JPH0689252A - Storage system having extension swapping function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a high-speed storage system having a storage area with large capacitance by swapping storage data with the storage part of a processor connected to LAN. CONSTITUTION:The system consists of the processor A1 and the processor B2 being a swapping source and a swapping destination which are provided with swapping possible quantity inquiring parts 5 and 6 inquiring swapping possible quantity to the processor B2, swapping destination address deciding parts 7 and 8 receiving swapping possible quantity response from the processor B2 so as to decide the swapping destination processor B2, swapping information transmitting/receiving parts 9 and 10, swapping possible quantity reporting parts 11 and 12 transmitting swapping possible quantity to the swapping source processor A1 and swapping information keeping parts 13 and 14 keeping swapping information and also consists of LAN 19 for transmitting/receiving swapping information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a storage system, and more particularly to a storage system having an extended swap function for swapping stored data to a storage area of another processing device through a high speed communication line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional storage system performs a swap operation for exchanging storage data between an auxiliary storage device having a slow processing speed and a main storage device, or a storage device of another specific processing device connected by a network. There is a method of performing a swap operation with the auxiliary storage device. In both methods, the swap destination is uniquely determined with respect to the request source. Therefore, in the storage data swap operation, when swapping the storage data of the auxiliary storage device and the main storage device,
Since the processing speed of the auxiliary storage device is much slower than that of the main storage device, the swap operation takes a long time, which may be a bottleneck in the processing capacity. Also, when swapping to a main storage device or an auxiliary storage device of another processing device connected via a network, the main storage device has a small capacity and the auxiliary storage device is slow, so the swap area capacity becomes insufficient immediately. In addition, the swap operation takes time.

[0003]

Recently, in a network system used in an office environment, a large number of processing devices are connected to a high-speed data communication line and carry out individual jobs. Therefore, some processing devices may have a large amount of free space in the main storage device and the auxiliary storage device.
Utilizing the empty areas of the main storage device and the auxiliary storage device as a target of the swap operation is an effective use method of the empty storage area.

An object of the present invention is to configure the target storage area of the swap operation of the processing device including the storage devices of all the processing devices connected to the high-speed communication line, to increase the capacity of the swap target storage area and to speed up the swap operation. And to improve flexibility.

[0005]

A storage system having an extended swap function of the present invention has a communication section for performing data communication and a storage area management section for managing a storage area, and is connected to a high speed data communication line. In the first processing device, when the storage data in the storage area is swapped, a swappable amount inquiry means for inquiring the second processing device about the swappable data amount, and the swappable amount is determined by the storage area management unit. Then, a swappable amount notifying means for sending a response to the inquiry, and a swap destination address determination for accepting the response of the swappable amount of the second processing device and determining the second processing device as a swap destination Means, the swappable amount inquiry, the response thereof, and the storage data to be swapped with information for identifying the first and second processing devices , A swap information transmission / reception means for transmitting and receiving swap information, a swap information storage means for storing the swap information, and a third processing device of the re-swap destination when re-swap from the second processing device. Swap destination changing means for sending the swap information and swap address changing means for receiving the swap information of the third processing device are provided.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1 showing the configuration of an embodiment of a storage system having an extended swap function of the present invention, each of the processing unit A1 and the processing unit B2 has storage units 3 and 4 having storage areas. , A swappable amount inquiring unit 5, 6 for inquiring the other processing device B2 about the amount of data to be swept out of the storage units 3 and 4 by the swap operation,
Swap destination address determining units 7 and 8 that determine the swap destination of the stored data, swap information transmitting and receiving units 9 and 10 that send and receive swap information related to swap operations that occur in the storage units 3 and 4, and respond to inquiries about the swappable amount. The swappable amount notification units 11 and 12, the swap information storage units 13 and 14 that store the swap information in the storage units 3 and 4, and the swap destination (not shown) when the swapped storage data is reswapped. ) Is first notified to the processing device A1 where the data is located to change the swap destination changing units 15 and 16
First, the swap destination change notification receiving unit 1 that receives the swap destination change notification in the processing device A1 where the data is initially located
7, 18 and a high-speed data communication line (LAN) 19 for connecting the processing devices A1, B2, and constitute a storage system 20 having an extended swap function.

