Storage migration method and storage system

Abstract

To update a storage controller in a short time.SOLUTION: A storage migration method includes: sending, by a maintenance PC, a power-off instruction for migration to a migration source storage; sending, by the migration source storage, storage configuration information to the maintenance PC; turning off the power of the migration source storage when confirming that the maintenance PC has received the storage configuration information; sending, by the maintenance PC, the storage configuration information and a power-on instruction for migration to a migration destination storage; and outputting, by the maintenance PC, a migration completion notification when confirming that a disk drive relocated from the migration source storage has been set in the migration destination storage.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a storage migration method and a storage system. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses an invention in which a storage system has a node having multiple storage control units (storage controllers) each having a processor, memory, and ports, and a storage drive, in which the multiple storage control units each send and receive data access requests and data to a host computer via multiple ports, multiple processors process input / output data from the host computer, and multiple memories hold control information for accessing data in the storage drive, and the storage system transmits the control information stored in the memory to another node and stores it in the memory of that storage control unit, and when the other node is to be able to execute data access related to the control information, sets the ports of the other nodes taking into account the relationship between the node's storage control unit and the ports. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2022-55614 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Patent Document 1 discloses a method for updating the hardware and software of a multi-controller storage system without stopping the system or reducing redundancy and performance.

[0005] That is, when software is updated, new functions are generally added and the number of resources that can be managed is expanded.

[0006] In other words, the format of the control information of the old software does not define an area for the control information used by the new software. Therefore, first, a new storage controller is added, and before the new software starts operating, the old software rewrites the control information in the old format to control information in the new format while continuing I / O. Once the conversion to the control information in the new format is complete, the new software accesses the converted control information in the new format.

[0007] However, when migrating to a new storage controller, the operating storage controller does not necessarily have a function for accessing the storage drives (for example, the internal drives built into the storage controller) managed by the new storage controller. For this reason, when migrating storage to a new storage controller, it is necessary to transmit data stored in the operating drives from the operating storage controller to the new storage controller using a network, and write the data to the new drives managed by the new storage controller.

[0008] The problem with this type of operation is that it requires the communication of large amounts of data, which takes time. In addition, if data is updated on the source drive during this time, the updates must also be reflected on the destination drive.

[0009] An object of the present invention is to migrate a storage controller in a short period of time. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] A storage migration method according to the present invention is a storage migration method in a storage system having a plurality of storage controllers each having a processor and a memory, and a plurality of storage media managed by each storage controller and storing data, wherein each of the plurality of storage controllers transmits and receives data access requests and data to a host computer, the plurality of processors process data input / output by the host computer to the storage media, the plurality of memories hold control information referenced by the processor to access data stored on the storage media, a storage migration control device is connected to the plurality of storage controllers, the storage migration control device transmits a transfer instruction for the control information to a source storage controller among the plurality of storage controllers, the processor of the source storage controller transmits the control information to the storage migration control device based on the transfer instruction, the storage migration control device transmits a transfer instruction for the control information and the control information to a destination storage controller among the plurality of storage controllers that is different from the source storage controller, and the processor of the destination storage controller determines whether the storage media managed by the source storage controller has been transferred to the destination storage controller based on the received control information. Effect of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, a storage controller can be updated in a short time. Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a source storage system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] Transition procedure 1 in the embodiment of the present invention [Diagram 3] Migration procedure 2 in the embodiment of the present invention [Figure 4] Transition procedure 3 in the embodiment of the present invention [Diagram 5]Transition procedure 4 in the embodiment of the present invention [Figure 6] Transition procedure 5 in the embodiment of the present invention [Figure 7] Transition procedure 6 in the embodiment of the present invention [Figure 8] Storage area usage example 1 of the migration destination storage system in the embodiment of this invention [Figure 9] Storage area usage example 2 of the destination storage system in the embodiment of this invention [Figure 10] Example of a drive position error notification screen in the embodiment of the present invention [Figure 11] 1 is an example of a flowchart illustrating a data transfer process from a migration source storage according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] An example of a flowchart showing a data transfer process and an operation process to a migration destination storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In each drawing for explaining the embodiments, the same components are given the same names and reference numerals as much as possible, and repeated description will be omitted.

