JPH0844501A - Disk system and its production - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To load and unload the hard disks even in an on-line mode by checking the coincidence of contents of both disks which are used as a duplex disk. CONSTITUTION:A disk system includes a processor 1, a system bus 2, a disk controller 3, a multiaccess controller 4, etc. A coincidence information deciding means decides the coincidence or non-coincidence of information on a duplex disk, and the processing contents are obtained for the state of the coincidence state. Then the disk management information on both systems are read out, and an operation is carried out in a duplex system when both disks are connected together with the coincidence of information secured between both disks. Both systems are separated from each other as long as no coincidence of information is secured between both disks although these disks are connected. If only one of both disks is connected, the operation is carried out in the system of the relevant hard disk 5, for example. If both disks are not connected, both systems are operated independently of each other.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk system having a duplicated hard disk and a control method thereof, and more particularly to a disk system suitable for a fault tolerant system and a control method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Since the reliability of a hard disk is lower than that of other devices in a computer system, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-259346.
It is possible to increase the reliability of the entire system by duplicating the hard disk as described in the bulletin.

The above computer system comprises a system bus, a processor, a disk channel, and a duplicated hard disk.

In this computer system, the self-drive information and the partner drive information which composes the duplicated disk are written in the control information storage area in each hard disk, and this information is read out at the time of reset start to make a judgment, so that before the reset start It is an attempt to accurately grasp the state of the hard disk.

When the disk channel is reset and started, the state of the mode switch (DIP switch) is read,
Whether or not the system is a redundant system is determined, and only in the case of the redundant system, the drive information of each hard disk is read and the following processing is performed.

When both hard disks are in the initial state, write drive information to each disk,
Operate with a redundant disk.

When one hard disk is connected and the other hard disk is disconnected, the machine number is checked,
When the machine numbers match, one-sided operation is performed using only the connected disks, and when the machine numbers do not match, the data of the connected disks is copied to the disconnected disk and the drive information is rewritten to operate as a duplicated disk.

If both disks are connected, a dual disk is used.

[0009]

In the conventional method, the state of each hard disk constituting the duplicated disk is not checked and whether the data of the hard disks constituting the duplicated disk are matched or not is checked. Since the redundant disk system was operated with the judgment condition that the No. machines match, even if the hard disk data is different at system startup, if the disk status and the No. machine meet the redundant system operation conditions, It happens that they are used as they are as a duplicated disk. To prevent this, it is necessary to make sure that each data is matched before it is used as a duplex disk. One method is to compare all the data on each hard disk to be duplicated and check the contents, but this method requires a considerable amount of time and is not an effective method.

The greatest feature of the duplicated disk system is that the reliability of the disk system is improved and the reliability of the entire computer is improved by duplicating a hard disk whose reliability is lower than other devices in the computer system. Especially. Therefore, when an error is detected in the hard disk and it is disconnected from the system, it is necessary to replace the hard disk with a normal hard disk and operate the disk system in duplicate. However, in the conventional method, when replacing the hard disk, the computer system must be stopped or input / output to / from the hard disk must be temporarily suppressed.

An object of the present invention is to have a feature in a method of discriminating a set of hard disks constituting a duplicated disc, and discriminating whether or not the contents match each other without comparing all data of the discs, thereby providing a more reliable duplication. It is to realize disk management.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method of managing the configuration of a duplicated disk which does not set mounting address information or control information of a counterpart hard disk that constitutes the duplicated disk in the hard disk.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a disk system which has a feature in the duplicated disk configuration change detection means and the configuration control means, and which allows the hard disk to be inserted / removed both offline and online. .

[0014]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a state of a hard disk is provided in its own disc, a unit for discriminating a disc data match or discrepancy, a unit for recognizing a mounting state of a disc system, and a hard disc inserted or By providing a means for changing the configuration of the disk system when the disk system is removed, a disk device and a control method therefor that can replace a hard disk while guaranteeing online disk data not only when the system is offline but also when the system is operating Is provided.

Other features of the present invention for achieving the above object are as follows.

First, even if the entire disk data is not compared, a matching information judging means for judging whether or not the contents of the hard disks constituting the redundant disk are matched is provided in a short time, and two hard disks are operated as the redundant disks. When starting, this is used to check the content match.

Second, a hard disk mounting recognition means is provided.

Thirdly, a configuration control means is provided for determining a configuration control factor event that requires a configuration change of the disk system and executing / controlling the configuration change.

Fourthly, the hard disk forming the redundant disk does not have information of the counterpart hard disk used as the redundant disk configuration condition.

