JP2001006332A - Storage medium library array device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simply designate a volume, that becomes an object for data restructuring, by recording prescribed degradation information corresponding to the volume, for which a monitored degradation operation is conducted during data reading and writing, and collectively control the degradation information for every volume. SOLUTION: When an array controller AC of a recording medium library array device is given a control instruction, such as a data wiring instruction, from a panel P or a host processing device, six library units U1 to U6 are operated in parallel and data reading/writing operations are conducted in a high speed for media. The array controller AC discriminated whether or not an abnormal drive is occurring in one of the six drives that mount media of the units U1 to U6, and the volume is under degradation operation in terms of a volume unit. When degradation operation is being conducted, the condition of the volume is recorded on a degradation information table.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an arrangement of a plurality of portable storage media used as storage devices of a computer system and drive devices for reading / writing data from / to the storage media arranged in an array. In the storage medium library array device described above, in particular, the processing time for data reconstruction after the degenerate operation is reduced to improve the operation efficiency of the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a computer system, there is a disk array device as one of external storage devices realizing a large capacity and high performance. For example, by configuring a plurality of magnetic disk devices in an array and operating the magnetic disk devices in parallel, a disk array device that reads / writes data divided and stored in each of the magnetic disk devices at high speed ( That is, RAID) has been conventionally known. In the disk array device, the calculation result (parity data) of the exclusive OR (XOR) of data on a plurality of magnetic disk (data disks) devices is transferred to a magnetic disk other than the plurality of magnetic disk (data disks) devices. (Parity disk) By storing the data in a device, high reliability against data failure is obtained. For example, when a failure occurs in one of the plurality of magnetic disk devices, the data is stored in the failed magnetic disk device using the data and parity data stored in the remaining normal magnetic disk devices. Data (or trying to store it).
Therefore, in reconstructing the data, all data in the failed magnetic disk device is restored from other magnetic disk devices,
This is performed by writing the restored data to a newly installed magnetic disk device or a spare (spare) magnetic disk device installed in advance.

In such a disk array device, a large-capacity and relatively high-performance storage device can be realized by using a portable medium type storage device instead of the magnetic disk device. Examples of the portable medium type storage device include a magnetic tape device and an optical storage device. Particularly recently, DVD (Digital Versatile)
Disk). These storage devices are characterized in that a portable storage medium and a drive device for reading / writing data are separated from each other, and the storage medium is loaded into an arbitrary drive device to read / write data on the storage medium. That is. If the portable storage medium is inexpensive, a disk array system using the portable storage device can be realized at low cost.

In a large-scale computer system,
Libraries are introduced to facilitate the management of numerous storage media. The library includes, in addition to the storage medium and the drive device, a storage shelf (slot) for storing a large number of storage media, a transport holder for transferring the storage medium between the storage shelf and the drive device, and the like.
Since data handled by computer systems is becoming increasingly large-scale, the need for improved reliability is also very high. Therefore, it is effective to realize high reliability and high performance by applying the disk array even in the storage device system configured by the portable medium as described above. As a technology in which a disk array is applied to a portable medium, RAIL (Redundant Arrays of RAIL) configured as an array by combining a plurality of ordinary libraries including storage shelves, drive devices, transport holders, and the like.
Inexpensive Libraries has been proposed (Alan E. Bell (IBM Re)
search Division): DVD Appl
ications, COMDEX96, Nov. 20,
1996).

In a library array device using the portable medium type storage device, when the data and parity data to be divided and stored are divided and stored in n (n is an integer of 2 or more) storage media, When data is read / written in the library, generally, the n storage media stored in the storage shelf are taken out and transported by the transport holder to the n drive devices, and the n drive devices are transported. To read / write the data. In the library array device, a plurality of n storage media to be processed in the same manner are managed as one set of volumes.