[0014] The present invention is not limited to the following examples, and includes various modifications and equivalent configurations within the spirit of the appended claims. For example, the above-mentioned examples have been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to those including all of the described configurations.

[0015] In addition, the processing units described in the embodiments may be realized in hardware, for example by designing some or all of them as integrated circuits, or may be realized in software by a processor interpreting and executing a program that realizes each function.

[0016] The tables, areas, etc. described in the embodiments may be a database (DB) or may be data stored in the main memory.

[0017] In this invention, migration from the source storage controller to the destination storage controller is not performed while the source CTL is operating as in Patent Document 1, but rather the information necessary for migration in the source CTL is downloaded to a storage maintenance PC and the source CTL is powered off.

[0018] After that, the information necessary for migration that was downloaded to the storage maintenance PC is uploaded to the destination, the disk drive that was stored in the storage box of the source CTL is removed, and the removed disk drive is set in the storage box of the destination CTL.

[0019] Then, after setting the information required for migration, start the destination CTL. EXAMPLES

[0020] Figure 1 is a system configuration diagram of a source storage system in an embodiment of the present invention. The source storage controller 1 (hereinafter, source CTL) is composed of a processor 5 realized by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or the like, a storage shared memory 6, a UI (User Interface) management device 8, a backup disk 7, and a storage built-in drive box 17 (storage medium storage section) in which a disk drive 12 (storage medium) is stored. Note that two source CTLs are shown in Figure 1, but both have the same configuration as described above.

[0021] Forced restore target information 9 and storage configuration information 10 are stored in the storage shared memory 6, and UI management device configuration information 11 is stored in the backup disk 7.

[0022] The source CTL is also connected to a storage external drive box 3 via a BEIF (Back End Interface) 14 .

[0023] Furthermore, it is connected to a host computer 4 that accesses the storage via a FEIF (Front End Interface) 13 .

[0024] In this embodiment, an example will be described in which a storage maintenance PC 2 (storage migration control device) equipped with an internal disk 15 storing an upgrade tool 16 is connected to a source CTL and a destination CTL via a network, and migration of the source CTL is performed.

[0025] The storage controller migration procedure will be explained step by step using Figures 2 to 7. Figure 2 shows migration procedure 1, which is the data backup process performed by the source CTL 1. To prevent the loss of necessary data during migration, the storage maintenance PC 2 sends (1) a controller migration dedicated PS-OFF command to the source CTL processor 5. Based on the controller migration dedicated PS-OFF command, the source CTL processor 5 executes the processes (2) to (5) described below.

[0026] The processor 5 of the migration source CTL (2) transmits the forced restore target information 9 and the storage configuration information 10 stored in the storage shared memory 6 to the backup disk 7. The backup disk 7 is configured by, for example, a CFM (Configuration Flash Memory).

[0027] The forced restore target information 9 , storage configuration information 10 and UI management device configuration information 11 stored on the backup disk 7 are transferred to the internal disk of the storage maintenance PC (3) via the network and stored on the internal disk 15 .

[0028] The forced restore target information 9 is information necessary to use the program in the destination storage with the same settings as the source storage, such as information on the settings and licenses of the program used in the storage, and differential information on the volumes used by the program.

[0029] Specific examples include setting information relating to programs for volume hierarchical management, data access frequency, and volume allocation functions according to host computers, data difference information and failure log information associated with volume copying, and so on.

[0030] Storage configuration information 10 is information summarizing the usage status (setting information) of the hardware resources used in the storage, and is information necessary to reuse the hardware resources used in the source storage in the destination storage and to use them in the same setting state.

[0031] Specifically, it records device configuration information such as the number of MPs and the number of IFPKs installed, as well as the settings under which the device was operating, such as host group information, port information, LDEV (logical volume) and parity group information, and includes information required to start up the device even during normal maintenance operations: device configuration information, drive information which is drive-specific information such as the slot number which is drive location information and the drive serial number corresponding to the slot number, storage information which is storage-specific information such as device model information and FW (FirmWare) information running on the device, and migration support information which is information for identifying the destination CTL to which migration is possible (device model information of the destination CTL, etc.).

