JPH05128726A - External storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten the processing wait time by performing the centralized management of information of residual capacities, file structures, etc., related to individual disks at the time of accessing plural magneto-optical disks by one or more drives and storing write request data and delaying and writing reception data thereafter. CONSTITUTION:When a read request comes from a host computer 1, it is discriminated whether it requests display of a file list or not; and if it does not request this display, it is discriminated whether its object is the disk inserted to a disk drive 4 at present or not. If its object is a disk which is not inserted, the disk mounted on the drive 4 is stored in a slot 5, and the requested disk is inserted to the drive 4 and its contents are transferred to the computer 1. If it requests the display of a file list, data read out from an auxiliary storage device 7 where information related to all disks are stored is transferred to the computer 1, and the disk is replaced with a desired disk.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an external storage device such as a personal computer or a word processor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an external storage device that accesses a plurality of disks such as magneto-optical disks with a single disk drive (driver), they are stored in a storage shelf called a slot in response to an access request from a host computer. In addition, the corresponding disc among the plurality of discs is automatically inserted into the disc drive in the apparatus and accessed.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, when an access request is made to another disk which is not currently inserted in the disk drive, it takes time to replace the disk. Therefore (usually about 10 seconds), there is a drawback that the host computer side cannot perform any processing during the replacement, and the performance of the entire system is lowered.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks and to avoid the exchange of a disk which occurs during a read (read) process with a relatively small amount of processing such as viewing a list of files. It is an object of the present invention to provide an external storage device capable of reducing the processing waiting time of the host computer caused by the disk exchange in the writing process and thereby improving the performance of the entire system.

[0005]

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention provides a plurality of disks which are information storage media.
Access means for accessing using one or more disk drives, management means for centrally managing information such as remaining capacity and file structure relating to each of the plurality of disks, and the disk among the plurality of disks The control means for temporarily receiving the write request and the write data for the disc not currently inserted in the drive into the auxiliary storage device, and the data temporarily received in the auxiliary storage device to the corresponding disc for which the write request is made later. And a delay writing means for writing.

[0006]

According to the present invention, a unit for accessing a plurality of discs (magneto-optical discs, etc.) by using one or more disc drives, and information such as remaining capacity and file structure relating to each of the plurality of discs are unified. The data of the write request for the disk which is not currently inserted in the disk drive among the above-mentioned disks is temporarily received by another auxiliary storage device (HD, etc.), and the data temporarily received. Since it is configured to write to the correct disk later (delayed writing), it is possible to avoid disk exchange that occurs during read processing with relatively few processing such as looking at a list of files, and It is possible to reduce the processing waiting time of the host computer caused by the disk exchange in the writing process. It can, thereby increasing the overall system performance.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a circuit configuration of an external storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a CPU (central processing unit) that controls the entire device, 2 is a ROM (read only memory) in which the control program of the device shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 is stored, and 3 is another device. RAM (Random Access Memory) in which a control program or control data is stored, 4 is a disk drive in the device, 5 is a slot in which a plurality of disks are stored, 6 is a slot for a disk 5
From disk drive 4 to disk drive 4
A disk moving device for carrying from the disk to the slot 5 and an auxiliary storage device 7 having a storage medium such as a hard disk (HD).

The flowchart of FIG. 2 shows an operation procedure in the read processing according to the embodiment of the present invention. Note that S1 to S
6 represents a processing step.

This device is a host computer (not shown).
In response to the read request (S1) from the device, it is determined whether the request is for requesting a file list display (S1).
2). If the read request is a request other than the file list display request (in the case of a negative determination), it is determined whether the request is for the disc currently inserted in the disc drive 4 (S3), and the disc drive 4 has not been inserted. In the case of a request for a disk, the disk currently mounted in the disk drive 4 is stored in the slot 5 and then the corresponding requested disk is inserted into the disk drive 4 (S4). The content of is transferred to a host computer (not shown) (S5).

On the other hand, in S2, when the request is for displaying the file list (in the case of affirmative determination), the data read from the auxiliary storage device 7 in which these pieces of information regarding all the disks are stored is transferred to the host computer. All you have to do is

The flowchart of FIG. 3 shows an operation procedure in the write processing according to the embodiment of the present invention. Note that S7 to S
Reference numeral 10 represents a processing step.

This device is a host computer (not shown).
In response to the write request (S7) from the disk drive, it is determined whether the request is for the disk currently inserted in the disk drive 4 (S8), and the write request for the disk currently inserted in the disk drive 4 is performed. If there is, a writing process is performed on the inserted disc (S9). On the other hand, if the write request is for a disk that is not currently inserted in the disk drive 4 and cannot be accessed immediately, the write data from the host computer is transferred to the immediately accessible auxiliary storage device 7 such as an HD. It is received (S10).

The flowchart of FIG. 4 shows an operation procedure in the delay write processing according to the embodiment of the present invention. In addition, S
11 to S14 indicate processing steps.

This device is a host which is written in the auxiliary storage device 7 by the process shown in FIG. 3 when the device is not requested to perform the process from the host computer (not shown), that is, during the idle time. It is determined whether or not the received data from the computer is present (S11), and if the received data is present, it is determined whether or not the data is for the disc currently inserted in the disc drive 4 ( S12) If the data is for a disc that is not inserted in the disc drive 4, insert the corresponding disc from the slot 5 into the disc drive 4 (S13), and then write the data in the auxiliary storage device 7 to that disc. (S14).

(Other Embodiments) In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the disk drive 4 in the external storage device is one in order to simplify the description.
The same processing can be performed even if there are two or more.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In an external storage device that can access multiple disks with one or more disk drives,
Since the waiting time of the host computer caused by the disk replacement work is minimized, the effect of significantly increasing the overall system performance can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of an external storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure in read processing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure in a write process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure in a delayed write process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 CPU 2 ROM 3 RAM 4 disk drive 5 slot 6 disk moving device 7 auxiliary storage device such as HD

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of disks, which are information storage media,
Access means using one or a plurality of disk drives, management means for centrally managing information such as remaining capacity and file structure relating to each of the plurality of disks, and the disk among the plurality of disks Control means for temporarily receiving the write request and write data for the disc not currently inserted in the drive into the auxiliary storage device, and the data temporarily received in the auxiliary storage device to the corresponding disc for which the write request is made later. An external storage device comprising: a delayed writing unit for writing.