[0006]

In the above-described library array device using the portable medium type storage device, one of the n plural drive devices does not operate at all, or an abnormality such as malfunction occurs. In such a case (that is, when data cannot be read from or written to one of the n multiple storage media that are simultaneously processed in the data read / write processing), the degraded operation is performed using a drive device other than the abnormal drive device. And the reading and writing of data is continued for (n-1) storage media. In this case, the same degeneration information is recorded in each of the (n-1) storage media. Then, at an appropriate time thereafter, as a repair work, the system administrator replaces the abnormal drive device, and replaces the (n-1) multiple storage media ( That is, data and parity data are read from the storage medium on which the degeneration information is recorded, and a predetermined data restoration process is performed to restore all data in the storage medium loaded in the abnormal drive device and to re-execute the data. To construct.

However, the determination as to whether or not the volume is a target volume to be subjected to the data reconstruction process has been performed by actually confirming whether or not degeneration information is recorded in each storage medium. That is, the storage media for all the volumes stored in the library array device are sequentially mounted on the drive device, the data is read out, the presence / absence of degeneration information is checked for each volume, and only the target volume is checked. Was performing data reconstruction. As described above, in order to specify a volume that needs to perform the data rebuilding process, it is not possible to specify the volume without reading the data each time. For this reason, there is a problem that the processing efficiency is very poor because it takes a lot of time to specify the volume to be reconstructed. Further, since all data is restored in the data rebuilding process, a great amount of time is spent in the data rebuilding process. During that time, no other process can be performed. There is a problem that the processing efficiency is extremely poor.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and stores the states of n storage media (ie, degeneration information for each volume) when a drive device is abnormal and degenerate operation is performed. Storage media (volume) for which data reconstruction is performed by managing the media separately from the media
It is an object of the present invention to provide a storage medium library array device which can easily specify the storage medium library. Another object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium library array device capable of reconstructing only necessary data during a data reconstructing process.

[0009]

A storage medium library array device according to the present invention transports a portable storage medium between a storage unit and a drive, and writes or reads data to or from the storage medium in the drive. In a storage medium library array device having a plurality of units and reading / writing data for each volume by driving the plurality of library units in parallel, the presence / absence of a degenerate operation is monitored during data read / write, and the degenerate operation is performed. Control means for recording predetermined degraded information corresponding to each volume and collectively managing the degraded information for each volume, and reconstructing data only for the degraded volume based on the degraded information. Is performed.

According to this configuration, at the time of data read / write, the presence or absence of the degeneration operation is monitored for each volume composed of a plurality of storage media mounted on the plurality of library units, and the volume on which the degeneration operation has been performed is monitored. Correspondingly, predetermined degeneration information is recorded, and degeneration information for each volume is collectively managed. Therefore, the user can easily select the degenerated volume from the degeneration information. Since the data reconstruction only needs to be performed for the degraded operation volume, referring to the degeneration information allows the corresponding volume to be quickly determined, and thus the time required for data reconstruction can be significantly reduced. it can. At the time of data reading / writing, the storage medium is mounted on one of a plurality of drives arranged in the library unit. If the drive on which the storage medium is mounted is not usable in each library unit, data read / write is performed using the drive on which the storage medium is mounted as a set of volumes. At the time of data read / write processing, one of the drives mounted with the storage medium may become unusable. In this case, data read / write processing is continuously performed on a drive other than the unusable drive. That is, the degenerate operation is performed. At this time, the control means records that the volume has been subjected to the degeneration operation as degeneration information. By referring to the degeneration information, the user can easily select a volume on which data reconstruction is to be performed.

A storage medium library array device according to the present invention includes a plurality of library units for transporting a portable storage medium between a storage unit and a drive and writing or reading data to or from the storage medium in the drive. In a storage medium library array apparatus for driving a plurality of library units in parallel to read and write data for each volume, one of the drives of the library unit forming a set of volumes is unusable and If the data cannot be written to the storage medium, the position information of the storage medium to which the data could not be written is recorded in a predetermined area of the storage medium mounted on the normal drive, and based on the position information in the set of volumes. Equipped with control means for reconstructing data only from the data part It is characterized in that the.

