JP2008033449A - System and method for sharing input/output transfer device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that in a conventional system sharing an I/O card with logic sections, an overhead occurs in controlling HW/driver with a logic section ID and a dedicated HW/driver is required for sharing the I/O card. <P>SOLUTION: The system for sharing an input/output transfer device is provided with a shared I/O card 29-2, IOPs 21 and 22 for logic sections #1 and #2, and FWs 204 and 205 controlling the I/O card 29-2 and a DISK array 3 connected thereto. A plurality of logic channels on the DISK array 3 side are divided to be allocated to the respective logic sections, and for each of the logic sections, identification information of the I/O card 29-2, a name of a corresponding driver 203, a name of a PC module adaptable for a physical channel, I/O path information showing a name of allocated LC module adaptable for a logic channel are stored. The IOPs 21 and 22 refer to the I/O path information to set a communication path between the modules when the FWs 204 and 205 and the driver 203 are started initially. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an input / output transfer apparatus sharing method and method, and a program, in which a computer system is divided into a plurality of logical partitions, and an input / output transfer apparatus such as an I / O card is shared by the plurality of logical partitions. The present invention relates to an input / output transfer apparatus sharing method, an input / output transfer apparatus sharing method, and a program that do not require a change design on the O / card or control driver side.

As a recent trend in the computer industry, in order to reduce TCO (TotalCost of Ownership), logical partitioning in which one housing is divided into a plurality of resources to construct a plurality of logical partitions has been actively researched and developed.
As one of them, an invention has been proposed in which an I / O card is shared by a plurality of logical hosts so that the number of logical partitions is not limited by the number of I / O cards (see Patent Document 1).

  With this conventional technology, when an I / O card is shared by a plurality of logical partitions, the hardware control (HW) or driver control is performed to exclusively control the I / O instructions of each logical partition with the same I / O card. Is added with a logical partition ID. For example, in Patent Document 1, when an I / O slot shared by a logical partition arbitration unit of a node controller is used, which logical partition is held in a table and managed.

JP 2005-122640 A

  The above conventional technique has a problem of requiring development cost and development period because it is necessary to design a dedicated HW and a dedicated driver when sharing the input / output transfer device.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an input / output transfer device sharing method, an input / output transfer device sharing method, and a program, which have solved the above-described problems.

  A first input / output transfer device sharing method according to the present invention is a method in which a plurality of logical partitions including processing devices share an input / output transfer device to which an external storage device is connected. A shared storage unit that stores information for identifying the allocation of the plurality of logical channels to which the logical devices obtained by exclusively dividing the storage area are assigned to each logical partition and information for identifying the input / output transfer device; The processing device of each logical partition accesses the logical device through the assigned logical channel.

  The sharing method of the second input / output transfer device of the present invention is the sharing method of the first input / output transfer device, and causes each of the logical partitions to execute the processing device so that the input / output transfer device and the Firmware for controlling an external storage device, wherein the firmware includes a first module corresponding to a physical channel that is a set of each processing device and the input / output transfer device, and a plurality of second modules corresponding to the logical channel The shared storage unit includes the first module identification information, the second module identification information corresponding to the assigned logical channel, and the input / output device corresponding to the identification of each logical partition. Mounting slot identification information and I / O path information including identification information of a common driver that controls the input / output transfer device is stored. When the driver is initially started, the I / O path information is referred to, and an inter-module communication path is set in advance between the first module and the second module and between the second module and the driver. And the first module uses the communication path in response to an I / O request to the logical device designating the physical channel, and corresponds to the logical channel corresponding to the destination logical device. Instruct I / O to the assigned logical channel through the second module and the driver.

  The sharing method of the third input / output transfer device of the present invention is the sharing method of the second input / output transfer device, and when the firmware receives an initialization request for a logical device occupied by a logical partition, The first module to be instructed to initialize the logical device to the logical channel through the driver, the second module corresponding to the logical channel corresponding to all the target logical devices, and the logical device that has been initialized. Is stored in the occupied device information storage unit.

