Virtual Parity Group Management for Storage Migration
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing storage system migration technologies face challenges when bandwidth is insufficient or new disks cannot be prepared at the destination, leading to high costs and slow migration processes.
Innovation Solution
A storage system configuration that includes a migration source virtual storage system and a migration destination virtual storage system, where both systems share memory sections to create and manage virtual parity groups, allowing for the association of logical and physical configurations across systems, enabling efficient disk migration without requiring additional physical disks at the destination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If data is copied from the migration source storage system to the migration destination storage system through a communication channel, then data migration can be performed, but if the bandwidth of the communication channel is not sufficiently large or the size of the data is very large, the copy processing takes a large amount of time and productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the data migration process into two distinct phases: (1) configuration information transfer phase where only virtual parity group management tables are copied between storage systems, and (2) actual data migration phase where physical disks are moved directly. This segmentation allows the critical path to be decoupled from large data transfers, significantly improving migration speed by eliminating the bottleneck of copying large datasets through communication channels.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention performs preliminary transfer of virtual parity group management table information between the migration source and destination storage systems before actual data migration. This preliminary action establishes the logical configuration mapping in advance, so that when physical disks are migrated, the destination system is already prepared to recognize and integrate them without requiring time-consuming data copying or reconfiguration.
2Productivity
If data is copied from the migration source storage system to the migration destination storage system through a communication channel, then data migration can be performed, but new disks need to be prepared in the migration destination storage system for copying the data, which increases physical costs and device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The invention copies only the essential configuration information (virtual parity group management tables) between storage systems rather than copying actual data. The physical disks themselves are migrated directly from source to destination without being copied. This selective copying approach eliminates the need to prepare new disks at the destination, as the migrated physical disks are directly integrated into the destination system using the pre-transferred configuration information.
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual parity group management table serves multiple functions: it stores configuration information, defines logical-physical mappings, and enables the destination storage system to recognize and integrate migrated physical disks from a different storage system. This multi-functionality allows the same data structure to handle both configuration management and cross-system disk integration, eliminating the need for additional preparation steps.
3Productivity
If data is copied from the migration source storage system to the migration destination storage system through a communication channel, then data migration can be performed, but if the bandwidth of the communication channel is not sufficiently large, the copy processing takes a large amount of time and maintenance cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and transfers only the critical configuration information (virtual parity group management tables) from the source storage system to the destination storage system, separating this essential data from the bulk data that would otherwise need to be copied. This extraction approach reduces the volume of data transferred over the communication channel to a minimal size, making the process efficient even with limited bandwidth and reducing maintenance costs associated with long-duration migration operations.
Data Source
AI summary
A first virtual parity group management table that associates first virtual parity group management information with second virtual parity group management information using physical disk management information is created and memorized in a first sharable memory section, a second virtual parity group management table that associates logical device information, third virtual parity group management information that sets the second virtual parity group management information to virtual parity group management information regarding its own storage system, and fourth virtual parity group management information that sets the first virtual parity group management information to virtual parity group management information regarding the non-own storage system with one another is created and memorized in a second sharable memory section, and migration of a physical disk is accepted on the condition that these tables are memorized.