US 8,046,535 B2Granted

Data processing system and storage area allocation method thereof

AssigneeHitachi, Ltd.

InventorsTsukasa Shibayama, Daisuke Shinohara

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Abstract

When creating a storage pool with external volumes, it is not possible to put together the volumes that have the same level of reliability if consideration is only given to the physical attributes of such volumes. Further, the reliability demanded between a host computer and a storage apparatus does not necessarily match the reliability between storage apparatuses. When creating a storage pool in the data processing system of this invention, not only is consideration given to the characteristics of the physical disks themselves, consideration is also given to the connection status of the backend network between a storage apparatus and a switch loaded with external storage function, and an external storage apparatus. What is more, volumes are allocated to a host machine after said system considers both the redundancy of a backend network of between storage apparatuses and that of a network path between the host machine and storage apparatus.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A data processing system, comprising:

a first storage apparatus;
a second storage apparatus that uses the first storage apparatus as an external storage area;
at least one or more host computers;
at least one or more switches for connecting the first storage apparatus, the second storage apparatus, and the host computer;
and
a management server for managing the first storage apparatus, the second storage apparatus, and the switches;
wherein the first storage apparatus includes one or more physical devices, and a first storage area configured from the one or more physical devices;
wherein the second storage apparatus includes one or more physical devices, an external device management unit that sets the first storage area as an external storage area and uses the external storage area as a virtual device, and a storage pool configured from a second storage area configured from the one or more physical devices and the first storage area;
and
wherein the data processing system further comprises:
a creation unit for determining the reliability of the second storage area based on connection information between the first storage area and the second storage area, classifying the first and the second storage areas based on the reliability, and creating the storage pool in the second storage apparatus;
and
a provision unit for creating a path between the host computer and the second storage apparatus so as to guarantee the same level of reliability as the reliability of the respective storage pools, and providing the second storage area to the host computer.

10 more elements

A storage area allocation method of a data processing system comprising a first storage apparatus;

a second storage apparatus that uses the first storage apparatus as an external storage area;
at least one or more host computers;
at least one or more switches for connecting the first storage apparatus, the second storage apparatus, and the host computer;
and a management server for managing the first storage apparatus, the second storage apparatus, and the switches;
wherein the first storage apparatus includes one or more physical devices, and a first storage area configured from the one or more physical devices;
wherein the second storage apparatus includes one or more physical devices, an external device management unit that sets the first storage area as an external storage area and uses the external storage area as a virtual device, and a storage pool configured from a second storage area configured from the one or more physical devices and the first storage area;
and
wherein the data processing system:
determines the reliability of the second storage area based on connection information between the first storage area and the second storage area, classifies the first and the second storage areas based on the reliability, and creates the storage pool in the second storage apparatus;
and
creates a path between the host computer and the second storage apparatus so as to guarantee the same level of reliability as the reliability of the respective storage pools, and provides the second storage area to the host computer.

8 more elements

A management server for managing a first storage apparatus, a second storage apparatus, and at least one or more switches in a data processing system comprising the first storage apparatus;

the second storage apparatus that uses the first storage apparatus as an external storage area;
at least one or more host computers;
and the switches for connecting the first storage apparatus, the second storage apparatus, and the host computer;
wherein the first storage apparatus includes one or more physical devices, and a first storage area configured from the one or more physical devices;
wherein the second storage apparatus includes one or more physical devices, an external device management unit that sets the first storage area as an external storage area and uses the external storage area as a virtual device, and a storage pool configured from a second storage area configured from the one or more physical devices and the first storage area;
and
wherein the management server comprises:
a creation unit for determining the reliability of the second storage area based on connection information between the first storage area and the second storage area, classifying the first and the second storage areas based on the reliability, and creating the storage pool in the second storage apparatus;
and
a provision unit for creating a path between the host computer and the second storage apparatus so as to guarantee the same level of reliability as the reliability of the respective storage pools, and providing the second storage area to the host computer.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 12/153,351Filed 16 May 2008
Priority: JP 2008-07231119 Mar 2008
Published: US 2009/0240867 A124 Sep 2009
Granted: 25 Oct 2011
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification4 codes

G06F 3/0631
Configuration or reconfiguration of storage systems: by allocating resources to storage systems
G06F 3/0605
Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. storage management: by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
G06F 3/067
Adopting a particular infrastructure: distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
G06F
Computing and data processing