  A fourth input / output transfer device sharing method according to the present invention is the third input / output transfer device sharing method, and when the firmware receives a reset instruction designating the physical channel, Among the logical channels to which it belongs, there is means for resetting only the occupied logical device through the logical channel in which the logical device is stored in the occupied device information storage unit.

  A fifth input / output transfer apparatus sharing method according to the present invention is a sharing method of any of the first to fourth input / output transfer apparatuses, and is a host-side processing apparatus that makes an I / O request to the processing apparatus. I / O processing device different from the above.

  The first input / output transfer device sharing method of the present invention is a method in which a plurality of logical partitions including processing devices share an input / output transfer device to which an external storage device is connected. A procedure for storing, in a shared storage unit, information for identifying assignment of a plurality of logical channels to which logical devices whose storage areas are exclusively divided are connected to each logical partition and information for identifying the input / output transfer device; , Each logical partition having access to the logical device through the assigned logical channel.

  A second input / output transfer device sharing method according to the present invention is the first input / output transfer device sharing method, wherein firmware for controlling the input / output transfer device and the external storage device in each logical partition is provided. The firmware procedure includes a first procedure corresponding to a physical channel that is a set of the processing device and the input / output transfer device, and a plurality of second procedures corresponding to the logical channel, The procedure to be stored corresponds to the identification of each logical partition, the identification information of the first procedure, the identification information of the second procedure corresponding to the assigned logical channel, and the mounting slot of the input / output transfer device A procedure for storing I / O path information including identification information and identification information of a common driver procedure for controlling the input / output transfer device is provided, and the firmware procedure and the driver procedure are stored in each logical partition. The communication path is set in advance between the first procedure and the plurality of second procedures and between the second procedure and the driver procedure by referring to the I / O path information when initially starting The first procedure uses the communication path in response to an I / O request to the logical device that designates the physical channel, and supports a logical channel corresponding to a destination logical device. I / O is instructed to the assigned logical channel through the second procedure and the driver procedure.

  A third input / output transfer apparatus sharing method according to the present invention is the second input / output transfer apparatus sharing method, wherein when the firmware procedure receives an initialization request for a logical device occupied by a logical partition, The corresponding first module can be initialized with the second procedure corresponding to the logical channel corresponding to all the target logical devices and the procedure for instructing the corresponding logical channel to initialize the logical device through the driver procedure. The logical device is stored in the occupied device information storage unit.

  A fourth input / output transfer apparatus sharing method according to the present invention is the third input / output transfer apparatus sharing method, wherein when the firmware procedure receives a reset instruction designating the physical channel, the physical channel Among the logical channels belonging to, the procedure of resetting only the occupied logical device through the logical channel in which the logical device is stored in the occupied device information storage unit.

  The first program of the present invention includes a plurality of logical devices each of which is obtained by exclusively dividing a storage area of an external storage device connected to an input / output transfer device shared by a plurality of logical partitions including a processing device. A procedure for storing in the shared storage unit information for identifying the allocation of the logical channel to each logical partition and information for identifying the I / O transfer device, and the logical partition through the allocated logical channel The procedure for accessing the device is executed by the processing device of each logical partition.

  A second program of the present invention is the first program, a procedure for controlling the input / output transfer device and the external storage device, and is a physical set that is a set of the processing device and the input / output transfer device. A first procedure corresponding to a channel, a procedure for controlling, a plurality of second procedures corresponding to the logical channel, a driver procedure for controlling the input / output transfer device, and identification of each logical partition Corresponding to the identification information of the first procedure, the identification information of the second procedure corresponding to the assigned logical channel, the mounting slot identification information of the input / output transfer device, and the input / output transfer device. A procedure for storing I / O path information including identification information of a common driver procedure, the control procedure and the first procedure by referring to the I / O path information when initially starting the driver procedure; In response to an I / O request to the logical device that specifies the physical channel, a procedure for setting a communication path in advance between the second procedure, the second procedure, and the driver procedure. Processing of each logical partition using the communication path, the second procedure corresponding to the logical channel corresponding to the destination logical device, and the procedure for instructing the allocated logical channel through the driver procedure. Let the device run.

