JP2007274153A - Disconnection method of faulty apparatus in fiber channel switch - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent an adverse effect on the other normal FC device by properly discriminating an improper contact fault wherein connection/non-connection at an interface is repeated between a switch port and an FC device. <P>SOLUTION: A switch port (106) comprises an initialize generation frequency measurement circuit (110) and an FC device disconnection circuit (111). First the initialize generation frequency measurement circuit measures an initialize generation frequency caused by an FC device and discriminates whether the initialize generation frequency comes from an improper contact or the like or is caused by ordinary cable connection/disconnection or an FC device reset depending on the level of the frequency. In the former case, an instruction is given to the FC device disconnection circuit (111), the connected FC device is disconnected from an FC loop so as to prevent the adverse effect on the other normal FC device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a fiber channel switch used in an FC-AL (Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop) system.

  As the system interface of a storage device such as a magnetic disk device and a host device that performs input / output processing with the storage device has increased in speed, an FC-AL (Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop) interface has been developed. In the FC-AL system, it is possible to connect a plurality of storage devices such as a host device and a magnetic disk device on the same loop, and each connected device has an address (AL-PA) in the loop by loop initialization processing. ) Is determined.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a general fiber channel switch in the FC-AL system. The fiber channel switch (101) has a configuration in which a plurality of switch ports (106 to 109) are connected on an FC loop, and an FC device (102 to 105) such as a storage is connected to each switch port (106 to 109). ) Is connected.

  In the FC-AL system shown in FIG. 1, if any of the FC devices (102 to 105) connected to the switch ports (106 to 109) fails, the operation of the entire system may be stopped. is there. Therefore, various configurations have been proposed for providing a port bypass circuit in each switch port to disconnect a failed FC device from the loop (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  In Patent Document 1, when the FC-AL control unit 15 detects a failure in the loop and the disk devices 30, 40, and 50, it notifies the MPU 11 of the failure content. The MPU 11 records the failure history for each disk device in the storage circuit 12, and sets the disconnection order of the disk devices 30, 40, 50 based on the failure history. A method is described in which when a link failure occurs, the disk device 30, 40, 50 is disconnected from the loop in the set disconnection order to identify the failed disk device at an early stage.

  In Patent Document 2, a circuit for monitoring loop initialization processing is provided, state transition monitoring and loop initialization processing timer monitoring are performed, and when a timeout is detected, the faulty device itself bypasses the port and disconnects from the loop. Describes a method for quickly recovering from a failure when a failure occurs in the loop initialization process by sending a loop initialization primitive immediately before the port bypass and performing a loop initialization to recover the failure. Have

JP 2002-374271 A JP 2003-158528 A

  In the FC-AL system, each FC device connected to the Fiber Channel switch is connected on the same FC loop, and an interface contact failure that repeats link up and link down with one FC drive occurs. In such a case, there is a problem of preventing communication between other normal FC devices. That is, in the FC-AL system, when an FC device is connected to the FC loop, an initialization sequence runs on the FC loop, and there is a time zone during which data communication cannot be performed temporarily with all FC devices. For this reason, when a contact failure failure that repeats connection / disconnection at the interface between the switch port and the FC device occurs, the initialization sequence is continuously performed on the FC loop, so that the data on all FC devices on the FC loop A situation occurs where communication is impossible.

  This phenomenon has a problem that it is difficult to determine the cause of the failure in the fiber channel switch because the initialization sequence according to the specification is repeated, not the failure of the FC device. Further, when a plurality of FC devices are used as a redundant configuration on the fiber channel switch, there is a problem that the redundant configuration does not function due to the above problem.

  In view of the above problems, the object of the present invention is to determine a contact failure failure such as repeated connection / disconnection at the interface between the switch port and the FC device with a relatively simple configuration, and to detect other normal The object is to provide a novel means for preventing adverse effects on FC devices.

The present invention relates to each switch port in a FC-AL (Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop) system that is loop-connected using a fiber channel switch.
(Initialization) having a function of measuring the frequency of occurrence of initialization caused by a device, and a function of outputting the FC device disconnection signal from the FC loop when the measured frequency of occurrence of the initialization exceeds a predetermined frequency An occurrence frequency measurement circuit and an FC device disconnection circuit having a function of disconnecting the connection between the FC device and the FC loop in response to the FC device disconnection signal from the initialization occurrence frequency measurement circuit are provided. .

  The initialization occurrence frequency measuring circuit clears the measured initialization occurrence frequency when outputting the FC device disconnection signal, and after a predetermined time has elapsed from the time when the FC device disconnection signal is output, The FC device disconnecting circuit has a function of outputting a reconnection signal, and the FC device disconnecting circuit receives the reconnection signal from the initialization occurrence frequency measuring circuit and recovers the disconnection between the FC loops of the FC device. By providing, the disconnection is restored after a certain period of time and re-determination is performed, thereby minimizing the period of communication failure due to the occurrence of initialization, so that it is possible to cope with a contact failure failure or the like during that time.

