System and method for managing failures in a redundant memory subsystem
AssigneeDell Products L.P.
InventorsRohit Chawla, Farzad Khosrowpour
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A network and a method for network operation are disclosed that facilitates the identification of a failure in the storage subsystem of the network and the recovery from such a failure. The storage subsystem includes storage enclosures that are coupled to each of the server nodes of the network. When a server node determines that it can no longer access a drive of the storage enclosure, the server node notifies the alternate server node of the network, which attempts to access the drive. If the alternate server node of the network can access the drive, the ownership of the logical unit that includes the drive is transferred to the alternate server node.
Claims20
A network, comprising:
- first and second server nodes, wherein each server nodes include a storage controller for the management of fault tolerant data storage within the network;
- a peer communications link coupled between the first server node and the second server node;
- a first storage enclosure, comprising:
- a first port coupled to the first server node;
- a second port coupled to the second server node;
- at least one storage drive;
- a second storage enclosure, comprising:
- a first port coupled to the first storage enclosure;
- a second port coupled to the first storage enclosure;
- at least one storage drive;
- wherein the storage drives of the first storage enclosure and the second storage enclosure may be accessed through the first server node or the second server node;
- wherein each of the first and second server nodes is operable to notify the other server node of an inability to access a storage drive of the first or second storage enclosures, and to transition logical ownership of said storage to the other server node if the other server node is able to access the storage drive.
A method for responding to a drive failure in a storage subsystem of a network having multiple server nodes, comprising:
- identifying an inaccessible drive in a storage subsystem, wherein the inaccessible drive comprises a drive of a logical storage unit that includes multiple drives, and wherein the inaccessible drive is identified by the server node that is the logical owner of the logical storage unit;
- transmitting a notification from the server node that owns the logical storage unit of the inaccessible drive to an alternate server node of the network, wherein the alternate server node is operable to access the inaccessible drive but is not the present owner of the logical storage unit that includes the inaccessible drive;
- attempting to access the inaccessible drive from the alternate server node;
- and
- if it is determined that the inaccessible drive can be accessed by the alternate server node, transferring ownership of the logical storage unit that includes the server drive to the alternate server node.
A method for managing component failures in a network having a shared storage resource coupled to a first server node and to a second server, wherein the shared storage resource includes a logical unit that is initially owned by the first server node, comprising:
- determining at the first server node that the first server node is unable access a first drive of the shared storage resource;
- notifying the second server node that the first server node is unable to access a drive of the first storage resource;
- determining if the second server node is able to access the first drive of the shared storage resource;
- and
- if the second server node is able to access the first drive of the shared storage resource, transitioning ownership of the shared storage resource from the first server node to the second server node.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.