  The third program of the present invention is the second program, and upon receiving an initialization request for a logical device occupied by its own logical partition, the second program corresponding to the logical channel corresponding to all the target logical devices. Instruct the initialization of the logical device to the procedure, and instruct the initialization of the logical device to the corresponding logical channel through the first procedure for storing the initialized logical device in the occupied device information storage unit and the driver procedure. The processing unit of each logical partition is caused to execute the second procedure.

  The fourth program of the present invention is the third program, and when a physical channel reset instruction is received, among the logical channels belonging to the physical channel, the logical channel in which the logical device is stored in the occupied device information storage unit Then, the processing unit of each logical partition is caused to execute the first procedure for resetting only the occupied logical device.

  The present invention does not need to design a dedicated HW or a dedicated driver when sharing an input / output transfer device, and thus has an effect of reducing development cost and development period.

  Next, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the computer system according to the first embodiment of this invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the computer system according to the first embodiment includes a physical host device 1, an I / O control device 2, and a DISK array 3.

  The physical host device 1 includes a CPU 11, a CPU 12, a shared memory 13, and a memory 14 as the HW layer.

  The physical memory space of the physical host device 1 is divided into areas of the memory 13 and the memory 14. The OS 101 is stored in the memory 13 and uses the CPU 11 and the memory 13. The OS 102 is stored in the memory 14 and uses the CPU 12 and the memory 14. The memory 13 and the memory 14 include, in addition to areas fixedly assigned to the OS 101 and the OS 102, respectively, shared areas accessible by both.

  As the HW layer, the I / O control device 2 includes IOPs 21 and 22 that are I / O processors, memories 23 and 24, and an I / O card 29-2 (one type of input / output transfer device, such as an FC card). Including. The FW 204 (firmware) is stored in the memory 23 and executed by the IOP 21. The FW 205 (firmware) is stored in the memory 24 and executed by the IOP 22. The driver 203 is stored in a shared area of the memory 23 (or the memory 24) and controls the I / O card 29-2.

  The physical host device 1 and the I / O control device 2 are divided into logical partitions # 1 and # 2. Logical partition # 1 is occupied by logical host # 1 (OS 101) and includes physical channels # 1 and # 2. The physical channel # 2 includes the FW 204 (hence, the HOP layer IOP 21 and the memory 23) and the driver 203 (hence, the H / W layer I / O card 29-2).

  Partition # 2 is occupied by logical host # 2 (OS 102) and includes physical channels # 3 and # 4. The physical channel # 3 includes the FW 205 (hence, the IOP 22 in the HW layer and the memory 24) and the driver 203 (hence, the I / O card 29-2 in the H / W layer). That is, the I / O card 29-2 is shared by the logical partition # 1 (logical host # 1) and the logical partition # 2 (logical host # 2).

  The DISK array 3 includes a controller 31 and a physical DISK 32. The controller 31 controls the logical channel (# 1) 311 to the logical channel (# 4) 314. The physical DISK 32 is divided into a logical DISK (# 1) to a logical DISK (# 4) 324 and accessed. The logical channel (# 1) 311 to the logical channel (# 4) 314 correspond to the logical DISK (# 1) 321 to the logical DISK (# 4) 324 on a one-to-one basis.

  Each logical DISK of the logical DISK (# 1) 321 to logical DISK (# 4) 324 is obtained by dividing the storage area (address space) of the DISK array 3 into four exclusively.

  Also, logical channels # 1 to # 4 are divided into two groups. Logical channels # 1 to # 2 are assigned to logical partition # 1, and logical channels # 3 to # 4 are assigned to logical partition # 2.

  The logical hosts # 1 and # 2 issue I / O instructions to the driver 203 via the physical channels # 2 and # 3, respectively.

  Here, the OS 101 of the logical host # 1 and the OS 102 of the logical host # 2 are respectively the logical DISK (# 1) 321 to the logical DISK (# 2) 322 and the logical channel # connected to the logical channels # 1 to # 2. Exclusive control of logical DISK (# 3) 323 to logical DISK (# 4) 324 connected to 3 to # 4 is performed.

