JPH10187354A - Information processor and method for managing recording media applied to the same device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor for appropriately executing the failure demarcation and media exchange of a magneto-optical disk autochanger. SOLUTION: When an access error occurs, a media management controller 111 allows the disk driver device to re-try access using another magneto-optical disk. When the error is escaped, the media management controller 111 informs an information processor 10 main body that the magneto-optical disk is the cause of the error. On the other hand, when the error can not be escaped, the media management controller 111 allows another disk driver device to re-try access using the magneto-optical disk which is driven when the error occurs. When the error is escaped by this re-try, the media management controller 111 informs the information processor 10 main body that the disk drive device is the cause of the error.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus connected to a magneto-optical disk autochanger in which a plurality of magneto-optical disks are removably mounted, and a recording medium management method applied to the apparatus. The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus capable of appropriately performing fault isolation and medium exchange of a magneto-optical disk autochanger and a recording medium management method applied to the information processing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an information processing apparatus to which a conventional magneto-optical disk autochanger is applied as a large-capacity storage device, in order to enable access in logical block units without being conscious of the medium inside the magneto-optical disk autochanger, A media management controller is interposed between the information processing apparatus main body and the magneto-optical disk autochanger, and under the control of this media management controller, the magneto-optical disk autochanger appears to the information processing apparatus main body as if it were a large-capacity hard disk device. .

[0003] Further, this media management controller
Data read / write by the information processing apparatus main body can be accessed in a specific line unit, and high-speed access such as data pre-read is enabled.

Further, the media management controller can independently implement a high-speed access device such as a disk cache, and realizes hierarchical storage control by using it as a cache storage of a magneto-optical disk autochanger.

[0005]

However, in an information processing apparatus to which such a magneto-optical disk autochanger is connected, for example, when the access to the magneto-optical disk is abnormally terminated, whether the magneto-optical disk itself is defective or not. Because the failure of the disk drive unit that drives the magneto-optical disk is not controlled, the user must appropriately determine the content of the confirmation work and perform an erroneous treatment in some cases. However, it could not be said that an appropriate maintenance and operation environment was provided.

The magneto-optical disk is a consumable item.
Management such as replacement with the life of media has been performed arbitrarily by the user, or performed when a defect is detected without any operation.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an information processing apparatus and a recording medium applied to the information processing apparatus capable of appropriately performing fault isolation and medium exchange of a magneto-optical disk autochanger. The purpose is to provide a management method.

[0008]

An information processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a plurality of disk drive devices; and a magneto-optical disk autochanger in which a plurality of magneto-optical disks are removably mounted. A media management controller is interposed between the information processing apparatus main body and the magneto-optical disk autochanger, and when the access to any one of the magneto-optical disks ends abnormally, the media management controller sends the access to the disk drive device. First retry means for retrying using another magneto-optical disk, and when the result of the retry by the first retry means is unsuccessful, the access is transmitted to another disk drive device. Second retry procedure for retrying using the magneto-optical disk used at the time of abnormal termination When the result of the retry by the first retry means is successful, it is determined that the magneto-optical disk is faulty, and when the result of the retry by the second retry means is successful. And a failure determining means for determining a failure of the disk drive device.

In the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, for example, an error has occurred in a write process for any one of the magneto-optical disks, and the write process has been abnormally terminated even though a predetermined retry has been executed. In such a case, the media management controller causes the disk drive device to execute a write process using another magneto-optical disk. Then, when the writing process is successful, the media management controller determines that the magneto-optical disk is the cause of the failure, and notifies the information processing apparatus body, for example, to that effect.

On the other hand, when this writing process fails,
The media management controller causes another disk drive device to execute a write process using the magneto-optical disk that was driven at the time of the failure. Then, when the writing process is successful, the media management controller determines that the disk drive device is the cause of the failure, and notifies the information processing device body, for example, to that effect.

