JPH10162487A - Volume entry/exit control method for library device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize efficient and high reliable employment when a volume entry/exit operation by using a direct entry/exit(DEE) mechanism competes with a mounting operation of a volume on a drive unit. SOLUTION: This volume entry/exit control method for the library device is equipped with cell units 10a and 10b having plural cells for housing volumes respectively, drive units 12 for writing/reading data on volumes, an accessor 14 for transporting the volume between the cell unit and the drive unit and the DEE mechanism for performing direct entry/exit of the volume with the cell in the cell unit, and when the cell having housed the volume mounted on the drive unit is in the cell unit, a DEE operation on this cell unit is inhibited.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a volume (recording medium cartridge) charging / discharging control method for a library apparatus.

A library device such as a magnetic tape library device or an optical disk library device includes a cell unit having a plurality of cells for accommodating a volume (recording medium cartridge), a drive unit for writing and reading data, a cell unit and a drive unit. And an accessor to transport the volume between.

[0003] The library device includes a cartridge access station (CAS) for loading / unloading a volume in the device one by one, and the CAS has a cartridge loading unit and a cartridge discharging unit.

[0004] A large library apparatus further includes a direct entry / exit (DEE) mechanism for directly charging / discharging a volume to / from a cell of a cell unit.

[0005] Such a library device has recently been frequently used as a large-capacity external storage device of a computer, and is required to operate reliably even when unmanned.

[0006]

2. Description of the Related Art As a method of loading / unloading a volume in a library apparatus having a DEE mechanism, a method of loading / unloading a volume one by one from a CAS or a method of directly accessing a cell by opening a door of a DEE mechanism (DEE operation). ),
There are two methods, a method of charging / discharging a large volume at a time.

The volume input through the CAS is
The address of the cell stored in the cell by the accessor by reading the barcode of the volume by the accessor is associated with the type of the volume.

On the other hand, after the DEE operation is completed, each barcode is read by the accessor after the DEE operation is completed, and the address of the stored cell is associated with the type of each input volume. .

[0009]

The conventional volume input / output control method has the following problems. First, the operator starts the DEE operation on the operation panel of the library device. However, at this time, even if the volume originally stored in the range where the DEE operation is started is being mounted on the drive unit, the operator cannot recognize the cell unit of the library device by looking at it.

For this reason, another volume may be newly input to the home cell of the volume being mounted. If the DEE operation is terminated as it is, another volume is stored in the home cell, so that there is a problem that the volume cannot be stored even if the mounted volume is unmounted and the drive unit attempts to store it in the home cell.

When the consistency between the storage information and the actual cell state is checked after the DEE operation, the storage information of the newly inserted volume is registered and the storage information of the mounted volume is deleted. .

Another problem is that a library device having a drum-type cell (cell drum) has a DE.
When the E operation is performed, the control of the cell drum shifts from the accessor to the operation panel. As a result, a volume that is not intended for DEE operation cannot be mounted on the drive unit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the foregoing, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a conflict between a volume input / output operation using a DEE mechanism and mounting of a volume on a drive unit. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for controlling a volume input / output of a library device which can realize an efficient and highly reliable operation.

[0014]

According to the present invention, there is provided a cell unit having a plurality of cells for accommodating a volume, a drive unit for writing / reading data to / from the volume, and a volume between the cell unit and the drive unit. And a direct entry / exit (DEE) mechanism for directly inputting / discharging a volume to / from a cell of the cell unit, the volume input / output control method for a library apparatus, the method being mounted on the drive unit. A volume input / output control method for a library device, wherein a DEE operation on a cell unit is prohibited when a cell storing a volume in the cell unit is provided.

Preferably, the prohibition of the DEE operation can be canceled by a command. In this case, the new volume put in the cell storing the mounted volume by the DEE operation moves to another empty cell at the end of the DEE operation. If there are no empty cells, a new volume is discharged to CAS.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a plurality of cell units each having a plurality of cells accommodating a volume, a drive unit for writing / reading data to / from the volume, and loading / removing a volume into / from the library device one by one. A cartridge access station (CAS) for discharging, an accessor for transferring a volume between the cell unit, the drive unit and the CAS, and a direct entry / exit for directly inputting / discharging a volume to / from the cell ( A volume input / output control method for a library apparatus, comprising: a first cell group capable of mounting a volume on all cells in the plurality of cell units independently of the DEE operation; It is not possible, but the volume is It divided a second cell group comprising a count impossible and a third cell group capable DEE operation, the CA
A volume input / output control method for a library device, wherein the input volume is stored in the order of the first cell group, the second cell group, and the third cell group during a volume input operation through S. .