[0012] According to this configuration, at the time of data reconstruction processing of a set of volumes, data necessary for reconstructing data from each storage medium is read out based on the position information recorded on the storage medium, Only the data that could not be written to the position of the storage medium specified by the position information is reconstructed and written to the storage medium. As described above, since the data rebuilding process can be performed only at the position where the data has not been written, the time required for the data rebuilding can be greatly reduced. At the time of data reading / writing, the storage medium is mounted on one of a plurality of drives arranged in the library unit. If the drive on which the storage medium is mounted is not usable in each library unit, data read / write is performed using the drive on which the storage medium is mounted as a set of volumes. At the time of data read / write processing, one of the drives mounted with the storage medium may become unusable. In this case, data read / write processing is continuously performed on a drive other than the unusable drive. That is, the degenerate operation is performed. At this time, the control means writes the position information of the storage medium to which the data could not be written and the degraded data without redundancy to the storage medium mounted on another available drive. At the time of data reconstruction, based on the position information, the degraded state data recorded at the position corresponding to the position information is sequentially read, and a predetermined data reconstruction process is performed. Such time can be greatly reduced.

[0013] The storage medium may be transported between a storage system and a drive while being mounted on a predetermined storage medium mounting body. That is, DVDs and CDs (Com
For a medium in which the medium has a disk shape (that is, a disk shape) such as a compact disk, a transport tray (recording medium) is provided for each medium (that is, in one-to-one correspondence with the medium). Mounting medium), and the medium is mounted on the transport tray provided for each. In such a case, the delivery of the medium is performed by being delivered integrally with the transport tray (that is, for each transport tray). Note that the recording medium mounting body may be not only a transport tray but also a cartridge.

The present invention can be constructed and implemented not only as an apparatus invention but also as a method invention. Further, the present invention can be implemented in the form of a program of a processor such as a computer or a DSP, or can be implemented in the form of a storage medium storing such a program.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the overall configuration of a storage medium library array device to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing an embodiment of the entire configuration of the library units U1 to U6 in FIG. However, since all of the library units U1 to U6 have the same configuration, FIG.
An example of the entire configuration of only one unit is shown. In the following description, the term “medium” simply includes not only the medium itself but also a tray on which the medium is mounted. In the storage medium library array device to which the present invention is applied, a control interface (eg, a data read / write instruction) such as a data read / write command from the panel P or a higher-level processing device (eg, a personal computer) to the array controller AC is not illustrated. , A SCSI interface, etc.) to operate six library units (hereinafter simply referred to as units) U1 to U6 in parallel to read / write data to / from a medium at high speed. is there. The array controller AC is composed of a microcomputer including an MPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like (not shown), and controls the transport of a medium and the data read / write by parallel driving of a plurality of drives.

In each of the units U1 (U2 to U6), based on a control command from the array controller AC, the control unit CT controls a large number of storage shelves Ta of the storage series T storing the medium (the description will be simplified). (Only one is shown for this purpose), a desired medium is taken out from a predetermined storage shelf, and the transfer holder H is mounted so as to house (mount) the medium in one of a plurality of drives 10 to 13 provided. After the transport, the drives 10 to 13 are controlled to perform data read / write processing. That is, each unit U1 (U2 to U
6) is configured so that each unit U1 (U2 to U6) alone can perform data read / write processing on a medium. Further, by operating a plurality of drives 10 to 13 of each unit U1 (U2 to U6) in parallel,
Different data read / write processing can be performed for a plurality of volume units. Further, each unit U1 (U2 to U
6) is provided with mass entries M1 (M2 to M6),
The medium can be introduced into the unit from the outside or discharged from the unit to the outside.

