JP2014164401A - Storage system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a storage system which is capable of reducing a work cost when using an on-premises storage device and an external storage together.SOLUTION: The storage system includes: input/output control means 010 which determines which storage an input/output request is made to, in response to the input/output request; physical drive input/output means 030 which performs input/output control on a physical drive 200 in the case of the input/output request being a request to the physical drive 200; external storage input/output means 040 which, in the case of the input/output request being a request to an external storage, performs connection processing to the external storage and controls input/output for the external storage; and a cartridge group 180 which is a set of replaceable cartridges each including an external information management table 070 which has information for access to the external storage and an external connection driver 190 being a driver for connection to the external storage.

Description

  The present invention relates to a storage system that uses both an on-premises storage device and an external storage.

  In recent years, cloud storage has become widespread, and the number of users who use cloud storage in combination with on-premise advantages and disadvantages has increased.

  When an on-premises storage device and an external storage are used in combination, it is common to use them in consideration of the characteristics such as performance, cost, period of use, and scalability. For this reason, there is a problem that both setting, management, operation, and maintenance must be performed when operating in combination, and management and maintenance by the administrator become complicated.

  As a general technique for solving this problem, virtualization of storage devices has become widespread. In storage virtualization technology, the storage controller has access to external storage, and by assigning the logical storage location provided by the external storage device to the logical disk, virtualization is performed, and the physical storage location from the user (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-164370 A

  As an access method to an external storage apparatus connected to an on-premises storage apparatus via a network, a small computer system interface (SCSI), a network file system (NFS), or a common internet file system (CIFS) is generally used. However, these access methods vary depending on the vendor and type, and in order to virtualize the storage system, the administrator must install it using different means according to the interface of each external storage system. . For this reason, when the administrator changes or manages the settings, it is necessary to deal with different means, and there is a problem that the operation cost for the management is increased.

  In addition, the above technique has a problem in maintenance. When a failure occurs in a physical disk of an on-premises storage device, the administrator checks the physical disk LED (Light Emitting Diode) etc. and performs maintenance. The external storage device is managed by the vendor's management software. Check. In other words, the maintenance means from the detection of the failure occurrence to the recovery is different, and there is a problem that the work cost for dealing with it is high.

  In addition, when an administrator performs data migration or data copy between an on-premises storage device and an external storage device, or if it is performed inside the storage device, the consistency of the interface with the external storage must be matched. Migration and copying must be performed. Therefore, there exists a subject that work cost starts.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a storage system that can reduce the work cost when using an on-premises storage device and an external storage in combination.

  The storage system according to the present invention includes a physical drive that is on-premises storage and is connected to an external storage, and when an input / output request is made, an input / output control unit that determines which storage is requested When the input / output request is a request to the physical drive, physical drive input / output means for performing input / output control on the physical drive, and when the input / output request is a request to the external storage, External storage input / output means for performing connection processing to an external storage and controlling input / output to the external storage, an external information management table having information for accessing the external storage, and for connecting to the external storage A replaceable car that includes an external connection driver Characterized by comprising a cartridge unit which is a set of ridges.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the work cost when using an on-premises storage device and an external storage in combination.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of embodiment of the storage system by this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows a storage structure management table. It is explanatory drawing which shows an external information management table. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of an input / output control means. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a drive classification determination means. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a physical drive input / output means. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of an external storage input / output means. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of an external connection information reading means. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a failure detection means. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a storage management means. 1 is a block diagram showing a main part of a storage system according to the present invention.

  An embodiment of a storage system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the storage system of this embodiment. The storage system of this embodiment includes a storage apparatus 100, a management host 300, a host computer group 400, and a cloud storage 500. The storage apparatus 100 is connected to the management host 300, the host computer group 400, and the cloud storage 500. Note that the storage system of this embodiment may use other external storage such as NAS (Network Attached Storage) instead of the cloud storage 500.

