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AssigneeHitachi, Ltd.
InventorsNaoto Matsunami, Takashi Oeda, Akira Yamamoto, Yasuyuki Mimatsu, Masahiko Sato
Estimating the term…
A disk storage system containing a storage device having a record medium for holding the data, a plurality of storage sub-systems having a controller for controlling the storage device, a first interface node coupled to a computer using the data stored in the plurality of storage subsystems, a plurality of second interface nodes connected to any or one of the storage sub-systems, a switching means connecting to a first interface node and a plurality of second interface nodes to perform frame transfer between a first interface node and a plurality of second interface nodes based on node address information added to the frame. The first interface node has a configuration table to store structural information for the memory storage system and in response to the frame sent from the computer, analyzes the applicable frame, converts information relating to the transfer destination of that frame based on structural information held in the configuration table, and transfers that frame to the switching means.
A storage system comprising:
A switching means connected between a computer and a plurality of storage sub-systems including a storage device having a recording medium for storing data and a controller for controlling said storage device, said switching means comprising:
A storage system comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Backward citations are indexed for grants only.
Configuration or reconfiguration of storage systems: by changing the path, e.g. traffic rerouting, path reconfiguration
Improving I/O performance: in relation to response time
Adopting a particular infrastructure: distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
Plurality of storage devices: disk arrays, e.g. RAID, JBOD
Term end not estimated
This invention relates to a disk control system for controlling a plurality of disk devices and relates in particular to a method for improving the high speed, operation of the disk control system, achieving a lower cost and improving the cost performance.
A diskarray system for controlling a plurality of disk devices is utilized as a storage system in computers. A diskarray system is for instance disclosed in “A Case for Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID)”; In Proc. ACM SIGMOD, June 1988 (Issued by Cal. State Univ. Berkeley). This diskarray operates a plurality of disk systems in parallel and is a technique that achieves high speed operation compared to storage systems utilizing disks as single devices.
A method using the fabric of a fiber channel is a technique for mutually connecting a plurality of hosts with a plurality of diskarray systems. A computer system using this technique is disclosed for instance in “Serial SCSI Finally Arrives on the Market” of Nikkei Electronics, P. 79, Jul. 3, 1995 (No. 639) as shown in FIG. 3. In the computer system disclosed here, a plurality of host computers (hereafter simply called hosts) and a plurality of diskarray systems are respectively connected to a fabric device by way of fiber channels. The fabric device is a switch for the fiber channels and performs transfer path connections between the desired devices. The fabric device is transparent to (or passes) “frame” transfers which are packets on the fiber channel. The host and diskarray system communicate between two points without recognizing the fabric device.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of the computer system of the first embodiment of this invention.
FIG. 2 is block diagram of the diskarray subset of the first embodiment.
FIG. 3 is block diagram of diskarray switch of the first embodiment.
(First Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of the computer system of the first embodiment of this invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a diskarray system, and 30 is the (host) computer connected to the diskarray system. The diskarray system 1 contains a diskarray subset 10, a diskarray switch 20 and a diskarray system configuration manager 70 for handling the configuration of the overall diskarray system. The diskarray system 1 further has a communication interface (communication I/F) 80 between the diskarray switch 20 and the diskarray system configuration manager 70, and also between the diskarray subset 10 and the diskarray system configuration manager 70. A host 30 and the diskarray system 1 are connected by a host interface (host I/F)) 31. The host I/F 31 is connected to the diskarray switches 20 of the diskarray system 1. The diskarray switch 20 and the diskarray subset 10 inside the diskarray system 1 are connected by the diskarray interface (diskarray I/F 21).
The hosts 30 and the diskarray subsets 10 are shown as four units each however this number is optional and is not limited. The hosts 30 and the diskarray subsets 10 may also be provided in different numbers of units. The diskarray switches 20 in this embodiment are duplexed as shown in the drawing. Each host 30 and each diskarray subset 10 are connected to both of the duplexed diskarray switches 20 by the respective host I/F31 and a diskarray I/F21. Thus even if one of the diskarray switches 20, the host I/F 31 or the diskarray I/F21 is broken, the other diskarray switches 20, the host I/F 31 or the diskarray I/F21 can be utilized to allow access from the host 30 to the diskarray system 1, and a high amount of usage can be achieved. However, this kind of duplication or duplexing is not always necessary and is selectable according to the level of reliability required by the system.