Input/output controller providing preventive maintenance information regarding a spare I/O unit

An array storage system coupled to a host unit issuing an operation command, said array storage system comprising:

• storage devices comprising:
• a spare storage device, and
• data storage devices;
• an operation controller controlling a read operation on said storage devices, said operation controller controlling said data storage devices if said data storage devices are normal and without one of a hard error, a read error, and both the hard error and the read error, and controlling the spare storage device and remaining of said data storage devices which are normal if one of a hard error, a read error, and both are found in one of the storage devices, said operation controller comprising:
• a subordinate unit I/O controller connected to said storage devices,
• a host unit interface controller, operatively connected to said host unit and said subordinate unit I/O controller, receiving said operation command issued from said host unit and forwarding said operation command to said storage devices,
• checking means for checking a normality of data in said storage devices, based on a signal obtained by reading data and the error detection code concurrently from said storage devices,
• controlling means for controlling at least one of said storage devices based on said operation command input from said host interface controller via said subordinate unit I/O controller, said controlling means controlling said data storage devices only, if a normality of data is found in all said data storage devices by said checking means and controlling remaining normal data storage devices and said spare storage device if an abnormality is found in any of said data storage devices by said checking means, and controlling, via said subordinate unit I/O controller, one of said selected data storage devices and said spare storage device, on the basis of said operation command input from said host unit via said host unit interface controller,
• decision means for deciding whether at least one of said data storage devices and said spare storage device operate normally if said controlling means is not processing said operation command input from said host unit via said host unit interface controller, and
• an information storage register temporarily storing information regarding an abnormality if an abnormality of said data storage devices and said spare storage device is found by said decision means;
• and
• power supply means for supplying power to each of said data storage devices, and said spare storage device, and for maintaining each of said storage devices in ready status.

An array storage system comprising:

• storage devices comprising:
• a spare storage device, and
• data storage devices;
• an operation controller controlling a read operation on said storage devices, said operation controller controlling said data storage devices if said data storage devices are normal and without one of a hard error, a read error, and both the hard error and the read error, and controlling the spare storage device and other of said data storage devices which are normal if one of a hard error, a read error, and both are found in one of the storage devices;
• and
• means for carrying out a seek operation if said operation controller is not processing a command input from an external unit, coupled to the array storage system, to said operation controller, wherein the spare storage device stores data previously stored in the one of the data storage devices experiencing one of a hard error, a read error, and both, and reconstructed by a reconstruction process, and wherein data are not stored in the spare storage device if said data storage devices are normal and without error, wherein the spare storage device is separate from the data storage devices.

An array storage system comprising:

• storage devices comprising:
• a spare storage device, and
• data storage devices;
• an operation controller controlling a read operation on said storage devices, said operation controller controlling said data storage devices and said first storage device if said data storage devices and said first storage device are normal and without one of a hard error, a read error, and both the hard error and the read error, and controlling the first storage device, the spare storage device and other of said data storage devices which are normal if one of a hard error, a read error, and both are found in one of the storage devices, said operation controller comprising:
• a subordinate unit I/O controller connected to said storage devices,
• an external unit interface controller, operatively connected to said external unit and said subordinate unit I/O controller, receiving said operation command issued from said external unit and forwarding said operation command to said storage devices,
• checking means for checking a normality of data in said storage devices, based on a signal obtained by reading data and the error detection code concurrently from said storage devices,
• controlling means for controlling at least one of said storage devices based on said operation command input from said external interface controller via said subordinate unit I/O controller, said controlling means controlling said data storage devices only, if a normality of data is found in all said data storage devices by said checking means and controlling remaining normal data storage devices and said spare storage device if an abnormality is found in any of said data storage devices by said checking means, and controlling, via said subordinate unit I/O controller, one of said selected data storage devices and said spare storage device, on the basis of said operation command input from said external unit via said external unit interface controller,
• decision means for deciding whether at least one of said data storage devices and said spare storage device operate normally if said controlling means is not processing said operation command input from said external unit via said external unit interface controller, and
• an information storage register temporarily storing information regarding an abnormality if an abnormality of said data storage devices and said spare storage device is found by said decision means;
• and
• means for carrying out a seek operation if said operation controller is not processing a command input from an external unit, coupled to the array storage system, to said operation controller.

An array storage apparatus coupled to a host unit issuing a command, said array storage apparatus comprising:

• a logical storage device comprising physical storage devices, said physical storage devices comprising:
• a spare physical storage device, and
• physical data storage devices;
• and
• an array controller, coupled to the logical storage device, and comprising an information storage register storing information about an abnormality of said physical data storage devices belonging to said logical storage device, said array controller controlling a read operation on said logical storage device and transmitting the information stored in said information storage register to the host unit, said command issued by the host unit indicating the read operation on said logical device where the information is stored in said register, wherein the spare storage device stores data previously stored in one of the physical data storage devices experiencing the abnormality, and reconstructed by a reconstruction process, and wherein data are not stored in the spare storage device if said physical data storage devices are not experiencing the abnormality, wherein the spare physical storage device is separate from the physical data storage devices.

