International Business Machines Corporation

Globalfoundries Inc.

Mark L Lipets

Theresa Mary Brown

Carol Santich Mellgren

Suguang Li

Nedlaya Yazzie Francisco

Gregory E McBride

Raul Eduardo Saba

Theodore Timothy Harris, Jr

Nicolas Marc Clayton

Michael T Benhase

Matthew John Ward

Warren Keith Stanley

Alfred Emilio Sanchez

Anthony J Ciaravella

Michael S Gagner

Lokesh M Gupta

Matthew Sanchez

Kenneth Wayne Todd

Jared Michael Minch

David Brent Schreiber

Kevin C Lin

David Fei

Nicholas M Clayton

A computer-implemented method according to one aspect includes receiving an indication of a track range to be released within a storage volume; identifying a data backup within a backup storage space for the storage volume that corresponds to the track range; and releasing the track range within the storage volume in response to determining that the corresponding data backup has expired within the backup storage space.

Releasing data storage tracks while maintaining logical corruption protection

Provided are techniques for performing a recovery copy command to restore a safeguarded copy backup to a production volume. In response to receiving a recovery copy command, a production target data structure is created. A read operation is received for data for a storage location. In response to determining that the data for the storage location is in a cache of a host and a generation number is greater than a recovery generation number, the data is read from the cache. In response to determining at least one of that the data for the storage location is not in the cache and that the generation number is not greater than the recovery generation number, the data is read from one of the production volume and a backup volume based on a value of an indicator for the storage location in the production target data structure.

Performing a recovery copy command to restore a safeguarded copy backup to a production volume

Provided are techniques for performing a recovery copy command using a recovery copy data structure for a backup volume lookup. In response to receiving a recovery copy command, a recovery copy data structure is created with indicators for storage locations and a recovery target data structure is created with indicators for storage locations. A read operation is received for a storage location in a cache. Based on a value of an indicator in the recovery copy data structure for the storage location and a value of an indicator in the recovery target data structure for the storage location, the data is staged from one of the production volume, the recovery volume, and a backup volume to the cache.

Performing a recovery copy command using a recovery copy data structure for a backup volume lookup

Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for updating change information for current copy relationships when establishing a new copy relationship having overlapping data with the current copy relationships. A first copy relationship indicates changed first source data to copy to first target data. An establish request is processed to create a second copy relationship to copy second source data in to second target data. A second copy relationship is generated, in response to the establish request, indicating data in the second source data to copy to the second target data. A determination is made of overlapping data units in the first source data also in the second target data. Indication is made in the first copy relationship to copy the overlapping data units. The first source data indicated in the first copy relationship is copied to the first target data, including data for the overlapping data units.

Updating change information for current copy relationships when establishing a new copy relationship having overlapping data with the current copy relationships

In one embodiment, a local copy target is also a local primary of an incomplete consistency group of an ongoing asynchronous mirror relationship. Completion of the consistency group is facilitated notwithstanding that the local copy operation was initiated after the consistency group was initiated. In one aspect, asynchronous data mirroring logic, prior to the overwriting of existing data of the target, reads the existing data of the target for purposes of mirroring the read data to a remote secondary target of the consistency group. As a result, existing data of the local copy target which is also a local primary source of the consistency group, may be safely overwritten. Other features and aspects may be realized, depending upon the particular application.

Point-in-time snap copy on asynchronous consistency group management

Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for releasing space allocated to a space efficient target storage in a copy relationship with a source storage. Source and target copy relationships indicate source data in the source storage to copy to target data in the target storage. The source copy relationship indicates source data that need to be copied to the target data before being updated, and the target copy relationship indicates target data tracks updated with data copied from corresponding source data. An operation is initiated that results in terminating the source and target copy relationships. Space allocated to the target data for the source and target copy relationships is released in response to determining that the target storage comprises the space efficient storage. The source and target copy relationships are removed.

Releasing space allocated to a space efficient target storage in a copy relationship with a source storage

Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for using a cascade flag to process a copy relationship having a backward cascade copy relationship. Each of a plurality of copy relationships indicates to copy source data to target data and has a cascade flag. The cascade flag for a forward copy relationship of the copy relationships is set to a first value in response to determining that the source data for the forward copy relationship comprises target data for a backward copy relationship and that a background copy operation specified to copy source data to target data of the backward copy relationship has not completed. The cascade flag for the forward copy relationship is set to a second value in response to determining that the backward copy relationship does not have an uncompleted background copy operation.

Using a cascade flag to process a copy relationship having a backward cascade copy relationship

In accordance with one embodiment, asynchronous local and remote generation of consistent first and second point-in-time snap copy volumes provides for generating in a primary system, a first point-in-time snap copy volume of a primary volume of the primary system, and generating in a secondary system, a second point-in-time snap copy volume utilizing a secondary volume in the secondary system. Synchronizing logic synchronizes the first and second point-in-time snap copy volumes to be consistent with each other as of a particular point-in-time notwithstanding an asynchronous mirror relationship between the primary volume of the primary system and the secondary volume of the secondary system. Other features and aspects may be realized, depending upon the particular application.

Asynchronous local and remote generation of consistent point-in-time snap copies

Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for assigning levels of pools of resources in an operating system to a super process having sub-processes. A plurality of first level pools of resources are reserved in the operating system for first level processes to perform a first level operation and invoke at least one second level process to perform a second level operation. A plurality of second level pools of resources are reserved in the operating system for second level processes. One of the second level pools of resources assigned to one of the second level processes is released and available to assign to another second level process when the second level process completes the second level operation for which it was invoked.

Assigning levels of pools of resources to a super process having sub-processes

A storage controller receives a write command with respect to a track, from a host. A first process determines that the track is a source track and also determines that at least one corresponding target track is in an incremental copy relation to the source track. A second process is generated to modify a target change recording structure, where the second process executes in parallel with the first process.

Parallel processes for performing multiple incremental copies

In one embodiment of the present description, a copy relationship is established between a storage location at a first site and a storage location at a second site in a data storage system, wherein a dynamically assignable bitmap preset to one of a plurality of different predetermined bit patterns is selected as a function of both the availability of the selected bitmap and the type of predetermined bit pattern identified for the selected bitmap. The selected bitmap may be assigned as an out-of-sync bitmap wherein updates to the storage location at one site, which are to be copied to the storage location at the other site, are indicated in the selected bitmap, and data writes being written to the storage location at the one site, are copied to the storage location at the other site, using the selected bitmap as an out-of-sync bitmap. Other aspects are described.

Bitmap selection for remote copying of updates

In one embodiment, a copy relationship is established between a storage location at a first site and a storage location at a second site, in a manner which includes selectively either 1) synchronously writing a modified metadata track from a cache to data storage if the metadata track in cache is a mixture of ones and zeros, before staging from data storage into the cache, the next track of the sequence of tracks of metadata, or 2) instead of synchronously writing from cache the modified metadata track, entering a journal entry to protect the modified metadata track in cache if the metadata track in cache is one of all ones and all zeros, so that asynchronous writing of the modified metadata track from cache is substituted for synchronous writing from cache. Other aspects are described.

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Tucson, AZ, United States of America

Mark L Lipets