International Business Machines Corporation

Other

Susan Kay Candelaria

Matthew J Kalos

Harry M Yudenfriend

Dale Francis Riedy, Jr

Beth Ann Peterson

Scott Brady Compton

John Richard Paveza

Roger Gregory Hathorn

Clint Alan Hardy

Michael T Benhase

Richard Anthony Ripberger

Brent Cameron Beardsley

Warren Keith Stanley

Matthew Richard Craig

Jeffrey Allen Berger

Lokesh M Gupta

Kevin J Ash

John R Flanagan

David Michael Shackelford

Scott M Carlson

Louis William Ricci

Lisa Joan Gundy

Deborah A Furman

Corey G Smeaton

Ilene A Goldman

Theresa Mary Brown

Peter Grimm Sutton

Daniel Francis Casper

Joseph S Hyde, Ii

Kenneth Wayne Todd

Nedlaya Yazzie Francisco

Michael Howard Hartung

Jeffrey Richard Suarez

Vernon John Legvold

Mark Albert Reid

Stephen G Wilkins

Ronald E Bretschneider

Joel H Cord

William Romney White

Mark P Gardiner

Joseph Smith Hyde

Kyler A Anderson

Gail Andrea Spear

Brian Anthony Rinaldi

John Norbert McCauley

Chung Man Fung

Jared Michael Minch

Kenneth Wayne Lane

William Frank Micka

Gustav E Sittmann, Iii

William J Rooney

John Glenn Thompson

Yu-Cheng Hsu

Nicolas Marc Clayton

David Randall Blea

Thomas Charles Jarvis

Kurt Allen Lovrien

Gavin Stuart Johnson

David Frank Mannenbach

Lawrence Carter Blount

Robert Wesley Shomler

Michael Koester

Minh-Ngoc Le Huynh

Paul Hodges

Paul Richards

Brian S Lee

Larry Richard Perry

Dean Lee Hanson

Douglas A Martin

Tri M Hoang

Nicholas D Fifer

Donald M Nordahl

Bradley S Powers

Carrie J Van Noorden

William G Sherman, Ii

Michael Thomas Benhase, Jr

Michael J Shannon

Vern J Legvold

Carol Santich Michod

Donald Prentiss Terry

Edwin K Scott

Peter L Leung

Roman Yusufov

Jeffery Michael Barnes

Robert L Kwok

Dennis Albert Kukula

James D Marwood, Jr

Paul L Leung

Bruce M Henry

Guy Eugene Martin

William Lee Richardson

Bengt E Larsson

Thomas C Storms

Matthew Joseph Kalos

John Flanagan

Scott Carlson

Louis Ricci

Dale Riedy

Roger Hathorn

Harry Yudenfriend

A storage controller is configured to communicate with a host over a first storage area network. Data controlled via the storage controller is mirrored to another storage controller over a second storage area network. The storage controller receives a request from the host to provide read diagnostic parameters of the second storage area network. In response to receiving the request, the storage controller secures the read diagnostic parameters of the second storage area network. The storage controller transmits the read diagnostic parameters of the second storage area network to the host.

Communication of diagnostic parameters of a data mirroring configuration from a storage controller to a host

A host is configured to communicate with a storage controller over a first storage area network. A request is transmitted from the host to the storage controller to provide read diagnostic parameters of a second storage area network that is used to mirror data controlled by the storage controller to another storage controller. The host receives the read diagnostic parameters of the second storage area network from the storage controller.

Generation of host requests to a storage controller for read diagnostic parameters for a data mirroring configuration

Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for generating a chain of a plurality of write requests including a commit wait flag and plurality of write requests. The commit wait flag is set to one of an indicated first value or a second value. The commit wait flag is set to the first value to cause a storage server to process the write requests by requiring a current write request being processed to complete before transferring data for a next write request following the current write request. The commit wait flag is set to the second value to cause the storage server to process the write requests by transferring data for the next write request before completing the current write request preceding the next write request. The write request chain is sent to the storage server to apply the write requests to the storage.

Generating a chain of a plurality of write requests

A computer-implemented method for transferring a reserve to a target host, according to one embodiment, includes granting to a source system, by a control unit, a reserve for a volume of a storage device. A push reserve command is received from the source system. The push reserve command specifies: a transfer of the reserve to a target system, parameter data identifying the target system, and path information specifying the source system. The reserve is transferred only to the target system in response to release of the reserve by the source system.