Fifth, a removal request signal transmitting means, a removal possibility determining means by configuration control, and a removal permission notifying means are provided.

Sixthly, an error lamp device and an error lamp control means for turning on the light are provided when the device becomes unusable due to an error.

[0022]

According to the first feature, when operating with duplicated disks, the matching information of each disk is always the same. Therefore, by referring to this matching information, it is possible to judge the duplicated disk, and further to judge whether the disk contents match or mismatch. By not using the disk as a duplicated disk if they do not match, the content of the disk can be guaranteed and the duplicated disk can be operated.

According to the second feature, the disk can be replaced without stopping or suppressing the computer system at the time of disk replacement, and even when only one side of the disk is inserted at system startup, the system can be automatically replaced. The trouble of setting the DIP switch and the like depending on the state is eliminated by recognizing the disk configuration and operating only the inserted disk.

According to the third feature, the disk state can be grasped and the configuration can be changed.

According to the fourth feature, the restriction on the transfer of the disk is eliminated.

According to the fifth feature, it is possible to safely remove the hard disk during system operation.

According to the sixth feature, the error disk can be visually recognized.

[0028]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below. In order to make it easier to understand, the following items will be explained separately.

1. Redundant disk device overview 2. Structure of disk management information 3. Management method of matching information 4. 4. Configuration control procedure of disk device Matching information determination procedure 6. Hard disk insertion / removal monitoring procedure 7. Hard disk insertion / removal processing method 8. Error LED device and its control means 1. Overview of Redundant Disk Device FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the dual disk device in this embodiment.

The redundant disk device shown in FIG. 1 includes a processor 1, a disk controller 3 connected to a processor 1 via a system bus 2, and a multi-access controller 4 (4) connected to the disk controller 3 for each system. -1, 4-2) and a plurality of (one in this example) hard disks 5 (5-1, 5-2) connected to the multi-access controller 4 as a set, and a removal request switch 6 (6- 1, 6-2) and removal permission L
It is composed of ED7 devices (7-1, 7-2).

Here, the processor 1 judges whether or not the disk requested to be removed can be removed in response to the removal request signal of the removal request switch 6 received by the disk controller 3 through the multi-access controller 4, and when it is possible to remove the disk. It has a function of outputting a disconnection instruction of the hard disk to the disk controller 3.

The disk controller 3 has a load tolerant function of processors by a function distribution architecture and a fault tolerant function by duplication. Further, the disk controller 3 is a multi-access controller 4
It has a function to detect the removal and insertion of the hard disk by periodically monitoring the configuration of the hard disk connected to.

On the other hand, the removal request switch 6 and the removal permission lamp 7 are provided corresponding to the hard disks 5-1 and 5-2, respectively. When removing the disk, the removal request switch 6 is operated to request removal. When a signal is transmitted and removal is permitted, the removal permission lamp 7 is turned on.

In FIG. 1, hard disks 5-1 and 5 are shown.
The disk management information described later is written in -2.

2. Configuration of Disc Management Information The configuration of the disc management information area 8 will be described with reference to FIG.

As disk management information, disk status 8
-1, disk error code 8-2, disk error occurrence time 8-3, initialization recognition data 8-4, duplicated disk matching information 8-5, and checksum value 8-6.

The disk state 8-1 has a removable state, an online standby state, an online operating state, a disconnection state due to an error, and a copying / needing copy state, and the state of the disk is changed by using these. Manage.

If an error occurs in the own hard disk, an error code is written in the disk error code 8-2. Furthermore, the time at that time is recorded in the error occurrence time 8-3.

In the initialization recognition data 8-4, data indicating whether or not the hard disk is in the initial state is set.

As the matching information 8-5, the disk management information update time is set with an accuracy of microseconds.

A checksum value 8-6 for storing a value for diagnosing the contents of the disk management information is provided.

3. Management Method of Matching Information The management method of the disk management information will be described with reference to FIG.

The disk management information 8 (8-1, 8-2) written in each hard disk is stored in the memory 3 provided in the disk controller 3 when the system is started up.
The disc management information area 9 (9-1, 9-2) on the memory 3-1 provided therein is read, and the rational diagnosis of the disc management information between the duplicated discs is performed. After that, when referring to the disk management information in the disk system, the information read in the disk controller is used instead of the disk management information in the hard disk.

Next, the case where only one hard disk is mounted will be described with reference to FIG.

The disk management information is not read from the system in which the hard disk is not mounted, and the disk status information indicating unmounted is stored in the corresponding disk management information area 9-2 of the memory 3-1 in the disk controller 3.

The procedure for updating the disc management information will be described with reference to FIG.

