Buffer updates and data evacuation in a storage system using differential snapshots

A method of managing data in a system including a storage system and a server computer, wherein the storage system comprises a storage controller and a nonvolatile storage, the nonvolatile storage including a first volume and a second volume, and wherein the server computer conducts an updating operation of the first volume by updating data cached in a buffer memory provided in the server computer, the method comprising the steps of:

• receiving, by the server computer, a data access request from an access terminal;
• determining, by the server computer, which data is to be accessed according to the data access request;
• determining, by the server computer, which of an update and a reference is to be currently transacted by the server computer according to the data access request;
• determining, by the server computer, whether or not the data to be accessed has been cached in the buffer memory;
• when it is determined that a reference is to be currently transacted and the data to be accessed has not been cached in the buffer memory yet, reading the data to be accessed from said first volume and caching the data to be accessed in the buffer memory;
• when it is determined that an update is to be currently transacted and the data to be accessed has not been cached in the buffer memory yet, issuing, by the server computer, a first command instructing the storage system to read the data to be accessed and to evacuate the data to be accessed from the first volume into the second volume, receiving from the storage system the data to be accessed, caching the data to be accessed in the buffer memory, and executing the update in the buffer memory;
• when it is determined that an update is to be currently transacted and the data to be accessed has been cached in the buffer memory, issuing, by the server computer, a second command instructing the storage system to evacuate the data to be accessed from the first volume into the second volume and executing the update in the buffer memory;
• and
• when the storage system receives one of the first command and the second command from the server computer, determining, by the storage system, whether the data to be accessed, according to the received one of the first command and the second command, has been evacuated or not, and evacuating the data to be accessed according to the received one of the first command and the second command into the second volume only if the data to be accessed has not been evacuated.