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a schematic perspective view of a magnetic tape library apparatus to which the control method of the present invention can be applied. Housing 4 of library device 2
Is constructed by interconnecting a plurality of independent frames. On the front side of the housing 4 of the library device 2, a cartridge access station (CAS) 5 is provided.

The CAS 5 has a cartridge inlet 6 and a cartridge outlet 8. The cartridge inlet 6 and the cartridge outlet 8 are each positioned around the vertical axis by 18 degrees.
It can rotate 0 °.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a cell drum having a plurality of cells. Each cell drum 10 has a heptagonal cross section.
It consists of seven segments. In this specification, a drum-shaped and a non-drum-shaped cell group are collectively called a cell unit.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a drive unit for recording / reproducing information on / from a volume (recording medium cartridge). The library device of this embodiment has eight drive units 12.

In the housing 4, two accessors 14 for transporting volumes between the CAS 5, the cell drum 10, and the drive unit 12 are provided. Each accessor 14 has an accessor hand mechanism 16 that can move up and down along a vertical column 18. Each accessor 14 is laterally movable along an X rail 20 extending in the X-axis direction.

The library device 2 further includes a cell drum 10
Entry / Exit (DEE) mechanism 1 capable of directly loading / ejecting a plurality of volumes into each cell
5 is provided.

Reference numeral 17 denotes an accessor controller (accessor control unit) for controlling each accessor 14, and reference numeral 19 denotes a drive controller for controlling each drive unit 12.

Referring to FIG. 2, a front view of the accessor 14 is shown. The accessor 14 is moved in the X direction on the X rail 20 by driving a motor 21.
The motor 21 generates a predetermined number of tacho pulses for each rotation.

When the motor 23 is driven, the support base 24 on which the accessor hand mechanism 16 is mounted is moved up and down along a guide rail 22 formed on the vertical column 18. The motor 23 also generates a predetermined number of tacho pulses for each rotation.

A motor 25 is mounted on the support base 24, and the accessor hand mechanism 16 is turned around a vertical axis (Y axis) by a timing belt 26 connected to an output shaft of the motor 25. The motor 25 also generates a predetermined number of tacho pulses for each rotation.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a schematic configuration diagram of the library apparatus shown in FIG. Components that are substantially the same as those of the library device 2 of FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The library device 2 'shown in FIG.
The cell group 10a has a volume that can be mounted on the drive unit 12 regardless of the operation, and the cell group 10b has a volume that cannot be mounted on the drive unit 12 during the DEE operation.

The cell group 10b is composed of a rotary cell drum. The DEE mechanism 15 has a door 15a, and a cell group that can be accessed by opening the door 15a in the cell group 10b is a DEE-operable cell.

The library device 2 'is connected to a host computer 30 via a SCSI or a communication line, and the host computer 30 stores an application program and has a library device control function and a control function for other devices. doing.

The host computer 30 is connected to an auxiliary storage device 32 in which databases such as a volume management table 38 and a cell management table 36 are stored.
The library device 2 'has an operation panel.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the cell management table 36. The cell management table 36 stores the library ID, cell address, storage volume presence / absence flag, storage volume name, DEE operation flag, and consistency check for each cell. Each area has a flag.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the volume management table 38. The volume management table 38 has, for each volume, areas of a volume name, a library ID, a home cell address of the volume, and a busy flag. .

According to the volume input / output control method of the present invention, the DEE operation in the range including the home cell of the mounted volume is prohibited. That is, according to the present invention, the mounting process of the volume to the drive unit 12 and the DE
The E operation is essentially exclusive.

According to the present invention, the DEE operation is started not from the operation panel of the library apparatus 2 but from the host computer 30 as in the conventional case.
At this time, if at least one volume having a cell whose home cell is in a range that cannot be mounted / unmounted by the DEE operation is mounted on the drive unit 12, a command to start the DEE operation is rejected from the host computer, and the DEE is transmitted to the operation panel. A message indicating that the operation is prohibited is displayed, and the process ends.