When the disk configuration control means changes the disk state, the disk management information 9 (9-1, 9-2) in the memory 3-1 in the disk controller 3 is first updated, and then each hard disk 5 (5 The disk management information 8 (8-1, 8-2) of -1, 5-2) is updated.

4. Disk device configuration control procedure Using FIG. 6, the configuration control factors of the disk device are analyzed,
A procedure for determining the configuration control process to be performed will be described.

From the event reported by the configuration control factor event detecting means, the configuration control factor and the state of the hard disk constituting the duplicated disk are analyzed, and the target table is selected from the state transition table. From the target table, the matching information determining means determines whether the duplicated disk matching information matches or does not match, and obtains the processing content in the state of the matching information. In the processing content (processing 1, processing 2), determination information indicating whether or not state transition by an event is necessary, state transition destination information by an event, and information indicating whether or not matching information is matched is set.

5. Matching Information Judgment Procedure The matching information judgment procedure at startup will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the disk management information of both systems is read (101). Then, when both the disk states are the connection state (102) and the matching information is the same (103), the operation is performed in the duplex system. Even if both disk statuses are the connection status (102), the matching information does not match (10
In the case of 3), separate both systems. If only one of the disks is in the connected state (104), the single system of the hard disk is used. If both disks are in the disconnected state (104), both systems are disconnected and the system is operated.

Next, with reference to FIG. 8, a procedure for determining matching information when a hard disk is inserted while the system is operating will be described.

Similar to the start-up, first, the disc management information is read (201). Then, both disk statuses are the connection status (202) and the matching information matches (20).
In the case of 3), the system is operated in a redundant system, and if both disks are connected (202) and the matching information does not match, the data of the other hard disk is copied (204) to the inserted hard disk and the matching information is matched. Let it operate as a redundant system. When only the one-sided disk state is the connected state (205), the one-sided system of the hard disk is used. If the disk state of both systems is the detached state (205), both systems are detached.

6. Hard Disk Insertion / Removal Monitoring Procedure A hard disk insertion / removal monitoring procedure will be described with reference to FIG.

When a hard disk removal request is detected (301), a disk removal request process (302) is performed. In the disk removal request processing, the configuration control unit determines whether the hard disk can be removed. In order to operate with at least one system, it is necessary to avoid the disconnection state of both systems due to removal. Also, with respect to the hard disk to be removed, unless the disk state is already in the disconnected state due to error detection or the like, the processing for this hard disk must be terminated normally and the motor stop processing must be performed. In the motor stop processing, by blinking the removal permission LED from the start to the completion of the processing, it is recognized that the motor stop processing is in progress, and when the stop processing is completed, the removal permission LED
Is lit to indicate that the hard disk is ready for removal, allowing maintenance personnel to safely remove the hard disk. Then, if the disk is removed or inserted and a change in the disk configuration is detected (303), it is divided into removal / insertion (304), and disk removal processing (305) or disk insertion processing (306) is performed.

By periodically executing the above, the insertion / removal of the hard disk is monitored.

7. Online Insertion / Removal Procedure With reference to FIG. 10, insertion of a hard disk while the system is online will be described.

When the hard disk 5 is inserted (40
1) through the multi-access controller 3 (4
02) Detected by the cycle monitoring of the insertion detecting means (403) and turn on the hard disk 5 motor (40
4). Configuration control means (4
The hard disk is connected according to 05). After that, an insertion report is made to the processor 1 (406).

Subsequently, the removal of the hard disk during the system online will be described with reference to FIG.

When the removal request switch 6 is turned on, the removal request is sent to the multi-access controller 4, and the disk controller sends it to the removal request detecting means (50).
The configuration control means (503) determines whether or not it is possible to remove the disk by detecting it by the period monitoring of 2). If removal is possible, report removal request to processor 1 (50
4) The processor 1 issues a disconnection instruction to the disk controller 3 (505). In response to this, the disk controller 3 disconnects the hard disk from the motor (506) and controls the removal permission LED (5).
07) is performed. Ejection is executed (508), this is detected by the period monitoring of the ejection detecting means (509), and the hard disk ejection is notified to the processor 1 (510).

[0061]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, (1) it is possible to confirm that the data of the respective hard disks match when the system is started up or when a hard disk is inserted and a duplex disk is constructed. Improves data reliability. Further, by utilizing this, by providing a measure to prevent useless disk copying when the data in the hard disk are the same, the hard disk can be efficiently moved and inserted.

(2) At startup, even if only one system is mounted, the system recognizes the mounting state of the hard disk and operates as a one-system system. Therefore, let the system know in advance whether duplex operation is one-system operation. No need to leave. Further, the insertion / removal of the hard disk can be detected, and the maintenance staff need not perform any special operation in this regard.