[0032] The UI management device configuration information 11 includes basic information for accessing the device, such as an IP (Internet Protocol) address, user name, and password, as well as basic settings for the storage system hardware and configuration information for the management software (GUI) that configures fault monitoring, etc., which is necessary for using the GUI in the destination CTL with the same settings as the source CTL.

[0033] The forced restore target information 9, storage configuration information 10, and UI management device configuration information 11 are collectively referred to as control information. Here, control information refers to all information necessary for the storage controller to execute input / output (I / O) of data to the drive box in accordance with commands from the host computer 4, such as information indicating the configuration of the drive box, information indicating the state of the logical volume (logical unit), and information indicating the state of processing for the volume and data.

[0034] By migration procedure 1, the control information is stored in the backup disk while the source CTL is in operation. The information stored in the backup disk 7 remains even when the storage power is turned off, so by storing the necessary information in the backup disk 7, when the source CTL is turned on, the information stored in the storage shared memory stored in the backup disk 7 can be written back to the storage shared memory 6, making it possible to restart the system in the same state as before the source CTL was turned off.

[0035] However, when input / output is resumed in the source CTL and the storage shared memory 6 is updated, the information in the storage shared memory must be transferred again to the built-in disk of the storage maintenance PC 2 .

[0036] 3 shows migration procedure 2, which is the process from turning off the source CTL power to relocating the disk drives. The processor 5 turns off the power of the source CTL (4), and (5) cuts off the communication path with the host computer 4 connected via FEIF 13, cuts off the communication path with the storage external drive box 3 connected via BEIF 14, and cuts off the communication path with the storage maintenance PC. When migration procedure 2 is complete, the source CTL stops operating, and thereafter stops accepting and processing data input / output commands to the drive from the host computer 4.

[0037] The worker confirms that the power of the source CTL is turned off, and (6) removes all of the disk drives 12 that are set in the source CTL's built-in storage drive boxes 17. At this time, the order in the built-in storage drive boxes in which the disk drives 12 were set will be needed when setting them in the built-in storage drive boxes of the destination CTL, so it is necessary to record the disk drives and their set positions.

[0038] Fig. 4 shows migration procedure 3, in which the storage built-in drive box of the migration source CTL is installed at the installation location of the destination storage controller 18 (hereinafter referred to as migration destination CTL). The migration destination CTL has the same configuration as the migration source CTL. Although two migration destination CTLs are shown in Fig. 4, both have the same configuration, and are provided corresponding to each system of the migration source CTL, and migration is performed between the corresponding migration source CTL.

[0039] After removing the disk drives from the source CTL, the worker sets the destination CTL18's built-in storage drive box (7) in the location where the source CTL's built-in storage drive box was located (racking). This makes it possible to replace the storage with the new one without changing the rack mounting position.

[0040] 5 illustrates migration procedure 4 for relocating internal drives from the source storage to the destination storage. (8) The worker sets the disk drives 12 removed in migration procedure 2 into the internal disk drive boxes of the destination CTL racked in migration procedure 3 in the same order as they were set in the source CTL.

[0041] Figure 6 shows migration procedure 5, which is the process of reconnecting various communication paths and migrating various data. First, the storage maintenance PC 2 (9) reconnects the communication paths to the storage maintenance PC 2 from the host computer 4 and the storage external drive box 3 that were disconnected. Next, (10) the storage maintenance PC 2 sends a controller migration dedicated PS-ON command to the migration destination CTL. Upon receiving the controller migration dedicated PS-ON command, the processor 5 of the migration destination CTL executes the processes (11) to (15) described below.

[0042] (11) Upon receiving the controller migration dedicated PS-ON instruction, the destination CTL installs the upgrade tool 16 from the built-in disk of the storage maintenance PC 2 into the storage shared memory 6 of the processor 5 of the destination CTL.

[0043] (12) The processor 5 executes the upgrade tool 16 to copy the forced restore target information 9, storage configuration information 10 and UI management device configuration information 11 from the built-in disk 15 of the storage maintenance PC 2 to the backup disk 7 of the migration destination CTL.