The storage medium library array device to which this embodiment is applied is not limited to this. For example,
The number of units U1 to U6 is not limited to six, and a plurality of units may be provided.
Instead of providing each of the units 6, at least one unit may be provided in the apparatus so that the units U1 to U6 can share and transport the medium. Further, each unit U
Although an example in which four drives 10 to 13 are provided for each of the units 1 to U6 is shown, the invention is not limited to this, and at least one drive 10 to 13 may be provided for each of the units U1 to U6.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of the degeneration information recording process. The process of FIG. 3 is started under a predetermined condition such that the array controller AC receives a data read / write command from the host device or the panel P or the like, and is executed in parallel with the data read / write process for the volume. First, the operation of the library array device is started (step S1). That is, in accordance with the designation from the host device or the like, the storage shelf Ta is
And mounting the medium taken out from the drive on the drive and starting up the drive (for example, starting data reading or writing processing). Then, it is determined whether or not there is a change in the state of the medium in units of six media (one volume) mounted on the drive (step S2). That is, it is determined for each volume whether or not an abnormality has occurred in one of the six drives on which the medium is mounted and the volume is being degraded. Whether or not the degeneration operation is being performed is determined based on a drive failure signal transmitted from the control unit CT of each of the units U1 to U6 to the array controller AC. If the operation is in the degenerate operation (YES in step S2), the state of the volume (ie, whether the volume is a normal volume or a degraded volume) is recorded in the degeneration information table (step S3). The degeneration information table is used to list the degeneration status of each volume, and is created in, for example, a predetermined auxiliary storage device. On the other hand, when the degeneration operation is not performed (NO in step S2), the process jumps to step S4 without performing the process in step S3. In step S4, it is determined whether the mounted medium is in operation. If it is in operation (YES in step S4), the process returns to step S2 to continue monitoring the status of each volume. If the operation is not being performed, that is, if the data read / write processing has been completed for all the volumes (NO in step S4), the processing ends.

Here, the above-described degeneration information recording processing will be specifically described. FIG. 4 is a schematic front view schematically showing the unit configuration of the storage medium library array device from the front. However, all of the units U1 to U6 are illustrated side by side in order to facilitate understanding of the description. Note that the numbers attached to the right end of the figure indicate the drive mount line, and the drive on which the medium is mounted is selected by specifying the drive mount line from a host device or the like. That is, a drive mount row is commonly assigned to the drives U1 to U6 that are arranged at predetermined relative positions of the units U1 to U6.
For example, a drive arranged at the top of each unit U1 to U6 is assigned "mount 0", and the following drives are assigned "mount 1" to "mount 3" in order from the top. Then, by specifying the drive mount row, one drive for reading and writing data can be selected for each of the units U1 to U6. In this embodiment, for convenience, drive mount rows corresponding to the respective drives are indicated by 0 to 3 in order from the top. In the following description, the drive of “mount 0” of the unit U1 is referred to as “drive 10”, and the drive of “mount 3” of the unit U6 is referred to as “drive 63”. I do.

For example, it is assumed that “mount 0” is designated as a drive mount row from the host device. Then, the array controller takes out the desired medium for each of the units U1 to U6 from the storage shelf Ta and mounts each medium on the drives 10 to 60 of each of the units U1 to U6 (see the first line O). If the medium is mounted on all the drives corresponding to the specified drive mount line, the medium is mounted normally and operation of the apparatus (data reading or writing processing, etc.) is started. Since the mounting of this medium is performed for each mounting row, in this embodiment, four volumes can be processed in parallel (first line O to fourth line R). During data read / write processing for each volume (first line O to fourth line R),
For example, when the drive 31 (shown in black) of the unit U3 becomes abnormal, the volume (the second line P) is operated in a degenerated state. Then, the volume (second line P) is recorded in the degeneration information table as “degenerate volume”, and the other volumes (first line O, third line Q to fourth line R) are “normal volume”. Is recorded in the degeneration information table.