  The storage apparatus 100 includes a disk pool 210 including a physical disk group 110 and a disk pool 220 including a physical disk group 120. The physical disk group 110 and the physical disk group 120 are implemented by, for example, an SSD (Solid State Drive) or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive). In addition, the storage apparatus 100 includes a logical disk group 150 obtained by virtualizing the physical disk groups 110 and 120 in the disk pools 210 and 220. The physical disk groups 110 and 120 and the cartridge group 180 are provided with failure detection LEDs (not shown). The storage apparatus 100 also includes a cartridge group 180.

  The storage apparatus 100 also includes an input / output control unit 010, a drive type determination unit 020, a physical drive input / output unit 030, an external storage input / output unit 040, an external connection information reading unit 050, and a storage configuration management table 060. And fault detection means 080. The drive type determination unit 020 may be included in the input / output control unit 010. Each of these means is realized by, for example, an information processing apparatus such as hardware designed to perform specific arithmetic processing or the like, or a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that operates according to a program.

  The cartridge group 180 includes a plurality of cartridges. Each cartridge includes an external information management table 070 having information for accessing an external storage such as the cloud storage 500, and an external connection driver 190 which is a driver for connecting to the external storage.

  After receiving the request from the host computer group 400, the input / output control unit 010 determines to which storage the I / O request is a request, in order to determine to which drive the I / O request is sent to the drive type determination unit 020. Request a decision.

  After receiving the drive determination request from the input / output control unit 010, the drive type determination unit 020 refers to the storage configuration management table 060 and assigns the type of storage for which an I / O request has been made to each logical disk. Judged from drive type.

  The physical drive input / output unit 030 performs I / O processing on the physical drive after receiving the I / O request.

  After the I / O request is made, the storage input / output unit 040 checks the external connection driver 190 loaded from the cartridge to be connected in the cartridge group 180. The external storage input / output unit 040 requests the cloud storage 500 for I / O processing after the connection processing to the cloud storage 500 is completed.

  When a new cartridge is inserted into the cartridge group 180, the external connection information reading means 050 loads the external connection driver in the cartridge into the external storage input / output means 040 after referring to the driver version.

  FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the storage configuration management table 060. As shown in FIG. 2, the storage configuration management table 060 is a table including a logical disk ID, a drive type, a disk pool ID, a physical disk ID, and a logical disk capacity.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the external information management table 070. As shown in FIG. 3, the external information management table 070 is a table including a logical disk ID, a drive type, a cloud name, a URL, an ID, a password, a driver version, and a contract capacity.

  When the failure detection unit 080 detects a failure, the failure detection unit 080 notifies the failure by turning on the LED of the drive or cartridge of the housing of the storage apparatus 100. For example, the failure detection unit 080 turns on the LED of the corresponding physical disk drive when a failure occurs in the on-premises storage, and turns on the LED of the corresponding cartridge when a failure occurs in the cloud storage 500.

  The management host 300 manages and changes the configuration in the storage apparatus 100. Specifically, the management host 300 holds information for managing the storage apparatus 100. The management host 300 also has storage management means 310 for changing the configuration of the storage apparatus 100.

  When the storage manager 310 receives a request for changing the configuration of the storage device 100 or collecting information from the storage administrator or maintenance personnel, the storage manager 310 updates and references the storage configuration management table 060 and the external information management table 070. When the request is an update related to cloud information, the storage management unit 310 notifies the external connection information reading unit 050 of the update of the external information management table 070 and requests a driver reload.

  The host computer group 400 is connected to the storage apparatus 100 in a SAN (Storage Area Network) environment and uses a virtual logical disk group 150 configured on the storage apparatus 100. The host computer group 400 has an I / O (Input / Output) input / output (I / O) issue function for an accessible logical disk in the logical disk group 150.

  The cloud storage 500 is provided by a service contracted as online storage. Specifically, the cloud storage 500 is a cloud storage group that can be accessed when a user makes a contract with a cloud storage service vendor.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the storage system of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the input / output control unit 010. The input / output control unit 010 receives an I / O request from the host computer group 400 and starts operation. After receiving the request from the host computer group 400, the input / output control unit 010 determines to which storage the I / O request is a request, in order to determine to which drive the I / O request is sent to the drive type determination unit 020. A determination is requested (step S02).