Next, the functional configuration of this embodiment will be further described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 8 and the configuration diagram 1.

Referring to FIG. 2 showing the functional configuration of the swappable amount inquiry unit 5, the processing device A1 stores in the storage unit 3
When reading / writing data, if there is no data to be read in the storage unit 3 or if there is no area to write the data in, a storage region management unit (not shown) requests swapping of the storage data in the storage unit 3 and detects a swap. The section 51 is activated. The swap detection unit 51 operates the inquiry destination determination unit 52 to inquire of the other processing device B2 about the swappable amount.
The inquiry destination determination unit 52 refers to the inquiry destination management table 53 and obtains the network address of another processing device connected to the LAN 19. The inquiry destination management table 53 is the network address 23 of all swappable processing devices.
1 and a stopper record 532 indicating the end of the table. Then, the inquiry destination determining unit 52 recognizes the inquirable processing device from the inquiry management table 53, and causes the inquiry requesting unit 54 to inquire about the swappable amount. Further, in this table 53, a record of the network addresses of all the processing devices connected to the LAN when the processing devices are activated is set as an initial value.

Referring to FIG. 3 showing the functional configuration of the swap destination address determining unit 7, the swappable amount receiving unit 71 of the processing device A1 receives from the swappable amount notifying unit 12 of the processing device B2 in response to the inquiry of the inquiry request sending unit 54. Get a response. Then, the swappable amount storage unit 72 of the swappable amount reception unit 71 stores the response in the swap destination information table 73. The swap destination information table 73 includes a network address 731 of the processing device of the swap destination and an acceptance identifier 732 that identifies whether or not a response to the inquiry has been accepted.
Swappable amount 733 indicating the amount of data that can be swapped with
And the start address 734 of the storage area as one record, and are composed of records of the total number of processing devices that can be swapped,
The end of the table 73 is recognized by the stopper record 735. Next, the swap destination determination unit 74 operates, refers to the swap destination information table, determines the processing device with the largest swappable amount as the swap destination, and operates the swap request unit 75. The swap request unit 75 notifies the swap information transmission / reception unit 9 of the swap destination. In the swap destination information table 73, records for all processing devices that can be swapped at system startup are set as initial values.

Referring to FIG. 4 showing the functional configuration of the swap information transmission / reception unit 9, the swap management unit 91 of the processing device A1 responds to the swap request with the address of the storage data to be swapped in the storage unit 3 and the swap destination processing device B2. And the storage area address of the swap destination storage unit 4 are determined based on the response of the swappable amount and stored in the swap address management table 94. Then, the swap information sending unit 92 stores the storage area address of the storage data to be swapped in the storage unit 3 in the swap destination processing apparatus B2, the network address of the swap destination processing apparatus B2, and the storage area of the swap destination storage unit 4. The top address is sent as swap information. In the swap address management table 94, the number of records 941 registered in the table, the storage area address 942 of the storage unit 3 of the swap source processing device A1, the network address 943 of the swap destination processing device B2, and the storage unit 4 are stored. The swap address 944 of the storage area is set as one record and additionally stored each time a swap occurs, and when the original data being swapped is returned by another processing device B2 or its own swap The corresponding record is deleted by the swap management unit 91.

Referring to FIG. 5 showing the functional configuration of the swappable amount notifying unit 12, the swappable amount notifying unit 12 receives the inquiry about the swappable amount from the swappable amount inquiry unit 5 of the processing apparatus A1 and swaps the swappable amount. The amount acquisition unit 122 refers to a storage area management unit (not shown) to obtain the swappable amount data, and the swappable amount transmission unit 123 sends the swappable amount data and the storage region address as a response to the swap information transmission / reception unit 10. To send.

