| Entries |
| Document | Title | Date |
|---|
| 20080209143 | DIGITAL MULTI-FUNCTION PERIPHERAL AND CONTROL METHOD FOR THE SAME - A digital multi-function peripheral includes a multi-function peripheral unit having a plurality of functions, and a memory module detachably connected to the multi-function peripheral unit. The memory module stores a control program for backup and restore to be executed by the multi-function peripheral unit in a state where the memory module is connected to the multi-function peripheral unit, and the control program selects various default information set in the multi-function peripheral unit as a combination information group suitable for an object resource of default setting, and causes the multi-function peripheral unit to perform a backup to the memory module and a restore from the memory module. | 08-28-2008 |
| 20080209144 | Storage system, a method of file data back up and a method of copying of file data - A storage system manages the total capacity of a shared storage medium to store block-basis data and file-basis data. When block data and its address are input through a fiber channel port, an input/output unit converts its data format to a data format that is internally applied by the storage system. When file data and its address are input, a file system converts its data format to a block data format internally applied by the storage system. The file system derives a file logical volume address from the received file address and translates file data to block data. A managing unit derives the address of a block logical volume from the block address delivered from the input/output unit. The managing unit translates block logical volume address or the file logical volume address to a physical address, and writes data to or reads data from the shared storage medium. | 08-28-2008 |
| 20080209145 | Techniques for asynchronous data replication - Techniques for asynchronous data replication are presented. A bitmap records changes to selective blocks of data on a source between replication periods. During a replication, the bitmap is copied and used to acquire changed blocks from the source to write to a replica. Should a unprocessed block have a pending write detected during the replication, then that block is copied into cache from the source before the write is processed on the source. The pending write then processes against the source; the copied block is flushed to the replica; the original bitmap and copied bitmap are updated. | 08-28-2008 |
| 20080209146 | Backup control method for acquiring plurality of backups in one or more secondary storage systems - A controller sets a specified time which is a time that specifies a time in the future relative to the current time for all of one or more secondary storage systems. The respective secondary storage systems have a logical volume for backup (BVOL), and set a backup preparation end state when a journal up to a specified time has been established, and report information showing a preparation end state to the controller. The controller issues a backup command to all of the one or more secondary storage systems when information showing a preparation end state is reported from all of the one or more secondary storage systems. | 08-28-2008 |
| 20080209147 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SHARING MEDIA IN A COMPUTER NETWORK - A computerized method for sharing removable storage media in a network, the method comprising associating, in an index entry, a first piece of removable storage media in a first storage device with at least a first storage policy copy and a second storage policy copy; copying, to the first piece of removable storage media, data associated with the first storage policy copy; and copying, to the first piece of removable storage media, data associated with the second storage policy copy. | 08-28-2008 |
| 20080209148 | HIGH PERFORMANCE STORAGE ACCESS ENVIRONMENT - The present invention provides improved techniques for managing storage resources, such as disk drives, I/O ports, and the like in a network based storage system according to a user position within the network. Embodiments according to the present invention can provide a relatively high performance storage access environment for the mobile users moving around a wide area. For example, in one applicable environment, there are several data centers in the wide area, and each data center has a local storage system that is connected to the other storage systems through a network. Copies of a user's volume can be made in some of the storage systems. A remote copy function is utilized for making real time copies of the user's volume. | 08-28-2008 |
| 20080215835 | Storage system and data processing system - A storage system comprises a data set storage region for storing a data set containing data and update information for managing this data, and a control section. The data set storage region is divided into a plurality of storage regions including a first storage region and a second storage region. The control section generates a first data set containing first data and first update data which is update data for same, stores at least the first data of this first data set in the first storage region, generates a second data set containing second data and second update data which is update data for same, and stores at least the second data of this second data set in the second storage region, which is separate from the first storage region. | 09-04-2008 |
| 20080215836 | Method of managing time-based differential snapshot - Provided is a method of managing differential snapshots in a storage system, the storage system having a disk drive and a disk controller, the differential snapshot management method including the steps of: providing a storage area of the disk drive as a plurality of logical volumes including an operational volume and a differential volume; storing a time of update for each block in the operational volume; and judging, upon reception of a request to write in a block included in the operational volume, whether to copy data of the block in which requested data is to be written in accordance with the received write request to the differential volume, based on the time of update of the block in which requested data is to be written and a time of creation of the differential snapshot. Accordingly, it is possible to manage the differential snapshot without using a bitmap. | 09-04-2008 |
| 20080215837 | Storage System With Multiple Copy Targeting and Disk Failure Protection - An apparatus is disclosed in which a storage controller cooperable with a host and a plurality of controlled storage is provided to localize an impact of a failure to a target disk in an affected segment. The storage controller includes a host write component to write a data object to a source image storage; a first copy component responsive to a first metadata state to control copying of the data object to a first target storage; a second copy component responsive to a second metadata state to perform either: copying the data object to a second target or causing the first copy component to copy the second target to the first target; and a third copy component to control cascaded copying of the data object to a third target storage. Either the second or the third copy component controls cascaded copying of a delimited data image subsequence responsive to a metadata state indicating currency of a data grain in either the second or the third target. | 09-04-2008 |
| 20080215838 | Providing Storage Control in a Network of Storage Controllers - An apparatus for providing storage control in a network of storage controllers is disclosed. The apparatus includes an owner storage controller; an I/O performing component, an ownership assignment component, a lock manager and a messaging component. The ownership assignment component assigns ownership of metadata for data to an owner storage controller. The lock manager controls the locking of metadata during I/O. The messaging component passes messages among storage controllers to request metadata state, to grant locks, to request release of locks, and to signal lock release. The I/O is performed on data whose metadata is owned by an owner storage controller, subject to compliance with metadata lock protocols controlled by the owner storage controller, and any copy of the data held from time to time is maintained in a coherency relation with the data. | 09-04-2008 |
| 20080215839 | Providing Storage Control in a Network of Storage Controllers - An apparatus for providing storage control in a network of storage controllers is disclosed. The apparatus includes an owner storage controller; an I/O performing component, an ownership assignment component, a lock manager and a messaging component. The ownership assignment component assigns ownership of metadata for data to an owner storage controller. The lock manager controls the locking of metadata during I/O. The messaging component passes messages among storage controllers to request metadata state, to grant locks, to request release of locks, and to signal lock release. The I/O is performed on data whose metadata is owned by an owner storage controller, subject to compliance with metadata lock protocols controlled by the owner storage controller, and any copy of the data held from time to time is maintained in a coherency relation with the data. | 09-04-2008 |
| 20080222374 | Computer system, management computer, storage system and volume management method - To provide a computer system in which the primary site administrator for managing all the sites can make the configuration of the authority to be granted beforehand for the administrator of each site to fill in for a part of its own authority, even during the absence such as at the time of disaster. The computer system includes one or more storage systems | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080222375 | Method and system for the transparent migration of virtual machines storage - Method for transferring storage data of a virtual machine to be migrated from a first host device to a second host device via a communication network, including: running the virtual machine on the first host device; storing, on a local storage device of the first host device, a disk image used by the virtual machine; detecting, while the virtual machine is running on the first host device, any changes made to the disk image used by the virtual machine; establishing a connection over the communication network from the first host device to the second host device; transferring, to the second host device while the virtual machine is running on the first host device, the disk image used by the virtual machine and the detected any changes made; modifying the disk image transferred to the second host device in response to the detected any changes transferred to the second host device; and starting, using the modified disk image, a migrated virtual machine on the second host device at a current state of the virtual machine running on the first host device. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080222376 | VIRTUAL INCREMENTAL STORAGE APPARATUS METHOD AND SYSTEM - An apparatus for managing incremental storage includes a storage pool management module that allocates storage volumes to a virtual volume. Also included is an incremental log corresponding to the virtual volume, which maps virtual addresses to storage addresses. The apparatus may also include a replication module that sends replicated data to the virtual volume and a policy management module that determines allocation criteria for the storage pool management module. In one embodiment, the incremental log includes a lookup table that translates read and write requests to physical addresses on storage volumes within the virtual volume. The replicated data may include incremental snapshot data corresponding to one or more primary volumes. The various embodiments of the virtual incremental storage apparatus, method, and system facilitate dynamic adjustment of the storage capacity of the virtual volume to accommodate changing amounts of storage utilization. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080222377 | ACHIEVING DATA CONSISTENCY WITH POINT-IN-TIME COPY OPERATIONS IN A PARALLEL I/O ENVIRONMENT - A method for processing a point-in-time copy of data associated with a logical storage volume where the data to be copied is stored in a striped or parallelized fashion across more than one physical source volume. The method includes receiving a point-in-time copy command concerning a logical volume and distributing the point-in-time copy command in-band to each of the physical source volumes containing a portion of the striped data. The method also includes establishing a point-in-time copy relationship between each physical source volume and one of a corresponding set of multiple physical target volumes. The method further includes copying the data stored on each physical source volume to the corresponding physical target volume. The in-band copy command and the striped data may be distributed over I/O channels between a server and the physical storage and processed sequentially. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080229037 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CREATING COPIES OF DATA, SUCH AS ARCHIVE COPIES - A system and method of creating archive copies of data sets is described. In some examples, the system creates an archive copy from an original data set. In some examples, the system creates an archive copy when creating a recovery copy for a data set. In some examples, the system creates a copy without redundant data, and then encrypts the data set. | 09-18-2008 |