  In response to the determination result of the drive type determination unit 020, the input / output control unit 010 receives the I / O request of the host computer group 400 from the physical drive of the storage apparatus 100 (in this embodiment, the physical virtualized to the logical disk group 150). It is determined whether the I / O request for the disk group 110, 120) or the I / O request for the external storage (in this embodiment, the cloud storage 500) (step S04). When the I / O request of the host computer group 400 is an I / O request to the physical drive of the storage apparatus 100, the input / output control unit 010 requests the physical drive input / output unit 030 to perform I / O processing ( Step S06). When the I / O request of the host computer group 400 is an I / O request for the cloud storage 500, the input / output control unit 010 requests the external storage input / output unit 040 to perform I / O processing (step S08).

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the drive type determination unit 020. The drive type determination unit 020 starts the operation in response to the determination request for the drive for which an I / O request has been made from the input / output control unit 010. After receiving the drive determination request from the input / output control unit 010, the drive type determination unit 020 refers to the storage configuration management table 060 and assigns the type of storage for which an I / O request has been made to each logical disk. Judgment is made from the drive type (step S22). The drive type determination unit 020 that has determined the drive type requests the I / O control unit 010 to perform I / O processing (step S24). The drive type can be defined by the storage vendor. Further, not only a USB or SD card but also storage devices having different sizes and formats can be defined as cartridges.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the physical drive input / output means 030. The physical drive input / output unit 030 starts an operation in response to an I / O request from the input / output control unit 010. The physical drive input / output unit 030 performs I / O processing on the physical drive after receiving the I / O request. Specifically, the physical drive input / output unit 030 performs I / O processing on the logical disk to which the physical drive is assigned (step S42).

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the external storage input / output unit 040. The external storage input / output unit 040 receives the I / O request from the input / output control unit 010 and starts operation. After receiving the I / O request, the storage input / output unit 040 checks the external connection driver 190 loaded from the connection target cartridge in the cartridge group 180 (step S62). Next, the external storage input / output unit 040 executes connection processing for the cloud storage 500 (step S64). After the connection processing to the cloud storage 500 is completed, the external storage input / output unit 040 requests the cloud storage 500 for I / O processing (step S66). Note that the connection to the cloud storage 500 can be secured by having the cartridge group 180 hold the encryption key.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the external connection information reading means 050 when the cartridge group 180 is inserted. When the storage apparatus 100 has a disk hot plug function, the external connection information reading unit 050 starts operation when a new cartridge is inserted into the cartridge group 180. When detecting that the cartridge has been inserted, the external connection information reading means 050 refers to the driver version of the external information management table 070 in the cartridge (step S102). After referring to the driver version, the external connection information reading unit 050 loads the external connection driver 190 in the cartridge into the external storage input / output unit 040 (step S104). The external connection information reading unit 050 can unload the driver when the cartridge group 180 is removed.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the failure detection means 080. The failure detection means 080 starts its operation in response to the occurrence of a failure in the on-premises storage (physical disk group 110, 120) or the external storage (cloud storage 500) in the storage apparatus 100. When the failure detection unit 080 detects a failure (step S112), the failure detection unit 080 notifies the failure by lighting the drive or cartridge LED of the storage device 100 (step S114). For example, the failure detection unit 080 turns on the LED of the corresponding physical disk drive when a failure occurs in the on-premises storage, and turns on the LED of the corresponding cartridge when a failure occurs in the cloud storage 500. In addition, any failure may be confirmed by management software installed on the management host 300 by the administrator. The means for notifying a failure may be other than the LED. Further, when the storage apparatus 100 has an LED lighting function in the slot, the failure detection unit 080 may light the slot instead of the cartridge.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the storage management unit 310. The storage management unit 310 starts operation according to instructions from the storage administrator or maintenance personnel. When the storage manager 310 receives a request for changing the configuration of the storage device 100 or collecting information from the storage administrator or maintenance personnel, the storage manager 310 updates and references the storage configuration management table 060 and the external information management table 070 (step S122). The storage management unit 310 determines whether the request is a reference request for the storage configuration management table 060 or an update request (step S124).

