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AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsDavid L. Kaminsky, David M. Ogle
Estimating the term…
A distributed fault detection system and method for diagnosing a storage network fault in a data storage network having plural network access nodes connected to plural logical storage units. When a fault is detected, the node that detects it (designated the primary detecting node) issues a fault information broadcast advising one or more other access nodes (peer nodes) of the fault. The primary detecting node also sends a fault report pertaining to the fault to a fault diagnosis node. When the peer nodes receive the fault information broadcast, they attempt to recreate the fault. Each peer node that successfully recreates the fault (designated a secondary detecting node) sends its own fault report pertaining to said fault to the fault diagnosis node. The fault diagnosis node performs fault diagnosis based on all of the fault reports.
In a data storage network having plural network access nodes connected to plural logical storage units, a distributed fault detection method for diagnosing a storage network fault, comprising:
In a system adapted for use as a network access node of a data storage network having plural network access nodes connected to plural logical storage units, a fault detection system enabling said access node to participate in distributed diagnosis of a storage network fault, comprising:
In a system adapted for use as a fault diagnostic node that communicates with plural network access nodes of a data storage network in which said access nodes are connected to plural logical storage units, a fault diagnosis system for performing distributed diagnosis of a storage network fault, comprising:
A computer program product for use in a data storage network having plural network access nodes communicating with plural data storage logical units, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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Error or fault reporting or storing: routing of error reports, e.g. with a specific transmission path or data flow
The processing taking place on a specific hardware platform or in a specific software environment: in a storage system, e.g. in a DASD or network…
In which an application is distributed across nodes in the network: for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for…
Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions: in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
Term end not estimated
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to data storage networks, and especially switched networks implementing SAN (Storage Area Network) functionality, NAS (Network Attached Storage) functionality, or the like. More particularly, the invention concerns a distributed fault detection system and method for diagnosing storage network faults.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a prior art data storage network;
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a data storage network having access nodes and a fault diagnosis node constructed according to the principals of the invention;
Turning now to the figures, wherein like reference numerals represent like elements in all of the several views, FIG. 2 illustrates a data storage network 20 that is adapted to perform fault detection in accordance with the invention. The storage network 20 includes a plurality of access nodes, five of which are shown at 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30. The storage network 20 further includes a node that performs fault diagnosis functions. Although one of the access nodes 22-30 could be used for this purpose, a separate fault diagnosis node 38 is preferably provided. Each access node 22-30 of the storage network 20 is assumed to connect via a switching fabric 32 to a plurality of controllers 34. The controllers 34 are in turn connected to, and control the flow of data to and from, a plurality of LUNs 36.
FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary topology that can be used to configure the storage network 20 shown in FIG. 2. In this configuration, the switching fabric 32, the controllers 34 and the LUNs 36 are arranged to match the topology of FIG. 1 for convenience and ease of description. In the topology of FIG. 3, the switching fabric 32 includes a pair of switching elements 32a and 32b. The controllers 34 include three controllers 34a, 34b and 34c. The LUNs 36 include six LUNs 36a, 36b, 36c, 36d, 36e and 36f. Each of the access nodes 22-30 in FIG. 3 connects to the two switching elements 32a and 32b. Each switching element 32a and 32b connects to at least two of the controllers 34a, 34b and 34c. Each controller 34a, 34b and 34c connects to two or more of the LUNs 36a-36f.
There are a variety of system components that can be used to implement the various elements that make up the storage network 20, depending on design preferences. Underlying the network design will be the selection of a suitable communication and media technology, such as Fibre Channel, Ethernet or SCSI. Selection of one of these core technologies will dictate the choice of devices that will be used to implement the switching elements 32a and 32b, as well as the network interfaces that reside in the access nodes 22-30 and the controllers 34a-34c. Selection of the controllers 34a-34c will be dictated by the physical storage devices that provide the LUNs 36a-36f. The latter could be implemented as RAID arrays, JBOD arrays, intelligent disk subsystems, tape libraries, etc., or any combination thereof. As persons skilled in the art will appreciate, each LUN represents a logical virtualization of some defined subset of the total pool of available physical storage space in the storage network 20. For example, a LUN could represent a set of disks in a RAID or JBOD array, or it could represent the entire array.