  The initialization occurrence frequency measuring circuit further includes a counter that counts the number of times the FC device reconnection signal is output, and the FC device connected to the switch port when the count value of the counter exceeds a predetermined value By adopting a configuration having a function of outputting the failure information, it is possible to grasp the tendency of the abnormality occurrence frequency of the FC device connected to the target port.

Further, according to the FC-AL (Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop) system of the present invention, the fault device isolation method is configured such that a plurality of switch ports are FC (Fibre).
Channel) The frequency of initialization from the FC device connected to the switch port is monitored at each switch port of the FC-AL system using the fiber channel switch connected on the loop, and the frequency of the initialization is predetermined. When the frequency is exceeded, the FC device is automatically disconnected from the Fiber Channel switch.

  Furthermore, the automatically disconnected FC device is reconnected after a certain period of time, and the frequency of the initialization is monitored again, thereby minimizing the impact on communication and simplifying subsequent recovery work. Is measuring.

  The Fiber Channel switch of the present invention is a Fiber Channel switch in which a plurality of switch ports are connected on an FC (Fibre Channel) loop, and an initialization occurs in each switch port caused by the FC device connected to the switch port. An initialization occurrence frequency measuring circuit having a function of measuring the frequency, a function of outputting the FC device disconnection signal from the FC loop when the measured initialization occurrence frequency exceeds a predetermined threshold, and the initialization occurrence frequency An FC device disconnection circuit is provided that receives the FC device disconnection signal from a measurement circuit and disconnects the FC device from the FC loop.

  According to the present invention, when an interface contact failure occurs in a specific FC device connected to the FC loop in the FC-AL system, it can be accurately determined. Problems that hinder communication can be solved.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a general Fiber Channel switch in an FC-AL system to which the present invention is applied. The Fiber Channel switch (101) used in the FC-AL system includes a plurality of switch ports (106). To 109) are connected on the FC loop, and FC devices (102 to 105) such as storage are connected to the switch ports (106 to 109).

  This Fiber Channel switch is used, for example, for connecting a server having an FC interface and a plurality of storage apparatuses. In the Fiber Channel switch of the present invention, continuous link up and down phenomena caused by poor contact between the switch port and the FC (Fibre Channel) device interface are detected in the switch ports (106 to 109) of FIG. Function and interface disconnect function.

  FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a switch port in the fiber channel switch of the present invention. Although only the switch port (106) is shown in FIG. 2, the switch ports (107 to 109) also have the same configuration.

  The switch port (106) includes an initialization frequency measurement circuit (110) and an FC device disconnection circuit (111). First, the initialization occurrence frequency measurement circuit measures the initialization occurrence frequency caused by the FC device, and determines whether the phenomenon occurred due to poor contact, etc., or caused by normal cable insertion / removal or FC device reset. . In the former case, an instruction is sent to the FC device disconnection circuit (111) to disconnect the connected FC device from the FC loop, thereby preventing adverse effects on other normal FC devices.

  When an interface contact failure occurs in the FC device (102), link up and down phenomena frequently occur, and initialization occurs each time the FC device (102) is linked up. Therefore, when the occurrence frequency of initialization is abnormally high in a specific FC device (for example, 102), the initialization frequency measurement circuit (110) determines that an interface contact failure has occurred in the FC device (102). Then, a control signal for disconnecting the FC device (102) from the FC loop is sent to the FC device disconnecting circuit (111).

  The initialization occurrence frequency measurement circuit (110) includes, for example, a counter that monitors initialization generated from the FC device (102) and performs a count every time the initialization occurs, and the timer has a predetermined time ( For example, when the count value of the counter exceeds a preset value (for example, 5) during the measurement of, for example, 5 seconds), by means of determining that an interface contact failure has occurred in the FC device (102) Can be configured.

  In response to this control signal, the FC device disconnection circuit (111) disconnects the FC device (102) from the FC loop. Thereafter, the FC-AL system is operated by other normal FC devices (103 to 105). Thereafter, after a certain time (for example, 30 minutes or 1 hour) has elapsed, the FC device disconnection circuit (111) reconnects the disconnected FC device (102) and monitors the initialization occurrence state of the FC device (102) again. To do.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the switch port unit of this embodiment. The operation of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  After the fiber channel switch is started (S1), the initialization generation is monitored first (S2), and it is determined whether the FC device is connected to the port. If the connection is established, the initialization occurrence frequency monitoring process is started and the port state is continuously monitored (S3). If initialization processing occurs frequently during this period, it is determined that the FC device has a poor contact failure, and the FC device connected to the port is disconnected from the FC loop (S4).

  After that, the disconnected state is restored after a predetermined time has elapsed (S5), and initialization generation monitoring is started again (S2). When the initialization occurrence monitoring is performed again after a certain period of time and the contact failure of the FC device connected to this switch port is recovered for some reason, for example, the user adjusts the contact state In addition, by automatically restoring the FC device to the FC-AL system, the influence on the communication is minimized and the subsequent restoration work is facilitated.

