International Business Machines Corporation

Todd Benjamin Schlomer

David Randall Blea

Errol Jay Calder

Gregory E McBride

John Jay Wolfgang

Jimmie Lee Brundidge

William D Olsen

David Michael Shackelford

Benjamin J Randall

Steven M Kern

Jeffrey R Placer

Jacob A Stevens

Erroll Jay Calder

Provided are a method, system, and program for using a heartbeat signal to maintain data consistency for writes to source storage copied to target storage. A copy relationship associates a source storage and target storage pair, wherein writes received at the source storage are transferred to the target storage. A determination is made whether a signal has been received from a system within a receive signal interval. A freeze operation is initiated to cease receiving writes at the source storage from an application in response to determining that the signal has not been received within the receive signal interval. A thaw operation is initiated to continue receiving write operations at the source storage from applications after a lapse of a freeze timeout in response to the freeze operation, wherein after the thaw operation, received writes completed at the source storage are not transferred to the target storage.

Using a heartbeat signal to maintain data consistency for writes to source storage copied to target storage

A method for replicating a volume of data including selecting a target storage box to receive a physical copy of the actual volume of data stored on the source storage box for replication of the actual volume of data, selecting a point in time storage box to receive a physical copy of actual data stored on the target storage box, physically copying actual data stored on the target storage box to the point in time storage box, performing the replication of the actual volume of data by initiating the physical copying on the target storage box of the actual volume of data, and selectively undoing the physical copying on the target storage box of the actual volume of data by replacing the current actual data stored on the target storage box with the physical copy of actual target storage box data stored on the point in time storage box.

Replication management with undo and redo capabilities

An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for replication of data management information. A base replication module replicates a base table on an active server to a first and second standby server. The base table comprises configuration parameters for storage devices, logical volumes, physical interconnections, logical interconnections, and logical subsystems of a storage system, and the like. A session replication module replicates first sessions from a session table stored on the active server to the first standby server and second sessions to the second standby server. The session table stores a plurality of sessions. Each session comprises a plurality of copy sets. The active server manages the sessions using the base table and the session table, and the first and second standby servers do not manage the sessions. A transfer module transfers management of the first sessions to the first standby server.

Apparatus, system, and method for replication of data management information

A method is disclosed to provide commands to an information storage and retrieval comprising one or more data storage devices, where one or more first communication links interconnect one or more host computers and the data storage and retrieval system. The method supplies a computing device, where that computing device is external to the data storage and retrieval system, and where that computing device is external to each of the one or more host computers. Applicants' method further supplies a second communication link interconnecting the computing device and the data storage and retrieval system. The computing device generates a command signal, where said command signal comprises one or more command control words and a header. The computing device then provides that command signal to the data storage and retrieval system via the second communication link.

Apparatus and method to provide one or more commands to a data storage and retrieval system

An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for initializing a synchronized remote database. A creation module creates a first backup table of a backup database from a schema for a primary table of a primary database. A read module reads each row from the primary table with an application server configured to manage access to the primary database by a database application. A construction module constructs a SQL command for each row of the primary table. Each SQL command inserts data of a primary table row in the first backup table. An application module applies each SQL command to the first backup table to mirror the primary table at the first backup table.

Apparatus, system, and method for initializing a synchronized remote database

A schryption of a text message is based on a schryption key for defining one or more aspects of an encryption and/or a decryption of the text message. For an encryption of the text message, the schryption key is derived from a user key in the form of an encryption key (e.g., a secret key or a public key), and the text message in the form of plaintext is encrypted as defined, at least partially, by the schryption key to thereby yield a ciphertext. For a decryption of the text message, the schryption key is derived from user key in the form of a decryption key (e.g., a secret key or a private key), and the text message in the form of a ciphertext is decrypted as defined, at least partially, by the schryption key to thereby yield a plaintext.

Schryption method and device

This embodiment allows for a communications path between two storage management servers, when they do not have their normal HA communications path connected directly with one another, to send communications through the storage device server. An embodiment of this invention creates a request header that will direct the storage device server to perform certain operations. This request header is used to send commands from the storage management server to the storage device servers. This common connection with the storage device between the two storage management servers allow them to continue communication with each other if the direct link is severed.

Storage management server communication via storage device servers

This presentation allows for two or more storage management servers to be in an active high availability (HA) state for the same set of storage devices and copy services relationships; rather than having a single server be in an active HA state and the other servers being in a standby HA state. This makes each HA server to be able to accept commands at any time so that they will not have to issue a takeover command to a standby server just to start issuing commands. This will also ensure that the data replication pairs will continue copying data until an event of an actual disaster; in which the active servers would then cause the data replication to be suspended so that a consistent set of data is secured on the secondary site.

Active-active server for high availability of data replication management application

Disclosed is a technique for creating a copy services solution. A document describing the copy services solution is received. The document is converted to executable code. The code is executed to perform one or more base copy services solutions described with base copy types in the document.

Method, system, and program for autonomic copy services solutions

A computer program for automatically pairing target resourcessuch as volumes or logical units to source resourcescontaining data to be copied. Available target poolsof target volumes are determined eligible for copying based on a technical compatibility and a user-defined metric such as recovery point or recovery time. User defined metrics and a policy to implement the metrics may be stored in a medium and selected by a user. The source volumes are prioritized, and progressively larger segments of the eligible target pools are searched for a target volume that satisfies the technical compatibility and user-defined metric. Where subgroups such as nested volumes are present in the source volumes, subgroups are also prioritized for searching. Where no target volume can be paired, the corresponding source volume is marked as processed and a search begins for the next source volume. An output report includes pairings of source to target volumes and source volumes for which no pairing was made.

Growing community of inventors

Tucson, AZ, United States of America

Todd Benjamin Schlomer