Non-disruptive file system element reconfiguration on disk expansion

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9400619-B2
Application number	US-201213452591-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 20, 2012
Priority date	Apr 1, 2006
Publication date	Jul 26, 2016
Grant date	Jul 26, 2016

Abstract

An apparatus is operable with a host and a data storage component for controlling expansion of storage, and comprises: an allocating component responsive to a user input for allocating an expanded target storage space to a file system element to thereby make an expanded file system element; a file system metadata component for maintaining file system metadata including metadata for said expanded file system element; a file system I/O component responsive to said file system metadata component for controlling file system I/O between said host and said storage component; and a synchronizing component responsive to said file system metadata component for synchronizing data between a source storage space and said expanded target storage space; wherein said file system I/O component is operable to use said file system metadata component to access said expanded file system element prior to completion of action of said synchronizing component.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus operable with a host and a data storage component, comprising:
a computational device, comprising:
a processor;
an allocating component responsive to a user input to allocate an expanded target storage space to a file system element to make an expanded file system element;
a file system metadata component to maintain file system metadata including metadata for said expanded file system element;
a file system Input/Output (I/O) component responsive to said file system metadata component to control file system I/O between said host and said data storage component; and
a synchronizing component responsive to said file system metadata component to synchronize data between a source storage space and said expanded target storage space, wherein said synchronizing component is operable as a background processing component, wherein said synchronizing component is operable at a selectable priority of operation specified by a user and updates a bitmap that indicates whether a data item has been copied, wherein said file system I/O component is operable to use said file system metadata component to access said expanded file system element prior to completion of action of said synchronizing component, wherein said source storage space stores a file system that is to be migrated to said expanded target storage space having an additional space beyond that provided by said source storage space, and wherein said source storage space is provided by a source storage device and said expanded target storage space is provided by a target storage device, said synchronizing data further comprising:
sending, any selected write that is addressed to a block of said file system stored in said source storage device, to both said source storage device and said target storage device, wherein said selected write is not completed until writing of said selected write to both said source storage device and said target storage device is complete; and
sending any selected read or write that is addressed to a block of an expanded file system stored in said target storage device but not in said source storage device, to said target storage device, wherein:
determining that said source storage device is a boot device, and copying a master boot record to said target storage device and altering said master boot record to reflect expanded partitions; and
an indication is provided to a user to indicate that said source target device is no longer being used actively and can be removed.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said synchronizing data further comprises:
sending any selected read that is addressed to a block of the file system stored in said source storage device, to said source storage device to be satisfied from said source storage device.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the selectable priority of operation is specified by the user while setting up a migration of the file system.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a data structure records a progress of synchronization of data between said source storage device and said target storage device.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the data structure is stored on said target storage device in a reserved area that is not available to the user, and wherein if the computational device is shut down by the user, the synchronization of data between said source storage device and said target storage device is continued at a later time that is subsequent to a time of the shut down of the computational device.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein if the computational device is shut down by the user, the synchronization of data between said source storage device and said target storage device is continued at a later time that is subsequent to a time of the shut down of the computational device.

7. A method, comprising:
allocating, responsive to a user input, an expanded target storage space to a file system element to make an expanded file system element;
maintaining file system metadata including metadata for said expanded file system element;
responsive to said file system metadata, controlling file system I/O between a host and a storage component; and
responsive to said file system metadata, synchronizing data between a source storage space and said expanded target storage space, wherein said synchronizing is performed via a background process, wherein said synchronizing is operable at a selectable priority of operation specified by a user and updates a bitmap that indicates whether a data item has been copied, wherein controlling said file system I/O comprises using said file system metadata to access said expanded file system element prior to completion of the synchronizing of the data, wherein said source storage space stores a file system that is to be migrated to said expanded target storage space having an additional space beyond that provided by said source storage space, and wherein said source storage space is provided by a source storage device and said expanded target storage space is provided by a target storage device, said synchronizing data further comprising:
sending, any selected write that is addressed to a block of said file system stored in said source storage device, to both said source storage device and said target storage device, wherein said selected write is not completed until writing of said selected write to both said source storage device and said target storage device is complete; and

sending any selected read or write that is addressed to a block of an expanded file system stored in said target storage device but not in said source storage device, to said target storage device, wherein:
determining that said source storage device is a boot device, and copying a master boot record to said target storage device and altering said master boot record to reflect expanded partitions; and
an indication is provided to a user to indicate that said source target device is no longer being used actively and can be removed.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein said synchronizing data further comprises:
sending any selected read that is addressed to a block of the file system stored in said source storage device, to said source storage device to be satisfied from said source storage device.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the selectable priority of operation is specified by the user while setting up a migration of the file system.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein a data structure records a progress of synchronization of data between the source storage device and the target storage device.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the data structure is stored on the target storage device in a reserved area that is not available to the user, and wherein if a computational device is shut down by the user, the synchronization of data between the source storage device and the target storage device is continued at a later time that is subsequent to a time of the shut down of the computational device.

12. The method of claim 7 , wherein if a computational device is shut down by the user, the synchronization of data between the source storage device and the target storage device is continued at a later time that is subsequent to a time of the shut down of the computational device.

13. A non-transitory tangible computer readable medium having stored therein computer program code, wherein the computer program code when loaded into a computer system and executed thereon, cause said computer system to perform:
allocating, responsive to a user input, an expanded target storage space to a file system element to make an expanded file system element;
maintaining file system

Assignees

• Clifton John Mark
• O'Leary Nicholas
• IBM

Inventors

• Clifton John Mark
• O'Leary Nicholas

Classifications

• G06F3/0647

  Migration mechanisms · CPC title

• G06F3/0689 Primary

  Disk arrays, e.g. RAID, JBOD · CPC title

• G06F3/0665

  at area level, e.g. provisioning of virtual or logical volumes · CPC title

• G06F3/0619

  in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors · CPC title

• G06F3/0683

  Plurality of storage devices · CPC title