  Therefore, the logical host # 1 (logical host # 2) does not compete with the logical partition # 2 (logical partition # 1), and the physical channel # 2 (physical channel # 3) to the logical channels # 1 to # 2 (logical channel). An I / O instruction can be issued to # 3 to # 4). The OSs 101 and 102 can issue initialization or reset in units of physical channels without considering the logical partition.

  The FW 204 is executed by the IOP 21 and issues an I / O command from the physical channel # 2 (driver 203) to the logical channels # 1 and # 2. The FW 205 is executed by the IOP 22 and issues an I / O command from the physical channel # 3 (driver 203) to the logical channels # 3 and # 4.

  The OS 101 occupies the logical DISK (# 1) 321 and the logical DISK (# 2) 322, and the OS 102 occupies the logical DISK (# 3) 323 and the logical DISK (# 4) 324.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a computer system serving as a base to be logically divided. Referring to FIG. 2, the computer system includes a host and I / O control device 4 and a DISK array 3. A CPU 11, a CPU 12, an IOP 21, and an IOP 22 are connected to the system bus 20 of the host and I / O control device 4. In addition to the memories 13 and 14 assigned to the CPUs 11 and 12, memories 23 and 24 assigned to the IOPs 21 and 22 are connected to the memory controller 25.

  A bus control circuit 26 is connected to the system bus 20. The bus control circuit 26 includes a bus bridge between the system bus 20 and the I / O bus 27, a management unit such as the bus busy of the system bus 20, and a management unit such as the bus busy of the I / O bus 27. Data is transferred between the I / O buses 27.

  The I / O bus 27 is a PCI bus or the like. For example, a bus slot 272 having three slots # 1 to # 3 is connected to the I / O bus 27.

  When the bus control circuit 26 sends transaction data from the IOP, the input / output control circuit 273 interprets the destination and transfers it to the corresponding slot.

  An I / O card 29-1 and an I / O card 29-3 are mounted in slots # 1 and # 3 of the bus slot 272, respectively. These cards are, for example, SCSI cards. A shared I / O card 29-2 is mounted in the slot # 2 of the bus slot 272. This card is, for example, an FC (Fibre Channel) card. In the FC card, the physical interface with the controller 31 on the device (external storage device) side is a fiber or metal wire that performs serial transmission, but the upper layer interface with the controller 31 is SCSI (Small Computer System Interface).

  Here, when considering the SCSI card, a plurality of types of devices can be connected to the SCSI card, and the SCSI card driver can receive a command using a plurality of device drivers as request sources, and can perform data transfer corresponding to the command in parallel. I notice that. Further, it is insighted that the status such as transfer end is managed in association with the request source by the driver or the card HW. Therefore, it is insighted that the I / O card 29-2 and the driver 203 also have such a SCSI card function.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the I / O card 29-2. The host interface unit 291 is connected to the bus slot 272 and receives an instruction addressed to the I / O card 29-2 issued by the driver 203. Also, write data at the time of I / O write is received, and data at the time of I / O read is transmitted.

  The command buffer 293 stores a command (I / O instruction or the like) received by the host interface unit 291. The data buffer unit 294 stores I / O write data received by the host interface unit 291, I / O read data received by the device interface unit 292, and the like.

  The control unit 296 interprets the instruction addressed to the I / O card 29-2 issued by the driver 203, and according to the result, reads the status register 295, writes the command buffer 293, and related registers (memory address register) of the data buffer unit 294. , Transfer count register, etc.). The command is sent to the destination logical channel of the controller 31 through the device interface unit 292.

  The control unit 296 reads write data from the memory and stores it in the data buffer unit 294 during I / O write. That is, the use of the I / O bus 27 is requested, and when it becomes a bus master, memory reading is performed. Further, at the time of I / O read, read data is received from the target logical channel of the controller 31 through the device interface unit 292 and the transmission medium, and stored in the data buffer unit 294. When a predetermined amount of data is stored, the use of the I / O bus 27 is requested, and when it is permitted and becomes a bus master, the data is written into the memory.

  Here, a data buffering operation is performed for each command (I / O instruction or the like) stored in the command buffer 293. That is, each command in the command buffer 293 includes a destination logical channel number, and each data buffer in the data buffer unit 294 is associated with this command.

