The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 20, 1997
Filed:
Sep. 14, 1995
Dennis R Martin, Rochester, MN (US);
Michael J McDermott, Oronoco, MN (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A method for updating mass storage device configuration records during a configuration change within a computer system is disclosed. A unit configuration record is stored in a system mass storage device. The unit configuration record is unique to each system and it includes a configuration identification, a sequence number and an alteration count table. In addition, a logical device identifier is stored in each mass storage unit within the system. The logical device identifier is unique to each mass storage device unit and it includes a configuration identification, a unit number and an alteration count. If a configuration update is necessary, the corresponding alteration count of the unit configuration record is first incremented, a new logical device identifier is then built with the new alteration count, and finally the new logical device identifier is written to a mass storage device that requires update. After the completion of configuration update, the sequence number is incremented, the updated information is then merged with the functioning copy of unit configuration record and the merged copy is subsequently written on to the system mass storage device. This invention allows a logical configuration change to be made even when the mass storage device of a configured set is unavailable, and thereby eliminating the restriction of all configured mass storage devices must be operational in order to perform a logical configuration change as required by the prior arts.