Computer system, file management method and metadata server

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9396198-B2
Application number	US-201114003972-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 21, 2011
Priority date	Sep 21, 2011
Publication date	Jul 19, 2016
Grant date	Jul 19, 2016

Abstract

A computer system, comprising: a file server; a metadata server; and a business server, the metadata server being coupled to a storage apparatus for providing a save area for storing at least one file that is removed from the file server, the metadata server storing a metadata repository for managing metadata of a file and the files stored in the save area, the metadata server being configured to: store a file as a saved file in the save area, in a case of detecting that the file stored in the file server is to be removed; and store information indicating a location of the file in the file server and information indicating the location of the saved file in the save area in association with each other in the metadata repository.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer system, comprising:
a file server configured to manage a plurality of files;
a metadata server configured to manage a plurality of piece of metadata of the plurality of files;
a business server configured to use the plurality of files to execute predetermined business processing,
the file server, the metadata server, and the business server being coupled to each other via a network,
the file server including a first processor, a first memory coupled to the first processor, a first network interface coupled to the first processor, and a first storage medium coupled to the first processor, and configured to store the plurality of files,
the metadata server including a second processor, a second memory coupled to the second processor, a second network interface coupled to the second processor, and a second storage medium coupled to the second processor,
the business server including a third processor, a third memory coupled to the third processor, and a third network interface coupled to the third processor,
the metadata server being coupled to a storage apparatus including a controller and a plurality of storage media, and configured to provide a save area for storing at least one file that is removed from the file server,
the second storage medium storing a metadata repository for managing at least one of the plurality of piece of metadata of the plurality of files and at least one location of one of the plurality of files stored in the save area,
the metadata server being configured to:
store the one of the plurality of files as a saved file in the save area, in a case of detecting that the one of the plurality of files stored in the file server is to be removed by the predetermined business processing executed by the business server; and
store information indicating a location of the one of the plurality of files in the file server and information indicating the location of the saved file in the save area in association with each other in the metadata repository,
wherein the computer system further comprises an analysis server configured to execute predetermined analytical processing on the plurality of files,
wherein the analysis server includes a fourth processor, a fourth memory coupled to the fourth processor, and a fourth network interface coupled to the fourth processor,
wherein the metadata server identifies a location of a file to be read in response to an inquiry request for the file, and notifies the analysis server of the identified location of the file to be read, in a case of receiving the inquiry request for the plurality of files from the analysis server,
wherein the analysis server obtains the file to be read from one of the file server and the save area to execute the predetermined analytical processing, based on the notification received from the metadata server,
wherein the file server includes a first storage space allocated to the file server, the metadata server, the business server, and the analysis server, and a second storage space allocated to the file server, the metadata server, and the analysis server,
wherein the one of the plurality of files before being removed is stored in the first storage space,
wherein the file server detects that the one of the plurality of files is to be removed from the file server by the predetermined business processing executed by the business server, and moves the one of the plurality of files from the first storage space to the second storage space, and
wherein the metadata server is configured to:
obtain the one of the plurality of files stored in the second storage space and store the obtained one of the plurality of files as the saved file in the save area;
store, as the information indicating the location of the one of the plurality of files in the file server, information indicating a location of the one of the plurality of files in the first storage space, in the metadata repository; and
transmit an instruction to remove the one of the plurality of files to the file server, and
wherein the file server removes the one of the plurality of files from the second storage space, in a case of receiving the instruction to remove.

2. The computer system according to claim 1 , wherein the metadata server is configured to:
generate, based on the information stored in the metadata repository, list information including information on locations of the one of the plurality of files stored in the file server and the saved file stored in the save area, in a case of receiving the inquiry request for the plurality of files; and
transmit the generated list information to the analysis server.

3. The computer system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the file server transmits a notification that the one of the plurality of files is to be removed to the metadata server, in a case of detecting that the one of the plurality of files is to be removed from the file server by the predetermined business processing executed by the business server, and
wherein the metadata server detects that the one of the plurality of files is to be removed from the file server by receiving the notification from the file server.

4. The computer system according to claim 3 , wherein, the file server transmits a notification that at least one of the plurality of files has been removed to the metadata server, one of in a case of detecting that a predetermined number of the plurality of files are to be removed from the file server, and in a case where a predetermined period of time has elapsed since last transmission of the notification that the one of the plurality of files is to be removed.

5. The computer system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the plurality of files include a plurality of pieces of data,
wherein the file server is configured to:
determine whether removed data is generated, the removed data is data to be removed from the one of the plurality of files by the predetermined business processing executed by the business server; and
move the removed data included in the one of the plurality of files to the second storage space, in a case where it is determined that the removed data is generated, and
wherein the metadata server stores the removed data, which is stored in the second storage space, as the saved file in the save area.

6. The computer system according to claim 5 , wherein the metadata server is configured to:
refer to the metadata repository to determine whether there is the removed data corresponding to the file to be read, in a case of receiving the inquiry request for the plurality of files from the analysis server;
read the file to be read stored in the file server, in a case where it is determined that there is the removed data corresponding to the file to be read;
restore the file to be read by obtaining the saved file corresponding to the removed data stored in the save area and overwriting the read file to be read with the removed data obtained from the saved file; and
transmit the restored file to be read to the analysis server.

7. The computer system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the computer system further comprises a backup storage apparatus including a controller and a plurality of storage media, for storing backup files of the plurality of files stored in the file server, and
wherein the metadata server is configured to:
determine whether the backup storage apparatus stores a backup file having the same content as that of the one of the plurality of files to be removed, in a case of detecting that the one of the plurality of files stored in the file server is to be removed by the predetermined business processing executed by the business server; and
store a location of the backup file as the location of the saved file in the metadata reposi

Assignees

• Takaoka Nobumitsu
• Kodama Shoji
• Hitachi Ltd

Inventors

• Takaoka Nobumitsu
• Kodama Shoji

Classifications

• G06F3/0647

  Migration mechanisms · CPC title

• G06F17/30194

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F3/0605

  by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator · CPC title

• G06F3/0631

  by allocating resources to storage systems · CPC title

• G06F17/30117

  Physics · mapped topic