  Even if I / O read commands with different destination logical channel numbers are issued one after the other, the data buffer and related registers are linked to each other and stored in the buffer corresponding to the logical channel of the transmission source. You can gain insight that data transfer operations are guaranteed.

  The driver 203 can read the status register 295 and check the data transfer state for each command.

  FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the software layer of the I / O control device 2. The FW 204 includes a PC module (physical channel correspondence module) 2041 and LC modules (logical channel correspondence modules) 20421 to 20422 in the logical partition # 1. Here, the PC module 2041 is a module corresponding to the physical channel # 2, the LC module 20421 is a module corresponding to the logical channel # 1, and the LC module 20422 is a module corresponding to the logical channel # 2.

  The controller 31 has a plurality of logical channels based on FW or HW, and logical devices such as logical DISK are exclusively assigned to the logical channels. Each of the LC modules corresponds to each logical channel.

  Similarly, the FW 205 includes a PC module 2051 and LC modules 20521 to 20522 in the partition # 2.

  The I / O path information storage unit 231 includes a slot number shared with the IOP number and is set, for example, in a shared area of the memory 23. FIG. 5 shows an example of the contents. The IOP with number # 1 is IOP21, and the IOP with number # 2 is IOP22.

  It is possible to access the SCSI card in slot # 1 and the FC card (I / O card 29-2) in slot # 2 from IOP21, and that the drivers controlling these cards are driver X1 and driver 203. Yes.

  The physical channel # 2 is composed of the PC module 2041, the LC modules 20421 to 20422 (hence, the IOP 21 and the memory 23), and the driver 203 (hence, the slot # 2 (FC card)).

  In addition, IOP numbers # 1 and # 2 are also logical partition numbers, and that LC modules 20421 to 20422 belong to logical partition # 1 and logical channels # 1 to # 2 are assigned. Show.

It is possible to access the SCSI card in slot # 3 and the FC card (I / O card 29-2) in slot # 2 from IOP22, and that the drivers controlling these cards are driver X2 and driver 203. Yes.
The physical channel # 3 is composed of a PC module 2051, LC modules 20521 to 20522 (accordingly, IOP22 and memory 24), and a driver 203 (accordingly, slot # 2 (FC card)). Further, the LC module 20521 to 20522 belongs to the logical partition # 2, and logical channels # 3 to # 4 are assigned.

  The device occupation information storage unit 232 includes logical device designation information such as logical DISK that each LC module occupies, and is set in, for example, a shared area of the memory 23. FIG. 6 shows an example of the contents. The logical channel # 1 corresponding to the LC module 20421 indicates that the logical DISK # 1 is connected. The same applies to other LC modules.

  Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 7, the IOP 21 loads the FW 204 into the memory 23 (from a non-volatile storage means (not shown)) according to the activation instruction (step S1).

  After loading the FW 204, the IOP 21 refers to the I / O path information storage unit 231 in the shared area on the memory 23, and between the corresponding PC module 2041 and the LC module 20421, between the LC module 20421 and the driver 203, and the PC module 2041. And the LC module 20422, between the LC module 20422 and the driver 203, the respective inter-module communication paths are set in advance. For example, an inter-process communication path is set by setting each area for I / O processing request information delivery and processing result information return in both shared storage areas (step S2).

  Next, the IOP 21 activates the PC module 2041, the LC modules 20421 and 20422, and the driver 203. When each module or driver is assigned a process time, it monitors the processing request for the module (step S3).

  After that, when the OS 101 is activated, the OS 101 determines from the device (external storage device) management information managed inside the OS to the logical DISK (# 1) 321 and the logical DISK (# 2) 322 that are occupied. Perform initialization. At this time, physical channel # 2 is designated (step S4).

  For initialization, the PC module 2041 receives an initialization instruction, and the PC module 2041 instructs the LC modules 20421 to 20422 (step S5). The corresponding LC module issues the initialization instruction to the logical DISK (# 1) 321 and logical DISK (# 2) 322 that occupy the initialization instruction.