| 20080229038 | COPY SYSTEM AND COPY METHOD - Proposed are a copy system and a copy method capable of performing initial copy in a short amount of time and with high reliability. On a primary side, the area in the first volume to which data was written from the host is managed, a second bitmap is created reflecting the contents of the first bitmap, and the second bitmap is sent to the secondary side on the primary side. On a secondary side, a third bitmap to which the second bitmap sent from the primary-side is merged is created, on the primary side, only the valid data containing data written by the host in the first volume is copies to the second volume based on the second bitmap, and, on the secondary-side, the differential between the first and second volumes during the initial copy is managed based on the third bitmap. | 09-18-2008 |
| 20080229039 | Dual Writing Device and Its Control Method - A first storage system misrepresents an identifier of the storage system and an identifier of a volume and provides the host computer with a first volume. A second storage system misrepresents an identifier of the storage system and an identifier of a second volume as being identical to those misrepresented by the first storage system and provides the host computer with a second volume. A management computer acquires, upon detection of a failure in an access, a status of copying, a status of the first storage system, and a status of the second storage system and controls an access from the host computer with reference to the plurality of acquired statuses. Accordingly, even when a fault occurs in one of the two storage systems, a network that connects the two storage systems, or the like, the host computer can access to latest data. | 09-18-2008 |
| 20080229040 | NETWORK STORAGE SYSTEM, MANAGEMENT METHOD THEREFOR, AND CONTROL PROGRAM PRODUCT THEREFOR - A storage system, a storage management method, and a control program product are provided. The storage system is improved in comfortability, convenience, and economy by reducing the amount of copies in a storage device in a network storage system, by heightening storage efficiency and increasing an access speed. In a network storage system in which a plurality of client terminals are directly connected to a storage device via a network, the storage device includes an MV logical disk that stores read-only shared data and a BV logical disk from/onto which data specific to each client terminal is read/written. A control unit that controls read/write operations includes, with an access management table, an LDK management table which has a reference logical disk number column used to issue a command to refer to the MV logical disk when data other than the write data is read. | 09-18-2008 |
| 20080235470 | ACCESSING INFORMATION FROM A REMOVABLE STORAGE UNIT - A system comprising a processor and a removable solid-state storage unit adapted to be accessed by the processor and comprising information. Upon detecting the presence of the storage unit, the processor copies the information to a system storage coupled to the processor. The processor accesses the information from the system storage in response to a request to access a different storage apparatus. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20080235471 | Smart batteryless backup device and method therefor - A proposed smart batteryless backup device is designed for the reception of data transmitted by controlled equipment, backing up said data in the case of the controlled equipment power failure or in accordance with several program requirements, and also for the subsequent restoration. Proposed device improves trust level of the backup if device is powered by interface signal lines and doesn't have batteries and electrical characteristics of the backup device fluctuating due to humidity and temperature influences as well as during device lifetime. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20080235472 | Snapshot format conversion method and apparatus - A system according to this invention converts a full-copy snapshot into a differential snapshot. The system is composed of a storage subsystem and a server subsystem. The storage subsystem comprises a disk drive and a disk controller. The server subsystem comprises an interface, a processor, and a memory. The disk controller provides storage areas of the disk drive as logical volumes, and stores a differential block bitmap. The processor obtains the differential block bitmap, and identifies a block from the differential block bitmap. The processor obtains, from a full-copy snapshot volume, differential data that is stored in the identified block. The processor stores the obtained differential data in a differential volume. The processor stores, in differential block arrangement information, the location of the differential data stored in the differential volume. | 09-25-2008 |
| 20080244204 | REPLICATION AND RESTORATION OF SINGLE-INSTANCE STORAGE POOLS - A system and method for managing single instance storage. A computer system includes at least two backup servers, each backup server included in a single-instance storage pool. A first backup server conveys a first de-duplicated list identifying data segments from the first storage pool to a second backup server. The first backup server receives from the second backup server a second de-duplicated list identifying a subset of the data segments and conveys the subset of the data segments to the second backup server. In response to receiving the first list from the first backup server, the second backup server de-duplicates the first list against a second storage pool and conveys the second list to the first backup server. In response to receiving the subset of the data segments, the second backup server adds the received data segments to the second storage pool. | 10-02-2008 |
| 20080244205 | Storage system and storage control method - The correspondence between a plurality of virtual storage positions in a virtual volume for logically holding a snapshot image of a main volume in which data elements transmitted from a higher-level device are written and a plurality of address information elements indicating a plurality of actual storage positions of a plurality of data elements constituting the snapshot image is managed. In the initial backup, all the data elements stored in all the actual storage positions indicated by a plurality of address information elements are backed up, then storage positions where a difference has occurred between the virtual volume and the backup destination storage device is managed, and in the next and subsequent backups, data elements on the storage positions specified from the address information elements corresponding to the differentially managed storage positions are backed up. | 10-02-2008 |
| 20080250214 | Method and System for Insuring Data Integrity in Anticipation of a Disaster - A preparation of a storage system of a pending disaster at an onsite location of the storage system involves the storage system receiving a disaster preparation initiation from an offsite client. In response to receiving the disaster preparation initiation from the offsite client, the storage system to executes disaster preparation of onsite data including managing a temporary storage of onsite data volumes to at least one peer site, managing a storage of onsite cached data to a first onsite removable media, and/or managing a storage of onsite management information to a second onsite removable media. | 10-09-2008 |
| 20080250215 | Method for replicating snapshot volumes between storage systems - An apparatus, system, and method for replicating a snapshot volume in a first storage system to a second storage system includes mapping information corresponding to data in the first storage system that is transferred from the first storage system to the second storage system so that a file system in the second storage system can mount the data after replication. Replication of the snapshot volume can be accomplished using a remote copy mechanism. The snapshot volume can be obtained from a primary source volume P-VOL and a differential source volume D-VOL. If the corresponding destination volumes are not known, a search is conducted to locate appropriate volumes in the second storage system. Mapping information regarding these destination volumes is utilized to enable the file system in the second storage system to mount the replicated snapshot volume. | 10-09-2008 |
| 20080256311 | SNAPSHOT PRESERVED DATA CLONING - A method and device for cloning snapshots is provided. A new snapshot can be created by cloning an existing snapshot. The clone snapshot may use the preserved data of the existing snapshot, thereby obviating the need to copy the preserved data. Additionally, the clone snapshot may be created with a data structure for storing write data. Since the clone snapshot initially has no write data to store, the creation of the entire clone snapshot can be accomplished without copying any preserved data or write data from the existing snapshot, thereby increasing the efficiency with which a clone snapshot can be created. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080256312 | APPARATUS AND METHOD TO DETECT AND REPAIR A BROKEN DATASET - A method is disclosed to detect and repair a broken dataset. The method creates and maintains a backup log and an update log for a dataset. If the method finds a dataset structural error, then the method deletes the corrupted dataset, obtains the most current backup copy of the dataset, obtains all dataset updates made after the most current backup copy of the dataset was saved, and generates a recovered dataset using the most current backup and the dataset updates. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080256313 | System, Method And Computer Program Product For Remote Mirroring - A method for remote mirroring, the method includes: (a) establishing a remote mirroring relationship between a primary site and a secondary site; (b) copying data from the primary site to the secondary site; and (c) writing status information by a primary site controller to a first memory space at the secondary site, the first memory space is allocated for storing status information representative of a relationship between (i) data stored in the primary site but destined to be copied to the secondary site and (ii) data copied from the primary site to the secondary site. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080256314 | CONTROLLED ANTICIPATION IN CREATING A SHADOW COPY - Controlling data retention of a collection of data in a data store. An instruction is received to store a shadow collection of data to the data store. The data store has a previous version of the shadow collection of data. An available amount of data storage space on the data store is identified. An amount of data storage space needed is estimated for storing the shadow collection of data to the data store based on the received instruction. It is determined whether the identified available amount of data storage space is sufficient for storing the estimated amount of data storage space. The shadow collection of data is stored to the data store when said determine indicates that the identified available amount of data storage space is sufficient and the previous version is permitted to be deleted or to be overwritten. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080256315 | BACKUP SYSTEM, BACKUP DEVICE, BACKUP REQUEST DEVICE, BACKUP METHOD, BACKUP REQUEST METHOD, BACKUP PROGRAM AND BACKUP REQUEST PROGRAM - In a backup system, a backup request device includes: a storage section that stores a piece of content data; and a transmission section that regards the piece of content data as a piece of backup target data and transmits, along with a piece of device identification information, a piece of backup information including a piece of data quality information and a piece of content identification information, while a backup device includes: a storage section that stores a piece of backup data that is the same content as the piece of backup target data and whose data quality is higher than or equal to the piece of backup target data such that it is associated with the piece of content identification information; and a control section that stores the received piece of backup information in the storage section such that it is associated with the received piece of device identification information. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080256316 | Mirroring System Memory In Non-Volatile Random Access Memory (NVRAM) For Fast Power On/Off Cycling - A computer comprising a processor, a volatile main store, a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) mirror store, and optionally a cache for the non-volatile mirror store. While programs of the computer are operational, the contents of the volatile main store are mirrored in the non-volatile mirror store such that when a startup signal is received, the contents of the volatile main store are quickly restored from the contents of the non-volatile mirror store. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080263299 | Storage System and Control Method Thereof - A storage system and a control method thereof that can avoid performance degradation of a write command from a host are provided. In the storage system, when a request for conversion from snapshot to actual data copy is received, first, a copy difference table is scanned from its leading bit without deleting a pair of original volume and snapshot in a pair table, non-copy data is copied from the original volume to a pool volume, a corresponding bit in the copy difference table is changed to a copied one after the copying is completed, and a corresponding bit in the data match difference table is changed to match. Regarding all bits in the copy difference table, the above-mentioned processed is completed, and thereafter backup type of the pair table is changed to actual data copy. | 10-23-2008 |
| 20080270717 | MEMORY MODULE AND METHOD FOR MIRRORING DATA BY RANK - A memory module including first and second ranks is provided. Each rank includes a separate plurality of individually accessible memory locations. Also included in the memory module is a control circuit coupled with the first rank and the second rank. The control circuit is configured to receive a write command for writing data to the first rank, and to process the write command to write the data to both the first rank and the second rank. Another embodiment of the invention features the control circuit alone. | 10-30-2008 |
| 20080270718 | USER INTERFACE INDICATOR FOR MOBILE DEVICE BACKUP STATUS - Systems and methods are provided for performing data backup of a communication device. Data backup can occur automatically or manually. A data backup status indicator is displayed on the communication device indicating the current status of the data backup. The user can select the data backup status indicator to obtain additional information about the status of the data backup service. | 10-30-2008 |
| 20080270719 | Method and system for efficient snapshot operations in mass-storage arrays - Embodiments of the present invention are directed to efficient snapshot operations that produce multiple, useable snapshot logical units when successively directed to a logical unit, and to mass-storage arrays that support such efficient snapshot operations. In one embodiment of the present invention, allocate-on-write techniques are employed for handling WRITE access operations directed to storage-allocation units not yet overwritten following a snapshot operation. The allocate-on-WRITE technique is enhanced by a background process that continuously defragments the logical-storage-allocation-unit address space referenced by the original logical unit. | 10-30-2008 |
| 20080270720 | MANAGEMENT DEVICE AND MANAGEMENT METHOD - A management device and management method capable of improving usability of a storage system is proposed. The management device and the management method for managing data migration between volumes in a storage system in which normal volumes to which fixed storage areas are allocated in advance and virtual volumes to which storage areas are dynamically allocated according to use status coexist as types of volumes for reading and writing data is arranged so that information regarding each volume is collected, and based on the collected information, at least a total logical capacity that is a summation of logical capacities determined in advance for the respective volume is separately displayed for normal volumes and virtual volumes. | 10-30-2008 |
| 20080270721 | ADDRESSING SECURITY IN WRITES TO MEMORY - A computer includes a processor. When an instruction to be executed by the processor involves writing to memory, the write can be redirected to a temporary page of memory. The correct amount of data can then be copied from the temporary page to the original target memory address. The advantages of the invention can be achieved, among other possibilities, via re-compiling the program or modifying instructions before execution. | 10-30-2008 |
| 20080270722 | Method and Apparatus for Decreasing Shared Memory Data Corruption - The shared memory includes a header section and a data section, wherein said header section includes at least two headers in which control information is stored. The method comprises the steps of: judging whether or not there is data corruption in one of said at least two headers; and copying the control information in any one of other headers to said one header if there is data corruption in said one header. A method for controlling access to a shared memory is also disclosed. | 10-30-2008 |
| 20080282047 | METHODS AND APPARATUS TO BACKUP AND RESTORE DATA FOR VIRTUALIZED STORAGE AREA - Information about management of virtualization (i.e. mapping between physical area/data/objects and logical area/data/objects) is provided by a storage system to a backup appliance (or common computer) that performs backup and restore of data. The backup appliance uses the information to recognize the mapping and to perform backup and restore process based on the mapping. Therefore the backup appliance handles only physical (really existing) area/data/objects to perform backup and restore rather than virtual ones. This realizes reducing the amount of data to be transferred and backed up, thus the problems mentioned above are solved. | 11-13-2008 |
| 20080282048 | CONTROLLER, CONTROL SYSTEM, AND CONTROL PROGRAM - The controller of the present invention provides a transfer rate determiner determining a transfer rate of the backup data transmitted from a plurality of apparatuses through a communication link on the basis of the achievement of transfer rates in the past, a schedule adjuster generating a schedule by editing the transfer rates of the backup data determined with the transfer rate determiner, and a backup operation backing up the backup data in accordance with the generated schedule edited with the schedule adjuster. | 11-13-2008 |
| 20080282049 | STORAGE CONTROLLER, CONTROL METHOD OF THE SAME, AND INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM - In the storage controller of the present invention, different difference bitmaps are used for predetermined sections respectively, whereby the difference between the primary volume and the base volume is managed for each section, and the data are protected efficiently. The difference between the primary volume and the base volume is managed by using the difference bitmaps that are different for the respective sections. The journal data after a lapse of the targeted protection period are written to the base volume and then discarded. At the time of recovery, the difference bitmaps are merged to create a new difference bitmap, and the difference is copied from the base volume to the primary volume. Thereafter, the journal data up to the designated restoration point are written to the primary volume. | 11-13-2008 |
| 20080288734 | Mail processing computer automatic recovery system and method - An improved method and system to return a mail processing control computer back into operation after a hard drive failure. A first phase is a back-up process for the primary drive of the mail processing computer. A second phase is the recovery process when a primary hard drive failure occurs. The back-up process includes copying the primary drive to be protected to a spare backup drive. The data copied to the backup drive reflects data of the primary drive at a particular point in time. Once the backup drive is installed, the machine returns to normal operation. In the course of normal operation, incremental changes to the primary hard drive are recorded to a backup computer. When there is a failure of the primary drive, a new primary drive is installed in its place. An image of the backup drive is then copied to the new primary drive, thereby causing the new primary drive to reflect the original primary drive at the particular point in time. Next, the incremental changes recorded in the backup computer are updated to the primary drive from the backup computer. | 11-20-2008 |
| 20080294859 | PERFORMING BACKUP OPERATIONS FOR A VOLUME GROUP OF VOLUMES - Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture for performing backup operations for a volume group of volumes. Information on a volume group associating a plurality of volumes and backup settings is maintained. A volume group is selected to which the backup settings apply. A volume group associates hosts and volumes, indicating the hosts that are enabled to access the volumes in the volume group. Automatic backup operations for the selected volume group are invoked to generate backup information for the volume group indicating backups performed with respect to the volumes associated with the volume group, process the backup information for the volume group to determine whether to perform a backup with respect to the volume group according to the backup settings, and backup each volume in the volume group in response to determining to perform the backup operation for the volume group. | 11-27-2008 |
| 20080294860 | SYSTEM AND PROGRAM FOR REPLICATING A FILE - Provided are a method, system, and program for replicating a file. A file is copied to a target storage file system stored as a base file. A reference file comprising the copied file is generated at a local storage. An update is applied to the file at the local storage. A delta file is generated indicating differences between the updated file at the local storage and the reference file. A file system command is used to transmit the delta file to the target storage file system store to store in a directory of the target storage file system, wherein the file in the local storage is replicated at the target storage by a combination of the base file and the delta file. | 11-27-2008 |
| 20080294861 | RESTRICTING THE EXECUTION OF COPY SERVICES COMMANDS - A system and method for controlling peer-to-peer remote copy (PPRC) operations initiated from one or more host devices that desire to store data contents written to a first storage system to a second storage system over a communications link. The system enables receipt and generation of copy services commands from host devices and the determination of whether a received command pertains to a copy service over an established PPRC relationship for that particular customer to enable that customer to perform storage operations effecting data written to a first storage server having source volumes and stored in a remote second storage system having target volumes. The copy services command effecting data contents of source volumes and/or remote target volumes will be enabled if it is determined that said PPRC relationship is already established for that customer; and, prevented if the received copy services command does effect any volume not already in a copy services relationship. | 11-27-2008 |
| 20080301385 | STORAGE CONTROLLER AND CONTROL METHOD FOR THE SAME - An object of the invention is to provide a storage controller and control method that can efficiently and easily prevent reduced data I/O processing performance due to an imbalance between loads on controllers. In the storage controller and control method for providing, to a host computer, logical volumes created in a storage area provided by a storage device and controlling data I/O to/from the logical volumes, the state of loads on the control units for controlling data I/O to/from the logical volumes is monitored, and a control unit allocated to a logical volume is changed to another control unit to equalize loads on the control units. | 12-04-2008 |