  If the request is a reference request for the storage configuration management table 060, the storage management unit 310 acquires the reference result (step S125) and ends the process. When the request is an update request for the storage configuration management table 060, the storage management unit 310 determines whether the update is related to information on the external storage (in the present embodiment, the cloud storage 500) (step S126). If the request is not an update related to cloud (external storage) information, the storage management unit 310 ends the process as it is. If the request is an update related to cloud information, the storage management unit 310 notifies the external connection information reading unit 050 of the update of the external information management table 070 and requests a driver reload (step S128).

  Note that the storage management unit 310 can perform general storage management on the storage configuration management table 060 and the external information management table 070. For example, the storage management unit 310 periodically polls the storage configuration management table 060 and the external information management table 070, and the management host 300 performs centralized management of configuration information and cloud information and failure management. Monitor status.

  Further, the external storage input / output unit 040 included in the storage apparatus 100 may standardize the specifications by mounting a driver prepared in advance by an administrator or the like. For example, the storage apparatus 100 loads a standardized driver for each cloud storage service defined by the storage vendor into the external input / output control means 010 and stores a file defined by the storage vendor in the cartridge. As a result, the cloud storage 500 can be accessed using the method of the driver.

  Further, in order to effectively use the capacity of the cartridge group 180, operation information such as a failure log can be stored and referenced from the management host 300 using the storage management unit 310.

  The storage system of this embodiment can reduce the work cost of management, expansion, and maintenance of a virtual storage that logically incorporates an external storage device connected to a network. In the storage apparatus 100, since the cartridge group 180 has the external connection driver 190 and the external information management table 070 in each cartridge, access to the outside is possible. The storage apparatus 100 also has a failure detection unit 080 for detecting a failure in the external storage, and an LED for notifying the failure. Therefore, the administrator can manage, add and maintain the storage apparatus 100 in the same procedure as the on-premises storage.

  Specifically, when a failure occurs on a physical disk in on-premises storage, the administrator detects the failure by turning on the LED of the physical disk installed in the management software or chassis, and the failure occurs. Perform maintenance by replacing the physical disk with a new physical disk. On the other hand, when a failure occurs in the external storage, the administrator similarly detects and responds to the failure by lighting the LEDs of the management software or the cartridge provided in the housing. That is, the administrator does not need to make an inquiry to the vendor or install management software provided by the vendor, so that the maintenance work time can be reduced. When a failure occurs in the external storage, for example, the administrator pulls out the cartridge and inserts another medium (another area, another service). Alternatively, the administrator performs recovery by inserting a medium into an empty slot. Furthermore, the administrator can recover by the same procedure as the maintenance of the physical disk such as expansion by removing the medium and inserting a medium having a large contract capacity.

  Also, each cartridge can have access means inside the cartridge and load it into the storage device. Therefore, in the storage apparatus 100, processing relating to data copy or migration between the physical disk of the on-premises storage and the cartridge of the external storage apparatus or between a plurality of cartridges can be offloaded into the storage apparatus. Therefore, the operation cost can be reduced.

  FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the main part of the storage system according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 11, the storage system according to the present invention includes a physical drive 200 that is an on-premises storage, and is a storage system connected to an external storage. Input / output control means 010 for determining which storage is requested, and when the input / output request is a request to the physical drive 200, physical drive input / output means 030 for performing input / output control for the physical drive 200, and input / output If the request is a request to an external storage, external storage input / output means 040 that performs connection processing to the external storage and performs input / output control to the external storage, and external information management having information for accessing the external storage Driver for connecting to table 070 and external storage And a cartridge group 180 is a set of replaceable cartridge includes certain external connection driver 190.

  In the above embodiment, the storage systems described in the following (1) to (5) are also disclosed.

