# US 8,543,548 B2 · Hierarchical management storage system and storage system operating method > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,543,548 B2 - Document ID: US8543548B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 13/493,193 - Filed: 2012-06-11 - Published: 2012-10-04 - Granted: 2013-09-24 - Earliest claimed: 2009-08-12 - Assignees: Hitachi, Ltd. - Applicants: Akira Ito; Nobumitsu Takaoka; Takahiro Nakano - Inventors: Akira Ito; Nobumitsu Takaoka; Takahiro Nakano - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8543548B2 ## CPC - G06F 3/0643: {Management of files} - G06F 3/0619: {in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors} - G06F 3/0649: {Lifecycle management} - G06F 3/067: {Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]} - G06F 11/1456: {Hardware arrangements for backup} - G06F 11/1458: {Management of the backup or restore process} - G06F 11/1469: {Backup restoration techniques} - G06F 16/1744: {using compression, e.g. sparse files} - G06F 16/185: Hierarchical storage management [HSM] systems, e.g. file migration or policies thereof (details of archiving G06F16/11) - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract The storage system eliminates inconsistency between a stub, and a file data storage location indicated by the stub. In a storage system that executes HSM using stubs, information relating to a higher tier, which is a data migration source, is recorded during data migration. The stub in the higher tier is correctly restored using the higher-tier information thus recorded. The stub is restored, and inconsistency between information in the HSM layers is resolved. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A storage system, comprising: a first storage apparatus coupled to a client computer and including, a first processor, a first memory storing a program executed by the first processor, a first storage area including a first storage region and a second storage region, the first storage region storing a plurality of file data which are access targets of the client computer, the second storage region storing the backup data of the file data by control of the first processor, and a second storage apparatus coupled to the first storage apparatus and including, a second processor, a second memory storing a program executed by the second processor, a second storage area storing one or more first data of the plurality of file data migrated from the first storage area by control of the first and second processors, wherein when backup of the plurality of file data from the first storage region is executed, the first processor is configured to create copy data of the file data as backup data and store the backup data to the second storage region, and manage a first time at which the backup data is created, and, the first processor is configured to create a stub indicating a storage location for the first file data in the second storage area, store the stub in place of the first file data in the first storage region, and sends the first file data to the second storage area, and the second processor is configured to store the first file data in the second storage area, and manages a second time at which each of the first file data is migrated, and when the plurality of data of the first storage region is recovered using the backup data in the second storage region, the first processor is configured to replace the plurality of data in the first storage region with the backup data in the second storage region, and send the first time to the second storage apparatus, the second processor is configured to compare the first time received from the first storage apparatus with the second time for each of the one or more first file data stored in the second storage area, and extracts first file data from the one or more first file data for which the second time is newer than the first time, and the first processor is configured to restores a stub indicating a storage location in the second storage area of the extracted first file data, and stores the stub in the first storage region. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The storage system according to claim 1, wherein after the first file data of the plurality of file data is migrated from the first storage region to the second storage area, in cases where access to the first file data of the plurality of file data is received from the client computer, the first processor is configured to judge whether or not the first file data is file data replaced with a stub, and in cases where the first file data is file data replaced with a stub, the first processor is configured to specify a storage location in the second storage area of the first file data, according to information of the stub, and supply the first file data stored in the second storage area to the client computer. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The storage system according to claim 2, wherein the second storage apparatus is a storage apparatus of a lower performance or a higher capacity than the first storage apparatus, and the first processor is configured to migrate file data for which a fixed period has elapsed since the last update time of the plurality of file data, from the first storage region to the second storage area. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The storage system according to claim 3, wherein the stub stored in the first storage region of the first storage apparatus exists for each of the first file data migrated from the first storage region to the second storage area, and is information which includes an identifier, a migration date and time, and a storage location in the second storage area of the file data for each file data migration. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The storage system according to claim 1, wherein in cases where one or more second file data of a plurality of migrated file data stored in the second storage area is deleted, the second processor is configured to perform control to manage a deletion time of each of the second file data as a third time, and to delete a stub which corresponds to the second file data and which is stored in the first storage region, and when a fault occurs in the first storage region, and the plurality of file data in the first storage region is recovered by using the backup data in the second storage region, the first processor is configured to replace the plurality of data in the first storage region with the backup data in the second storage region, and for each of the plurality of file data included in the backup data, compare the first time with the third time, extract file data for which the third time is newer than the first time from the plurality of file data, and delete a stub which corresponds to the extracted file data and which is stored in the first storage region. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The storage system according to claim 1, wherein the first and second storage apparatus are coupled to a third apparatus; and the second storage region is supplied to by a disk drive or flash memory in the third storage apparatus. ### Claim 7 A method of operating a storage system that includes: a first storage apparatus, which is coupled to a client computer and includes a first storage area including a first storage region and a second storage region, the first storage region storing a plurality of file data which are access targets of the client computer, the second storage region storing the backup data of the file data by control of the first processor, and a second storage apparatus, which is coupled to the first storage apparatus, a second storage area storing one or more first data of the plurality of file data migrated from the first storage region, the method comprising: when backup of the plurality of file data from the first storage region to the second storage region is executed, creating copy data of the file data as backup data and storing the backup data in the first storage region, and managing a first time at which the backup data is created; when the one or more first file data is migrated from the first storage region to the second storage area, creating a stub indicating a storage location for the first file data in the second storage area, storing in place of the one or more first file data the stub in the first storage region, storing the file data in the second storage area, and managing a second time at which each of the first file data is migrated for each of the file data stored in the second storage area; and when the data in the first storage region is recovered using the backup data in the second storage region, replacing the plurality of data in the first storage region with the backup data in the second storage region, comparing the first time received from the first storage apparatus with the second time for each of the one or more first file data stored in the second storage area, and extracting first file data for which the second time is newer than the first time from the one or more first file data, and restoring a stub indicating a storage location in the second storage area of the extracted first file data, and storing the stub in the first storage region. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The storage system operating method according to claim 7, further comprising: after first file data of the plurality of file data is migrated from the first storage region to the second storage area, in cases where access to the first file data of the plurality of file data is received from the client computer, judging whether or not the first file data is file data replaced with a stub; and in cases where the first file data is file data replaced with a stub, specifying a storage location in the second storage area of the first file data, according to information of the stub, and supplying the first file data stored in the second storage area to the client computer. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The storage system operating method according to claim 8, wherein the second storage apparatus is a storage apparatus of a lower performance or a higher capacity than the first storage apparatus, the method further comprising: migrating file data for which a fixed period has elapsed since the last update time of the plurality of file data stored in the first storage region, from the first storage region to the second storage area. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The storage system operating method according to claim 9, wherein the stub stored in the first storage region of the first storage apparatus exists for each file data migrated from the first storage region to the second storage area, and is information which includes an identifier for each file data migration, a migration time, and a storage location in the second storage area of the file data, the method further comprising: sending, from the second storage apparatus to the first storage apparatus, information relating to the identifier, the migration time, and the storage location in the second storage area of the file data, the sent information corresponding to file data which is extracted from the migrated file data and for which the second time is newer than the first time; and restoring a stub for the extracted file data on the basis of information from the second storage apparatus to the first storage apparatus, and storing the stub in the first storage region. ### Claim 11 (depends on 7) The storage system operating method according to claim 7, further comprising: in cases where one or more file data of a plurality of migrated file data stored in the second storage area is deleted, performing control to manage a deletion time of the deleted file data as a third time, and to delete a stub which corresponds to the deleted file data and which is stored in the first storage region; and when a fault occurs in the first storage region, and the plurality of file data of the first storage region is recovered by using the backup data in the second storage region, replacing the plurality of data in the first storage region with the backup data in the second storage region, and, for each of the plurality of file data included in the backup data, comparing the first time with the third time, extracting, from the plurality of file data, file data for which the third time is newer than the first time, and deleting a stub which corresponds to the extracted file data and which is stored in the first storage region.