[0044] 7 shows migration procedure 6, which performs PS-ON of the destination storage and data deployment to the storage shared memory. (13) When data storage to the backup disk 7 is completed, the processor 5 performs PS-ON of the destination CTL and restarts the destination CTL.

[0045] (14) When PS-ON is turned on, processor 5 loads data from backup disk 7, excluding UI management device configuration information 11, into storage shared memory 6. Before the data is written into storage shared memory 6, it must be converted into a format compatible with the destination CTL, i.e., a format compatible with the software executed by processor 5. Processor 5 may also perform format conversion of forced restore target information 9 and storage configuration information 10 by upgrade tool 16 at the same time as copying to backup disk 7. Furthermore, when conversion is performed by upgrade tool 16, a format compatible with both CTLs may be identified by referring to storage information, etc. included in the storage configuration information in the source CTL and destination CTL, and a conversion method may be determined.

[0046] When expanding to the storage shared memory 6, the data converted by the source CTL may be sent via the storage maintenance PC, or may be converted and sent by the storage maintenance PC. After being sent to the backup disk of the source storage device, the data may be expanded to the storage shared memory 6 while being converted. (15) Once the expansion into the storage shared memory is complete, the UI management device 8 accesses the UI management device configuration information 11 on the backup disk and converts it into an appropriate format compatible with the destination CTL.

[0047] The format conversion can be performed by expanding the format of the source CTL while retaining it, as shown in storage area usage example 1 of the destination storage system in Figure 8. However, if there is a change in size, it will be necessary to relocate the data in the destination CTL in an area separate from the source CTL, as shown in Figure 9.

[0048] In migration procedure 4 shown in Figure 5, it has been explained that the disk drives are set in the drive boxes of the destination CTL at the positions in which they were set in the source CTL. However, there is a possibility that the disk drives may be mistakenly set in the drive boxes at the wrong positions.

[0049] To solve this problem, when the destination CTL is restarted in migration procedure 6 shown in Figure 7, the processor 5 confirms that the disk drive is set in the correct position using correspondence information contained in the storage configuration information 10 that indicates the correspondence between the slot number, which is the location information of the disk drive, and the serial number of the disk drive, and if it is set in the incorrect position, it sends information about the incorrect position in which the disk drive is set along with the correspondence information to the storage maintenance PC 2, and the storage maintenance PC 2 outputs a drive position error notification screen 30 like the one shown in Figure 10 via a display device or other display device (not shown) and prompts the user to set the disk drive in the correct position that it was set in the source CTL.

[0050] The notification screen 30 displays the following associated information: a controller chassis schematic 31 which visually indicates the position of the disk drive that has been incorrectly set, the location of the disk drive 33, the slot 34, the status 35 which displays a white circle and "Normal" if the location is correct and a black circle and "Blocked" if the location is incorrect, usage 36 which indicates the usage status of the disk drive, drive type / RPM / capacity 37, drive type code 38, and a notification 39 which indicates the correct slot if the location is incorrect.

[0051] Also, a warning message 40 such as "The drive installation position is incorrect. Please reinstall it in the slot shown in the [Notification] of each drive" is output.

[0052] Fig. 11 is an example of a flowchart showing data transfer processing from the source storage. The storage maintenance PC sends PS-OFF, a power-off command dedicated to controller migration, to the processor of the source CTL (S1). When the processor of the source CTL receives PS-OFF, it sends a data transmission start notification to the storage maintenance PC (S2). The processor of the source CTL sends forced restore target information 9, storage configuration information 10, and UI management device configuration information 11 to the storage maintenance PC according to migration procedure 1 shown in Fig. 2, and the storage maintenance PC performs data reception processing (S3).

[0053] When data transmission to the storage maintenance PC is complete, the processor of the source CTL transmits a notification of data transmission completion (S4), and the storage maintenance PC checks the transmitted data for errors (S5). If there are no errors in the data (Yes in S6), the storage maintenance PC performs data reception completion processing (S7) and instructs the source CTL to start device shutdown processing (S8), thereby terminating the data migration processing in the source CTL CTL. The processor of the source CTL then executes migration procedure 2 (4) shown in Figure 3, and stops operation. The operation stop of the source CTL can be confirmed, for example, by a display status LED (Light Emitting Diode) provided on the source CTL.