The above-mentioned degeneration information table holds degeneration information on a volume basis. That is, information on whether the volume is “reduced volume” or “normal volume” is recorded for each of the media stored in the storage shelf Ta or the media stored in the drive. By recording such a degeneration information table in a predetermined auxiliary storage device, the user can easily determine the medium (degeneration volume) that has been degenerated. Also, even if the library device is restarted during processing (that is, the power is turned off and then turned on again), the degeneration information table is not lost. Volume) can be determined quickly. As the auxiliary storage device, a dedicated storage device such as a hard disk device may be newly configured in the library array device, or a RAM or the like provided in a higher-level device or an array controller may be used as the auxiliary storage device. It may be configured as follows. That is, any type may be used.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing another embodiment of the degenerate information recording process. More specifically, this process is performed when a new medium is mounted on a drive. Similar to the process of FIG. 3, the process is started under a predetermined condition such as the array controller AC receiving a data read / write command from the host device or the panel P or the like. First, the operation of the apparatus is started, that is, the medium is mounted on each drive corresponding to the drive mount row (see FIG. 4) designated by the host apparatus or the like (step S11). If the medium is not mounted on all drives (step S12)
NO), step S until all media are mounted
Step 12 is repeated. If the medium has been mounted on all drives (YES in step S12), the state of the volume at the time of drive mounting is recorded in the degeneration information table (step S13). That is, whether the volume is a “degraded volume” or a “normal volume” is not recorded in the degeneration information table. Therefore, it is determined whether the volume is a "reduced volume" or a "normal volume" based on the presence or absence of the degraded information recorded on the storage medium at the time of drive mounting, and the result is recorded in the degraded information table. Then, it monitors whether or not there is a change in the volume state during the processing of the volume, and if there is a change in the volume state, indicates the state of the volume (ie, “reduced volume” or “normal volume”) in the reduced information table (Step S1)
4 to S16). The processes in steps S14 to S16 are the same as the processes in steps S2 to S4 described above, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.
As described above, when a plurality of media constituting one volume newly input from the outside of the library apparatus are mounted on the drive, the initial volume state of the medium (that is, immediately before the operation of the apparatus) is recorded in the degeneration information table. By doing so, it becomes possible to record changes in the volume state during the processing of the volume.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the volume state is recorded in the degeneration information table when the volume state changes. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example,
The configuration may be such that the state of the volume is recorded in the degeneration information table (at the time when the medium is returned to the storage shelf Ta after all the data writing processing or the like for each volume is completed).

By recording the volume status in the degeneration information table as described above, the user can easily determine the "degeneration volume" in the library array device. However, reconstructing data for all data is time-consuming and inefficient. Therefore, a process of recording the degenerate position information on the medium is performed to reconstruct only the degenerated data. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of the degenerate position recording process. This process is performed in parallel with the data write process to the volume. First, a plurality of media constituting one volume are mounted on each drive of each of the units U1 to U6 (step S21). Then, it is determined whether or not the data write processing (write processing) executed in each drive has been normally performed (step S22).
If the data writing process has been performed normally (YES in step S22), the process jumps to step S25.
If the data write processing has not been performed normally, that is, if one of the drives has a failure and the data write has failed in the drive (N in step S22)
O), it is determined whether or not the data writing process is continuing (step S23). If the data writing process has not been continued (that is, it is not in the degenerate state) (NO in step S23), the process jumps to step S25.
If the data writing process is continued (that is, the data is in a degenerate state) (YES in step S23), the position information on the medium to which data is to be written by the failed drive is mounted on another normal drive. The recording is performed in a predetermined area of the recording medium (step S24). The position information is, for example, sector information when data is written to the medium in “sector” units,
When data is written in “stripe” units, it is stripe information (details will be described later). In step S25, it is determined whether or not to continue the process of writing data to the volume. If there is data to be written or if the data is in a degraded state, the process is continued (YES in step S25). If it has disappeared or has not been reduced, the processing is terminated (NO in step S25).

