JP3376316B2 - Disk array device, high-speed communication method used therefor, and recording medium recording control program therefor - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk array device, a high-speed communication method used therefor, and a recording medium having a control program recorded therein, and more particularly to a disk array device used as means for transferring a large amount of data between hosts.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a means for transferring a large amount of data between a plurality of hosts, there is a method of carrying out the data transfer via a disk array device which is commonly arranged for each of the plurality of hosts.

This disarray device has a plurality of HDDs.
(Hard Disk Drive) is provided, and the host that transfers data writes the data to the HDD of the disk array device, and the host to which the data is transferred reads the data from the HDD to transfer the data between the hosts. Transfer is done.

Although not used for data transfer,
The disk array device includes a RAID (Redundant Array o) including a plurality of magnetic disk devices.
There is also a file device of fInexpensive Disks architecture. As this file device, there is a device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-237224.

[0005]

In the above-mentioned conventional disk array device, when it is used as a means for transferring a large amount of data between a plurality of hosts, its communication speed is H.
There is a problem that the speed becomes low depending on the medium speed of the DD.

Some disk array devices have a cache like the device disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-237224, but the cache is used when a large amount of data is transferred between a plurality of hosts. It is expected that a method that effectively utilizes the Internet connection and greatly improves the communication speed between hosts.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, to significantly improve the transfer rate, and to simultaneously start the data transfer processing in a plurality of hosts, and a high speed used therefor. It is intended to provide a communication method and a recording medium recording a control program thereof.

[0008]

A disk array device according to the present invention comprises a plurality of hard disk devices used for data transfer between a plurality of host devices, and a cache memory for storing a part of contents of the plurality of hard disk devices. A disk array device including a directory management means for creating a virtual disk on the cache memory in response to an instruction from a transfer source host device,
Transfers with the transfer source host device via the virtual disk.
And configured to perform high-speed data transfer between the host device Okusaki.

A high-speed communication method for a disk array device according to the present invention comprises a plurality of hard disk devices used for data transfer between a plurality of host devices, and includes a cache memory for storing a part of contents of the plurality of hard disk devices. A high-speed communication method for a disk array device,
A step of creating a virtual disk on the cache memory in response to an instruction from the transfer source host device;
Transfers with the transfer source host device via the virtual disk.
And to perform high-speed data transfer between the host device Okusaki.

A recording medium recording a high-speed communication control program for a disk array device according to the present invention comprises a plurality of hard disk devices used for data transfer between a plurality of host devices, and a part of the contents of the plurality of hard disk devices. A recording medium for recording a high-speed communication control program for a disk array device including a cache memory for storing the high-speed communication control program, the cache memory responding to an instruction from a host device as a transfer source. to create a virtual disk on, and to perform high-speed data transfer between the transfer destination <br/> host device and the transfer source of the host device via the virtual disk.

That is, the disk array device of the present invention creates a virtual disk on the cache in response to an instruction from the host, and enables high-speed transfer between hosts via this virtual disk.

Specifically, the virtual disk of the disk array device of the present invention can be created by designating the virtual disk capacity and the cache capacity to be actually secured by the instruction of the host, and write from the host ( When a WRITE command is received, a logical page of data is created in the cache area secured as a virtual disk. When a read (READ) command is received from the host, the logical page is deleted after the data is normally sent to the host. I am trying to do it.

When the physical capacity of the virtual disk is all in use, it responds to the host with a BUSY response to subsequent write commands. Also, when there is no valid data for the read command, a busy response is sent to the host. By using these functions, high-speed transfer between hosts becomes possible. Furthermore, after the transfer is completed, the virtual disk can be deleted by an instruction from the host.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a disk array device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In the figure, the disk array device 1 is composed of host connection units 11 and 12 respectively connected to hosts 2 and 3, a directory management function 13, a cache unit 14, physical disks 15 to 17, and a control memory 18. ing.

The cache unit 14 is composed of a data area 14a composed of a plurality of pages and a data area management area (directory area) 14b for managing information for each page. Normally, the data area 14 of the cache unit 14
a is controlled so as to substitute part of the contents of the physical disks 15 to 17 for speeding up.

The directory management function 13 has a function of creating a virtual disk 14c on the data area 14a of the cache unit 14 according to an instruction from the hosts 2 and 3 input via the host connection units 11 and 12.

The instructions from the hosts 2 and 3 are virtual disks 1
Because of the 4c logical capacity and the virtual disk 14c,
This is the capacity of the cache data area 14a to be secured. The directory management function 13 has host connection units 11 and 1.
When a virtual disk 14c creation command is received from the hosts 2 and 3 via 2, the necessary pages are allocated on the data area 14a for the virtual disk 14c. The page status of the virtual disk 14c is the directory management function 13
Is managed as a state in which valid data is stored and a state in which valid data is not stored.

