JPH0711914B2 - Magnetic disk unit - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a disk device, and a large-capacity disk suitable for a system in which a plurality of magnetic disks are integrated and which requires high reliability and high maintainability. Regarding the device.

[Conventional technology]

Examples of the magnetic disk device that can be freely attached to and detached from the device body include a removable disk or a daisy-chain type magnetic disk device.

Removable discs are not suitable for the configuration of a large-capacity storage device because they are not hermetically sealed but have poor reliability, and it is difficult to have a large capacity because the removable medium can be easily replaced.

Further, in the daisy chain type disk device, it is necessary to reconnect the cable each time a failure occurs.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

The above-mentioned conventional products are troublesome to replace when any failure occurs in the magnetic disk device or the recording medium,
In facilitating the replacement, there was a problem that the performance of the disk device deteriorated.

An object of the present invention is to provide a device in which a plurality of small magnetic disk devices are integrated with a structure that facilitates quick recovery even if a small magnetic disk causes an unrecoverable serious accident, and has a structure that is easy to maintain. To provide.

[Means for solving problems]

The above-mentioned object is to provide a plurality of small magnetic disk devices, a small magnetic disk integrated device capable of storing in a cartridge type, and a small magnetic disk device housing portion of the integrated device,
This is achieved by providing a connecting plug that can be connected to both of the small magnetic disk devices housed in the housing section. Connect the plug on the side of the small magnetic disk device storage to another plug,
Alternatively, a motherboard for connecting to a master controller that controls the small magnetic disk device housed in the small magnetic disk integrated device is provided, and a circuit for detecting this when a disk fails, a failure magnetic disk device being stopped after detection. , A function to disconnect all the power lines, electric lines such as bus lines from the integrated device, a circuit that blinks the pilot lamp of the failed small magnetic disk device, the stored small magnetic disk device is not removable during normal operation, It is possible to provide a lock mechanism that can be removed in the event of an abnormality or when the host computer gives an instruction for removal.

[Action]

An integrated device capable of accommodating a plurality of small magnetic disk devices is provided, and a small magnetic disk device and a corresponding plug are provided for the small magnetic disk device. By providing a mother board connected to the controller, it becomes possible to configure a large-capacity magnetic disk device. Further, since the small magnetic disk device and the housing portion thereof are provided with the plugs, the small magnetic disk device can be automatically connected by simply inserting the small magnetic disk device into the housing portion. Can be easily replaced.

The small magnetic disk device failed due to the circuit that detects the failure of the small magnetic disk device, the function to disconnect the electrical connection between the failed magnetic disk device and the integrated device after the detection, and the circuit that blinks the pilot lamp of the failed small magnetic disk device. At this time, replacement with a new small magnetic disk device becomes extremely easy.

The small magnetic disk device housed in the small magnetic disk integrated device can be prevented from being removed during normal operation by providing a lock mechanism that cannot be removed during normal operation and can be removed during abnormal operation. Moreover,
Since the disk device is securely fixed, the connection state of the plug is maintained well.

By providing the small magnetic disk integrated device with the function to release the lock mechanism by an instruction from the host computer, the small magnetic disk device can be removed and replaced even when there is no failure, which makes it possible to carry large-capacity data and improve its performance. It is possible to improve the performance of the system by replacing it with a high-performance compact magnetic disk device.

Therefore, it is possible to increase the storage capacity while taking advantage of the small magnetic disk device.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of one system example of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the small magnetic disk integrated device 2 includes a plurality of small magnetic disk devices 3 and a master controller that integrally controls the plurality of small magnetic disk devices 3.
21, buses 221, 2 for connecting the master controller 21 and the small magnetic disk device 3 or the small magnetic disk devices 3 to each other
It is composed of a motherboard 22 having 22 inside.

The master controller 21 receives an instruction from the host computer 1 and, according to the instruction, the bus 221 or the bus 222.
An access request is issued to the designated small magnetic disk device 3 through. Upon receipt of the access request, the small magnetic disk device 3 exchanges data with the master controller 21 or another small magnetic disk device 3 according to the request.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a small magnetic disk stacking device. Each of the small magnetic disk devices 3 has a mechanism such that it can be easily detached and attached in a cartridge type to the small magnetic disk housing portion 23 of the small magnetic disk integrated device 2.

3 and 4 are a perspective view and a side view of one embodiment of the small magnetic disk device 3, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are a perspective view and a side view of one embodiment of the storage portion 23 thereof. There are 31 plugs on the small magnetic disk device 3 side and 24 plugs on the storage section side. The plugs 31 and 24 make it possible to easily remove or attach the small magnetic disk device 3 from the small magnetic disk integrated device 2.

The plug 24 is connected to the buses 221 and 222 and also plugs
Reference numeral 31 is connected to a small magnetic disk controller 33 (FIG. 1) of the small magnetic disk device 3. Therefore, plugs 24 and 31
When connected to, the small magnetic disk controller 33 and the bus 22
1 and 222 are connected. That is, the small magnetic disk device is connected to the motherboard 22 of the small magnetic disk integrated device 2 through the plugs 24 and 31. The mother board 22 has buses 221 and 222 as shown in FIG. 1, and enables data transfer between the small magnetic disk device 3 and the master controller 21, or between the small magnetic disk devices 3.

The small-sized magnetic disk device 3 is locked to the small-sized magnetic disk integrated device main body by the lock mechanisms 32 and 25 shown in FIGS. 3 to 6 during normal operation or when the power is off, so that it cannot be removed. It has become.

This lock mechanism has a structure specifically shown in FIG.