Here, the position information will be briefly described. The disk-shaped storage medium such as the DVD or CD described above generally has a plurality of tracks arranged concentrically or spirally with respect to the center of rotation, and each track is equal to a predetermined number in the circumferential direction. It is divided into "sectors" of length. FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram conceptually showing one embodiment of the data configuration of such a storage medium. When data is accessed (that is, data is read / written) from / to a storage medium, the unit of the “sector” (or LBA (Logica
l An access is made for each data area divided into (Block Address) units. That is, the “sector” unit (or LBA unit) is the minimum data read / write unit used when reading / writing data from / to the medium. When data is accessed to a storage medium, a "stripe" unit, that is, a predetermined capacity unit (for example,
Data may be read and written in data units having a size of (eg, data block units). In this case, since data access to the medium is performed in a data unit of a predetermined size in both data reading and writing processing, the data transfer speed when accessing the medium can be improved. From the above, the position information recorded in the above-described degenerate position recording processing is “sector” (or LB).
A) It may be data information of a minimum unit such as information, or may be data information having a predetermined size such as "stripe" information. In this embodiment, the data area is divided into a "user data section" (sector number 00 to sector number 79) and a "position information section" (sector number 80 to sector number 89). Record the location information. Here, an example is shown in which “sector” information is recorded as position information. Note that a plurality of pieces of the same position information may be recorded in the “position information section”. That is, the position information may be multiplexed.
"Alternate sector part" (sector number 90 to sector number 99)
Is a data area previously limitedly allocated to the medium, and is used as a replacement sector for replacing a defective sector (defective sector or defective sector) in the “user data section”. That is, when there is an abnormality in the sector of the “user data section” at the time of data writing, the data is written not in the “user data section” but in the “alternate sector section”.

In the above-described embodiment, the processes of FIG. 3 (or FIG. 5) and FIG. 6 have been described separately. However, these processes may be used in combination. That is, the processes shown in FIG. 3 (or FIG. 5) and FIG. 6 may be performed in parallel. By simultaneously recording the degeneration information table (volume state) and the degeneration position information on the auxiliary storage device or the storage medium, the user can easily determine which data area of which storage medium of which volume is in the degeneration state. Thus, the time required for data reconstruction can be reduced.

Next, the data reconstruction process will be briefly described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of the data restructuring process. First, a plurality of storage media constituting a volume to be reconstructed are stored in each of the units U1 to U.
6 for each drive (step S3
1). At this time, referring to the degeneration information recorded in the degeneration information table as described above (that is, “degenerate volume”), the volume to be reconstructed can be quickly determined (however, the present invention is not limited to this). ).
Then, it is determined whether position information (“stripe” information or “sector” information) on the drive can be used from the mounted medium (step S32).
When the position information is available, that is, when the position information can be read from the medium (step S3
(YES in 2), the data is reconstructed only for the data based on the recorded position information (step S33). If the position information cannot be read from all the media (NO in step S32), the data is reconstructed for all the data (step S34).

Here, each of the above-described processes will be specifically described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram for explaining data reconstruction, and is a diagram in which media of one volume unit are arranged side by side. Each unit U1 to U
It is assumed that, for example, data writing processing is started for each medium mounted for each one of the drives No. 6 and No. 6. During the data writing process, for example, if a failure occurs in the drive of the unit U3 and data cannot be written to the “sector number 55” of the medium mounted on the drive, the degeneration information table indicates that the volume is “ It is stored as a “degenerate volume” (see the degenerate information recording process described above). In addition, all media other than the media on which data could not be written have “sector number 5” as position information.
5 "is written (see the degenerate position recording process described above),
Further, the data writing process is continued or the data writing process is terminated in the degenerate state. After the end of the data writing process, the user specifies the volume whose “degraded volume” is recorded in the degraded information table. Then, the plurality of media constituting the designated volume are mounted on the drives of the units U1 to U6, respectively, and the data is reconstructed. At this time, on the medium other than the medium mounted on the drive of the failed unit U3, the data corresponding to the position information "sector number 55" is read out, the data is reconstructed only with respect to the data, and the failure occurs. The restored data is written to a predetermined position of the medium indicated by “sector number 55” (see the data reconstruction process described above).

Note that recording position information on a storage medium as described above has the advantage that similar data reconstruction processing can be performed even if the storage medium (volume) is moved to another library array device. There is.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, the predetermined degeneration information is recorded in correspondence with the volumes in which the degeneration operation has been performed, and the degeneration information for each volume is collectively managed, thereby enabling the user. Can easily determine the volume at which the degenerate operation was performed. In addition, by recording the position information on the recording medium on which data could not be written at the time of degeneration on another recording medium, only the data portion recorded in the area of the corresponding storage position is reconstructed at the time of data reconstruction. Can be reconstructed, the time required for data reconstruction can be shortened, and the storage medium library array device can be used efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration example of a storage medium library array device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 shows library units U1 to U6 in FIG.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing an example of the entire configuration of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of degeneration information recording processing.