  The initialization instruction is instructed to the controller 31 through the I / O card 29-2. At this time, the corresponding LC module registers the name (identification) of the occupied logical DISK in the device occupation information storage unit 232 (step S6).

  Next, an operation in which the OS 101 issues an I / O instruction to the IOP 21 and accesses the DISK array 3 or the like will be described. If the request of the OS 101 is a logical DISK access request (step S7), the OS 101 designates the physical channel # 2, issues an I / O instruction to the logical DISK (# 1) 321 (step S8), and the PC module 2041 The I / O processing is started, and the PC module 2041 and the LC module 20421 respectively transmit an I / O instruction to the driver 203 at once using the already set inter-process communication paths (step S9).

  The driver 203 outputs an I / O instruction to the logical channel # 1 to the controller 31 of the DISK array 3 through the I / O card 29-2 (step S10). Next, the controller 31 accesses the physical DISK 32 using the I / O instruction to the logical channel # 1 as the I / O instruction to the logical DISK (# 1) 321. At the time of access, the controller 31 converts the address and instruction for the logical DISK (# 1) 321 into an address and instruction for the physical DISK 32 and accesses them (step S11).

  If the request from OS 101 is a reset request for channel # 2 (step S7), OS 101 designates physical channel # 2 and issues an I / O command for channel reset instruction (step S12). The PC module 2041 issues a reset instruction only to the corresponding LC module registered in the device occupancy information storage unit 232. The instructed LC module resets the logical DISK through the corresponding logical channel (step S13).

  The IOP 22 in the other section performs the same operation. However, if the driver 203 has already been activated, nothing is done.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the maximum number of logical channels per I / O card is divided into logical partitions, and communication paths (I / O paths) between modules and between modules and drivers when FW is activated. After that, I / O request processing is performed without referring to the I / O path information storage unit 231, and the increase in control overhead of the shared I / O card is small. The effect is equivalent to the performance of the / O card.

  Also, since the information of the occupied device is held, the OS (Operating System) can be initialized and reset without affecting other partitions for the physical channel, and the specification of the OS is not required. Has an effect.

  Further, the present invention has an effect that the development cost and the development period can be reduced because it is not necessary to design a dedicated HW or a dedicated driver when sharing the input / output transfer device.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a logically divided computer system including the input / output transfer apparatus sharing method and method of the second embodiment.

  The host and I / O control device 4A includes a CPU 11, a memory 13, a CPU 12, a memory 14, and an I / O card 29-2 as an HW layer. The OS 11 and the FW 204 are mounted on the HW resources of the CPU 11 and the memory 13, and the logical partition # 1 is realized by sharing the I / O card 29-2 and the driver 203 that controls the I / O card 29-2.

  The OS 101 and FW 204 are loaded into the memory 13, and the driver 203 is loaded into the shared area of the memory 13 and executed by the CPU 11.

  Similarly, the logical partition # 2 is realized by mounting the OS 102 and the FW 205 on the HW resources of the CPU 12 and the memory 14 and further sharing the I / O card 29-2 and the driver 203. The OS 102 and FW 205 are loaded into the memory 14, and the shared driver 203 is loaded into the shared area of the memory 13 and executed by the CPU 12. The configuration of the DISK array 3 is the same as that of the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  For example, the host and the I / O control device 4A as the bases of the logical partitions # 1 and # 2 may be configured as shown in FIG. Specifically, the host and the I / O control device 4 in FIG. 2 do not include the IOPs 21 and 22 and the memories 23 and 24, and the FWs 204 and 205 and the driver 203 loaded in the memories 23 and 24 are stored in the memory. It is only necessary that the CPUs 11 and 12 execute the processes that have been loaded into the 13 and 14 and executed by the IOPs 21 and 22.

  According to the present embodiment, the present invention can also be applied to a case where a computer system that does not have an input / output processing device such as an IOP or the like is logically divided into a plurality of logical partitions.

  In the above description of the embodiment, the example of the I / O card 29-2 (FC card) is described as the input / output transfer device shared by each logical partition. However, the shared input / output transfer device is another interface card. There may be.