Preferably, mounting / demounting is performed by a DEE operation.
Even if a volume whose home cell is a cell in a range in which unmounting cannot be performed is mounted on the drive unit 12, the DEE operation can be forcibly started by a command.

In this case, the new volume entered in the home cell of the volume being mounted is moved to another cell immediately after the end of the DEE operation. If there are no empty cells, the cells are discharged to CAS5.

That is, when the end of the DEE operation is recognized, the state of the home cell of the mounted volume is immediately referred to,
If a new volume has been inserted, the new volume is stored in an empty cell instead of the home cell of the mounted volume. If there is no cell that can be stored again, it is discharged to CAS5.

Further, according to the mount processing of the present invention, if the range including the home cell of the volume requested to be mounted is under DEE operation, the process ends with an error. At this time, the fact that there is a mount request is displayed on the operation panel of the library device 2 to notify the operator who is performing the DEE operation. Thus, the operator can temporarily suspend the DEE operation and give priority to the mount request.

The volume input / output control method schematically described above will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. First, referring to FIG. 6, a flowchart of the DEE operation start processing is shown. In step 101, it is determined whether or not the entire cell management table 36 in the DEE operation range has been confirmed. If not, the cell management table 36 is referred to in step 102.

In step 103, it is determined whether or not a DEE operation is already being performed. If a DEE operation is being performed, the process proceeds to step 111, where an end status is set, and this processing is terminated. DEE
If the operation is not being performed, the process proceeds to step 104 and the DEE
Judge whether or not there is a specification of forced startup. If the forced start of the DEE has not been designated, step 105
To determine whether a volume is registered for the cell referred to.

If the volume is registered, it is determined in step 106 whether the volume is in use by referring to the volume management table 38 (step 10).
7). If it is confirmed in step 107 that the volume is not in use, the flow advances to step 108 to turn on the DEE operation flag on the cell management table, and refer to the next cell management table 36 in the DEE operation range (step 10).
9).

All cells management table 36 for DEE operation range
Is completed (step 101, YES), the process proceeds to step 110, where a DEE operation start command is issued to the library device, an end status is set (step 111), and the present process ends.

If it is determined in step 107 that the volume is being used, that is, if the volume is mounted on the drive unit 12, the name of the volume being used is set (step 112), and the DEE operation flag is set. The process is turned off (step 113), and an end status is set in step 111, followed by terminating the present process.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 104 that the DEE is forcibly activated, the process proceeds to step 10.
Step 5 is skipped from step 107, the DEE operation flag is turned on (step 108), and a DEE operation start command is issued to the library device (step 1).
10).

If it is determined in step 105 that the volume has not been registered, the processing in steps 106 and 107 is skipped, and the flow advances to step 108 to turn on the DEE operation flag in the cell management table.

Next, the mounting process of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When a request to mount a volume to the drive unit 12 is made, the volume management table 38 is referred to (step 201), and it is determined whether or not the requested volume name is registered (step 202). Proceeds to step 203 to determine whether the volume is in use.

If not, the cell management table 36 of the volume is referred to (step 204), and it is determined whether or not the cell is under DEE operation (step 205).

If the DEE operation is not being performed, step 2
Proceeding to 06, it is determined whether consistency check after the DEE operation is necessary. If it is determined that it is not necessary to check the consistency, the busy flag in the volume management table 38 is turned on (step 207), and the host computer 30 issues a move command to the library device (step 208).

In response to this movement command, accessor 1
4 transports the requested volume to the drive unit 12 and mounts it on the drive unit 12. Next, in step 209, an end status is set, and the process ends.

When it is determined in step 202 that the volume name is not registered, when it is determined that the volume is being used in step 203, and when it is determined in step 206 that consistency needs to be checked, Is Step 20
The process proceeds to step No. 9 to set an end status, and the process ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 205 that the DEE operation is being performed on the cell management table 36, a DEE end confirmation command is issued to the library device 2 (step 210). It is determined whether the operation is ongoing (step 211).

If the DEE operation is ongoing, step 2
In step 12, a display command indicating a mount request is issued to the library device 2, and the display command is displayed on the operation panel 34 during the DEE operation.