| 20080301386 | REMOTE COPY SYSTEM AND REMOTE COPY CONTROL METHOD - Providing a remote copy system for performing remote copy between a plurality of sites each constituted by a plurality of storage subsystems, wherein even if sub-data volumes at the remote site belong to the different storage subsystems, the update order of data copied from the main site to these sub-data volumes can be maintained in these sub-data volumes. Pieces of update data for a plurality of primary data volumes at the main site are sequenced and collectively stored in a common primary journal volume, the pieces of update data in the primary journal volume are remote-copied to a sub-journal volume shared by a plurality of storage subsystems at the remote site, the pieces of update data in the sub-journal volume are sorted in a time order and allocated to a plurality of sub-data volumes belonging to different storage subsystems to be written therein. | 12-04-2008 |
| 20080301387 | METHOD AND ARRANGEMENT FOR SECURING USER-DEFINABLE DATA OF A FRANKING MACHINE - In a method for data backup of a franking machine in which, in a data backup step, a connection is established between the franking machine and a remote data center via a communication network, data stored in the franking machine are transmitted to the data center as backup data in a transmission step, and the backup data are stored in the data center in a storage step. The backup data include user-definable configuration data of the franking machine that are definable by the user of the franking machine for configuration of the franking machine. | 12-04-2008 |
| 20080307175 | System Setup for Electronic Backup - Systems and methods are provided for storing and restoring digital data. In some implementations, a method is provided. The method includes detecting a remote storage device, prompting the user to use the detected remote storage device for backup operations, receiving a user input to use the detected remote storage device for backup operations, and automatically configuring backup operations using the remote storage device. Other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding systems, apparatus, computer program products, and computer readable media. | 12-11-2008 |
| 20080307176 | Storage System and Setting Method for Storage Configuration Information - Pairs are formed from a plurality of dispersed volumes and copying between the volumes is conducted by a series of remote operations from a management server. A management server | 12-11-2008 |
| 20080307177 | PROGRAM CONVERSION DEVICE - An analysis section analyzes the live range of a first variable shared among subroutines and the live range of a second variable used only in a subroutine. The allocation section allocates the second variable in an allocation memory for the first variable if the live ranges of the first and second variables do not overlap each other. | 12-11-2008 |
| 20080307178 | DATA MIGRATION - The present invention provides for a method for managing the storage of data in a computing system that includes a data processor and local physical storage, involving the steps of: defining a virtual storage volume for access by the data processor, the data processor including a local storage pool mapped to the local physical storage and a remote storage pool mapped to physical storage at a remote site, and the virtual storage volume being overallocated with respect to the local storage pool; and migrating data between the local storage pool and the remote storage pool according to a defined migration policy. | 12-11-2008 |
| 20080307179 | SHARED DATA MIRRORING APPARATUS, METHOD, AND SYSTEM - A network component useful in tracking write activity by writing logs containing write address information is described. The tracking component may be used in networked systems employing data mirrors to record data block addresses written to a primary storage volume during the time a data mirror is unavailable. The tracking component can be available to any network originating node, and may therefore track write activity on multiple volumes. At the time a data mirror is reconstructed, the log written may be used to construct a list of block addresses pointing to locations on a primary storage volume wherein data differs from a secondary storage volume member of the mirror. The locations may be copied from the primary to secondary storage volume to reconstruct the data mirror. The performance impact of the tracking component is minimal and a shared network resource is offered that increases fault tolerance in the event of backup device failures. | 12-11-2008 |
| 20080313413 | Method and Device for Insuring Consistent Memory Contents in Redundant Memory Units - In a telecommunications or data processing system having at least one active control unit and at least one redundant passive control unit that are respectively provided with at least one memory unit, the following operations are performed: (a) a mirroring routine is invoked when a virtual memory region in a memory unit of an active control unit, having a memory content that is to be mirrored to a memory unit of the at least one redundant passive control unit, is accessed by writing; (b) during execution of the mirroring routine, the memory content to be written is copied into a memory region in the memory unit of the at least one redundant passive control unit; and (c) the writing access to the active control unit, which has led to the invocation of the mirroring routine, is repeated in the mirroring routine, on another virtual memory region that is imaged onto the same address as the memory region. | 12-18-2008 |
| 20080313414 | EXECUTION OF POINT-IN-TIME COPY OPERATIONS IN CONTINUOUS MIRRORING ENVIRONMENTS - Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture wherein a point-in-time copy operation command for a point-in-time copy of a point-in-time source volume to a point-in-time target volume is received while performing continuous copy operations from continuous copy source volumes to continuous copy target volumes. A determination is made as to whether the point-in-time target volume is a first continuous copy source volume and whether the point-in-time source volume is a second continuous copy source volume. A determination is made of metadata corresponding to the point-in-time copy operation, in response to determining that the point-in-time target volume is the first continuous copy source volume and the point-in-time source volume is the second continuous copy source volume. Point-in-time copy operations are performed on the continuous copy target volumes based on the determined metadata to execute the point-in-time copy operation command while performing the continuous copy operations. | 12-18-2008 |
| 20080313415 | Copied file execution authorization using RFID tag - In a method for controlling execution of a digital copy of an original file, a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag read operation is performed using an RFID tag reader. A determination is then made as to whether the physical storage medium is present or absent based on the RFID tag read operation. The digital copy of the original media file is executed when the physical storage medium is determined to be present and execution of the digital copy of the original media file is disabled when the physical storage medium is determined to be absent. | 12-18-2008 |
| 20080313416 | METHOD, SYSTEM AND PROGRAM FOR STORING AND USING METADATA IN MULTIPLE STORAGE LOCATIONS - Provided are a method, system, and program for storing and using metadata in multiple storage location. Signature data is stored in a system storage indicating a plurality of metadata copy locations, each locating identifying a storage device and a copy location within the storage device. Each location contains one copy of the metadata, wherein the metadata includes system configuration information. A copy of the signature data is stored with each copy of the metadata. | 12-18-2008 |
| 20080320258 | SNAPSHOT RESET METHOD AND APPARATUS - A method, device, and system for resetting snapshots are provided. The reset of a snapshot incorporates the traditional snapshot delete and snapshot create operations into a single operation. Additionally, a snapshot created under the reset operation may receive an array partition from a snapshot being deleted under the same snapshot reset operation thereby retaining its identifying characteristics. | 12-25-2008 |
| 20080320259 | Method for Providing Fault Tolerance to Multiple Servers - A method for providing fault tolerance to multiple computer servers is disclosed. Basically, t backup computer servers are utilized to back up data from multiple active computer servers such that up to t faults can be tolerated. Data from the active computer servers are categorized under their respective data structure accordingly. In response to any access to data within one or more of the active computer servers, backup operations are performed on the accessed data in the t backup computer servers according to their data structures such that data with similar data structures are grouped under their respective fusible data structure within the t backup computer servers. | 12-25-2008 |
| 20080320260 | Data Synchronization of Multiple Remote Storage After Remote Copy suspension - A method and apparatus are provided for enhancing the performance of storage systems to allow recovery after all types of suspensions in remote copy operations. Data is synchronized after an interruption in transfer between a first storage volume of a primary storage system and a first storage volume of a secondary storage system which also includes a second storage volume. After the interruption is detected, at the primary storage system, a record is provided of the data written onto the first storage volume of the primary storage system, and at the secondary storage volume a record is provided of the data written onto the first storage volume of the secondary storage system. Then, at least a partial copy of the record of the data written onto the first storage volume of the primary storage system is written onto the second storage volume. Using the copy, the first storage volume of the secondary storage system is synchronized with the second storage volume of the secondary storage system. | 12-25-2008 |
| 20080320261 | Coordinated Storage Management Operations In Replication Environment - A method, system, computer system, and computer-readable medium for maintaining up-to-date, consistent copies of primary data without the need to replicate modified data when the data were modified as a result of an operation that is not an application-driven write operation captured during replication. Selected storage management operations are performed on the primary and secondary data stores at points in time when the data are the same to ensure that the data stored within the data stores remain consistent. These selected storage management operations include operations that produce modified data stored in the primary data store, where a portion of the modified data are not replicated to a secondary node. Other types of storage management operations are selected to be performed on both the primary and secondary data stores, where the operations do not directly change data in the primary data store, but may affect data stored in the primary data store. | 12-25-2008 |
| 20090006791 | DATA MOVEMENT AND INITIALIZATION AGGREGATION - A system and method for copying and initializing a block of memory. To copy several data entities from a source region of memory to a destination region of memory, an instruction may copy each data entity one at a time. If an aggregate condition is determined to be satisfied, multiple data entities may be copied simultaneously. The aggregate condition may rely on an aggregate data size, the size of the data entities to be copied, and the alignment of the source and destination addresses. | 01-01-2009 |
| 20090006792 | System and Method to Identify Changed Data Blocks - Differences between data objects stored on a mass storage device can be identified quickly and efficiently by comparing block numbers stored in data structures that describe the data objects. Bit-by-bit or byte-by-byte comparisons of the objects' actual data need only be performed if the block numbers are different. Objects that share many data blocks can be compared much faster than by a direct comparison of all the objects' data. The fast comparison techniques can be used to improve storage server mirrors and database storage operations, among other applications. | 01-01-2009 |