An array storage apparatus coupled to a host unit issuing a command, said array storage apparatus comprising:

• a logical storage device comprising physical storage devices, said physical storage devices comprising:
• a spare physical storage device, and
• physical data storage devices;
• and
• an array controller, coupled to the logical storage device and comprising an information storage register storing information about an abnormality of said physical storage devices belonging to said logical storage device, said array controller controlling a read operation on said logical storage device and transmitting the information stored in said information storage register to the host unit, said command issued by the host unit indicating the read operation on said logical device where the information is stored in said register, said array controller further comprising:
• a subordinate unit I/O controller connected to said storage devices,
• a host unit interface controller, operatively connected to said host unit and said subordinate unit I/O controller, receiving said operation command issued from said host unit and forwarding said operation command to said storage devices,
• checking means for checking a normality of data in said storage devices, based on a signal obtained by reading data and the error detection code concurrently from said storage devices,
• controlling means for controlling at least one of said storage devices based on said operation command input from said host interface controller via said subordinate unit I/O controller, said controlling means controlling said data storage devices only, if a normality of data is found in all said data storage devices by said checking means and controlling remaining normal data storage devices and said spare storage device if an abnormality as found in any of said data storage devices by said checking means, and controlling, via said subordinate unit I/O controller, one of said selected data storage devices and said spare storage device, on the basis of said operation command input from said host unit via said host unit interface controller,
• decision means for deciding whether at least one of said data storage devices and said spare storage device operate normally if said controlling means is not processing said operation command input from said host unit via said host unit interface controller, and
• an information storage register temporarily storing information regarding an abnormality if an abnormality of said data storage devices and said spare storage device is found by said decision means.

An array storage apparatus coupled to a host unit issuing a command, said array controller comprising:

• logical storage devices, each of the logical storage devices comprising:
• physical storage devices comprising:
• a spare physical storage device being a spare storage device, and
• physical data storage devices;
• and
• an array controller, coupled to the logical storage devices and comprising an information storage register storing information about an abnormality of said physical storage devices belonging to each of said logical storage devices, said array controller controlling a read operation on said logical storage devices independently and transmitting the information storage in said information storage register to the host unit, said command issued by the host unit indicating the read operation to one of said logical devices where the information has been stored in said register, wherein the spare storage device stores data previously stored in one of the physical data storage devices experiencing the abnormality, and reconstructed by a reconstruction process, and wherein data are not stored in the spare storage device if said physical data storage devices are not experiencing the abnormality, wherein said spare physical storage device is separate from said physical data storage devices.

An array storage apparatus coupled to a host unit issuing a command, said array controller comprising:

• logical storage devices, each of the logical storage devices comprising:
• physical storage devices comprising:
• a spare physical storage device, and
• physical data storage devices;
• and
• array controllers, providing in a pair and in parallel, and coupled to the physical storage devices, controlling a read operation on said logical storage devices independently, said array controllers comprising:
• an information storage register storing information about an abnormality of said physical storage devices belonging to each of said logical storage devices, wherein said array controllers transmitting the information storage in said information storage register to the host unit, said command issued by the host unit indicating the read operation to one of said logical devices where the information has been stored in said register,
• a subordinate unit I/O controller connected to said storage devices,
• a host unit interface controller, operatively connected to said host unit and said subordinate unit I/O controller, receiving said operation command issued from said host unit and forwarding said operation command to said storage devices,
• checking means for checking a normality of data in said storage devices, based on a signal obtained by reading data and the error detection code concurrently from said storage devices,
• controlling means for controlling at least one of said storage devices based on said operation command input from said host interface controller via said subordinate unit I/O controller, said controlling means controlling said data storage devices only, if a normality of data is found in all said data storage devices by said checking means and controlling remaining normal data storage devices and said spare storage device if an abnormality is found in any of said data storage devices by said checking means, and controlling, via said subordinate unit I/O controller, one of said selected data storage devices and said spare storage device, on the basis of said operation command input from said host unit via said host unit interface controller,
• decision means for deciding whether at least one of said data storage devices and said spare storage device operate normally if said controlling means is not processing said operation command input from said host unit via said host unit interface controller, and
• an information storage register temporarily storing information regarding an abnormality if an abnormality of said data storage devices and said spare storage device is found by said decision means.

An array storage apparatus coupled to a host unit issuing a command and accessible to a logical storage device comprising physical storage devices, a first one of the physical storage devices storing an error correction code, a spare one of the physical storage devices being a spare storage device, and each of remaining of the physical storage devices storing data, said array storage apparatus comprising:

• an operation controller controlling a read operation on said storage devices, said operation controller controlling said data storage devices and said first one of the physical storage devices if said remaining of the storage devices and said first one of the storage devices are normal and do not contain one of a hard error, a read error, and both of the hard error and the read error, and controlling other of said remaining storage devices, the first one of the storage devices, and said spare of the storage devices if one of said remaining storage devices contains one of a hard error, a read error, and both the hard error and the read error;
• and
• means for instructing a seek operation to said physical storage devices if said operation controller is not processing a command input from an external unit to said operation controller, wherein the spare storage device stores data previously stored in the one of the remaining data storage devices experiencing one of a hard error, a read error, and both, and reconstructed by a reconstruction process, and wherein data are not stored in the spare storage device if said remaining data storage devices are normal and without error, wherein said spare one of said physical storage devices being separate from said first one of said physical storage devices and separate from each of the remaining of the physical storage devices.

