Multi-path Failover Group Management for Storage Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional failover group management in storage systems often switches to a false physical link during multiple path failures, leading to upper-layer service interruptions.
Innovation Solution
A multi-path failover group management method that acquires SCSI address information, determines physical link and target port group information, and updates subscript values to ensure accurate failover group node creation and addition, reducing the scope from a large ring of all physical paths to a small ring of single paths, thereby improving fault switching efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional failover group management is used to manage all physical paths, then comprehensive path coverage is achieved, but the system complexity increases and false link switching occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the failover group management by introducing port group information and storage array subscript values to divide the management scope from all physical paths to specific port groups. This segmentation allows the system to manage failover at a finer granularity, reducing complexity while maintaining reliability through targeted management of specific storage paths.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a new dimension to failover group management by introducing port group information as an additional classification layer. Instead of managing only physical paths, the system now manages paths organized by port groups and storage array subscripts, creating a multi-dimensional management structure that reduces complexity through better organization.
2Productivity
If failover switching is performed across all physical paths, then path redundancy is maximized, but switching efficiency decreases due to larger search scope
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the path switching search scope by organizing paths into port groups and using storage array subscript values to identify specific groups. This segmentation reduces the search scope from all physical paths to only relevant port groups, significantly improving switching efficiency and reducing the time lost during failover operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary organization of physical paths into port groups and maintains indexed information about storage arrays. This preliminary action allows the system to quickly locate relevant paths during failover without searching through all paths, thereby improving switching efficiency and reducing failover time.
3Reliability
If port group information is not validated against target port group information, then processing speed increases, but failover accuracy decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by validating port group information against target port group information and using storage array subscript values to verify consistency. This feedback mechanism ensures failover accuracy by confirming that the selected path belongs to the correct port group, while the indexed subscript system maintains processing speed by enabling efficient validation without exhaustive searching.
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure provides a multi-path failover group management method, which includes: acquiring Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) address information of a physical volume, and determining physical link information in the SCSI address information; determining target port group information of a storage to which the physical volume belongs; determining whether port group information corresponding to a storage array subscript value is null; when the port group information is null, creating first subscript port group information corresponding to the storage array subscript value, creating a failover group node according to the physical link information, and adding the physical volume to the failover group node; when the port group information is not null, determining whether the port group information is consistent with the target port group information; and when the port group information is inconsistent with the target port group information, updating the storage array subscript value and reselecting appropriate port group information.