That is, according to the information processing apparatus of the present invention, when the access to the magneto-optical disk is abnormally terminated, whether the magneto-optical disk itself is defective or the disk drive device for driving the magneto-optical disk is defective. The media management controller determines whether or not the information has been received. For example, if the result of the determination is displayed on the display of the information processing apparatus itself, the user can immediately take appropriate measures, Operational efficiency will be dramatically improved.

In a case where the media management controller has a disk cache and realizes hierarchical storage by using the disk cache,
The media management controller, for example, writes abnormally terminated data to the disk cache and saves the processing contents in a predetermined area on the disk cache. Then, after a series of access processing is completed, the media management controller executes and controls the retry described above using the information stored on the disk cache. This makes it possible to perform fault isolation without delaying the processing of the information processing apparatus main body, and does not affect the processing of the information processing apparatus main body.

An information processing apparatus according to the present invention is provided with a plurality of disk drive devices, and is connected to a magneto-optical disk autochanger in which a plurality of magneto-optical disks are removably mounted. The autochanger is provided with a memory for storing the number of times of rewriting of each of the magneto-optical disks, and a media management controller is interposed between the information processing device main body and the magneto-optical disk autochanger. When the number of rewrites counted by the counting means exceeds a predetermined value, the counting means for counting the number of rewrites of the magneto-optical disk held in the memory. Judgment method to judge that magnetic disk should be replaced And characterized by being provided and.

In the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, each time rewriting is performed on the magneto-optical disk, the media management controller counts the number of times of rewriting of the magneto-optical disk stored in the memory provided in the magneto-optical disk autochanger. Up. When the number of times of rewriting exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the media management controller determines that the magneto-optical disk is a near-life magneto-optical disk having a high possibility of causing an error.

In other words, according to the information processing apparatus of the present invention, since the replacement timing of the magneto-optical disk is managed by the media management controller, appropriate management independent of the user is performed.

When the media management controller has a disk cache, the number of rewrites may be stored on the disk cache. In addition, as the information for determining the replacement time, in addition to the number of times of rewriting, various kinds of statistical information such as the use start date and the number of times of error detection by an error correction code such as ECC are applied according to the usage of the magneto-optical disk. Is possible.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (First Embodiment) First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration of an information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the information processing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment houses an intelligent SCSI card 11 as an expansion card for expanding the function of the apparatus main body. The access to the disk autochanger 20 is performed. The intelligent SCSI card 11 has its own CPU, and drives and controls the magneto-optical disk autochanger 20 by operating the media management controller 111 under the CPU.

The magneto-optical disk autochanger 20 includes:
A plurality of disk drive devices 21a to 21c;
Is a large-capacity storage device including a plurality of magneto-optical disks 23 stored in a storage device. This disk drive device 21
The assignments of a to 21c and the plurality of magneto-optical disks 23 are determined in advance, and each unit is managed by forming a unit. And the media management controller 1
Numeral 11 determines which unit should process an access request issued by the information processing device 10 in logical block units, and controls the drive of the corresponding disk drive device. That is, the media management controller 111 has a function of making the magneto-optical disk autochanger 20 look like the hard disk device 30 to the information processing device 10.

Now, the magneto-optical disk autochanger 2
Assume that an access error has occurred in any of the units in 0. In this case, the disk drive unit of the unit (here, 21a) executes a predetermined retry, and notifies the media management controller 111 of the abnormal termination of the access when the error is not avoided by the retry. The media management controller 111, having received the notification of the abnormal end, causes the disk drive device 21a to retry access using another magneto-optical disk. If this retry avoids the error,
The media management controller 111 determines that the magneto-optical disk 23 that was being driven when the error occurred was the cause of the error, and to that effect,
Notify the side. On the other hand, if the error was not avoided,
The media management controller 111 causes access to be performed again using the magneto-optical disk 23 that has been driven when an error occurs in another disk drive device (here, 21b). When the error is avoided by this retry, the media management controller 111
Determines that the disk drive device 21a is the cause of the error, and notifies the information processing device 10 of the determination.

That is, the media management controller 11
1 determines whether the cause of the error is due to the magneto-optical disk or the disk drive device, and notifies the information processing device 10 of the determination result. The information processing device 10 notifies the user of the cause of the error. It is possible to promptly take appropriate measures.