| 20090006793 | Method And Apparatus To Enable Runtime Memory Migration With Operating System Assistance - In a method for switching to a spare memory module during runtime, a processing system determines that utilization of an active memory module in the processing system should be discontinued. The processing system may then activate a mirror copy mode that causes a memory controller in the processing system to copy data from the active memory module to the spare memory module when the data is accessed in the active memory module. An operating system (OS) in the processing system may then access data in the active memory module to cause the memory controller to copy data from the active memory module to the spare memory module. The processing system may then reconfigure the memory controller to direct reads and writes to the spare memory module instead of the active memory module. Other embodiments are described and claimed. | 01-01-2009 |
| 20090006794 | Asynchronous remote copy system and control method for the same - Provided is a control method for an asynchronous remote copy system, the method including: fixing data in a secondary volume; determining a certain area in the secondary volume that contains data required to be copied to a primary volume from the secondary volume in which the data is fixed; copying the data in the certain area to the primary volume; and swapping the primary volume and the secondary volume for restarting the asynchronous remote copy. | 01-01-2009 |
| 20090013138 | Backup archive management - Apparatus, systems, and methods may operate to taking a snapshot of an origin volume in conjunction with a backup process in response to receiving a snapshot request by a snapshot service. A persistent time stamp associated with the creation time of the snapshot may be recorded on the origin volume. The persistent time stamp is accessible to the file system process associated with the origin volume in most embodiments. If access to a file is requested, the time the file was last modified may be compared with the persistent time stamp, and if the file modified time is earlier than the persistent time stamp, the file's archive bit can be reset. Otherwise, the archive bit is not reset. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed. | 01-08-2009 |
| 20090013139 | APPARATUS AND METHOD TO PREVENT DATA LOSS IN NONVOLATILE MEMORY - An apparatus for preventing data loss of a nonvolatile memory device and a method thereof are presented The apparatus includes a nonvolatile memory including a memory cell which writes bit information to a first page and a second page included in a first block using plural states which are implemented using at least 2 bits, and a data-processing unit which writes the bit information of the first page to a second block in the nonvolatile memory while the bit information is written to the second page after the bit information is written to the first page. | 01-08-2009 |
| 20090013140 | HARDWARE ACCELERATION OF COMMONALITY FACTORING WITH REMOVABLE MEDIA - Systems and methods for commonality factoring for storing data on removable storage media are described. The systems and methods allow for highly compressed data, e.g., data compressed using archiving or backup methods including de-duplication, to be stored in an efficient manner on portable memory devices such as removable storage cartridges. The methods include breaking data, e.g., data files for backup, into unique chunks and calculating identifiers, e.g., hash identifiers, based on the unique chunks. Redundant chunks can be identified by calculating identifiers and comparing identifiers of other chunks to the identifiers of unique chunks previously calculated. When a redundant chunk is identified, a reference to the existing unique chunk is generated such that the chunk can be reconstituted in relation to other chunks in order to recreate the original data. The method further includes storing one or more of the unique chunks, the identifiers and/or the references on the removable storage medium. The acceleration hardware and/or software can reside in multiple devices, depending on the embodiment. For example, hardware and/or software for the chunking and/or hashing functions can reside in one or more of a host computer, a removable storage device, a removable cartridge holder and the removable storage cartridge. | 01-08-2009 |
| 20090019246 | Power efficient storage with data de-duplication - Power consumption in a storage system is reduced by selectively controlling power supplied to the storage devices, while also incorporating a de-duplication function to reduce the amount of required storage capacity. First storage devices are initially in a powered on condition and second storage devices are in a powered off condition. Write data received by the controller is initially stored to a first volume allocated from the first storage devices. While the second storage devices are powered on, content of the write data stored in the first volume is compared with content of any existing data stored in a second volume allocated on the second storage devices. When results of the comparison show that the content of the write data does not match the content of the existing data, the write data is stored to the second volume. | 01-15-2009 |
| 20090024812 | COPYING WRITES FROM PRIMARY STORAGES TO SECONDARY STORAGES ACROSS DIFFERENT NETWORKS - Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture for copying writes from primary storages to secondary storages across different networks. A failure notification is communicated, using a first network protocol, from a primary device in a first group of at least one primary device and at least one corresponding primary storage managed by the at least one primary device to a control system in response to the primary device determining that a write to the primary storage cannot be copied to a corresponding secondary storage. A failure notification is communicated, using a second network protocol, from a primary device in a second group of at least one primary device and at least one corresponding primary storage managed by the at least one primary device to the control system in response to the primary device determining that a write to the corresponding primary storage cannot be copied to a corresponding secondary storage. A freeze command is received, from the control system using the first network protocol at the at least one primary device in the first group. A freeze command is received, from the control system using the second network protocol at the at least one primary device in the second group. The copying of writes from the primary storages in the first and second groups to the corresponding secondary storages is suspended in response to receiving the freeze commands. | 01-22-2009 |
| 20090024813 | Recoverability of a dataset associated with a multi-tier storage system - Embodiments of the present invention pertain to improving recoverability of a dataset associated with a multi-tier storage system. According to one embodiment, updates to a dataset are stored in first storage. The dataset and a point-in-time copy of the dataset reside on second storage, and the first storage provides higher reliability than the second storage. The dataset is restored using at least a subset of the stored updates in combination with the point-in-time copy in the event that the dataset is lost. | 01-22-2009 |
| 20090024814 | PROVIDING AN ADMINISTRATIVE PATH FOR ACCESSING A WRITEABLE MASTER STORAGE VOLUME IN A MIRRORED STORAGE ENVIRONMENT - A technique provides an administrative path for accessing a writeable master storage volume in a mirrored storage environment. Illustratively, a writeable master storage volume stores a master set of data addressable by a corresponding pathname, and zero or more read-only (e.g., load-balancing) mirrored storage volumes are configured to store a mirrored set of the master set of data, the mirrored set also addressable by the corresponding pathname. Clients may read data from either the master storage volume or one of the mirrored storage volumes (e.g., according to a configured access location, such as a local mirrored volume if one exists) by issuing read requests having the corresponding pathnames. Also, each client may specifically access the master set of data from the master storage volume by issuing an access (e.g., read/write) request having a specified master storage volume pathname prefix prepended to the corresponding pathname. | 01-22-2009 |
| 20090024815 | REMOTE COPY SYSTEM - A remote copy system includes a plurality of first storage systems and a plurality of second storage systems. Each first storage system assigns a sequential number to write data received from the host and sends the write data with the sequential number to the second storage system. One of the first storage systems defers the processing of the write request received from the host and instructs each of the first storage systems to create a marker, whereupon each of the first storage systems defers the processing of the write request, creates a marker including a sequential number and having a marker number, and sends the marker to the second storage system. Each of the second storage systems, when receiving a marker from the first storage system, stores the marker number included in the marker. One of the second storage systems reads the marker number stored by each of the second storage systems and reports to each of the second storage systems the marker number of smallest value of the marker numbers which were thus read. Each of the second storage systems writes to a logical volume in sequential number order write data, of the write data received from the first storage system, that includes a sequential number of a value smaller than the sequential number of the marker including the marker number reported from one of the second storage systems. | 01-22-2009 |
| 20090031096 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RECOVERING FROM A SYSTEM FAILURE - An apparatus and method for rapidly resuming the processing of client requests after a system failure event are disclosed. Accordingly, a surviving storage system, upon detecting a system failure event at a partner storage system, executes a takeover routine and conditions its system memory to reflect the state of the system memory of the failed storage system by processing client requests or commands stored in an operations log mirror. Then, the storage system converts the unused portion of the log mirror for use as an operations log, and resumes processing client requests prior to flushing any data to storage devices. | 01-29-2009 |
| 20090031097 | Creating Backups in Storage Systems - Embodiments include methods, apparatus, and systems for creating backups in storage systems. One embodiment includes a method that uses a background process to asynchronously copy data from a production virtual disk (vdisk) to a two-tier mirrorclone on a backup disk in a storage system. | 01-29-2009 |
| 20090031098 | Variable partitioning in a hybrid memory subsystem - A memory subsystem may include logic to make available to the device into which it is installed at least one portion of the volatile memory that will be backed up to the nonvolatile memory in the event of device power failure. The logic may make available to the device at least one portion of the volatile memory that will not be backed up to the nonvolatile memory in the event of device power failure, and make available to the device at least one portion of the nonvolatile memory that is not reserved for backups from the volatile memory. | 01-29-2009 |
| 20090031099 | Power interrupt recovery in a hybrid memory subsystem - A memory subsystem includes volatile memory and nonvolatile memory, and logic to interrupt a power down save operation of the memory subsystem upon detection of a restoration of system power, and to enable use of the memory subsystem by the system if sufficient nonvolatile memory capacity of the memory subsystem is available to backup an amount of the volatile memory capacity of the memory subsystem. | 01-29-2009 |
| 20090037676 | DYNAMIC TIMER CONFIGURATION FOR MONITORING A LONG BUSY STATE IN A REMOTE MIRROR AND COPY ENVIRONMENT - A system is disclosed that includes a host system to issue a write command, a primary storage controller to write data to a primary volume, and a secondary storage controller to mirror the data to a secondary volume. In the event the secondary storage controller is unable to mirror the data due to a busy state, a busy signal may be sent to the primary storage controller. The primary storage controller may initiate a timer in the event it receives the busy signal, and, in the event the busy state does not end before expiration of the timer, notify the host system that the primary and secondary volumes are in a suspended state. To alter the duration of the timer, the host system may be configured to dynamically alter the duration of the timer by sending a command to the primary storage controller. | 02-05-2009 |