An array storage apparatus coupled to a host unit issuing a command and accessible to a logical storage device comprising physical storage devices, a first one of the physical storage devices storing an error correction code, a spare one of the physical storage devices being a spare storage device, and each of remaining of the physical storage devices storing data, said array storage apparatus comprising:

• an operation controller controlling a read operation on said storage devices, said operation controller controlling said data storage devices and said first one of the physical storage devices if said remaining of the storage devices and said first one of the storage devices are normal and do not contain one of a hard error, a read error, and both of the hard error and the read error, and controlling other of said remaining storage devices, the first one of the storage devices, and said spare of the storage devices if one of said remaining storage devices contains one of a hard error, a read error, and both the hard error and the read error, said operation controller comprising:
• a subordinate unit I/O controller connected to said storage devices,
• a host unit interface controller, operatively connected to said host unit and said subordinate unit I/O controller, receiving said operation command issued from said host unit and forwarding said operation command to said storage devices,
• checking means for checking a normality of data in said storage devices, based on a signal obtained by reading data and the error detection code concurrently from said storage devices,
• controlling means for controlling at least one of said storage devices based on said operation command input from said host interface controller via said subordinate unit I/o controller, said controlling means controlling said data storage devices only, if a normality of data is found in all said data storage devices by said checking means and controlling remaining normal data storage devices and said spare storage device if an abnormality is found in any of said data storage devices by said checking means, and controlling, via said subordinate unit I/O controller, one of said selected data storage devices and said spare storage device, on the basis of said operation command input from said host unit via said host unit interface controller,
• decision means for deciding whether at least one of said data storage devices and said spare storage device operate normally if said controlling means is not processing said operation command input from said host unit via said host unit interface controller, and
• an information storage register temporarily storing information regarding an abnormality if an abnormality of said data storage devices and said spare storage device is found by said decision means;
• and
• means for instructing a seek operation to said physical storage devices if said operation controller is not processing a command input from an external unit to said operation controller.

An array storage apparatus coupled to a host unit issuing a command and accessible to a logical storage device comprising physical storage devices, a first one of the physical storage devices storing an error correction code, a spare one of the physical storage devices being a spare storage device, said array storage apparatus comprising:

• an array controller coupled to the logical storage device and comprising an information storage register storing information about an abnormality of said physical storage devices belonging to said logical storage device, said array controller controlling a read operation on said logical storage device, said array controller transmitting the information stored in said information storage register to the host unit, said command issued by the host unit indicating the operation to said logical device where the information has been stored in said register, wherein the spare storage device stores data previously stored in one of the remaining physical data storage devices experiencing the abnormality, and reconstructed by a reconstruction process, and wherein data are not stored in the spare storage device if said remaining physical data storage devices are not experiencing the abnormality, wherein said spare one of said physical storage devices being separate from said first one of said physical storage devices and separate from each of remaining of the physical storage devices.

An array storage apparatus coupled to a host unit issuing a command and accessible to a logical storage device comprising physical storage devices, a first one of the physical storage devices storing an error correction code, a spare one of the physical storage devices being a spare storage device, said array storage apparatus comprising:

• an array controller coupled to the logical storage device and comprising an information storage register storing information about an abnormality of said physical storage devices belonging to said logical storage device, said array controller controlling a read operation on said logical storage device, said array controller transmitting the information stored in said information storage register to the host unit, said command issued by the host unit indicating the operation to said logical device where the information has been stored in said register, wherein the spare storage device stores data previously stored in one of the remaining physical data storage devices experiencing the abnormality, and reconstructed by a reconstruction process, and wherein data are not stored in the spare storage device if said remaining physical data storage devices are not experiencing the abnormality, wherein said array controller further comprises:
• a subordinate unit I/O controller connected to said storage devices,
• a host unit interface controller, operatively connected to said host unit and said subordinate unit I/O controller, receiving said operation command issued from said host unit and forwarding said operation command to said storage devices,
• checking means for checking a normality of data in said storage devices, based on a signal obtained by reading data and the error detection code concurrently from said storage devices,
• controlling means for controlling at least one of said storage devices based on said operation command input from said host interface controller via said subordinate unit I/O controller, said controlling means controlling said data storage devices only, if a normality of data is found in all said data storage devices by said checking means and controlling remaining normal data storage devices and said spare storage device if an abnormality is found in any of said data storage devices by said checking means, and controlling, via said subordinate unit I/O controller, one of said selected data storage devices and said spare storage device, on the basis of said operation command input from said host unit via said host unit interface controller, and
• decision means for deciding whether at least one of said data storage devices and said spare storage device operate normally if said controlling means is not processing said operation command input from said host unit via said host unit interface controller, said information storage register temporarily storing information regarding an abnormality if an abnormality of said data storage devices and said spare storage device is found by said decision means.