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AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsKevin L. Gibble, Gregory T. Kishi, David L. Patterson
Estimating the term…
A method and apparatus for maintaining information in one or more virtual volume aggregates comprising a plurality of virtual volumes. The method maintains a plurality of virtual volumes in a first information storage medium, and forms one or more virtual volume aggregates, where each of the of virtual volumes is assigned to one of the virtual volume aggregates. The method further provides a plurality of second information storage media. The method then identifies the least recently used virtual volume, and writes the virtual volume aggregate comprising that least recently used virtual volume to one or more second information storage media. Thereafter, the method determines if space is required on said first information storage medium. If space is required on said first information storage medium, the method selects the virtual volume aggregate comprising the least recently used virtual volume and removes from said first information storage medium each virtual volume in that selected virtual volume aggregate that has been written to one or more second information storage media.
A method for maintaining information in one or more virtual volume aggregates, comprising the steps of:
A method for maintaining information in one or more virtual volume aggregates, comprising the steps of:
An article of manufacture comprising a computer useable medium having computer readable program code disposed therein to maintain a plurality of virtual volumes in one or more virtual volume aggregates, the computer readable program code comprising a series of computer readable program steps to effect:
An article of manufacture comprising a computer useable medium having computer readable program code disposed therein to maintain a plurality of virtual volumes in one or more virtual volume aggregates, the computer readable program code comprising a series of computer readable program steps to effect:
A computer program product usable with a programmable computer processor having computer readable program code embodied therein to maintain a plurality of virtual volumes in one or more virtual volume aggregates, comprising:
A computer program product usable with a programmable computer processor having computer readable program code embodied therein to maintain a plurality of virtual volumes in one or more virtual volume aggregates, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. storage management: by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
Migration mechanisms: lifecycle management
Plurality of storage devices: libraries, e.g. tape libraries, jukebox
Computing and data processing
Term ended 12 Mar 2023 (estimated)
Applicant's invention relates to an apparatus and method to maintain computer files in one or more virtual volume aggregates, where each of those virtual volume aggregates includes a plurality of individual virtual volumes.
In hierarchical computer storage systems, intensively used and fast storage is paired with arrays of slower and less frequently accessed data devices. One example of high-speed, expensive memory is a direct access storage device file buffer (DASD). Slower storage devices include tape drives and disk drive arrays, which are less expensive than a DASD.
One such hierarchical storage system is a virtual tape storage system. Such a virtual tape storage system may include, for example, one or more virtual tape servers (“VTS”) in combination with one or more data storage and retrieval systems, such as the IBM TotalStorage® 3494 Enterprise Tape Library. During operation, the virtual tape storage system is writing data from a host to the numerous data storage devices disposed in the one or more data storage and retrieval systems.
The invention will be better understood from a reading of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which like reference designators are used to designate like elements, and in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of Applicant's data storage and retrieval system;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of Applicant's data storage and retrieval system;
Referring to the illustrations, like numerals correspond to like parts depicted in the figures. The invention will be described as embodied in a virtual tape server in combination with an automated data storage and retrieval subsystem for use in a data processing environment. The following description of Applicant's apparatus and method is not meant, however, to limit Applicant's invention to either data storage and retrieval systems, or to data processing applications, as the invention herein can be applied to data storage in general.
FIG. 3 illustrates the hardware and software environment in which preferred embodiments of the present invention are implemented. Virtual tape server (VTS) 300 is pictured, operatively coupled to a host computer 390. In certain embodiments, host computer 390 comprises a single computer. In alternative embodiments, host computer 390 comprises one or more mainframe computers, one or more work stations, one or more personal computers, combinations thereof, and the like.
Host computer 390 communicates with VTS 300 via communication link 392 with a host-to-data interface 380 disposed within the virtual tape server 300. Communication link 392 comprises a serial interconnection, such as an RS-232 cable or an RS-432 cable, an ethernet interconnection, a SCSI interconnection, a Fibre Channel interconnection, an ESCON interconnection, a FICON interconnection, a Local Area Network (LAN), a private Wide Area Network (WAN), a public wide area network, Storage Area Network (SAN), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), the Internet, and combinations thereof. In certain embodiments, the host-to-data interface 380 comprises an IBM Enterprise Systems Connection (ESCON) and communication link 392 comprises a fiber optic local area network used to link mainframes to disk drives or other mainframes.