FIG. 2 shows an operation procedure of the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment. When an error occurs, the media management controller 111 causes the disk drive device of the unit to retry access using another magneto-optical disk (step A1). If the error is avoided by this retry (Y in step A2), the media management controller 111 determines that the magneto-optical disk that was being driven when the error occurred is the cause of the error, and that fact is reported as information. A notification is sent to the processing device 10 (step A3). On the other hand, when the error has not been avoided (N in step A2), the media management controller 111
Causes the access using the magneto-optical disk being driven when an error occurs in another disk drive device to be retried (step A4). If the error is avoided by this retry (Y in step A5), the media management controller 111 determines that the disk drive device that was driving when the error occurred is the cause of the error, and that fact is determined. Information processing device 1
0 is notified (step A6). If the error has not been avoided (N in step A5), a notification is sent to the information processing apparatus 10 to the effect that the access has ended with an error (step A7).

As described above, in the information processing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment, the efficiency of the maintenance operation work can be drastically improved by the media management controller 111 performing the fault isolation.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 shows the overall configuration of an information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the difference between the information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment and the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment is the intelligent SC.
Magneto-optical disk autochanger 20 in SI card 11
Is that the disk cache 112 used as the cache storage is mounted, and the hierarchical storage control is realized under the control of the media management controller 111.

In the information processing apparatus 10 according to the second embodiment, when an access error occurs in any of the units in the magneto-optical disk autochanger 20, this access is made to the disk cache 112 and the contents of the access are made. The disk cache 112
It is stored in the upper predetermined area. After a series of access processing is completed, the media management controller 111
Uses the information stored on the disk cache 112 to control the execution of a retry similar to that of the first embodiment.
That is, according to the information processing apparatus 10 of the second embodiment, the fault isolation described in the first embodiment can be performed without delaying the processing on the information processing apparatus 10 side.

FIG. 4 shows an operation procedure of the information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment. When an error occurs, the media management controller 111 substitutes the access with the disk cache 112 for processing, and stores the access content in the disk cache 112 (step B1). Then, the media management controller 111 executes a series of access processing in that state (step B2). When this execution ends, the media management controller 111 causes the disk drive of the unit in which the error has occurred to retry the access stored in the disk cache 112 using another magneto-optical disk (step B3). When the error is avoided by this retry (Y in step B4), the media management controller 111 determines that the magneto-optical disk that was being driven when the error occurred is the cause of the error, and informs the information to that effect. The notification is sent to the processing device 10 (step B5). On the other hand, when the error has not been avoided (N in step B4), the media management controller 11
1 causes the access using the magneto-optical disk being driven when an error occurs in another disk drive apparatus to be retried (step B6). When the error is avoided by this retry (Y in step B7), the media management controller 111 determines that the disk drive device that was driving when the error occurred is the cause of the error, and that fact is determined. A notification is sent to the information processing apparatus 10 (step B8). If the error has not been avoided (N in step B7), the information processing apparatus 10 is notified that the error has not been isolated (notification that the access has been completed but a failure has been detected). Is transmitted (step B9).

As described above, in the information processing apparatus 10 of the second embodiment, fault isolation can be performed without affecting the processing on the information processing apparatus 10 side. (Third Embodiment) Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In the third embodiment, the magneto-optical disk 2 is installed in the magneto-optical disk autochanger 20 of the first embodiment.
(3) A configuration in which a memory for storing each statistical information is provided or a configuration in which an area for storing each statistical information of the magneto-optical disk 23 is secured in the disk cache 112 of the second embodiment. . Then, the media management controller 11 of the third embodiment
For example, every time rewriting is performed on the magneto-optical disk 23, the number of rewriting stored in a memory provided in the magneto-optical disk autochanger 20 or an area in the disk cache 112 is counted up. When the determined threshold value is exceeded, the media management controller determines that the magneto-optical disk 23 should be replaced, and notifies the information processing apparatus 10 of that. Then, on the information processing apparatus 10 side,
The user is notified that the magneto-optical disk 23 should be replaced.