| 20090037677 | DYNAMIC TIMER CONFIGURATION FOR TASK MONITORING IN A REMOTE MIRROR AND COPY ENVIRONMENT - A system is disclosed that includes a host system to issue a write command, a primary storage device to write data to a primary volume, and a secondary storage device to mirror the data to a secondary volume. A task timer may be initiated upon sending the data from the primary storage device to the secondary storage device. The secondary storage device may also send an acknowledge signal to the primary storage device in the event it successfully mirrors the data to the secondary volume. In the event the acknowledge signal is not received before the timer expires, the primary storage device may notify the host system that the primary and secondary volumes are in a suspended state. To alter the duration of the timer, the host system may be further configured to dynamically alter the duration of the timer by sending a command to the primary storage device. | 02-05-2009 |
| 20090037678 | PROTECTED PORTION OF PARTITION MEMORY FOR COMPUTER CODE - A system comprises a plurality of computing nodes and a plurality of separate memory devices. A separate memory device is associated with each computing node. The separate memory devices are configured as partition memory in which memory accesses are interleaved across multiple of such memory devices. A protected portion of the partition memory is reserved for use by complex management (CM) code that coordinates partitions implemented on the system. The protected portion of partition memory is restricted from access by operating systems running in the partitions. | 02-05-2009 |
| 20090037679 | DATA MIGRATION WITHOUT INTERRUPTING HOST ACCESS - A system includes a source storage device, a target storage device, a host coupled to the source storage device and the target storage device, and a first migration device coupled to the source storage device and the target storage device. The first migration device includes a first virtual storage device. The first migration device is configured to migrate data from the source storage device to the target storage device, and the first virtual storage device is configured to receive write access requests for the data from the host during the data migration and send the access request to the source storage device and target storage device. | 02-05-2009 |
| 20090037680 | ONLINE VIRTUAL MACHINE DISK MIGRATION - A method for migrating a virtual machine disk (VM disk) from first physical storage to second physical storage while the virtual machine (VM) is running, the method comprising: (a) taking a snapshot of the VM disk as represented by a first parent VM disk stored on the first physical storage, whereby a first child VM disk is created on one of the first or second physical storage; (b) copying the first parent VM disk to the second physical storage as a second parent VM disk; (c) re-parenting the first VM child disk to the second parent VM disk; and (d) consolidating the first child VM disk and the second parent VM disk. | 02-05-2009 |
| 20090037681 | Computer-readable storage medium in which storage-management program is recorded, storage-management apparatus, and storage-management method - A storage-management apparatus and method that manages storage areas. The storage-management apparatus includes a collecting unit that collects valid-area-determination information items, each of which shows whether a corresponding one of the storage areas is a valid or invalid area, and timestamp information items, each of which shows that a corresponding one of the storage areas has been accessed. In accordance with the valid-area-determination information items and the timestamp information items, data from a storage area which is selected from among valid areas and whose timestamp information item is oldest is copied to a storage area which is selected from among invalid areas and whose timestamp information item is oldest, and timestamp information items and valid-area-determination information items concerning the storage area from which the data is copied and concerning the storage area to which the data is copied is updated. | 02-05-2009 |
| 20090043977 | METHOD FOR PERFORMING A SNAPSHOT IN A DISTRIBUTED SHARED FILE SYSTEM - A method for performing a snapshot in a distributed shared file system (DSFS) is provided. The method includes synchronizing a snapshot operation among a plurality of domains of the DSFS; writing pending write requests to a memory to suspend write operations for the domains of the DSFS; and after the writing the pending write requests, generating a snapshot file comprising data items representing a current state of the DSFS. | 02-12-2009 |
| 20090043978 | EFFICIENT HIERARCHICAL STORAGE MANAGEMENT OF A FILE SYSTEM WITH SNAPSHOTS - A method is provided for managing the storage of a file that has been selected for migration from a first storage level within a file system to a second storage level. The method comprises copying each of one or more data blocks of the selected file that are stored in the first storage level at a physical disk address maintained in a corresponding reference of an inode for the selected file from the first storage level to the second storage level; maintaining a logical ditto address in each reference of an inode for each snapshot file in the file system that refers to one of the one or more data blocks of the selected file that were copied to the second storage level; and updating the file system to include a managed region for controlling access to the one or more data blocks through the inode for the selected file. | 02-12-2009 |
| 20090043979 | MANAGING WRITE REQUESTS TO DATA SETS IN A PRIMARY VOLUME SUBJECT TO BEING COPIED TO A SECONDARY VOLUME - Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture for managing write requests to data sets in a primary volume subject to being copied to a secondary volume. Information indicating data sets to copy from a primary storage to a secondary storage is generated. A write request is received to write data to a target data set indicated in the information to copy from the primary storage to the secondary storage. A determination is made as to whether the write request is part of a sequential write access. The target data set and sequential data sets following the target data set are copied from the primary storage to the secondary storage. The write request to write the data to the primary storage is executed in response to receiving acknowledgment that the target data set was copied to the secondary storage. | 02-12-2009 |
| 20090043980 | ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE AND SYSTEM FOR AUTONOMIC DATA CACHING AND COPYING ON A STORAGE AREA NETWORK AWARE FILE SYSTEM USING COPY SERVICES - Techniques are provided for processing a request. When the request is to read a data unit, information regarding the closest physical block locations is returned. When the request is to write to the data unit, information regarding one or more source block locations is returned, wherein the write is applied to one or more source blocks of the data unit. When a number of requests for the data unit exceed a threshold level and at least one quality of a service policy is not being met, a copy of the one or more source blocks of the data unit is created at a location selected based on proximity to at least one client computer from which the number of requests are high. | 02-12-2009 |
| 20090049258 | Method of verifying pseudo-code loaded in an embedded system, in particular a smart card - The invention relates to a verification of applications in interpreted language of the byte-code type (pseudo-code) loaded on portable electronic devices, in particular a chipcard and a method for verification of an application ( | 02-19-2009 |
| 20090049259 | CLUSTERED SNAPSHOTS IN NETWORKS - Apparatus, systems, and methods may operate to assign a plurality of managing nodes to manage a corresponding plurality of groups of blocks forming a portion of a snapshot volume for copy-on-write execution and snapshot write execution. Further operations include coordinating the copy-on-write execution and the snapshot write execution using a write completion map accessible to the managing nodes. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed. | 02-19-2009 |
| 20090049260 | HIGH PERFORMANCE DATA DEDUPLICATION IN A VIRTUAL TAPE SYSTEM - Data deduplication in a storage system, achieving high performance due to minimal overhead during a backup operation, reduced disk read operations to locate duplicate data and minimal impact for restore operations involving deduplicated data. | 02-19-2009 |
| 20090049261 | Method to accelerate block level snapshots in archiving storage systems - A device and method for connection to a host and transferring data between the host and data storage assembly. The device is preferably a storage system which initializes a logical unit (LUN) in the storage assembly. A persistent memory stores a data representation of clean areas in the LUN. The storage system receives data to be written from the host to a destination area in the LUN, and determines if the destination area in the LUN is a clean area or a dirty area as indicated in the persistent memory. The storage system effects a snapshot copy of data from the destination area in the LUN to an archive storage device of the storage assembly only if the destination area is not entirely a clean area. Bandwidth is likewise reduced in LUN copy and reconstruction operations. | 02-19-2009 |
| 20090049262 | EXTERNAL STORAGE AND DATA RECOVERY METHOD FOR EXTERNAL STORAGE AS WELL AS PROGRAM - The data is automatically recovered to a desired arbitrary point in an external storage without imposing a burden on the host computer. An application on a host computer instructs data recovery control processing of a disk control apparatus to set a recovery opportunity. It is possible to register arbitrary plural points as a recoverable point by setting a recovery flag included in journal data. In the case in which data is recovered due to occurrence of a failure or the like, the application requests a list showing recovery opportunities which have already been set. The application designates a point to which data is recovered on the basis of the recovery opportunity list. The disk control apparatus recovers the data to the designated point on the basis of a backup disk and a journal disk. | 02-19-2009 |
| 20090049263 | METHOD OF MIRRORING DATA BETWEEN CLUSTERED NAS SYSTEMS - Data of a global file system spread over multiple local NAS systems may be consolidated as a copy into a single remote NAS system. When remote copy is set up, the local NAS systems replace referrals within the global file system with directories and send these in place of the referrals to the remote NAS system. Then, other local NAS systems referred to by the referrals send files and directories under the directories replacing the referrals on the remote NAS system. Alternatively, to split copy data of a locally-stored global file system amongst multiple remote NAS systems, the local NAS system replaces specified directories with referrals, and sends the referrals with the data to one of the remote NAS systems. Then, the local NAS system sends files and directories under the directories replaced with referrals to one or more other remote NAS systems as referred to by the referrals. | 02-19-2009 |
| 20090055606 | CONVERTING BACKUP COPIES OF OBJECTS CREATED USING A FIRST BACKUP PROGRAM TO BACKUP COPIES CREATED USING A SECOND BACKUP PROGRAM - Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture for converting backup copies of objects created using a first backup program to backup copies created using a second backup program. A plurality of backup copies of versions of an object are created using a first backup program, wherein the object has an object name. The first backup program is used to restore at least one of the backup copies to a restored version of the object having a name different from the object name. A second backup program is used to create a backup copy of each restored version of the object. A name of a designated object is assigned to each backup copy created using the second backup program. Metadata of each backup copy created using the second backup program is updated with metadata for the designated object. | 02-26-2009 |