Methods for transferring reserves when moving virtual machines across systems

Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for managing read and write requests from a host to tracks in storage cached in a cache. A determination is made whether track format table support information for a track indicates that a track format table was previously determined to have or not have the track format code for track format metadata. Track format metadata for the track is rebuilt to determine whether the track format table includes a track format code for the rebuilt track format metadata when the track format table support information indicates that the track format table was previously determined to have a track format code for the track. The track format metadata is not rebuilt when the track format table support information indicates that the track format table was previously determined to not have a track format code for the track.

Determine whether to rebuild track metadata to determine whether a track format table has a track format code for the track format metadata

Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for managing access requests from a host to tracks in storage. A cursor is set to point to a track in a range of tracks established for sequential accesses. Cache resources are accessed for the cache for tracks in the range of tracks in advance of processing access requests to the range of tracks. Indication is received of a subset of tracks in the range of tracks for subsequent access transactions and a determination is made whether the cursor points to a track in the subset of tracks. The cursor is set to point to a track in the subset of tracks and cache resources are accessed for tracks in the subset of tracks for anticipation of access transactions to tracks in the subset of tracks.

Pre-allocating cache resources for a range of tracks in anticipation of access requests to the range of tracks

Write transfer resource management in a data storage system in accordance with the present description includes overdue write transfer management logic which detects whether or not an established write set has become stale. In one embodiment, a determination is made as a function of whether a write transfer from a host and associated with an established write transfer set is overdue as measured by a time-out period of time. Upon determination that an established write transfer set has become stale, the stale write set is removed and the resources associated with the removed write set are freed for use by other write sets, significantly improving system performance. Other features and aspects may be realized, depending upon the particular application.

Write transfer resource management in a data storage system

Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for sharing alias addresses among logical devices by a host accessing logical devices provisioned with a capacity from physical devices managed by a control unit. The host establishes with the control unit an association of logical devices and alias addresses assigned to the logical devices, wherein the alias addresses are associated with an alias management group. Alias address pool information is generated indicating each of the logical devices and their assigned alias addresses indicated in the association. The host uses from the alias address pool information any one of the alias addresses in the alias address pool information to access any of the logical devices associated with the same alias management group as the alias address.

Sharing alias addresses among logical devices

Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for performing a remote point-in-time copy to a source and target storages in further mirror copy relationships. Each of a plurality of source copy relationships is from the source storage to one corresponding source copy storage. Each of a plurality of target copy relationships is from the target storage to one corresponding target copy storage, where in each relationship an indicator indicates whether to use a remote first type copy operation. The first type copy operation is used to copy data from the source storage to the target storage and copy data from the source copy storage to the target copy storage for the determined source and target copy relationships having the indicator set. A second type of copy operations is used for source and target relationships not having the indicator set.

Performing a remote point-in-time copy to a source and target storages in further mirror copy relationships

Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for processing a chain of a plurality of write requests including a commit wait flag and plurality of write requests, wherein each write request group includes write transactions directed to the storage. A determination is made as to whether the commit wait flag has a first value or a second value. The write requests are processed by requiring a current write request comprising one of the write requests being processed to complete before beginning to write data for a next write request following the current write request in the write request chain in response to the commit wait flag having the first value. The write requests are processed by processing the next write request before completing the current write request in response to the commit wait flag having the second value.

Processing a chain of a plurality of write requests

Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for sharing alias addresses among logical devices for a control unit managing access by hosts to logical devices configured with capacity from attached physical devices. An alias management group of logical devices and alias addresses assigned to the logical devices is configured. A plurality of requests to establish an association of the host with a logical device and the alias addresses assigned to the logical devices in the alias management group are received from a host. Acknowledgment is made to the host that the association is established in response to determining that the host is assigned the logical devices and alias addresses of the logical devices in the alias management group. The host can use one available alias address assigned to any one of the logical devices to access any one of the logical devices indicated in the association.

In one general embodiment, a computer-implemented method is provided for storage controller-mediated volume transformation in a shared-resource environment. The computer-implemented method includes receiving, utilizing a processor, a command, from an initiating host system, to send a notification to at least one other host system connected to a shared volume. The computer-implemented method also includes broadcasting an interrupt to the at least one other host system connected to the shared volume, and receiving a response from one or more of the at least one other host system connected to the shared volume. The computer-implemented method further includes notifying the initiating host system of the response(s) received from the one or more of the at least one other host system connected to the shared volume.

Controller-mediated volume transformation in a shared-resource environment

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Tucson, AZ, United States of America

Susan Kay Candelaria