  Further, the example in which the external storage device connected to the shared input / output transfer device is the DISK array 3 and the logical device is a logical disk obtained by exclusively dividing the storage area of the DISK array 3 has been described. Is not limited to the DISK array 3, but may be any external storage device that can exclusively divide a storage area (address space) and handle each as a logical device.

  Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied even if an external storage device connected to a shared input / output transfer device is integrated. For example, when the I / O card 29-2 is a card including an electronic disk unit, such as an electronic disk card, the input / output transfer device shares the interface unit of the electronic disk card, and the electronic disk unit is connected to an external storage device. do it.

  The present invention can be applied to a computer system that is divided into logical partitions.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a computer system divided into logical partitions including an input / output transfer apparatus sharing method according to a first embodiment of this invention. It is the block diagram which showed the structural example of the base computer system divided | segmented into the logical partition of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the I / O card | curd 29-2 of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the software layer of the I / O control apparatus 2 of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the content of the I / O path information storage part 231 of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the content of the device occupation information storage part 232 of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the computer system divided | segmented into the logical partition containing the input / output transfer apparatus sharing system of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the block diagram which showed the example of a structure of the base computer system divided | segmented into the logical partition of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Physical host device 11, 12 CPU
13, 14 Memory 101, 102 OS
2 I / O control device 20 System bus 21, 22 IOP
23, 24 Memory 231 I / O path information storage unit 232 Device occupation information storage unit 25 Memory controller 26 Bus control circuit 27 I / O bus 272 Bus slot 273 I / O control circuit 29-1, 29-2, 29-3 I / O card 203 Driver 204, 205 FW
2041, 2051 PC module 20421-20422, 20521-20522 LC module 291 Host interface unit 292 Device interface unit 293 Command buffer 294 Data buffer unit 295 Status register 296 Control unit 3 DISK array 31 Controller 32 Physical DISK
321 Logical DISK (# 1)
322 Logical DISK (# 2)
323 Logical DISK (# 3)
324 Logical DISK (# 4)
4, 4A Host and I / O control device

Claims (13)

