coupling facility;
• c) selecting a new storage location for said data previously assigned to said coupling facility;
• and
• d) assigning said data previously assigned to said coupling facility to a new storage location, said steps a) through d) performed without requiring preallocation of white space in an alternate coupling facility.