JPH045741A - Method and device for backing up storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To re-start a system in a short time by detecting the power failure of main power supply, and starting a timer, and stopping supply from auxiliary power supply at every fixed time successively from the data of the lower degree of importance. CONSTITUTION:When the AC power supply is cut off, an AC power failure detection circuit 21 detects it, and the timer 24 starts counting. A counter issues an instruction at every fixed time so that the supply of voltage from the auxiliary power supply 5 is stopped successively from a memory substrate group storing the data of the lower degree of importance. Accordingly, the duration of backup can be extended because the number of the memory substrate groups to which the voltage is supplied decreases successively, and in addition, the data of the high degree of importance can be left longer.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention provides a method for backing up a volatile storage device such as a main storage device made of a volatile semiconductor memory element or a semiconductor external peripheral storage device in the event of an AC power outage; This is related to the device.

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, more and more emphasis has been placed on the reliability of systems made up of electronic devices, and as a countermeasure against unexpected power outages in individual devices that make up the system, it is often necessary to back up volatile storage devices using vterry. is increasing.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional back amplifier method in a semiconductor disk device or the like using a volatile semiconductor memory element. In the figure, 1 is a system unit, and 2 is a control section of the device.

3 is a storage unit that actually stores data; 3a 3
It is composed of a plurality of memory board groups such as b, . . . , 3n.

Although not shown, each of the above-mentioned memory boards includes a volatile semiconductor memory element as a memory element for storing data, a control circuit for reading/writing the data, and a volatile memory element. It includes a refresh control circuit and the like that performs refresh to retain the data.

4 is a power supply device, which is connected to the AC power supply which is the main power supply.
A voltage is supplied, which is converted to DC by an AC/DCC/type controller (to be described later), and sent to the control unit 2 and storage unit 3. Also, a DC voltage is supplied from the battery tB5, which is an auxiliary power source, so that the AC Perform backup in case of power outage.

Figure 3 is a detailed explanatory diagram of Figure 2, and 41 is +5 from the AC voltage.
The AC/DCC/formula 42 that generates V and +5V is a diode that prevents reverse current from flowing to the AC/DC converter 41, and the power supply device 4 is formed with the above configuration.

51 is a battery group that generates a DC voltage of +5V, and 52 is a diode for preventing reverse current from flowing through the battery group 51. The battery power source 5 is formed by the above configuration.

Here, normally, the voltage supplied via the AC/DC converter 41 and the diode 42 is made higher than the voltage flowing from the battery group 51 via the diode 52, and the A
When being supplied from the AC power source, the battery group 51 is prevented from being exhausted. Therefore, when being supplied from the AC power source, the AC/DC converter 41 generates +5V+5■8. The voltage is sent to the control section 2 and the storage section 3, and each section operates in response to this. When the voltage supply from the AC power source disappears due to a power outage, only +5Vs is generated from the battery group 51 of the battery power source 5 and is sent to the storage section 3. Supplied. As a result, each memory board 3a, 3b,
. . , 3n individually continue the refresh operation using the +5VB voltage, and continue to hold the data in the memory element.

With the above configuration, the conventional backup method uses +5Vm generated from the battery group 51 of the battery power source 5 to each memory board 3a, 3 of the storage unit 3 when an AC power outage occurs.
b, . . . , 3n, and each memory board 3a, 3b receives this.

... 3n continued the refresh operation individually and continued to hold the data in the memory element.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve. ] However, the above-described storage device backup method and device have the following problems.

In other words, although the data stored in the memory boards 3a, 3b, . . . , 3n needs to be reprocessed, it is not directly related to the system startup after AC power is restored, so it is not a big problem even if the data is erased. There is data, and there is also important data such as log data used when starting up the system, but since backup by the pantry power supply 5 is performed uniformly by treating these memory boards equally, the battery power supply 5 If the AC power is not restored within the maximum retention time, the memory boards 3a, 3b... 3
There is a problem in that all the data in n is deleted at once, and if log data etc. are deleted, it becomes difficult to restore the system or it takes a lot of time.