Referring to FIG. 6 showing the functional configuration of the swap information storage unit 13, the swap information receiving unit 131 of the processing device B2 that receives swap information including storage area data to be swapped from the swap source processing device A1 and the swap information receiving unit 131. The storage control unit 132 that stores the storage data that is originally swapped in the storage unit 4, the memory information sending unit 133 that sends the data that the storage control unit 132 reads from the swap address management table 134 to the swap source, and the storage control unit 1
And a swap address management table 134 for storing swap address management data based on the swap information written by 32. In the swap address management table 134, the number of records 1341 registered based on the received swap information and the swap destination processor B
The storage area address 1342 of the second storage unit 4, the network address 1343 of the swap-source processing apparatus A1, and the storage area address 1344 of the swap-source processing apparatus A1 to be swapped are recorded as one record. When the swap information of data is added each time and the same data is returned to the swap source by swap again or is reswapped to another processing device, the record corresponding to the data is deleted.

Referring to FIG. 7 showing the functional configuration of the swap destination changing unit 16, when swapping the storage data in the storage area of the storage unit 4 swapped from the processing apparatus A1 to the processing apparatus B2, the swap area change management is performed. A swap destination swap management information transmitting unit 162 that sends swap management information to a new swap destination and a swap management information that updates the swap address management table 94 at the sender of the storage data to be swapped are sent to the unit 161. The original swap management information transmission unit 163, the swap management information transmission unit 164 that transmits the data in the storage area to be swapped to the swap destination, and the own swap that erases the swap source record in the swap information management table 134 of the processing device B2 itself. And a management information reset unit 165.

Referring to FIG. 8 showing the functional configuration of the swap address changing unit 17, a swap destination change notification receiving unit 171 that receives a new swap destination change notification when further swapping is performed from the swap destination processing device B2. Includes a swap address management table changing unit 172 that updates the swap address management table 94. Then, the network address 943 of the swap address management table 94 and the area address of the storage unit are updated based on the swap information of the new swap destination processing device.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

When the processing device A1 reads data that does not exist in its own storage unit 3, if there is no storage area to swap in to obtain the data from another processing device, or there is not enough storage area, the storage is performed. An area management unit (not shown) causes a swap. When the swap detection unit 51 detects the occurrence of swap, the swappable amount inquiry unit 2 notifies the inquiry destination determination unit 52. The inquiry destination determining unit 52 sends a swappable amount notification request to the all processing devices registered in the inquiry destination management table 53 by the inquiry request sending unit 54 through the LAN 19. The processing device B2 is one of the processing devices registered in the inquiry destination management table 53 of the processing device A1. The swappable amount notification request is received by the inquiry request receiving unit 121 of the swappable amount notification unit 12 of the processing device B2.
The inquiry request acceptance unit 121 is a swappable amount acquisition unit 122.
Notify that the swappable amount notification request has been accepted.
The swappable amount acquisition unit 122 calculates and obtains the swappable remaining capacity of the storage unit 4 in the own processing device B2 by the following calculation formula. Swappable amount = total free capacity−swap capacity currently in use The swappable amount is sent by the swappable amount sending unit 123 to the processing device A1 as a swappable amount notification through the LAN 19. The swappable amount notification is the processing device A1.
It is accepted by the swappable amount acceptance unit 71 of the swap destination address determination unit 7. The swappable amount receiving unit 71 notifies the swappable amount storage unit 72 of the swappable amount of the processing device B2 and the start address of the storage area to be stored. The swappable amount storage unit 72 stores the swappable amount 733 of the processing device B2 and the start address 734 of the storage area to be stored in the swap destination information table 73, and the reception identifier 7
The fact that the swappable amount notification is received is stored in 32.
When the notification of the swappable amount of all the processing devices is registered in the swappable information table 73, that is, when the acceptance identifiers 732 of all the records are in the acceptance completion state, the swappable amount storage unit 72 stores the swappable amount determination unit 74. Notice. The swap-destination determining unit 74 determines the processing device B2 with the largest swappable amount 733 among all the processing devices registered in the swap-destination information table 73 as the swap-destination processing device B2. The swap information transmission / reception unit 9 is notified of the network address 731 of the swap destination processing device B2 that is uniquely determined in the network. Here, the processor B2 is the swap destination processor.
Is selected by the swap destination determination unit 74. The swap information transmission / reception unit 9 refers to a storage area management unit (not shown) by the swap management unit 91, determines which area of the storage unit 1 is to be swapped, and notifies the storage area address and the swap request unit 75. The swapped destination processing device B2 is associated and stored in the swap address management table 94, and the swap information sending unit 92 sends the storage data in the swap target storage area of the storage unit 3 to the processing device B2 through the LAN 19. .