The directory management function 13 receives virtual disks 14 from the hosts 2 and 3 via the host connection units 11 and 12.
When the deletion instruction of c is received, the page allocated for the virtual disk 14c is returned to the normal data area 14a.

The directory management function 13 receives virtual disks 14 from the hosts 2 and 3 via the host connection units 11 and 12.
When the write instruction is received for c, the presence or absence of the corresponding page and the vacancy are confirmed, and if the data area 14a is full and cannot be stored, a busy (BUSY) response is returned to the hosts 2 and 3.

The directory management function 13 receives virtual disks 14 from the hosts 2 and 3 via the host connection units 11 and 12.
When a read instruction is received for c, the presence / absence of the corresponding page is determined, and if there is no corresponding page, a busy response is returned to the hosts 2 and 3.

If the page exists, the directory management function 13 notifies the host connection units 11 and 12 of this,
The host connection units 11 and 12 transfer the data to the hosts 2 and 3. When the data transfer is completed, the host connection unit 11,
12 notifies the directory management function 13 of this. As a result, the directory management function 13 invalidates the page information.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the processing operation of the directory management function 13 of FIG. The processing operation of the directory management function 13 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The processing operation shown in FIG. 2 is realized by the directory management function 13 executing the program of the control memory 18, and as the control memory 18, a ROM (read only memory) or an IC (integrated circuit) memory can be used. .

The directory management function 13 receives virtual disks 14 from the hosts 2 and 3 via the host connection units 11 and 12.
When the creation command of c is received (step S1 in FIG. 2),
The virtual disk 14 stores necessary pages on the data area 14a.
Allocate for c (step S2 in FIG. 2).

The directory management function 13 receives virtual disks 14 from the hosts 2 and 3 via the host connection units 11 and 12.
When the deletion instruction of c is received (step S3 in FIG. 2), the page allocated for the virtual disk 14c is returned to the normal data area 14a (step S4 in FIG. 2).

The directory management function 13 receives virtual disks 14 from the hosts 2 and 3 via the host connection units 11 and 12.
When a write instruction is received for c (step S in FIG. 2).
5), it is determined whether or not the corresponding page exists (step S in FIG. 2).
6).

If there is a corresponding page, the directory management function 13 confirms that the page is empty (step S in FIG. 2).
7) If there is an empty page, write data from the hosts 2 and 3 (step S8 in FIG. 2). Directory management function 1
3 indicates that there is no corresponding page, or the data area 14a
If it is full and cannot be stored, a busy response is returned to the hosts 2 and 3 (step S9 in FIG. 2).

The directory management function 13 receives virtual disks 14 from the hosts 2 and 3 via the host connection units 11 and 12.
When a read instruction is received for c (step S1 in FIG. 2).
0), it is determined whether or not the corresponding page exists (step S1 in FIG. 2).
1), if there is no corresponding page, send a busy response to the host 2, 3
(Step S13 in FIG. 2).

If the page exists, the directory management function 13 notifies the host connection units 11 and 12 of this, and the host connection units 11 and 12 transfer the data to the hosts 2 and 3 (step S12 in FIG. 2). . When the data transfer is completed, the host connection units 11 and 12 notify the directory management function 13 of this. As a result, the directory management function 13 invalidates the page information.

Next, the data transfer between the hosts 2 and 3 will be specifically described with reference to FIG. When the host 2 transfers data to the host 3, first, the disk array device 1
To the virtual disk 14c. When the command ends normally, it instructs the host 3 to read data from the virtual disk 14c.

Since the host 2 writes data to the virtual disk 14c and the host 3 simultaneously reads data from the virtual disk 14c, communication between the hosts 2 and 3 is performed by the cache unit 14 of the disk array device 1. Is executed at high speed.

Since the data on the virtual disk 14c is directory-managed by the directory management unit 13, the reading of the host 3 does not overtake the writing of the host 2 and can be controlled.

As described above, conventionally, when a disk array is used for data transfer between hosts, the transfer speed of the data transfer is low depending on the speed of the HDD of the disk array. Virtual disk 14 by example
By using c, the transfer rate can be greatly improved. At this time, the transfer rate is the transfer capability of the cache unit 14.

Since the method of accessing the virtual disk 14c from each host 2, 3 is the same as that of the conventional disk, this function can be used with a slight change in software.