The present invention was made to solve these problems, and the hack-up time can be controlled depending on the importance of the data stored on each memory board, making it possible to retain important data for a long time. An object of the present invention is to provide a storage device bank-up method and device.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a storage device consisting of a group of substrates equipped with memory elements for storing data, a main power supply that supplies voltage to the group of substrates, and a temporary storage device that provides voltage when the main power supply stops. In a backup device for a storage device that is equipped with an auxiliary power supply that supplies electricity to the board group, the board group is divided into a plurality of groups according to the importance of stored data, and the main power supply that supplies voltage to the board group is It is equipped with a power outage detection circuit that detects a power outage, a timer activated by the power outage detection circuit, and a switch circuit that cuts off the voltage supply from the auxiliary power source for each board group based on instructions from the timer.

[Effect]

In the present invention having the above-described configuration, when the power failure detection circuit detects a power failure of the main power supply, it starts a timer, and the timer issues an instruction to the switch circuit every time it counts up to a predetermined amount, and stores data of low importance. The voltage supply from the auxiliary power supply is sequentially cut off from the memory board group in which the memory board is located.

Therefore, according to this, if the power outage of the main power supply is prolonged, the backup by the auxiliary power supply will be stopped sequentially from the memory board group that stores less important data, so the memory board group to which voltage is supplied will die. This makes it possible to extend the backup amplifier time, and also allows highly important data to remain for a long time, making it possible to reliably restart the system in a short time.

〔Example 〕

Examples will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 3 is a storage unit for storing data, which is composed of a plurality of memory board groups. Although not shown in the figure, each memory board has data. A volatile semiconductor memory element as a memory element for storing data, a control circuit for reading/writing the data, and a refresh control circuit for refreshing the volatile memory element to retain the data. included.

Here, the memory board group constituting the storage section 3 is divided into a plurality of groups, three types of groups in this embodiment, depending on the importance of stored data.

The first group is a memory board group from 3a to 32, the second group is a memory board group from 3p+1 to 39,
The third group consists of memory boards from 3q+1 to 3r, and the memory boards forming the first group have information about the operating status of the system, which is the most important for restarting the system. Log data etc. to be stored are stored, and will be described below in Section 2. Data of lower importance is stored in the third group.

41 is DC voltage +5V, +5V from AC power supply.

51 is a battery group that supplies voltage during a power outage, and 42 and 52 are diodes for preventing reverse current from flowing into these power supply devices.

21 is an AC power failure detection circuit provided in the control unit 2;
It constantly monitors the output from the A C/DC converter 41, and when the output stops coming from the A C/DC converter 41, it determines that the AC 11 source has lost power for some reason, and instructs the timer described later to start. send.

22, 23, and 24 are timers provided in the control unit 2, and the timers 22, 23, and 24 are operated with backup from the pantry power source 5, and the timer 24 is connected to the AC
/ It is connected to the DC power failure detection circuit 21 and is started up according to instructions from the AC/DC power failure detection circuit 21.

The timer 23 is activated upon receiving an instruction from the timer 24, and the timer 22 is activated upon receiving an instruction from the timer 23.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a switch circuit, which cuts off the voltage supply to the memory board group forming the third group according to instructions from the timer 24.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a switch circuit which cuts off the power supply to the memory board group forming the second group according to instructions from the timer 23.

The effect of the above configuration will be explained.

When the AC power supply fails, the supply of voltage from the pantry power supply 5 is started, and at the same time, the AC power failure detection circuit 21
When a power outage is detected, a start instruction is issued to the timer 24, and the timer 24 starts counting upon receiving this instruction.

If the timer 24 counts up to a predetermined value and the AC power is still not restored, the timer 24 instructs the switch circuit 6 to cut off the +5Vll supply from battery power #5, and Memory board group 3q+1 . forms a third group. ..., 3
The supply of +5V to r is stopped, and +5VB is supplied from the battery power source 5 only to the first group and the second group. At the same time, a start instruction is given to the timer 23, and the timer 24 displays the count amplifier value on a display or the like (not shown).

The timer 23 receives a start instruction from the timer 24 and starts counting. If the AC power is not restored even after the timer 23 counts up to a predetermined value, the timer 23 causes the switch circuit 7 to receive power from the battery power supply 5. An instruction is given to cut off the supply of +5VJl, thereby memory board group 3 p+1. ..., 3q
The supply of +5Vx (7) to (7) is stopped, and +5Vx8 from the battery power source 5 is supplied only to the first group. At the same time, a start instruction is issued to the timer 22, and the timer 23 displays its own count-up value on a display or the like (not shown).

