Synchronization for initialization of a remote mirror storage facility

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9323470-B2
Application number	US-201414523479-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 24, 2014
Priority date	Oct 13, 2010
Publication date	Apr 26, 2016
Grant date	Apr 26, 2016

Abstract

A method includes computing, in a local storage system having a local volume with a plurality of local regions, respective local checksum signatures over the local regions, and computing, in a remote storage system having a remote volume with remote regions in a one-to-one correspondence with the local regions, respective remote checksum signatures over the remote regions. A given remote region is identified, the given remote region having a given remote signature and a corresponding local region with a given local signature that does not match the given remote signature. The data in the given remote region is then replaced with data from the corresponding local region.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
computing, in a local storage system having a local volume with a plurality of local regions, respective local checksum signatures over the local regions;
creating, in the local storage system, a local bitmap having local bitmap entries, each local bitmap entry indicating a local realization status for an associated local region in a current snapshot, wherein the local realization status is one of a realized status or an unrealized status;
transferring the local bitmap to a remote storage system;
computing, in the remote storage system having the remote volume with remote regions in a one-to-one correspondence with the local regions, respective remote checksum signatures over the remote regions;
creating, in the remote storage system, a remote bitmap having remote bitmap entries, each remote bitmap entry indicating a remote realization status for an associated remote region, wherein the remote realization status is one of a realized status or an unrealized status;
retrieving, in the remote storage system, entries of the local bitmap and entries of the remote bitmap;
determining from the retrieved entries of the local bitmap and the retrieved entries of the remote bitmap, in the remote storage system, whether the local realization status of a corresponding local region and the remote realization status of a corresponding remote region to the corresponding local region are both the realized status, and if so, transmitting a request to compute the respective local signatures over the corresponding local region;
computing, by the local storage system, the respective local signatures over the corresponding local region and sending the respective local signatures to the remote storage system;
computing, in the remote storage system, in response to receiving the respective local signatures, the corresponding remote signatures over the corresponding remote region having the corresponding remote realized status;
identifying for a given remote region having a given remote signature and a corresponding local region having a given local signature that the given remote signature does not match the given local signature;
replacing data in the given remote region with data from the corresponding local region; and
using the remote bitmap to identify a realized remote region and using the local bitmap to identify a non-realized local region corresponding to the realized remote region, and releasing the identified realized remote region.

2. The method according to claim 1 , and comprising performing one of:
at a time prior to computing the respective local signatures, creating, in the local storage system, a reference snapshot of the local volume, storing data of the reference snapshot to a removable medium, physically transferring the removable medium to the remote storage system, and loading the data of the reference snapshot from the removable medium to the remote volume; and
at a time prior to computing the respective local signatures, creating, in the local storage system, a current snapshot, wherein the respective local signatures are computed over the local regions of the current snapshot, and at a time subsequent to creating the current snapshot, identifying, by the local storage system, differences between the current snapshot and the local regions, and conveying the identified differences to the remote volume.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the local signatures are computed for all the local regions of a current snapshot of the local volume, and wherein the remote signatures are computed for all the remote regions.

4. The method according to claim 1 , and comprising using the remote bitmap to identify a non-realized remote region and using the local bitmap to identify a realized local region corresponding to the non-realized remote region, and replacing data in the non-realized remote region with data from realized local region.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein computing the respective local signatures is performed over the local regions having the associated local realization status indicating a realized local region and a corresponding remote realization status indicating a realized remote region, and computing the respective remote signatures is performed over the remote regions having the associated remote realization status indicating a realized remote region and a corresponding local realization status indicating a realized local region.

6. Apparatus, comprising:
a local storage system having a local volume with a plurality of local regions, and a first processor configured to compute respective local signatures over the local regions, and to create a local bitmap having local bitmap entries, each local bitmap entry indicating a local realization status for an associated local region in a current snapshot, wherein the local realization status is one of a realized status or an unrealized status; and
a remote storage system having a remote volume with remote regions in a one-to-one correspondence with the local regions, and a second processor configured to compute respective remote signatures over the remote regions, to create a remote bitmap having remote bitmap entries, each remote bitmap entry indicating a remote realization status for an associated remote region, wherein the remote realization status is one of a realized status or an unrealized status, to identify for a given remote region having a given remote signature and a corresponding local region having a given local signature that the given remote signature does not match the given local signature, and to replace data in the given remote region with data from the corresponding local region, wherein:
the second processor is further configured to determine whether the local realization status of a corresponding local region and the remote realization status of a corresponding remote region to the corresponding local region are both the realized status, and if so, to transmit a request to compute the respective local signatures over the corresponding local region;
the first processor is further configured to compute the respective local signatures over the corresponding local region and to send the respective local signatures to the second processor, and
the second processor is further configured to compute, in response to receiving the respective local signatures, the corresponding remote signatures over the corresponding remote region having the corresponding remote realized status;
the second processor is further configured to identify for a given remote region having a given remote signature and a corresponding local region having a given local signature that the given remote signature does not match the given local signature, and to replace data in the given remote region with data from the corresponding local region; and
the second processor is configured to use the remote bitmap to identify a realized remote region, to use the local bitmap to identify a non-realized local region corresponding to the realized remote region, and to release the identified realized remote region.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the first processor is configured to compute one of:
at a time prior to computing the respective local signatures, to create a reference snapshot of the local volume, to store data of the reference snapshot to a removable medium, to physically transfer the removable medium to the remote storage system, and to load the data of the reference snapshot from the removable medium to the remote volume; and
at a time prior to computing the respective local signatures, to create a current snapshot, wherein the respective local signatures are computed over the local regions of the current snapshot, and wherein the firs

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Elron Ram
• Garmiza Ehood
• Helman Haim
• Nitzan Assaf

Classifications

• G06F16/273

  Asynchronous replication or reconciliation · CPC title

• G06F17/30575

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F12/023

  Free address space management · CPC title

• G06F3/0644 Primary

  Management of space entities, e.g. partitions, extents, pools · CPC title

• G06F3/0604

  Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. storage management · CPC title