4 is a diagram for explaining the degeneration information recording process shown in FIG. 3, and is a schematic front view schematically showing the unit configuration of the storage medium library array device from the front.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating another embodiment of the degeneration information recording process.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a degenerate position recording process.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the data configuration of the storage medium, and is a conceptual diagram conceptually showing the data configuration of the storage medium.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a data rebuilding process.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the data rebuilding process, and is a schematic front view schematically showing the unit configuration of the storage medium library array device from the front.

[Explanation of symbols]

AC: Array controller, P: Panel, U1 to U6 ...
Library unit, M1 to M6 ... mass entry, T ...
Storage system, Ta: storage shelf, CT: control unit, H: transport holder, 10 to 64: drive

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Norio Matsuno 3-16-3 Higashi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside Hitachi Electronics Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Mikio Sasaki 3-163-3 Higashi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo F-term (reference) in Hitachi Electronics Engineering Co., Ltd. 5D066 BA02 BA07 BA08 5D077 AA22 AA38 CA02 DC08 DC36 DC37 DE08 EA33 EA34 EB01 EB03 5D110 AA13 BB23 BB24 DA06 DA10 DA12 DB05 DB09 DC05 DC15 DE04 DE06

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A portable storage medium is transported between a storage unit and a drive, and a plurality of library units for writing or reading data to or from the storage medium in the drive are provided. In a storage medium library array device that drives and reads / writes data for each volume, the presence / absence of a degenerate operation is monitored at the time of data read / write, and predetermined degeneration information is recorded corresponding to the volume in which the degenerate operation was performed. A storage medium comprising control means for collectively managing degeneration information for each volume, wherein it is possible to select to perform data reconstruction only on a volume in a degraded state based on the degeneration information. Library array device. 2. A portable storage medium is transported between a storage section and a drive, and a plurality of library units for writing or reading data to or from the storage medium in the drive are provided in plural series, and the plural series of library units are arranged in parallel. In a storage medium library array device that drives and reads and writes data for each volume, when one of the drives of the library unit that forms a set of volumes is unusable and data cannot be written to a storage medium, The position information of the storage medium to which data could not be written is recorded in a predetermined area of the storage medium mounted on a normal drive, and data is reconstructed from only the data portion based on the position information in the set of volumes. Storage medium library array comprising control means Location. 3. A portable storage medium is transported between a storage section and a drive, and a plurality of library units for writing or reading data to or from the storage medium in the drive are provided in a plurality of series, and the plurality of series of library units are arranged in parallel. In a storage medium library array device that drives and reads / writes data for each volume, the presence / absence of a degenerate operation is monitored at the time of data read / write, and predetermined degeneration information is recorded corresponding to the volume in which the degenerate operation was performed. Degradation information for each volume is managed collectively, and when one of the drives of the library unit forming a set of volumes is unusable and data cannot be written to a storage medium, data can be written. The location information of the storage medium that did not exist is recorded in a predetermined area of the storage medium mounted on a normal drive. To advance, the set of which only the data portion based on the position information in the volume, characterized by comprising a control means for reconstructing the data storage media library array apparatus. 4. The storage medium library array device according to claim 2, wherein the position information is recorded as information of a minimum data writing unit used when writing data to a storage medium. . 5. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the position information is recorded as information of a data write unit having a predetermined size used when writing data to a storage medium. Storage media library array device. 6. The storage medium library array according to claim 2, wherein the position information is recorded in a predetermined area of all storage media other than the storage medium to which data could not be written. apparatus. 7. The storage medium library array device according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of the position information are recorded in a predetermined area of a storage medium other than the storage medium to which data could not be written. . 8. A storage device for recording the degeneration information, wherein the storage device retains the degeneration information even when the power supply of the library array device is turned off. 8. The storage medium library array device according to claim 1 or claim 3.