The present lock mechanism is configured to lock and unlock by inserting / removing the lock rod 251 of the storage unit side 25 into / from the lock mechanism unit 32 of the small magnetic disk device 3. In the present embodiment, the lock rod 251 is pushed out by the spring 252 and protrudes, and is pulled back by the lock rod drive coil 256.

The lock rod drive coil 256 is turned on / off by the relay 253. The switch 253 is controlled to open / close by turning on / off the energization of the switch drive coil 254 by the master controller 21 sending a command via the bus 221 or the bus 222 to turn on / off the transistor 255.
In this embodiment, the switch 253 is off during normal operation.

Next, an example of a processing procedure when an arbitrary small magnetic disk device 3 causes a serious accident such as a head crash,
A description will be given along the flowchart of FIG.

The master controller 21 monitors the small magnetic disk device 3 via the bus 221 or 222 and determines whether or not the device 3 is normal (steps 1 and 2). Specifically, when an unrecoverable read error occurs due to a crash or the like, the small magnetic disk controller 33 shown in FIG. 1 detects this and reports it to the master controller 21 via the bus 221 or 222.

Upon receiving the report, the master controller 21 returns the magnetic head of the small magnetic disk device 3 to the stop position via the bus 221 or 222, and then invalidates the signal line connected to the failed small magnetic disk device 3, The small magnetic disk device is powered off (steps 3 and 4). As a result, the failed small magnetic disk device 3 is electrically completely separated from the small magnetic disk integrated device 2,
When replacing the small magnetic disk unit 3, the master controller
21 and other small magnetic disk devices 3 are not affected.

Further, the master controller 21, which has received the failure report of the arbitrary small magnetic disk device 3, commands the release of the lock mechanisms 32 and 25 shown in FIGS. 3 to 7 (step 5). That is, the master controller 21 turns on the transistor 255, a current flows through the drive coil 254 of the relay 253, the relay 253 is turned on, and the drive coil 256 causes the lock rod 251.
Is pulled back against the force of the spring 252, and is unlocked. Further, the lock mechanism may be implemented by the small magnetic disk controller 33.

The pilot lamp 26 shown in FIG. 2 is turned on during the normal operation of the small magnetic disk device 3 and is turned off when the power is turned off. When the small-sized magnetic disk device 3 fails, the small-sized magnetic disk device 3 is stopped and electrically separated from the integrated device 2 main body,
After the lock is released, the blinking of the pilot lamp 26 is started, which indicates the device to be replaced and the state in which the device can be replaced (step 6). Thereby, the operator pulls out the small magnetic disk device 3 in which the pilot lamp 26 is blinking and inserts the small magnetic disk device of the same type. During this time, the master controller 21 waits for the input of the reset signal, and the pilot lamp 26 continues to blink (step 7). When the replacement work is completed, the operator pushes the reset switch 27 shown in FIG. 2 to input a reset signal. Upon input of the reset signal, the master controller 21 locks the small magnetic disk device 3 that has been replaced, turns off the pilot lamp, and then starts activation (steps 8 and 9).

The pilot lamp 26 lights up when the start-up is completed normally (step 11), and in the case of an abnormality, the process returns to step 3 to start the processing at the time of failure again. This indicates whether or not the startup of the small magnetic disk device has been completed normally.

When the start-up is normally completed, the pilot lamp 26 is turned on, and the master controller is notified of the completion of the failure processing, the series of failure processing ends (step 12).

As described above, even when the small magnetic disk device 3 fails, even a general user can quickly and accurately carry out the failure processing.

If the replacement of the small magnetic disk device 3 can be instructed by software even when it is not at the time of failure, it can be replaced at any time. This makes it possible to carry a large amount of data, for example. Further, in the future, it is possible to easily improve the system performance by switching to a small-capacity magnetic disk device having a larger capacity and capable of higher speed access.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, in a small-sized magnetic disk integrated type large-capacity storage device, even if some of the small-sized magnetic disk devices have a serious failure, it is possible to recover them in a short time. Further, since maintenance is very easy, even a user can perform maintenance on the device.

Further, since it is composed of a small magnetic disk device, there are few crashes and reliability is improved. In addition, since it is an assembly of small magnetic disk devices, it becomes a distributed system, which also improves reliability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a mass storage device to which the present invention is directed, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a small magnetic disk integrated device, and FIG. 3 is a plug and lock attached to the small magnetic disk device. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the mechanism, FIG. 4 is a side view thereof, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a small magnetic disk device housing portion, FIG. 6 is a side view thereof, and FIG. 7 is a lock. FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram showing an embodiment of the mechanism, and FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing an embodiment of the failure detection and failure processing procedure of the small magnetic disk device. 1 ... Host computer 2 ... Small magnetic disk integrated device 21 ... Master controller 221,222 ... Bus 22 ... Motherboard 23 ... Small magnetic disk device housing 3 ... Small magnetic disk device 24,31 .. , 32 …… Lock mechanism 26 …… Pilot lamp 27 …… Reset switch

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. In a magnetic disk device constituting a mass storage device by integrating a small magnetic disk device by an integrated device, if any of the small disk devices fails, the failure is detected and the small magnetic disk device is detected. A magnetic disk device characterized by disabling all signal lines connected to the disk device and turning off the power supply. 2. A pilot lamp is provided in each small magnetic disk device, and the pilot lamp does not light up during the startup of the small magnetic disk device but always lights up during normal operation after the startup is completed normally. The magnetic disk device according to claim 1, which starts blinking when a failure occurs.