Thus, the operator during the DEE operation can know the mount request, suspend the DEE operation, and mount the requested volume on the drive unit 12.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 211 that the DEE operation has been completed (the operator who has performed the DEE operation closes the DEE door 15a of the library device 2 and presses the end button, thereby completing the DEE operation). ), And executes a post-DEE operation confirmation process which will be described in detail with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 8 and 9 (step 213).
After the end status is set (step 209), the process ends.

Next, the confirmation processing after the end of the DEE operation will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. When the end of the DEE operation is recognized, first, in step 301
To obtain information on the DEE operation execution range from the library device.

Next, in step 302, it is determined whether or not all the drive information in the library device 2 has been confirmed.
If the volume has not been confirmed, it is confirmed in step 303 whether or not a volume having the DEE operation execution range as a home cell is mounted on the drive unit 12.

If it is determined in step 303 that the volume is mounted on the drive unit 12, the home cell state of the volume is referred to (step 304) to determine whether or not the volume actually exists in the home cell. Is checked (step 305).

If the volume exists in the home cell, it is checked in step 306 whether or not there is an empty cell. If it is determined that there is an empty cell, the empty cell is secured.
Move the volume to its empty cell (step 30)
7).

If it is determined in step 306 that there is no empty cell, the volume stored in the home cell is discharged to the CAS 5 (step 309), and the fact that the volume has been discharged is displayed on the console (step 310).

Next, the routine proceeds to step 308, where the next drive unit 12 is searched, and the processing of steps 302 to 310 is executed for this drive unit 12. If it is determined in step 302 that all the drive information in the library device 2 has been confirmed, step 31
Proceeding to 1, all cell management tables 3 in the DEE operation range
6 is determined.

At step 311, the all-cell management table 36
If it is determined that has not been confirmed, step 31
Proceeding to 2, it is determined whether or not the cell is within the range where the DEE door 15a is opened.

If the determination in step 312 is affirmative,
In step 313, the consistency check required flag is turned on. In step 314, the DEE operation flag in the cell management table 36 is turned off.

If the determination in step 312 is negative,
Proceed directly to step 314. Next, the next cell management table 36 is searched in the DEE operation range (step 31).
5), the processing of steps 311 to 315 is repeated.

If it is determined in step 311 that the all cell management table 36 in the DEE operation range has been confirmed, an end status is set in step 316, and this processing ends.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a volume input / output control method for reducing contention between mounting / unmounting of a volume to / from the drive unit 12 and input / output of a volume to / from the library apparatus 2.

In this control method, a volume is stored in advance in a volume in which the number of times of mounting to the drive unit 12 is large and the number of times of input / output is small, and in a volume in which the number of times of mounting to the drive unit 12 is small and the number of times of input / output is large. Separate the range of cells to be used.

That is, a volume with a large number of mounts to the drive unit 12 and a small number of inputs / discharges is:
A volume that is loaded from the CAS 5 and has a small number of mountings to the drive unit 12 and a large number of loadings / discharges is loaded by the DEE operation.

As a control method for realizing this, CAS
In the case of the volume input process starting from 5, the input to the DEE-operable cell is postponed as much as possible, and the volume is preferentially stored in a cell that is not affected by the DEE operation, that is, a cell that can be mounted even during the DEE operation. To do.

FIG. 10 shows an example of cell address (hexadecimal) assignment in this embodiment. That is, a cell group having a cell address irrelevant to the DEE operation on the left side of the vertical line 40, a cell group on the right side of the vertical line 40 above the horizontal line 42 that cannot be mounted during the DEE operation, and a horizontal line 4 on the right side of the vertical line 40
2 are classified into a lower DEE-operable cell group, and a flag is provided for each.

With reference to the flowchart of FIG. 11, a description will be given of the volume input processing from the CAS 5 of this embodiment. First, in step 401, it is determined whether or not the entry into the DEE-capable cell from the CAS 5 is prohibited. This prohibition can be arbitrarily set by the operator.

If the input is not prohibited in step 401, the flow advances to step 402 to set the cell address search maximum value to all cell type bits ON + maximum number of cells.
In the allocation example of FIG. 10, "3030" is set.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 401 that the insertion is prohibited, the flow advances to step 403 to set the maximum cell address search value to the mount disable bit ON during DEE operation + the maximum number of cells. In the allocation example of FIG. 10, "1030"
Set to.