[0054] If there is an error in the data (No in S6), the storage maintenance PC outputs a data resend request to the source CTL, and the processor of the source CTL again transmits the forced restore target information 9, storage configuration information 10, and UI management device configuration information 11 (S9). If there is an error in the data after repeating data transmission a prescribed number of times (S10), the storage maintenance PC transmits a notice to the source CTL that the prescribed number of times has failed, and the processor of the source CTL outputs a communication failure log to the storage maintenance PC (S11), abnormally terminates the data migration (S12), and performs rollback processing in the source CTL.

[0055] Fig. 12 is an example of a flowchart showing data transfer processing and operation processing to the destination storage. It is assumed that, prior to each process in Fig. 12, an operator has installed the storage built-in drive box of the source CTL in the destination CTL according to migration procedure 3 shown in Fig. 4, and moved the built-in drive from the source CTL to the destination CTL according to migration procedure 4 shown in Fig. 5, and furthermore, (9) and (10) of migration procedure 6 shown in Fig. 6 have been executed by the storage maintenance PC2, and a controller migration dedicated PS-ON command has been sent to the destination CTL.

[0056] The storage maintenance PC transmits an upgrade tool for controller migration and an instruction to install the tool from the storage maintenance PC to the processor of the migration destination CTL (S20). The storage maintenance PC further acquires device model information from the storage configuration information of the migration destination CTL (S21). Furthermore, from the acquired device model information, it refers to migration support information indicating the migration destination CTL to which the forced restore target information 9 can be migrated, and judges whether the migration destination is appropriate (S22).

[0057] In other words, in step S22, the storage maintenance PC judges whether the control information of the source CTL can be converted into a format compatible with the destination CTL. The storage maintenance PC may store a table of combinations of device model information of the source CTL and device model information of the destination CTL to which the source CTL can be migrated, and refer to this table when making the judgment.

[0058] If the migration destination is not appropriate, the storage maintenance PC sends a migration failure notice to the migration destination CTL (S31), and the migration destination CTL performs rollback processing.

[0059] If it is determined to be an appropriate migration destination, the storage maintenance PC transmits migration information such as FW information, forced restore target information 9, storage configuration information 10, and UI management device configuration information 11 to the migration destination CTL (S23). If the migration information is to be converted by the storage maintenance PC, the conversion is performed at this stage. Once transmission is complete (S24), the storage maintenance PC notifies the migration destination CTL that the device PS is ON, and restarts the migration destination CTL (S25). The processor of the migration destination CTL determines whether the mounting position of the slot for the disk drive set after the restart is correct (S26). If there is an error, the screen in Figure 10 is output to the storage maintenance PC, prompting it to set the disk drive in the correct slot.

[0060] To determine whether the disk drive slot is correct, the source CTL stores correspondence information in the configuration information that associates the disk drive identifier with the slot identifier indicating the order in which the disk drives are inserted, and the destination CTL reads the disk drive identifier from the disk drive at the first startup and compares it with the correspondence information in the storage configuration information read from the storage maintenance PC2. If the disk drive is not set in the slot indicated by the correspondence information, a warning message is output.

[0061] If it is determined in S26 that the mounting position of the disk drive is correct, the storage maintenance PC performs a PS-ON completion determination to determine whether the restart of the destination CTL has been completed based on the presence or absence of a notification indicating that the restart of the destination CTL has been completed (S27), and if it determines that the restart has been completed, outputs a migration completion confirmation notification by displaying a message or the like (S28).

[0062] In response to the migration completion confirmation notification, the storage maintenance PC judges whether or not the worker has input approval for the migration completion (S29), and outputs a migration completion notification when approval for the migration completion has been input (S30). If approval for the migration completion has not been input, the migration destination CTL is rolled back.