(1) A storage system that includes physical drives (for example, physical disk groups 110 and 120 virtualized to a logical disk group 150) that are on-premises storage, and is connected to an external storage (for example, cloud storage 500). As the main configuration, when an input / output request is made, an input / output control means (for example, input / output control means 010) for determining which storage is requested, and when the input / output request is a request to a physical drive, When a physical drive input / output means (for example, physical drive input / output means 030) that performs input / output control for a physical drive and the input / output request is a request to an external storage, connection processing to the external storage is performed, and the external External storage input / output means for controlling input / output to / from storage (for example, external storage Output means 040), an external information management table (for example, external information management table 070) having information for accessing the external storage, and an external connection driver (for example, external connection) that is a driver for connecting to the external storage Storage system including a cartridge group 180 that is a set of replaceable cartridges including the driver 190).

(2) The storage system includes external connection information reading means (for example, external connection information reading means 050) for loading an external connection driver included in the cartridge into the external storage input / output means when the cartridge is inserted. It may be configured. According to such a storage system, it is possible to reduce the work cost when adding an external storage to be connected or when a failure occurs in the external storage.

(3) When the storage system receives an update request for external storage, the storage system notifies the external connection information reading unit of the update of the external information management table, and requests a driver reload (for example, storage management unit 310). May be provided. According to such a storage system, it is possible to reduce work costs when an update request related to external storage is received.

(4) The storage system detects a failure when a failure detection unit (for example, failure detection unit 080) detects a failure that has occurred in on-premises storage or an external storage device, and the failure detection unit detects a failure. It may be configured to include a failure occurrence notification means (for example, an LED) for notification. According to such a storage system, the administrator does not need to make an inquiry to the vendor or install management software provided by the vendor, so that the work time required for maintenance can be shortened.

(5) The storage system includes a storage configuration management table (for example, storage configuration management table 060) including information (for example, drive type) indicating the type of storage allocated to the logical disk (for example, logical disk group 150); Drive type determining means (for example, drive type determining means 020) for determining the type of storage requested for input / output by referring to the storage configuration management table, and the input / output control means is requested to input / output In this case, the drive type determination unit may be configured to determine to which storage the input / output request is an input / output request.

  The present invention can be applied to the storage field (NAS, SAN) in which drives can be replaced. In addition, when applied to a SAN, the present invention can be applied to the cloud storage field accessible as a block device.

010 Input / output control means 020 Drive type determination means 030 Physical drive input / output means 040 External storage input / output means 050 External connection information reading means 060 Storage configuration management table 070 External information management table 080 Failure detection means 110, 120 Physical disk group 150 Logical Disk group 180 Cartridge group 190 External connection driver 200 Physical drive 210, 220 Disk pool 300 Management host 310 Storage management means 400 Host computer group 500 Cloud storage

Claims (5)

A storage system with physical drives that are on-premises storage and connected to external storage,
I / O control means for determining which storage is requested when an I / O request is made;
When the input / output request is a request to the physical drive, physical drive input / output means for performing input / output control on the physical drive;
If the input / output request is a request to the external storage, external storage input / output means for performing connection processing to the external storage and controlling input / output to the external storage;
An external information management table having information for accessing the external storage, and a cartridge group that is a set of replaceable cartridges including an external connection driver that is a driver for connecting to the external storage. A featured storage system. The storage system according to claim 1, further comprising external connection information reading means for loading an external connection driver of the cartridge into an external storage input / output means when a cartridge is inserted. The storage system according to claim 2, further comprising storage management means for notifying the external connection information reading means of an update of the external information management table and requesting reloading of the driver when receiving an update request related to external storage. A failure detection means for detecting a failure occurring in on-premises storage or an external storage device;
The storage system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a failure occurrence notification unit that notifies that a failure has occurred when the failure detection unit detects a failure. A storage configuration management table including information indicating the type of storage allocated to the logical disk;
Drive type determination means for determining the type of storage requested for input / output by referring to the storage configuration management table;
The input / output control unit, when an input / output request is made, causes the drive type determination unit to determine to which storage the input / output request is an input / output request. The described storage system.

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