EP0482853A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and apparatus for storage device management
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1991-10-18
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2011-10-18
Abstract
Abstract Disclosed is a volume managing system for computer storage devices. Physical volumes are logically partitioned, with multiple copies of data being maintained for system recovery purposes. A scheme for monitoring, updating, and recovering data in the event of data errors is achieved by maintaining a volume group status area on each physical volume, the status area reflecting status for all physical volumes defined for a given volume group. Updates to this status area occur serially, thereby protecting against all volumes becoming corrupted at once. A method of updating subsequent status changes, while the first status change is still in progress, provides for improved system throughput.
Inventors
- 👤 Michael Stephen Williams
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-01 05:33
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F11/00; G06F11/07; G06F11/16; G06F11/20; G06F11/2053; G06F11/2056; G06F11/2071; G06F11/2074; G06F3/00; G06F3/06; G06F3/0601; G06F3/0628; G06F3/0646; G06F3/065; G06F11/14; G06F11/1402; G06F11/1415; G06F11/1435; G06F11/2064; G06F11/2082; G06F3/0602; G06F3/061; G06F3/0613; G06F3/0614; G06F3/0619; G06F3/0629; G06F3/0631; G06F3/0668; G06F3/0671; G06F3/0673; G06F3/0674; G06F3/0676; G11; G11C; G11C29/00; G11C29/70; G11C29/74
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 4
Claim 1
Independent Claim
206 words
A method for managing a plurality of data storage devices associated with a computer system and having a first physical volume and subsequent physical volumes and being partitioned into one or more logical volumes, each of said logical volumes being further partitioned into one or more logical partitions each of which comprises one or more physical partitions of said storage devices, said method comprising the steps of: determining status information for each of said physical partitions and recording said status information in a memory of said computer system; recording said status information in a status area existing on each of said data storage devices; creating updated status information when a write request is generated for any of said physical partitions; updating said status area on said first physical volume with said updated status information; and updating said status area of each subsequent physical volume within said storage devices in succession with said updated status information, wherein if a second or subsequent write request is received prior to completing an update of each of said storage device status areas as a result of a prior write request, said status information is updated in said computer memory and used in updating said next succeeding physical volume status area.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of said physical partitions corresponding to a given logical partition contains duplicate data information.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
55 words
A method as claimed in claim 2 wherein if a subsequent request to change status information is received prior to completing an update of each of said storage device status areas as a result of a prior status change, said subsequent status change is recorded while recording status information resulting from said prior status change.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
220 words
A computer system including means for managing a plurality of data storage devices associated with said computer system and having a first physical volume and subsequent physical volumes and being partitioned into one or more logical volumes, each of said logical volumes being further partitioned into one or more logical partitions each of which comprises one or more physical partitions of said data storage devices, said managing means comprising: means for maintaining status information for each of said physical partitions in a memory of said computer system; recording means for recording said status information in a status area existing on each of said data storage devices; means for creating updated status information when a write request is generated for any of said physical partitions; first update means for updating said status area on said first physical volume with said updated status information; and subsequent update means for updating said status area of each subsequent physical volume within said data storage devices in succession with said updated status information, wherein if a second or subsequent write request is received prior to completing an update of each of said data storage device status areas as a result of a prior write request, said status information is updated in said computer memory and used in updating said next succeeding physical volume status area.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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