  In this embodiment, by performing the above processing, the FC device with the contact failure is separated from the FC loop. Therefore, the FC device with the contact failure is detected quickly with a relatively simple configuration, and another FC is detected. An adverse effect on the device can be prevented.

  In addition, the disconnected switch port recovers the disconnection after a certain period of time and monitors the occurrence of initialization again. This certain period of time is set to, for example, about 30 minutes to 1 hour, and is performed in about several seconds. Since the cycle is much longer than the disconnection control time of the FC device having a fault, even if the FC device is disconnected again, there is almost no influence on communication due to this repetition.

  In addition, since the initialization frequency monitoring process proposed in this embodiment measures the initialization frequency of the target port, it is connected to the target port by creating a database and monitoring this result for a long time. It is also possible to grasp the trend of abnormality frequency of FC devices.

  For example, a counter that counts the number of times of disconnection restoration after the lapse of the predetermined time is provided, and when the number of times of disconnection restoration exceeds a predetermined value, it is assumed that the FC device is unstable. Means can be provided. In addition, when the frequency of failure occurrence increases after a certain period of time, an abnormality of the FC device is presumed, so it is possible to take measures such as preventive replacement.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the general fiber channel switch in the FC-AL system to which this invention is applied. It is a figure which shows the structure of the switch port in the fiber channel switch which shows embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

101 Fiber Channel Switch 102 to 105 FC Device 106 to 109 Switch Port 110 Initialization Frequency Measurement Circuit 111 FC Device Disconnection Circuit

Claims (9)

Each switch port in a FC-AL (Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop) system loop-connected using a Fiber Channel switch is connected to the FC (Fibre
(Initialization) having a function of measuring the frequency of occurrence of initialization caused by a device, and a function of outputting the FC device disconnection signal from the FC loop when the measured frequency of occurrence of the initialization exceeds a predetermined frequency An occurrence frequency measurement circuit and an FC device disconnection circuit having a function of disconnecting the connection between the FC device and the FC loop in response to the FC device disconnection signal from the initialization occurrence frequency measurement circuit are provided. Fiber channel switch.   The initialization occurrence frequency measurement circuit is configured to clear the measured initialization occurrence frequency when outputting the FC device disconnection signal, and to reconnect the FC device after a predetermined time has elapsed since the FC device disconnection signal was output. A function of outputting a signal, and the FC device disconnection circuit has a function of receiving the reconnection signal from the initialization occurrence frequency measuring circuit and restoring the disconnection between the FC loops of the FC device. The fiber channel switch according to claim 1, wherein:   The initialization occurrence frequency measurement circuit includes a counter that counts the number of times that the FC device reconnection signal is output, and the FC device connected to the switch port when the count value of the counter exceeds a predetermined value. 3. The fiber channel switch according to claim 2, which has a function of outputting fault information.   A switch port used in the fiber channel switch according to claim 1, wherein a function for measuring an occurrence frequency of initialization caused by an FC device connected to the switch port, and the measured occurrence frequency of the initialization are predetermined. An initialization occurrence frequency measuring circuit having a function of outputting the FC device disconnection signal from the FC loop when the frequency exceeds the frequency, and receiving the FC device disconnection signal from the initialization occurrence frequency measurement circuit, A switch port comprising an FC device disconnection circuit having a function of disconnecting the connection between the FC loops.   The initialization occurrence frequency measuring circuit clears the measured initialization occurrence frequency when outputting the FC device disconnection signal, and reconnects the FC device after elapse of a predetermined time from the output of the FC device disconnection signal. A function of outputting a signal, and the FC device disconnection circuit has a function of receiving the reconnection signal from the initialization occurrence frequency measuring circuit and restoring the disconnection between the FC loops of the FC device. The switch port according to claim 4, wherein the switch port is provided.   The initialization occurrence frequency measurement circuit includes a counter that counts the number of times that the FC device reconnection signal is output, and the FC device connected to the switch port when the count value of the counter exceeds a predetermined value. 6. The switch port according to claim 5, which has a function of outputting fault information. FC-AL (Fibre) using a Fiber Channel switch in which multiple switch ports are connected on an FC (Fibre Channel) loop
Channel Arbitrated Loop) system for fault device isolation,
In each switch port, the occurrence frequency of initialization from the FC device connected to the switch port is monitored, and when the occurrence frequency of initialization exceeds a predetermined frequency, the FC device is automatically sent from the Fiber Channel switch. A method for detaching a faulty device in an FC-AL system, characterized by detaching.   8. The method for disconnecting a faulty device in the FC-AL system according to claim 7, wherein the FC device that has been automatically disconnected is reconnected after a predetermined period of time, and the frequency of occurrence of the initialization is monitored again. . Counting the number of times that the automatically disconnected FC device is reconnected after a certain period of time, and outputting failure information of the FC device connected to the switch port when the count value exceeds a predetermined value The method for separating a faulty device in the FC-AL system according to claim 8.

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