International Business Machines Corporation

Chris Alan Schwendiman

Stephen M Tee

Gary Lee Ruzek

James Joseph Babka

Brandon James Mayfield

Gerald Francis McBrearty

Bruce Gerard Mealey

Lance Warren Russell

James Anthony Pafumi

Eric Philip Fried

Vishal Chittranjan Aslot

Rajeev Kumar Mishra

Khalid Filali-Adib

John Paul Dodson

David W Sheffield

Teerasit Tinnakul

James Arthur Lindeman

Minh Nguyen

Kevin Lynn Fought

James Britt Partridge

Stephen J Tovcimak

Walter Manfred Lipp

Matthew Slade Cronk

Orlando O'Neill

John M Crittenden

A unique device name is assigned to each of a plurality of shared storage devices in a cluster configuration database defining membership of nodes in a cluster. A particular node among the nodes defined by the cluster configuration database as a member of the cluster searches the cluster configuration database for a device identifier matching a device identifier of a shared storage device hosted by the particular node. In response to finding a matching device identifier in the cluster configuration database, the particular node renames, in a local configuration maintained at the particular node, a storage device associated with the matching device identifier with the unique name assigned to that storage device in the cluster configuration database.

Propagation of unique device names in a cluster system

An approach is provided in which a device is detected when it has been added to an operating system partition. The detecting occurs during a dynamic reconfiguration process, and the device is associated with a device type. A parent device is identified that corresponds to the added device. The identifying of the parent device is performed during the dynamic reconfiguration process and the identification of the parent device is based on the device type of the added device with the identified parent device corresponding to a parent device name. A unit address corresponding to the added device is retrieved and this retrieved unit address and the identified parent device name are passed to a configuration manager process. The added device is then configured based on the identified parent device name.

Discovery and configuration of new devices added via dynamic reconfiguration

A method, system, and computer usable program product for identifying a defective adapter are provided in the illustrative embodiments. A configuration process of the adapter is initiated, the adapter being coupled with a slot in a data processing system. An indication of the configuration process is activated. A determination is made whether the configuration has completed successfully. The indication is allowed to remain activated responsive to the configuration not completing successfully. The activated indication identifies the defective adapter.

Identifying a defective adapter

An OS instance can maintain management responsibility for SAN adapters to ensure separation and isolation of WPARs, while WPARs are given the capability of configuring an adapter (e.g., adding endpoint storage devices to the adapter). An operating system instance allocates an adapter to a first of a plurality of virtual operating system instances. The first virtual operating system instance updates a device data structure with an entry that indicates the adapter. The first virtual operating system instance maintains the device data structure. The first virtual operating system instance modifies the entry in the device data structure to associate a set of one or more endpoint storage devices with the adapter. The set of endpoint storage devices are provisioned to the first virtual operating system instance from a storage area network. The first virtual operating system instance configures the set of endpoint storage devices.

Direct provisioning of storage devices to virtual OS partitions

A system and method for passing data between a first device driver and a second device driver. Data to be provided to the second device driver is identified in the first device driver. A data exchange interface within a kernel space is invoked by the first device driver. The data exchange interface initializes a physical to Direct Memory Access (DMA) address translation table for the child device based on an identifier of a direct memory access window. The data is provided to the data exchange interface. The data exchange interface, in the kernel space, writes the data to a data structure maintained and used by the second device driver.

System and method for passing information from one device driver to another

A method for starting up and maintaining multiple networked computing systems by using a common start-up program located in one place within a network is disclosed. Start-up code is partitioned into two sections: common start-up code and unique driver programs. Common start-up code includes instructions causing common components in each networked computing system to start-up resides in one location on networked media. Executing a networked computer's boot program instructions causes common start-up code to be retrieved from networked media and executed. Executing common start-up code instructions causes unique driver programs comprising instructions for starting up unique components in each networked computer to be read from networked media by each networked computer. Each networked computing system executes common start-up code instructions and unique driver program instructions to configure and start the networked computing system.

Method and apparatus for starting up and maintaining of multiple networked computing systems

When activities are operated in parallel, and there is only one status display, an ordered list is implemented with three methods of access: insertion at the top, removal from anywhere, and read of the top item. Items kept on this list are the status codes or words for the activities that are currently in progress. When a new activity begins, its status code or word is inserted at the top of the list. Whenever an activity completes, its code or word is removed from the list regardless of its location in the list, and in such a way as to preserve the order of the remaining entries in the list. Whenever the top entry in the list changes (whether through an insertion or removal), the single status display is updated to show the new top value.

Status display for parallel activities

A method, computer program product, and a data processing system for maintaining object configuration data in a data processing system is provided. A first set of attribute entries is stored in a database. The first set of attribute entries is associated with a first object classification and a second object classification. A second set and a third set of attribute entries each including at least one attribute entry are stored in the database. The second set of attribute entries is associated with the first object classification, and the third set of attribute entries are associated with the second object classification. A first object of the first object classification is configured with the first set of attribute entries and the second set of attribute entries, and a second object of the second object classification is configured with the first set of attribute entries and the third set of attribute entries.

