Apparatus and method for managing storage copy services systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9591073-B2
Application number	US-201514874654-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 5, 2015
Priority date	Nov 27, 2007
Publication date	Mar 7, 2017
Grant date	Mar 7, 2017

Abstract

An apparatus for controlling a storage system having a data replication function, comprises: a storage array component being operable to send notification to a replication engine that a write of data to a primary storage location by a host is subject to data replication; the replication engine being operable to receive the notification and in response to instruct the storage array to copy the data to a secondary storage location; wherein the data is copied to the secondary storage location unmediated by the replication engine.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for controlling a storage system having a data replication function, comprising:
a primary storage location;
a secondary storage location;
a replication engine; and
a storage array component coupled to the primary storage location, the secondary storage location, and the replication engine, the storage array component configured to receive, from a host, a write command to write data to the primary storage location, write the data to the primary storage location, and to send a command descriptor block (CDB) describing the write command, without sending the data, to the replication engine in response to receiving the write command, the CDB indicating that the data is subject to data replication in the secondary storage location, wherein:
the replication engine is configured to receive the CDB and, in response thereto, generate metadata for protecting the data based on the CDB and transmit the generated metadata to the storage array component, and
the storage array component is configured to receive the generated metadata and copy the data and the generated metadata to the secondary storage location, wherein the storage array component is further configured to add the generated metadata to the data as the data and the generated metadata is being written to the secondary storage location.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , further configured to perform a read of the data, wherein the data is returned by the storage array component to the host without being transmitted to the replication engine.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , further configured to write data from the host to the secondary storage location and wherein the data is written by the storage array component to the secondary storage location unmediated by the replication engine.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , further configured to resynchronize data between the primary storage location and the secondary storage location and wherein the data is transferred by the storage array component from the primary storage location to the secondary storage location unmediated by the replication engine.

5. A method for controlling a storage system having a data replication function, comprising the steps of:
receiving, by a storage array component, a write command to write data to a primary storage location from a host;
writing the data, by the storage array component, to the primary storage location; sending, by the storage array component, a command descriptor block (CDB) describing the write command, without sending the data, to a replication engine in response to receiving the write command, the CDB indicating that the data is subject to data replication in a secondary storage location;
receiving the CDB by the replication engine;
generating metadata for protecting the data based on the CDB and in response to receiving the CDB;
transmitting the generated metadata from the replication engine to the storage array component;
copying, by the storage array component, the data and the generated metadata to the secondary storage location; and
adding the generated metadata to the data as the data and the generated metadata is being written to the secondary storage location.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5 , further comprising performing a read of the data, wherein the data is returned by the storage array component to the host without being transmitted to the replication engine.

7. The method as claimed in claim 5 , further comprising writing data from the host to a secondary storage location and wherein the data is written by the storage array component to the secondary storage location unmediated by the replication engine.

8. The method as claimed in claim 5 , further comprising resynchronizing data between the primary storage location and the secondary storage location and wherein the data is transferred by the storage array component from the primary storage location to the secondary storage location unmediated by the replication engine.

9. A computer program product, stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising computer program code to, when loaded into a computer system and executed thereon, cause the computer system to control a storage system having a data replication function, said computer program code performing the steps of:
receiving, by a storage array component, a write command to write data to a primary storage location from a host;
writing the data, by the storage array component, to the primary storage location;
sending, by the storage array component, a command descriptor block (CDB) describing the write command, without sending the data, to a replication engine in response to receiving the write command, the CDB indicating that the data is subject to data replication in a secondary storage location;
receiving the CDB by the replication engine;
generating metadata for the data based on the CDB and in response to receiving the CDB;
transmitting the generated metadata from the replication engine to the storage array component;
copying, by the storage array component, the data and the generated metadata to the secondary storage location; and
adding the generated metadata to the data as the data and the generated metadata is being written to the secondary storage location.

10. The computer program product as claimed in claim 9 , further comprising performing a read of the data, wherein the data is returned by the storage array component to the host without being transmitted to the replication engine.

11. The computer program product as claimed in claim 9 , further comprising writing data from the host to a secondary storage location and wherein the data is written by the storage array component to the secondary storage location unmediated by the replication engine.

12. The computer program product as claimed in claim 9 , further comprising resynchronizing data between the primary storage location and the secondary storage location and wherein the data is transferred by the storage array component from the primary storage location to the secondary storage location unmediated by the replication engine.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Day Kenneth F
• Nicholson Robert B
• Sanders Lee J
• Scales William J

Classifications

• G06F16/27 Primary

  Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor · CPC title

• H04L67/1095 Primary

  Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes · CPC title

• G06F11/2064 Primary

  while ensuring consistency · CPC title

• H04L67/1097

  for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS] · CPC title

• G06F17/30575

  Physics · mapped topic