The timer 22 receives the activation instruction from the timer 23 and starts counting. If the timer 22 does not restore power even after counting up to a predetermined value, its own count-up value is displayed on a display or the like (not shown). Although the capacity of the battery group 51 is not necessarily constant, each timer value is set so that the battery group 51 is not used up when the timer 22 counts up. +5V from the battery group 51 only to the memory board group forming the first group;
After the timer 22 counts up, +5×8 is supplied to the memory board group forming the first group until the capacity of the battery group 51 is used up.

If the AC power is restored before the timer 22 counts up, a higher-level device via a path (not shown) will start the timer 22, 2.
3. Read the count value of 24.

In this step, all the timer power (if not counted up, the data of all memory board groups is held, and if the timer 24 is counted up and the timer 23 is counting, the first and second The data of the memory board group of the group is held.

Furthermore, with timers 24 and 23 counting up,
If the timer 22 is counting, the data of the first memory board group is being held, so it is possible to recognize how much data has been saved in the memory board group, and the system can be restored based on the remaining data. Start.

Therefore, if a power outage occurs in the AC power due to an alarm means (not shown), and maintenance personnel arrive early and restore the AC power, the data in the memory board groups of all three groups will be saved and the system can be easily restored. It is possible to restart the system.

Furthermore, even if the arrival of maintenance personnel is delayed, the voltage supply time of the battery group 51 is longer than before because the number of backup memory board groups is gradually reduced, and it is also easier to restart the system. Since the memory board groups storing highly important data are backed up for a long time, even in the worst case, the memory board groups 3a, ... 3p, which are the most important, will be backed up within that time. This memory board group contains ag data that stores the operating status of the system, which is used to restart the system, so the time required for recovery is shorter than if all data was erased. It can be done in time.

Note that the AC power failure detection circuit, timer, switch circuit, etc. may be provided in any of the control section, power supply, and memory board. Further, instead of using multiple timers, a single timer may be used to control multiple switch circuits. Furthermore, it is also possible to perform more detailed control by providing a switch circuit for each memory board.

〔Effect of the invention 〕

As explained above, the present invention provides a memory device consisting of a group of substrates equipped with memory elements for storing data, a main power source that supplies voltage to the group of substrates, and a temporary power source that temporarily stores power when the main power supply stops. In a bank amplifier device for a storage device that is equipped with an auxiliary power supply that supplies electricity, the main power supply divides the board group into a plurality of groups according to the importance of stored data and supplies voltage to the board group. a power outage detection circuit for detecting a power outage; a timer activated by the power outage detection circuit; and a switch circuit for cutting off voltage supply from the auxiliary power source for each group of boards according to instructions from the timer. detects a power outage in the main power supply, it starts a timer, and each time the timer counts up to a predetermined value, it issues an instruction to the switch circuit to reduce the voltage from the auxiliary power supply from the memory board group that stores less important data. The supply is cut off sequentially.

Therefore, according to this, if the power outage of the main power supply is prolonged, backup by the auxiliary power supply will be stopped sequentially from the memory board groups that store less important data, so the number of memory board groups to which voltage is supplied will decrease. This has the effect of extending the backup time,
Moreover, since data that is highly important for restarting the system can be retained for a long time, it also has the effect of ensuring that the system can be restarted in a short time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a conventional example, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing details of FIG. 2. 21...AC/DC power failure detection circuit 22-24...Timer 6.7...Switch circuit 3...Storage section 4...Power supply circuit 5...Battery power supply

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Normally, a voltage is supplied from the main power supply to the storage device to hold the data stored in the storage element of the storage device,
In a backup method for a storage device that prevents erasure of data stored in a storage element by supplying voltage to the storage device from an auxiliary power source when the supply from the main power source to the storage device is stopped, the data stored in the storage element is The data stored in the data is divided into multiple groups according to their importance, and when the main power supply stops supplying voltage, the auxiliary power supply starts supplying voltage to each group, and then every time a certain period of time elapses. A storage device backup method characterized by sequentially cutting off supply from an auxiliary power source to less important data. (2) a storage device consisting of a group of substrates including a memory element for storing data; a main power source that supplies voltage to the group of substrates;
In a backup device for a storage device that is equipped with an auxiliary power source that temporarily supplies electricity when the supply from the main power source stops, the board group is divided into a plurality of groups according to the importance of stored data, and , a power outage detection circuit that detects a power outage of the main power supply that supplies voltage to the board group, a timer activated by the power outage detection circuit, and a voltage supply cut off from the auxiliary power supply for each group of board groups according to instructions from the timer. 1. A backup device for a storage device, characterized in that it is equipped with a switch circuit.