After setting the maximum cell address search value in this way, in step 404, the cell management table 36 is referred to from the minimum cell address. In step 405, it is determined whether or not the maximum search value has been exceeded. If not, in step 406, it is determined whether or not the cell is an empty cell.

If the cell is not an empty cell, the next cell management table 36 is referred to (step 407). If the cell is an empty cell, the flow advances to step 408 to turn on the storage volume presence flag.

Then, the volume name is registered in the volume management table 38 (step 409), and a command to move the volume input to the library device 2 is issued (step 410).

In response to this movement command, accessor 1
4 stores the input volume in the designated cell. Next, in step 411, an end status is set, and the process ends. If it is determined in step 405 that the maximum search value has been exceeded, an end status is set in step 411, and the process ends.

[0078]

According to the present invention, by preventing an erroneous volume from being input to a cell that has already been registered in a DEE operation, it is possible to prevent the volume being mounted on the drive unit from being unmounted, thereby preventing the drive unit from becoming unusable. be able to.

When a new volume is stored in a cell that has already been registered by the forced start of the DEE operation, the newly stored volume is moved to another empty cell to unmount the volume that is being mounted on the drive unit. It is possible to prevent the drive unit from becoming unusable due to the failure.

Further, the mount request for the volume stored in the cell unit during the DEE operation is displayed on the operation panel of the library apparatus to notify the operator during the DEE operation, so that the DEE operation is interrupted for a while and the mount request is issued. Can be accepted.

Furthermore, by dividing the cells to be stored in advance according to the frequency of mounting the volume to the drive unit and the frequency of loading / unloading, the volume mounting and the DE
Contention with the E operation can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a library device to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is a front view of an accessor.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a library device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a cell management table.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a volume management table.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a DEE operation start process.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a mounting process.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a post-DEE operation confirmation process (part 1).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a post-DEE operation confirmation process (part 2).

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of cell address (hexadecimal) assignment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a volume input process from a CAS.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 CAS 10 Cell drum 12 Drive unit 14 Accessor 15 DEE 15a DEE door 34 Operation panel 36 Cell management table 38 Volume management table

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A cell unit having a plurality of cells accommodating a volume, a drive unit for writing / reading data to / from the volume, an accessor for transporting a volume between the cell unit and the drive unit, and the cell unit And a direct entry / exit (DEE) mechanism for directly inputting / ejecting a volume to / from the cell of the library device, wherein the home cell containing the volume mounted on the drive unit is provided. Wherein the host computer rejects the start command of the DEE operation and prohibits the DEE operation even if the start command of the DEE operation is input when the cell unit is in the cell unit. . 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the prohibition of the DEE operation is released by a command, a DEE operation is performed on cells in a predetermined range, and a volume newly inserted in the home cell storing the volume being mounted by the DEE operation is deleted. , DE
2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of: moving the accessor to another cell when the E operation is completed. 3. A cell unit having a plurality of cells accommodating a volume, a drive unit for writing / reading data to / from the volume, an accessor for transporting a volume between the cell unit and the drive unit, and the cell unit. And a direct entry / exit (DEE) mechanism for directly inputting / ejecting a volume to / from the cell of the library unit. A volume input / output control method for a library apparatus, wherein when a mount request for an originally stored volume is issued, the mount request is displayed on an operation panel to notify an operator during a DEE operation. 4. A plurality of cell units each having a plurality of cells accommodating a volume, a drive unit for writing / reading data to / from the volume, and a cartridge access station for loading / unloading the volume into / from the library device one by one. (CAS), the cell unit, the drive unit, an accessor for transferring a volume between the CAS, and a direct entry / output unit for directly inputting / discharging a volume to / from the cell.
A volume input / ejection control method for a library apparatus comprising an exit (DEE) mechanism, wherein a first cell group capable of mounting a volume to all cells in the plurality of cell units independently of a DEE operation;
The DEE operation is impossible, but the volume is unmountable during the DEE operation. The second cell group is divided into a second cell group and the DEE operation is possible. A volume input / output control method for a library apparatus, wherein the selected volumes are stored in the order of the first cell group, the second cell group, and the third cell group. 5. The volume input / output control method for a library device according to claim 4, wherein storing a volume in said third cell group is prohibited during a volume input operation through said CAS.