FIG. 5 shows an operation procedure of the information processing apparatus according to the third embodiment. When rewriting is performed on the magneto-optical disk 23, the media management controller 111
The number of rewrites of the magneto-optical disk 23 stored in a memory provided in the magneto-optical disk autochanger 20 or an area in the disk cache 112 is counted up (step C1). Next, the media management controller 111 compares the counted rewrite count with a preset threshold (step C).
2).

Then, the media management controller 111
Sends a warning to the information processing device 10 that the magneto-optical disk 23 should be replaced when the number of rewrites exceeds the threshold (Y in step C3) (step C3).
4).

That is, according to the information processing apparatus of the third embodiment, since the replacement time of the magneto-optical disk 23 is managed by the media management controller 111, appropriate management independent of the user is realized. Become.

It is to be noted that, for example, instead of the number of times of rewriting, various types of statistical information such as the use start date and the number of errors detected by an error correction code such as ECC are used.
It is also effective to manage the replacement time of No. 3.

[0033]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, when the access to the magneto-optical disk is abnormally terminated, the fault is isolated by the media management controller. Can be performed, and the efficiency of maintenance operation work can be greatly improved. In addition, since the media management controller manages the replacement time of the magneto-optical disk, appropriate failure prevention is performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure of the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an information processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure of the information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the information processing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10: Information processing device, 11: Intelligent SCSI
Card, 111 ... Media management controller, 112 ...
Disk cache, 20: magneto-optical disk autochanger, 21a, 21b, 21c: disk drive device, 22: shelf, 23: magneto-optical disk.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus comprising a plurality of disk drive devices and connected to a magneto-optical disk autochanger in which a plurality of magneto-optical disks are removably mounted, wherein the information processing device main body and the magneto-optical disk autochanger are connected to each other. A media management controller is interposed therebetween, and the media management controller causes the disk drive device to retry the access using another magneto-optical disk when the access to any one of the magneto-optical disks ends abnormally. Using a magneto-optical disk that has been used by another disk drive device at the time of the abnormal termination when the result of the retry by the first retry means is unsuccessful. Second retry means for retrying, and retry by the first retry means When the result is successful, it is determined that the magneto-optical disk is faulty, and when the result of the retry by the second retry means is successful, it is determined that the disk drive device is faulty. And an information processing apparatus. 2. Information connecting a magneto-optical disk autochanger, which includes a plurality of disk drive devices and in which a plurality of magneto-optical disks are removably mounted, and a disk cache used as cache storage of the magneto-optical disk autochanger. In the processing device, a media management controller is interposed between the information processing device main body, the optical disk autochanger, and the disk cache, and when the access to any one of the magneto-optical disks ends abnormally, the access is performed. Substitute processing means for substituting with the disk cache and storing the access contents in the disk cache; and when a series of accesses to the magneto-optical disk autochanger is completed, the disk First retry means for causing the disk drive device used at the time of the abnormal termination to retry the access stored in the cache using another magneto-optical disk; and a result of the retry by the first retry means. A second retry means for retrying the access stored in the disk cache to another disk drive device using the optical disk used at the time of the abnormal termination when the operation is unsuccessful; When the result of the retry by the trial means is successful, it is determined that the magneto-optical disk is faulty, and when the result of the retry by the second retry means is successful, the disk drive device An information processing apparatus comprising: a failure determination unit configured to determine a failure. 