(3) By removing either one of the two hard disks constituting the dual disk, the disk system can be changed from dual to non-redundant (single system). Furthermore, by inserting a hard disk in such a mounted state of only one system, it is possible to shift the system from non-duplication to duplication. In addition, the user is not made aware of whether the system is operated in duplex or non-duplex.

(4) Since the combination of disks that constitute the duplicated disk is free, a used hard disk can be reused without any special processing.

(5) The hard disk can be removed safely in terms of system operation. Moreover, when the normal hard disk is removed, the data on the disk can be guaranteed.

(6) When replacing the error disk, the hard disk in which the error has occurred can be easily identified, so that the operation can be performed quickly and reliably.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a duplicated disk device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of disk management information.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a management method 1 of disk management information (at the time of starting both systems).

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a method 2 of managing disk management information (at the time of starting up a single system).

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a disk management information management method 3 (disk management information update).

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration control procedure.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a matching information determination procedure 1 (at the time of startup).

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a matching information determination procedure 2 (when a disc is inserted online).

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a disk insertion / removal monitoring procedure.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an online insertion processing procedure.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an online removal processing procedure.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Processor, 2 ... System bus, 3 ... Disk controller, 4 ... Multi-access controller, 5 ... Hard disk, 6 ... Removal request switch, 7 ... Removal permission LE
D device, 8 ... Disk management information (in disk), 9 ... Disk management information area (in disk controller).

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Ken Miyao, 2-5-1, Omika-cho, Hitachi City, Hitachi, Ibaraki Prefecture, Ltd. Omika Plant, Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Shigenori Kaneko, 2-chome, Omika-cho, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture No. 1 Incorporated company Hitachi, Ltd. Omika factory (72) Inventor Tomoaki Nakamura 52-1 Omika-cho, Hitachi city, Ibaraki prefecture Incorporated Hitachi Ltd. Omika factory (72) Osamu Asai Omika, Hitachi city, Ibaraki prefecture 5-2-1, Machi, Ritsu Process Computer Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshinori Abe, 5-2-1, Omika-cho, Hitachi City, Ibaraki

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. In a disk system in which hard disks are duplicated, each hard disk has a hard disk management information area, and for each series of processes in which the hard disks are rewritten, matching information having a unique value is stored in each hard disk. A matching information setting means for setting in the hard disk management information area, and means for setting the same value for each matching information when the matching information setting means is performed for each hard disk constituting the duplicated disk. A disk system having: 2. The disk system according to claim 1, further comprising means for discriminating a pair of duplicated discs by means of coincidence information discriminating means set in a duplicated disc management information area of each hard disk. 3. The disk system according to claim 1, further comprising means for judging whether or not the data of the respective duplicated disks match, by means of the coincidence information means set in the duplicated disk management information area of each hard disk. Disk system to do. 4. The disk system according to claim 1, wherein a value obtained by combining at least time is used as a unique value. 5. A disk system that is duplicated by a replaceable hard disk, comprising a mounted hard disk detecting means, and a hard disk mounting recognizing means during system operation including startup. 6. A duplicated disk system with replaceable hard disks, comprising: a removal request signal transmission device corresponding to the hard disk, and a removal permission display device, and a disk system comprising a hard disk access monitoring means and a hard disk configuration management means. A disk system characterized in that it is possible to remove the hard disk from an online disk system while guaranteeing the entire online data and also the data of the hard disk to be removed. 7. A method of controlling a disk system, wherein in a disk system having a dual hard disk with a replaceable hard disk, useless data copying at the time of hard disk replacement is omitted by the disk data matching determination means. 8. A disk system in which a replaceable hard disk is duplicated, and a disk control system having a configuration control factor analysis means for determining a process to be performed in response to a configuration change request to the disk system. 9. In a dual disk system with a replaceable hard disk, which hard disk is in an error status when an error is detected in the hard disk being used or when a hard disk whose disk status is in error is mounted. A disk system having means for continuing to notify. 10. The disk system according to claim 1, wherein
The disk management information area is provided with disk status information and matching information, and this information is copied to the memory of the disk controller at startup, and read from the memory of the disk controller when referring to the disk management information, and then written to the hard disk. The disk system is characterized in that when the disk management information is updated, the disk management information in the memory of the hard disk and the disk controller is updated together. 11. A dual-use disk system comprising replaceable hard disks, characterized in that when a hard disk in operation is removed, it has means for notifying maintenance personnel until the motor stops and the removable state is reached. Disk system.