| 20090055607 | Systems and methods for adaptive copy on write - In one embodiment, a user or client device communicates with a distributed file system comprised of one or more physical nodes. The data on each of the physical nodes store metadata about files and directories within the file system. Some of the embodiments permit a user to take a snapshot of data stored on the file system. The snapshot may include a single file, a single directory, a plurality of files within a directory, a plurality of directories, a path on the file system that includes nested files and subdirectories, or more than one path on the file system that each includes nested files and directories. In some embodiments, systems and methods intelligently choose whether to use copy-on-write or point-in-time copy when saving data in a snapshot version of a file whose current version is being overwritten. In some embodiments, systems and methods allow snapshot users to return from a snapshot directory to the immediate parent directory from which the user entered into the snapshot. | 02-26-2009 |
| 20090055608 | PREVENTIVE MEASURE AGAINST DATA OVERFLOW FROM DIFFERENTIAL VOLUME IN DIFFERENTIAL REMOTE COPY - In a computer system that executes remote copy of differential data between snapshots, data overflow in a differential volume of a secondary site is prevented when update data of a primary volume increases in amount. A controller of a primary site predicts whether or not data overflow happens in the differential volume of the secondary site and, predicting that data overflow happens, delays data write processing in which a host computer writes data in the primary volume by a given period of time. | 02-26-2009 |
| 20090055609 | SYSTEMS FOR DYNAMICALLY RESIZING MEMORY POOLS - There are disclosed systems and computer program products for dynamically resizing memory pools used by database management systems. In one aspect, if a decrease in allocation to the memory pool is required, at least one page grouping that may be freed from the memory pool is identified as a candidate based on its position in a list of page groupings. If the page grouping contains any used memory blocks, the used memory blocks may be copied from a candidate page grouping to another page grouping in the list in order to free the candidate page grouping. Once the candidate page grouping is free of used memory blocks, the candidate page grouping may be freed from the memory pool. As an example, this system or computer program product may be used for dynamically resizing locklists or lock memory. | 02-26-2009 |
| 20090055610 | MAINTAINING CONSISTENCY FOR REMOTE COPY USING VIRTUALIZATION - Provided are a system and article of manufacture for copying storage, wherein a first unit receives data updates from a second unit. The data updates are stored in a plurality of physical storage locations associated with the first unit. Links are generated to at least one of the plurality of physical storage locations to achieve consistent data between the first unit and the second unit. | 02-26-2009 |
| 20090055611 | REORGANIZING A WAGERING GAME MACHINE'S NVRAM - This document discusses, among other things, systems and methods for managing the contents of NVRAM in a wagering game machine. A method copies a first data of an NVRAM module to a storage device, wherein the NVRAM module is associated with a wagering game machine and then copies a second data to the NVRAM module. | 02-26-2009 |
| 20090063794 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ENHANCED DATA STORAGE MANAGEMENT - A method and system for implementing enhanced data storage management are provided. The method includes compiling a list of all online disks for a data storage environment. For each disk in the list, the method includes querying a backup control database to obtain statistical information for the disk which includes a backup status of the disk. Responsive to the query, the method includes generating a first report that includes the statistical information of each of the disks in which a backup has been performed, and generating a second report for each of the disks in which no backup has been performed. The method further includes using the second report to determine whether to add the disks from the second report to a list of disks scheduled for backup based upon predefined criteria, and adding those disks from the second report to the list of disks scheduled for backup when the results of the determination match the predefined criteria. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090063795 | DE-DUPLICATION IN A VIRTUALIZED STORAGE ENVIRONMENT - A data de-duplication application de-duplicates redundant data in the pooled storage capacity of a virtualized storage environment. The virtualized storage environment includes a plurality of storage devices and a virtualization or abstraction layer that aggregates all or a portion of the storage capacity of each storage device into a single pool of storage capacity, all or portions of which can be allocated to one or more host systems. For each host system, the virtualization layer presents a representation of at least a portion of the pooled storage capacity wherein the corresponding host system can read and write data. The data de-duplication application identifies redundant data in the pooled storage capacity and replaces it with one or more pointers pointing to a single instance of the data. The de-duplication application can operate on fixed or variable size blocks of data and can de-duplicate data either post-process or in-line. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090063796 | Buddy replication - A method and apparatus for replicating instances of cache nodes in a cluster is described. In one embodiment, the number of available cache nodes in the cluster is determined. Available cache nodes from the cluster are selected based on a parameter. An instance of a cache node is replicated to only one of the selected cache nodes in the cluster. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090063797 | BACKUP DATA ERASURE METHOD - A computer system comprises a storage subsystem, a host computer and a management computer, and stores catalogue information containing correspondence between a first volume for data reading or writing and a second volume for storing a copy of the data stored in the first volume. The management computer requests the storage subsystem to erase the data stored in the first volume upon reception of an erasure request of the data stored in the first volume. The storage subsystem erases the data stored in the first volume. The management computer specifies a second volume for storing the copy of the data stored in the first volume based on the catalogue information. The storage subsystem erases data stored in the specified second volume. Thus, security risks are reduced by erasing data regarding the data when the data stored in the volume is erased. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090063798 | Data processing system having a plurality of storage systems - It is an object of the present invention to conduct data transfer or data copying between a plurality of storage systems, without affecting the host computer of the storage systems. Two or more auxiliary storage systems | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090070535 | HANDLING TEMPORARY FILES IN A FILE SYSTEM WITH SNAPSHOTS - A temporary file is identified. The temporary file includes a data block containing a first file image. A determination is made whether the temporary block has been included in a previous snapshot. Responsive to receiving a modification of the temporary block that has been included in the previous snapshot, a modified first image is created. The modified image is stored in the original file block, and the original image is copied to a newly allocated block. The original first block is updated to include a reference to the second block. | 03-12-2009 |
| 20090070536 | Managing snapshots using messages - A method and apparatus for managing snapshots of a file system using messages. A snapshot is a restorable version of a file system created at a predetermined point in time. A message is a persistent data structure supported by a file server. A message may include one or more snapshots, attributes for the message, and/or access control information for the message. The attributes and access control information are applied to all snapshots in the message. The attributes in the message enable users to perform automatic event-based management of the snapshots in the message. The access control information in the message provides granular access control to the snapshots in the message. | 03-12-2009 |
| 20090070537 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMATTING STORAGE MEDIUM - A method for formatting a storage medium. The method includes saving management information associated with data that is to be protected from the formatting, the management information indicating where the data to be protected is stored, formatting a management information area of the storage medium where the management information is stored, and recovering the saved management information to the management information area of the storage medium such that the data to be protected is accessible. | 03-12-2009 |
| 20090070538 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ACQUISITION AND UTILIZATION OF SNAPSHOTS - A computer system including: disk array system to cause a snapshot corresponding to the selected backup time accessible with the specific address to which the computer can access; wherein if the snapshot corresponding to the selected backup time is associated with the specific address to which the computer cannot access, then the disk array system making the snapshot accessible with an address to which the computer can access; and wherein the snapshot relates to differential data between initial backup data and actual backup data at the selected backup time, thereby an acquisition time of the snapshot is different than the selected backup time corresponding to the specific address that can be accessed initially by the computer. | 03-12-2009 |
| 20090070539 | Automated File Recovery Based on Subsystem Error Detection Results - The present invention provides a method and system for performing file recovery in a computer system coupled to a storage subsystem, wherein a data scrubbing process analyzes said storage subsystem for potential or existing storage errors. The method includes: receiving a report from said data scrubbing process describing said errors, including logical block addresses (LBAs) of storage locations containing errors; interacting with a file system created on logical unit numbers (LUN) provided by said storage subsystem in order to identify file information pertaining to the erroneous LBAs; moving the file pertaining to said erroneous LBAs to a different storage location; updating pointers to said file; in case of an unrecoverable, accessing a backup copy of said file from a backup location; if a predetermined degree of error severity is exceeded, creating an additional copy of said file; and updating the pointers to said file managed by the file system, respectively. | 03-12-2009 |
| 20090077332 | Content management system - A content management system constructed by a plurality of storage apparatuses that can communicate with one another. A 1st storage apparatus, which is one of the storage apparatuses, stores therein, in correspondence, a content and copy destination information and sends the content and the copy destination information therefrom to a 2nd storage apparatus, which is another one of the storage apparatuses. Yet another one of the storage apparatuses that is indicated by the copy destination information stores therein, in correspondence, the content and copy source information and, after the 1st storage apparatus has sent the content and the copy destination information to the 2nd storage apparatus, rewrite the copy source information such that the copy source information indicates the 2nd storage apparatus. | 03-19-2009 |