In the processing device B2, the swap information transmission / reception unit 1
The swap information receiving unit 93 of 0 receives the swap information including the storage data of the storage unit 3 swapped from the processing device A1. The swapped storage data is written in the storage unit 4 by the storage control unit 132 from the swap information reception unit 93 of the swap information transmission / reception unit 9 of the processing device B2.

Further, the storage control unit 132 stores the network address of the swapping source processing device A1 and the address of the storage area of the storage unit 3 in the swap information management table 134.

Next, when the storage data swapped from the processing device A1 is stored in the storage unit 4 of the processing device B2 and the processing device A1 swaps the storage data from the processing device B2 to return the storage data, the processing device A1 The swap management unit 91 of the swap information reception unit 1 of the swap information storage unit 14 of the processing device B2 by the swap information transmission unit 92.
The address of the storage area of the storage data to be swapped is sent to 31. The swap information receiving unit 131 notifies the storage control unit 132 of the swap target storage area address notified from the processing device A1. After obtaining the storage data from the storage unit 4, the storage control unit 132 determines from the swap information management table 134 which processing device the swap request is from and which area of the storage unit 4 should be taken out. , The processor B by the memory information sending unit 133
The data is sent to the swap information receiving unit 93 of the processing apparatus A1 via the swap information sending unit 92 of the second swap information sending / receiving unit 9. The storage data received by the swap information receiving unit 93 is stored in the storage unit 3 by the swap management unit 91 from the swap address management table 94 to obtain the address 942 of the storage area of the storage unit 3 to be swapped. And
The corresponding records in the swap management table 94 and the swap information management table 134 of the processing device 2B are erased. When a swap occurs in the processor B2, the same operation as when a swap occurs in the processor A1 can be performed in the processor B2 and the processor A1. Therefore, the processing devices A1 and 2 have the same configuration and function.

Further, after being swapped from the processing device A1,
The operation in the case where the storage data in the storage unit 4 of the processing device B2 is further swapped and swapped to another third processing device (not shown) will be described first. When the swap destination address determination unit 7 determines a new swap destination, the swap destination swap management information unit 162 of the swap area change management unit 161 of the processing device B2 is activated. Swap management information transmission unit 162
Is the network address 1 of the processor A1 which is the first swap source, to the third processor which is the new swap destination.
A swap destination change notification including 343 and the storage area address 1344 of the storage unit 3 is sent as swap information. The third processing device accepts the swap information transmission / reception unit 9 of its own, and the swap address management table modification unit 172 of its own swap address modification unit 17 creates a record relating to swap information in its own swap management information table and stores it. To do.

Further, the swap destination changing unit 16 of the processing device B2 updates the swap management information table by the storage control unit 132 of its own swap information storage unit 13,
Invoked after completing the swap operation. Then, the swap area change management unit 161 of the activated swap destination change unit 16 updates the swap management information table 13
No. 4 is first sent to the swapping processing device A1 and then to the swapping processing device A1 by the swap management information sending section 164. The processing device A1 is a new swap destination in its own swap management information table by the swap address management table changing unit 172 based on the swap information received by the swap destination change notification receiving unit 171 via the swap information transmitting / receiving unit 9. The address 1342 and the network address of the storage area of the storage unit of the third processing device and the address of the storage area of its own storage unit 3 are stored.

Furthermore, the swap destination changing unit 16 of the processing device B2 activates its own swap management information reset unit 165, and erases the record relating to the swap information swapped from the processing device A1 from its own swap management information table 134. .

As described above, according to the storage system having the extended swap function of the present invention, the network address of the processing unit is added to the storage area address of the storage unit to form the swap address, thereby connecting to the LAN. Since the swap operation can be performed with the storage unit of any of the processing units that are connected, even if the swappable amount of the swap destination processing unit becomes insufficient, the swap operation can be performed with the storage unit of another processing unit connected by the network. Thus, the swappable area can be expanded until the free storage area capacity of the storage units of all the processing devices connected by the LAN is exhausted, and the effective use of the storage area and the shortage of the swap area can be compensated. Further, by performing the swap operation between the storage units through the high-speed LAN, there is an effect that the processing speed of the swap operation becomes high.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a swappable amount inquiry unit of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a swap destination address determination unit in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a swap information transmission / reception unit in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a swappable amount notification unit of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a swap information storage unit in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a swap destination changing unit in FIG.