Further, conventionally, when the host 2 transfers data to the host 3, there is a concern that the reading of the host 3 may overtake the writing of the host 2, so the data transfer processing cannot be carried out at the same time. In the embodiment of the invention, since writing and reading are performed on the virtual disk 14c,
In addition, since the directory management is performed for the presence or absence of valid data, there is a function of responding busy when the host 3 reads an unwritten area. By using this function, data transfer processing can be performed by the host. A few can be activated at the same time.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of hard disk devices used for data transfer between a plurality of host devices are included, and a cache memory for storing a part of the contents of the plurality of hard disk devices is included. In the disk array device, a virtual disk is created in the cache memory in response to an instruction from the host device, and high-speed data transfer between a plurality of hosts is performed via this virtual disk, thereby significantly improving the transfer speed. Therefore, there is an effect that the data transfer processing in a plurality of hosts can be activated at the same time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a disk array device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing operation of a directory management function of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Disk array device A few hosts 11,12 Host connection part 13 Directory management function 14 Cash Department 14a data area 14b Data area management area 15-17 Physical disk 18 Control memory

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI G06F 12/08 G06F 12/08 DH 320 320 (56) Reference JP-A-9-81527 (JP, A) JP-A-7 -152491 (JP, A) JP 58-186867 (JP, A) JP 8-328991 (JP, A) JP 7-200190 (JP, A) JP 5-11976 (JP, A) ) (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 3/06 G06F 12/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A disk array device comprising a plurality of hard disk devices used for data transfer between a plurality of host devices and including a cache memory for storing a part of the contents of the plurality of hard disk devices, the disk array device comprising: in response to an instruction from the host device includes a directory management unit configured to create a virtual disk on the cache memory, the transfer between the transfer source of the host device and the transfer destination of the host device via the virtual disk Original host device
And the transfer destination host device simultaneously processes the data transfer.
The directory management means is configured to perform high-speed data transfer by being activated , and the directory management means is the transfer source host device.
The virtual disk capacity specified by
And the capacity of the cache memory
Disk, and the directory management means further includes the transfer source host.
When receiving the write command from the device,
Of the data in the area of the cache memory secured by
Create a logical page and read it from the transfer destination host device.
When receiving the sending instruction, data is transferred to the transfer destination host device.
To delete the logical page after successfully sending
And the directory management means further comprises:
Write instruction after that when all physical capacity is in use
To the read instruction, the directory management means further responds to the read instruction.
When there is no valid data to
The disk array device described above is configured to return a busy response to the device. 2. A high-speed communication method for a disk array device comprising a plurality of hard disk devices used for data transfer between a plurality of host devices and including a cache memory for storing a part of contents of the plurality of hard disk devices. A step of creating a virtual disk in the cache memory in response to an instruction from the transfer source host device, and between the transfer source host device and the transfer destination host device via the virtual disk. The transfer source host device
And the transfer destination host device simultaneously processes the data transfer.
The step of creating a virtual disk on the cache memory by performing high-speed data transfer by booting is performed by the capacity of the virtual disk instructed by the host device of the transfer source and the cache memory to be actually secured. Creating the virtual disk according to the capacity, and creating a logical page of data in the area of the cache memory secured as the virtual disk when a write instruction from the transfer source host device is received,
When a read instruction from the transfer destination host device is received, the logical page is deleted after the data is normally transmitted to the transfer destination host device, and when the physical capacity of the virtual disk is all in use A high-speed communication method further comprising: returning a busy response to a subsequent write instruction; and returning a busy response to the transfer destination host device when valid data corresponding to the read instruction does not exist. . 3. A high-speed communication control program for a disk array device comprising a plurality of hard disk devices used for data transfer between a plurality of host devices and including a cache memory for storing a part of the contents of said plurality of hard disk devices. The high-speed communication control program causes the disk array device to create a virtual disk in the cache memory in response to an instruction from a transfer source host device, and transfers the data via the virtual disk. wherein between the original host device and the transfer destination of the host device
The transfer source host device and the transfer destination host device are simultaneously
High-speed data transfer is performed by activating data transfer processing, and when creating a virtual disk in the cache memory, the virtual disk capacity specified by the transfer source host device and the virtual disk capacity are actually secured. The virtual disk is created according to the capacity of the cache memory to be created, and when a write instruction from the transfer source host device is received, a logical page of data is created in the area of the cache memory secured as the virtual disk, When a read instruction from the transfer destination host device is received, the logical page is deleted after the data is normally transmitted to the transfer destination host device, and subsequent writing is performed when the physical capacity of the virtual disk is all in use. Causes a busy response to be returned in response to the instruction, and there is valid data for the read instruction. Recording medium for recording a high-speed communication control program characterized by causing a return a busy response to the destination of the host device during have.