A method in which a plurality of logical partitions including processing devices share an input / output transfer device connected to an external storage device,
Information for identifying allocation to each logical partition of a plurality of logical channels to which logical devices obtained by exclusively dividing the storage area of the external storage device are connected and information for identifying the I / O transfer device are stored With a shared storage
A method of sharing an input / output transfer apparatus, wherein the processing device of each logical partition accesses the logical device through the assigned logical channel. Each logical partition is provided with firmware that causes the processing device to execute and control the input / output transfer device and the external storage device,
The firmware includes a first module corresponding to a physical channel that is a set of each processing device and the input / output transfer device, and a plurality of second modules corresponding to the logical channel, and the shared storage unit includes: Corresponding to the identification of each logical partition, the first module identification information, the identification information of the second module corresponding to the assigned logical channel, the mounting slot identification information of the input / output device, and the input / output transfer Storing I / O path information including identification information of a common driver that controls the device;
When the processing device initially starts the firmware and the driver, the processing device refers to the I / O path information, between the first module and the second module, and between the second module and the driver. A means for setting the inter-module communication path in advance is provided.
The first module uses the communication path in response to an I / O request to the logical device designating the physical channel, and the second module supports the logical channel corresponding to the destination logical device. 2. The sharing method for an input / output transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein I / O is instructed to the assigned logical channel through the driver. When the firmware receives an initialization request for a logical device occupied by a logical partition, the corresponding first module passes through the driver and the second module corresponding to the logical channel corresponding to all target logical devices. 3. The input / output transfer apparatus sharing system according to claim 2, further comprising means for instructing the logical channel to initialize the logical device and means for storing the initialized logical device in the occupied device information storage unit. When the firmware receives a reset instruction specifying the physical channel, only the occupied logical device is reset through the logical channel in which the logical device is stored in the occupied device information storage unit among the logical channels belonging to the physical channel. 4. The input / output transfer apparatus sharing system according to claim 3, further comprising: 5. The input / output transfer apparatus sharing method according to claim 1, wherein the processing apparatus is an input / output processing apparatus different from a host-side processing apparatus that makes an I / O request. A method in which a plurality of logical partitions including processing devices share an input / output transfer device connected to an external storage device,
Sharing information for identifying the allocation of each of the plurality of logical channels to which the logical devices obtained by exclusively dividing the storage area of the external storage device to each logical partition and information for identifying the I / O transfer device are shared A procedure for storing in the storage unit;
A method for sharing an I / O transfer apparatus, comprising the steps of: each logical partition accessing the logical device through the assigned logical channel. Each logical partition has a firmware procedure for controlling the input / output transfer device and the external storage device,
The firmware procedure includes a first procedure corresponding to a physical channel that is a set of the processing device and the input / output transfer device, and a plurality of second procedures corresponding to the logical channel,
The procedure to be stored corresponds to the identification of each logical partition, the identification information of the first procedure, the identification information of the second procedure corresponding to the assigned logical channel, and the implementation of the input / output transfer device A procedure for storing I / O path information including slot identification information and identification information of a common driver procedure for controlling the input / output transfer device,
Refer to the I / O path information when initially starting the firmware procedure and the driver procedure for each logical partition, and between the first procedure and the plurality of second procedures, and the second procedure. And a procedure for setting a communication path in advance between each of the driver procedures,
The first procedure uses the communication path in response to an I / O request to the logical device that specifies the physical channel, and the second procedure supports a logical channel corresponding to a destination logical device. 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein I / O is instructed to the assigned logical channel through the driver procedure. When the firmware procedure receives an initialization request for a logical device occupied by a logical partition, the corresponding first module uses the second procedure and the driver corresponding to the logical channel corresponding to all target logical devices. 8. The input / output transfer apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising: a procedure for instructing a corresponding logical channel to initialize a logical device through a procedure; and a procedure for storing the initialized logical device in an occupied device information storage unit. Sharing method. When the firmware procedure receives a reset instruction specifying the physical channel, among the logical channels belonging to the physical channel, only the occupied logical device is passed through the logical channel in which the logical device is stored in the occupied device information storage unit. 9. The sharing method for an input / output transfer apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a resetting procedure. To each logical partition of a plurality of logical channels, each of which is connected to a logical device that is exclusively divided from the storage area of the external storage device connected to the input / output transfer device shared by the plurality of logical partitions including the processing device Storing the information for identifying the allocation and the information for identifying the input / output transfer device in the shared storage unit;
Each logical partition accessing the logical device through the assigned logical channel;
A program to be executed by the processing unit of each logical partition. The program according to claim 10,
A procedure for controlling the input / output transfer device and the external storage device, the first procedure corresponding to a physical channel that is a set of the processing device and the input / output transfer device;
A plurality of second procedures corresponding to the logical channel, the controlling procedure;
A driver procedure for controlling the input / output transfer device;
Corresponding to the identification of each logical partition, the identification information of the first procedure, the identification information of the second procedure corresponding to the assigned logical channel, the mounting slot identification information of the input / output transfer device, and the input A procedure for storing I / O path information including identification information of a common driver procedure for controlling the output transfer device;
Refer to the I / O path information when initially starting the control procedure and the driver procedure, and communicate between the first procedure and the second procedure, and between the second procedure and the driver procedure, respectively. Steps to pre-set the path,
In response to an I / O request to the logical device specifying the physical channel, the communication path is used, and the second procedure and the driver procedure corresponding to the logical channel corresponding to the destination logical device are used. Instructing I / O to the assigned logical channel;
A program to be executed by the processing unit of each logical partition. The program according to claim 11,
When receiving an initialization request for a logical device occupied by the own logical partition, the logical device is instructed to initialize the logical device to the second procedure corresponding to the logical channel corresponding to all the target logical devices, and the logical device has been initialized. The first procedure for storing the device in the occupied device information storage unit;
The second procedure instructing the corresponding logical channel to initialize the logical device through the driver procedure;
A program to be executed by the processing unit of each logical partition. A program according to claim 12,
When receiving a physical channel reset instruction, the first procedure of resetting only the occupied logical device through the logical channel in which the logical device is stored in the occupied device information storage unit among the logical channels belonging to the physical channel,
A program to be executed by the processing unit of each logical partition.

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