3. An information processing apparatus comprising a plurality of disk drive devices and connected to a magneto-optical disk autochanger in which a plurality of magneto-optical disks are removably mounted, wherein the magneto-optical disk autochanger is provided with each of the magneto-optical disks. A memory for holding the number of rewrites is provided; a media management controller is interposed between the information processing apparatus main body and the magneto-optical disk autochanger; the media management controller, when the magneto-optical disk is rewritten, Counting means for counting the number of rewrites of the magneto-optical disk held in the memory; and determining that the magneto-optical disk should be replaced when the number of rewrites counted by the counting means exceeds a predetermined value. And determining means for determining An information processing apparatus that. 4. Information connecting a magneto-optical disk autochanger, which is provided with a plurality of disk drive devices and in which a plurality of magneto-optical disks are removably mounted, and a disk cache used as cache storage of the magneto-optical disk autochanger. In the processing device, an area for holding the number of times of rewriting of each of the magneto-optical disks is provided in the disk cache, and a media management controller is interposed between the information processing device main body, the magneto-optical disk autochanger and the disk cache, A controller configured to count the number of rewrites of the magneto-optical disk held in the area when the magneto-optical disk is rewritten; and a controller configured to determine in advance the number of rewrites counted by the counter. The when it exceeds the value, the information processing apparatus characterized by comprising comprises a determining means and should replace the magneto-optical disk. 5. An information processing apparatus comprising a plurality of disk drive devices and connected to a magneto-optical disk autochanger in which a plurality of magneto-optical disks are removably mounted, wherein the magneto-optical disk autochanger is provided with each of the magneto-optical disks. A memory for holding the number of times of error detection by an error correction code is provided; a media management controller is interposed between the information processing apparatus main body and the magneto-optical disk autochanger; the media management controller reads data from the magneto-optical disk Counting means for counting the number of error detections of the magneto-optical disk held in the memory when an error is detected by the error correction code, and the number of error detections counted by the counting means is a predetermined value. Replace the magneto-optical disk when it exceeds The information processing apparatus characterized by comprising; and a and determination means to. 6. An information connecting a magneto-optical disk autochanger comprising a plurality of disk drive devices, wherein a plurality of magneto-optical disks are removably mounted, and a disk cache used as a cache storage of the magneto-optical disk autochanger. In the processing device, an area for retaining the number of times of error detection by the error correction code of each of the magneto-optical disks is provided in the disk cache, and a media management controller is interposed between the information processing device main body, the magneto-optical disk autochanger, and the disk cache. The medium management controller, when an error is detected by an error correction code at the time of reading data from the magneto-optical disk, counting means for counting the number of error detections of the magneto-optical disk held in the area, , Serial when the counted error detection number exceeds a predetermined value by the counting means, the information processing apparatus characterized by comprising comprises a determining means and should replace the magneto-optical disk. 7. A recording medium management method applied to an information processing apparatus including a plurality of disk drive devices and connected to a magneto-optical disk autochanger in which a plurality of magneto-optical disks are removably mounted, the information processing method comprising: A media management controller is interposed between the apparatus main body and the magneto-optical disk autochanger, and the media management controller transmits the access to any one of the magneto-optical disks to another disk drive device when the access to the optical disk ends abnormally. A first retry is executed by using a magnetic disk, and when the result of the first retry is unsuccessful, the access is made to another disk drive device by a magneto-optical device used at the time of the abnormal termination. Performing a second retry using the disk, and if the result of the first retry is a success A failure in the magneto-optical disk, and a failure in the disk drive when the result of the second retry is successful. . 8. An information connection between a magneto-optical disk autochanger comprising a plurality of disk drive devices, wherein a plurality of magneto-optical disks are removably mounted, and a disk cache used as a cache storage of the magneto-optical disk autochanger. In a recording medium management method applied to a processing device, a media management controller is interposed between the information processing device main body, an optical disk autochanger, and a disk cache. At the time of abnormal termination, the access is replaced with the disk cache, the access content is stored in the disk cache, and a series of accesses to the magneto-optical disk autochanger is completed. In this case, the access stored in the disk cache is caused to execute a first retry using another magneto-optical disk by the disk drive device used at the time of the abnormal termination, and the result of the first retry is unsuccessful. When the access is successful, the access stored in the disk cache is made to perform another second retry using the optical disk used at the time of the abnormal termination by the other disk drive device, and the result of the first retry Is determined to be a failure of the magneto-optical disk when the operation is successful, and is determined to be a failure of the disk drive device when the result of the second retry is successful. Management method.