System and method for maintaining multiple devices with a single device identifier

A path control module manages a set of primary paths and a set of standby paths for a target device. When a path in the set of primary paths fails, the path control module may failover to the set of standby paths. Alternatively, when a path in the set of primary paths fails, the path control module may failover that path to a single path from the set of standby paths. The sets of primary paths and standby paths may be set by an administrator to control load balancing of resources in the storage area network. The primary set of paths for a first disk may be the standby set of paths for a second disk. Similarly, the primary set of paths for the second disk may be the standby set of paths for the first disk.

Method, system, and program for maintaining and swapping paths in an MPIO environment

Device configuration processes operated within an operating system are run in parallel up until one or more new devices are detected. Once that occurs, the configuration process waits for current running processes to complete without starting new ones, and then re-runs the configuration processes needing to define new devices in the order they would have run if the entire operation had been performed serially. As a result, since most configurations processes will not be detecting new devices, they will run all the way to completion in parallel with others, thereby reducing system boot times. However, if a new device is discovered, it will be assigned the correct name with respect to the other devices.

System and method for maintaining device name consistency during parallel device discovery process

The present invention is a system, method, and computer readable medium for determining which graphic user interface (GUI) control element, including a graphic symbol and associated control code, to use to display particular data. The present invention uses a data-driven model, wherein the GUI control element, referred to as a widget, for a particular set of data is determined dynamically, based on information contained in a database. A widget may be created, displayed, and modified without having to change the program code which uses the widget to display data. As a program executes, it is determined that data needs to be displayed as part of a graphical user interface. The program which is executing calls a generic GUI manager, which determines which widget to use for the particular data at this point in the program and displays the widget. The generic GUI manager reads a database entry associated with the data to be displayed. The database entry contains information, or characteristics, regarding the data. The characteristics are then analyzed by the generic GUI manager to determine which type of widget to use to display the data. An appropriate widget is then selected and used. Both homogenous changes (i.e. graphic symbol changes, where the behavior remains the same) and heterogeneous changes (i.e. where both the graphic symbol and the behavior change) are supported.

System and method for displaying data using graphical user interface control elements

New adapter functions for a computer system are moved from existing TTY configuration code to load modules dynamically linked to the TTY configuration code at run time. A load module attribute stored in a vendor-supplied component of a database provides the load module path and name. Third party vendors may then add TTY configuration support by supplying the load module and adding the appropriate attribute(s) to the database, obviating system vendor assistance or source code access. Ease of configuration is enhanced by avoiding displays of TTY device characteristics not supported by currently installed system hardware. An additional type attribute for predefined attributes in the database permits TTY attributes specific to a particular adapter type to be stored under a unique identifier. The additional type attribute and query of a parent device of a TTY for extended attributes for other device types permit third party vendors to add new adapters by generating a load module linked at run time. Attributes specific to a given adapter are thereby easily added to the existing set of default attributes normally associated with a TTY.

System and method for enabling adapters in a computer system

A method and system for testing device conflict and bus resolution are disclosed. The device conflict and bus resolution is for a data processing system that uses customized device data definitions for configuration. To perform the testing for device conflict and bus resolution, the system first repopulates a device data information database found within the data processing system with customized configuration data for a predetermined system configuration to be tested. Next, the system performs a bus resolve resolution function that highlights any errors, device conflicts, or bus conflicts. Next, the system evaluates the results from the bus resolution resolve resolution function for evaluation by the tester. Before performing the repopulating function, the system removes any previously programmed customized definitions for a particular system configuration in order that a fair evaluation of the new configuration may be performed. This repopulation option begins by parsing a test control file within the data processing system for new customized definitions and then inserting a new set of customized definitions within the device database. During the evaluation, the system determines whether any error return codes have been indicated during the resolve function. Further, the evaluation function also tests for any undetected conflicts within the new customized configuration data and determines if any proper devices had been configured during the resolve function.

Method and apparatus for testing device bus resource resolution

A method and system for assigning non-conflicting bus resources to a plurality of devices connected to that bus. The system provides for resolution of resources for all devices attached to the bus or for just a subset of the devices attached to the bus. The system provides for special types of relationships between bus resources; 'grouped' resources allow a device to control the selection of a value for one resource based on the value of a different resource, and 'shared' resources allow two or more different devices to share a single bus resource. First, a list of the devices attached to the bus is constructed, and for each device a list of the device's bus resources (attributes) is also constructed. The system then prunes unusable bus resource values from the attribute lists, based on what is allowed by the particular machine and bus to which the device is connected. The system then begins a search to find the first non-conflicting solution which will resolve each device in the device list in turn. If a device is determined to be irresolvable at any stage then the system continues to attempt to resolve any remaining devices. Some devices may share interrupt levels with other devices; this system attempts to assign unique and non-conflicting bus resources for all devices, but if a unique interrupt level assignment may not be made the system will attempt to find a suitable 'shareable' interrupt level currently assigned to another device which may also be assigned to the first device.

Growing community of inventors

Round Rock, TX, United States of America

Chris Alan Schwendiman