8 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a swap address changing unit in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Processing Device A 2 Processing Device B 3 Storage Unit of Processing Device A 4 Storage Unit of Processing Device B 5 Swappable Amount Inquiry Unit of Processing Device A 6 Swappable Amount Inquiry Unit of Processing Device B 7 Swap Destination Address of Processing Device A Determining unit 8 Swap destination address determining unit of processing device B 9 Swap information transmitting / receiving unit of processing device A 10 Swap information transmitting / receiving unit of processing device B 11 Swappable amount notification unit of processing device A 12 Swappable amount notification unit of processing device B 13 Swap Information Storage Unit of Processing Device A 14 Swap Information Storage Unit of Processing Device B 15 Swap Destination Change Unit of Processing Device A 16 Swap Destination Change Unit of Processing Device B 17 Swap Address Change Unit of Processing Device A 18 Swap address changing unit 19 LAN 20 Storage system having extended swap function 51 Swap detection of processing devices A and B Part 52 Inquiry destination determination part of the processing devices A and B 53 Inquiry destination management table of the processing devices A and B 54 Inquiry request sending part of the processing devices A and B 71 Swappable amount acceptance part 72 of the processing devices A and B Processing device A , B, swappable amount storage unit 73, processing device A, B swap destination information table 74, processing device A, B swap destination determination unit 75, processing device A, B swap request unit 91, processing device A, B swap management unit 92 swap information sending unit of processing devices A and B 93 swap information receiving unit of processing devices A and B 94 swap address management table of processing devices A and B 121 inquiry request receiving unit of processing devices A and B 122 processing devices A and B Swappable amount acquisition unit 123 of processing devices A and B, swappable amount sending unit 131 of processing devices A and B, swap information reception unit 132 of processing devices A and B processing device A, Storage control unit 133 processing device A, B swap information sending unit 134 processing device A, B swap address management table 161 processing device A, B swap area change management unit 162 processing device A, B swap destination swap management information Sending unit 163 Swap source of processing devices A and B Swap management information sending unit 164 Swap management information sending unit of processing devices A and B 165 Own swap management information reset unit of processing devices A and B 171 Swap destination of processing devices A and B Change notification receiving unit 172 Swap address management table changing unit 531 of the processing devices A and B 531 Network address of inquiry destination management table 532 Stopper record of inquiry destination management table 731 Network address of swap destination information table 732 Acceptance identifier of swap destination information table 733 swap Swappable amount of information table 734 Storage area address of swap destination information table 735 Stopper record of swap destination information table 941 Number of records of swap address management table 942 Storage area address of swap address management table 943 Network address of swap address management table 944 Swap Storage area address of address management table 1341 Number of records of swap information management table 1342 Storage area address of swap information management table 1343 Network address of swap information management table 1344 Storage area address of swap information management table

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first processing device having a communication section for performing data communication and a storage area management section for managing a storage area, which is connected to a high-speed data communication line, swaps storage data in the storage area. At this time, a swappable amount inquiry means for inquiring the amount of swappable data to the second processing device, and a swappable amount notifying means for determining the swappable amount by the storage area management unit and sending a response to the inquiry. Swap destination address determining means for accepting the response of the swappable amount of the second processing device and determining the second processing device as a swap destination, the swappable amount inquiry and the response thereof, and the first And swap information sending / receiving means for sending and receiving swap information including the storage data to be swapped with the information specifying the second processing device. A swap information storage unit that stores the swap information; a swap destination changing unit that sends the swap information of the third processing device that is the re-swap destination when re-swap from the second processing device; Swapping address changing means for receiving the swap information of the processing device, and swapping the stored data between the first, second and third processing devices through the high speed data communication line. A storage system having an extended swap function.