[0063] If it is determined in S26 that the drive position is incorrect, the storage maintenance PC outputs a drive position error notification as shown in Fig. 10 (S32) and waits for the operator to correct the drive mounting position (S33). When the migration destination CTL determines that the drive mounting position correction is complete, it returns to S26 and confirms the drive mounting position. [Explanation of symbols]

[0064] 1 source storage controller, 2 storage maintenance PC, 3 storage external drive box, 4 host computer, 5 processor, 6 storage shared memory, 7 backup disk, 8 UI management device, 9 forced restore target information, 10 storage configuration information, 11 UI management device configuration information, 12 disk drive, 15 internal disk, 16 upgrade tool, 17 storage internal drive box, 18 destination storage controller, 30 notification screen

Claims

1. A storage migration method in a storage system having a plurality of storage controllers each having a processor and a memory, and a plurality of storage media managed by each storage controller and storing data, comprising: Each of the plurality of storage controllers transmits and receives data access requests and data to and from a host computer; the plurality of processors process data input / output to / from the storage medium by a host computer; the plurality of memories hold control information referenced by the processor to access data stored in the storage medium; a storage migration control device connected to the plurality of storage controllers; The storage migration control device transmits a transfer instruction for the control information to a source storage controller among the plurality of storage controllers; The processor of the migration source storage controller transmits the control information to the storage migration control device based on the transfer instruction, the storage migration control device transmits a migration instruction for the control information and the control information to a migration destination storage controller that is different from the migration source storage controller among the plurality of storage controllers; The processor of the destination storage controller determines whether the storage medium managed by the source storage controller has been transferred to the destination storage controller based on the received control information. A storage migration method comprising:

2. 2. The storage migration method according to claim 1, A storage migration method, characterized in that the control information includes storage configuration information for reusing storage media managed by the source storage controller in a different storage controller.

3. 2. The storage migration method according to claim 1, The control information includes migration support information regarding a storage controller to which the control information can be migrated from the source storage controller, and the storage migration control device determines whether migration to the destination storage controller is possible based on the migration support information received from the source storage controller, and if it determines that migration is possible, sends a migration instruction for the control information and the control information to the destination storage controller.

4. 3. The storage migration method according to claim 2, the storage controller has a storage medium storage unit for storing a plurality of the storage media, and stores, in the storage configuration information, information relating to a correspondence between identification information of each storage medium and a storage position in the storage medium storage unit; A storage migration method characterized in that, when determining whether to relocate the storage media, the destination storage controller determines whether the multiple storage media in the source storage controller are each stored in a storage location in the storage media storage unit of the source storage controller based on the correspondence information received from the source storage controller.

5. 5. The storage migration method according to claim 4, A storage migration method, characterized in that the identification information of the storage medium is a serial number.

6. 5. The storage migration method according to claim 4, A storage migration method characterized in that, when the storage medium in the destination storage controller is not stored at a storage location in the storage medium storage unit based on the correspondence information received from the source storage controller, the storage migration control device receives notification from the destination storage controller and outputs a storage location in the storage medium storage unit based on the correspondence information.

7. 2. The storage migration method according to claim 1, The storage migration method is characterized in that the storage migration control device disconnects a communication path to the source storage controller after receiving control information from the source storage controller.

8. 3. The storage migration method according to claim 2, A storage migration method characterized in that a processor of the destination storage controller converts the storage configuration information of the source storage controller into a format compatible with software executed by the processor and stores the information in a memory in the destination storage controller.

9. A storage system having a plurality of storage controllers each having a processor and a memory, and a plurality of storage media each managed by each storage controller and storing data, Each of the plurality of storage controllers transmits and receives data access requests and data to and from a host computer; the plurality of processors process data input / output to / from the storage medium by a host computer; the plurality of memories hold control information referenced by the processor to access data stored in the storage medium; a storage migration control device connected to the plurality of storage controllers; the storage migration control device transmits a transfer instruction for the control information to a source storage controller among the plurality of storage controllers, and transmits a migration instruction for the control information and the control information of the source storage controller to a destination storage controller among the plurality of storage controllers that is different from the source storage controller; The processor of the migration source storage controller transmits the control information to the storage migration control device based on the transfer instruction, a processor of the destination storage controller determines whether the storage medium managed by the source storage controller has been transferred to the destination storage controller based on the control information received from the storage migration control device; A storage system comprising:

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