| 20090083503 | SYSTEM OF CREATING LOGICAL VOLUME AND METHOD THEREOF - A system of creating logical volume and method thereof is used to solve the problems such as creation steps are complicated, a space of storage medium is wasted and the number of snapshots to be created is limited. An available logical volume space and a timestamp storage area are allocated in the logical volume according to space allocation algorithm. According to original data and data amended at subsequent time point in the logical volume, copy-on-write operation is sequentially performed on the amended data in the logical volume to create a timestamp corresponding to the time point. The timestamp of the corresponding time point is stored in the timestamp storage area. A storage medium offset address pointer is created to record writing position of the copy-on-write operation of the corresponding time point. And the pointer is stored in the storage medium to serve as index information of address of each timestamp. | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090083504 | Data Integrity Validation in Storage Systems - A data storage method comprises storing first data in at least a first data chunk, wherein the first data chunk is a logical representation of one or more sectors on at least a first disk drive in a storage system; storing first metadata, associated with the first data, in at least a first appendix, wherein the first appendix is a logical representation of a sector region on at least the first disk drive in the storage system, and wherein the first metadata comprises first atomicity metadata (AMD) and first validity metadata (VMD) associated with the first data; and storing a copy of the first VMD for the first data in at least one low latency non-volatile storage (LLNVS) device. | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090089521 | SELF-ORGANIZING HETEROGENEOUS DISTRIBUTED STORAGE SYSTEM - The state of a computing environment is captured and heterogeneously stored on a network using self-organizing data portions. Altered portions of data of a captured computing state are replicated a plurality of times and each are embedded with a rule set that governs the distribution of the data. The rule set of each portion directs that data portion to relocate itself and remain as distant as possible from other replicated copies of that particular captured state and stored on a heterogeneous storage medium. Simultaneously, data portions that are associated with a similar file or other data structure are directed to maintain proximity with each other within a replicated copy forming a self-organized distribution of data portions. | 04-02-2009 |
| 20090089522 | System and method for dynamic storage device reconfiguration - A system and method provides for recovery of a backup process that has been interrupted by an address change for a connected backup storage device. A backup server may manage a data backup process from client computers to backup storage devices, each device having a unique address. Devices may be managed by storage node computers, which may occasionally reorganize its associated devices, causing some device address changes. This will interrupt the backup process since the server will not be able to match reorganized devices to known addresses. The present invention provides a method for querying the backup storage device, updating the server with the new address change, and continuing with the backup process. The present invention also provides a method for disabling the device from the backup process if the problem cannot be solved, then resuming the backup process. | 04-02-2009 |
| 20090089523 | TECHNIQUES FOR VIRTUAL ARCHIVING - Techniques for virtual archiving are disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for performing virtual archiving comprising applying archiving rules to a backup catalog, generating a virtual archive catalog based at least in part on a result of applying archiving rules to the backup catalog, determining a backup image associated with the virtual archive catalog becoming expired and converting the backup image into an archive image. | 04-02-2009 |
| 20090089524 | Storage Device Controlling Apparatus and Method - A storage area, among multiple storage areas, which meets a predetermined requirement is determined to be a target for access. In a controller for controlling a multi-tiered storage subsystem, the following components operate under the control of a file write unit and a file read unit. First, a list acquiring unit obtains a list of tiers that can meet file access requirements. A requisite energy calculating unit calculates an additional energy amount necessary to satisfy file access requirements for each tier, an allowable energy calculating unit calculates an allowable additional energy amount, and a path retrieving unit determines a path to a target tier based on the energy amounts. An identifier acquiring unit obtains a file identifier, and an access point generating unit determines a file access point based on the path and the file identifier. A method for controlling a multi-tiered storage subsystem is also described. | 04-02-2009 |
| 20090089525 | REMOTE COPY WITH WORM GUARANTEE - In the case in which data in a storage system A is remotely copied to a storage system B, it is not taken into account whether the data of the remote copy is WORM data. In the case in which a setting is made such that data stored in a volume in the storage system A is copied to a volume in the storage system B, storage system A judges whether an attribute to the effect that data can be referred to and can be updated or to the effect that data can be referred to but cannot be updated is added to the volume in the storage system A. Then, if the volume is a volume to which the attribute to the effect that data can be referred to but cannot be updated is added, such attribute is added to the volume in the storage system B. | 04-02-2009 |
| 20090094426 | STORAGE SYSTEM - An object of the present invention is to reduce the required volume capacity and journal control resources by sharing the journal volumes of an asynchronous copy function and a CDP function. | 04-09-2009 |
| 20090094427 | CAPACITY EXPANSION CONTROL METHOD FOR STORAGE SYSTEM - The invention provides capacity expansion control method for a storage system capable of expanding capacities of source and target logical volumes paired with each other and difference maps thereof while maintaining the pair relation between the source and target logical volumes and the difference map information thereof, and a storage system having such a capacity expansion control method. | 04-09-2009 |
| 20090094428 | Storage controller and data management method - Upon receiving a primary/secondary switching command from a secondary host system, a secondary storage control device interrogates a primary storage control device as to whether or not yet to be transferred data that has not been remote copied from the primary storage control device to the secondary storage control device is present. In the event that yet to be transferred data is present, the secondary storage control device receives yet to be transferred data from the primary storage control device and updates a secondary volume. The primary storage control device then manages positions of updates to the primary volume due to host accesses to the primary volume occurring at the time of the secondary storage control device receiving the primary/secondary switching command onwards using a differential bitmap table. | 04-09-2009 |
| 20090100236 | COPYING DATA ONTO A SECONDARY STORAGE DEVICE - The illustrative embodiments described herein provide an apparatus for copying data onto a secondary storage device. In one embodiment, a process identifies data associated with a data processing system to form a first set of data. The first set of data is stored on a primary storage device. The process copies the first set of data from the primary storage device to the secondary storage device to form a second set of data. The process also restricts an operating system in the data processing system from accessing the secondary storage device. | 04-16-2009 |
| 20090100237 | Storage system that dynamically allocates real area to virtual area in virtual volume - Either all or part of mapping information, which is stored in a volatile memory, is written to a nonvolatile storage area. When the target of the write to the nonvolatile storage area is a portion of the mapping information, an information element required to restore the mapping information, from among a plurality of information elements constituting the mapping information, is written to the nonvolatile storage area as the portion of the mapping information. | 04-16-2009 |
| 20090106513 | Method for copying data in non-volatile memory system - A method for copying data in a non-volatile memory system is disclosed. The method includes calculating a number of errors of a first set of data from a source block of the non-volatile memory saved in the buffer of the controller, transmitting the first set of data saved in the buffer of the controller to a buffer of the non-volatile memory when the number of errors is lower than a threshold, and programming a destination block of the non-volatile memory with the first set of data saved in the buffer of the non-volatile memory when the number of errors is lower than the threshold. | 04-23-2009 |
| 20090106514 | METHOD FOR PROTECTING DATA AND METHOD FOR MANAGING ACCESS AUTHORITY - A method for protecting data, adapted for a computer system, is provided. The computer system includes a storage device. The method includes: when the computer system executes a power-off procedure, inspecting whether a preset external storage device is connected to the computer system; if it is determined that the preset external storage device is connected to the computer system, when the computer system executes the power-off procedure, backing up data of a predetermined segment of the storage device to the preset external storage device, and generating a back-up data, and then writing a specific data template to the predetermined segment for covering original data of the predetermined segment. | 04-23-2009 |
| 20090106515 | System and Method for Replicating Data - According to the present invention, techniques for controlling copying of logical volumes within a computer storage system are provided. A representative embodiment includes a plurality of storage devices controlled by a control unit, one or more processors, and a buffer memory for temporarily storing data read from the storage devices within the control unit. The storage devices can be addressed as logical volumes. | 04-23-2009 |
| 20090113151 | Storage controller, storage system, and storage controller control method - A storage controller of the present invention can specify an updated file based on an updated block detected when a differential backup is carried out for a plurality of generations, and can carry out a virus scan for the updated file only. Difference data generated between a primary volume and a backup volume is managed in difference volumes of different generations. A file updated by the host is specified based on an updated block in which the difference data is stored. A virus scan, which makes use of the latest virus pattern file, is executed for this updated file. Furthermore, search information related to the updated file can be created, and this search information can also be saved. | 04-30-2009 |
| 20090113152 | STORAGE SYSTEM GROUP - A first storage system comprises a first logical volume, and a first controller that has a first memory. A second storage system comprises a second physical storage device that constitutes the basis of a second logical volume and a journal area, and a second controller that has a second memory. At least the first memory stores a write unit size, which is the size of a write data element. The journal area is a storage area in which is stored a journal data element, which is a data element that is stored in any block of a plurality of blocks configuring the first and/or second logical volume, or a data element that is written to this block. The size of the journal data element, and the size of the respective blocks that are managed as the respective components of the first and second logical volumes are the write unit size. | 04-30-2009 |
| 20090113153 | STORAGE SYSTEM GROUP - There is a journal area and one or more logical volumes comprising a first logical volume. The journal area is a storage area in which is stored a journal data element, which is a data element that is stored in any storage area of a plurality of storage areas configuring a logical volume, or a data element that is written to the storage area. A controller has a size receiver that receives a write unit size, which is the size of a write data element received from a computer, and a size setting unit that sets the received write unit size in a memory for one or more logical volumes. The size of a journal data element stored in a journal area based on the set write unit size is the write unit size. | 04-30-2009 |
| 20090119467 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND STORAGE SUBSYSTEM - In the storage system, a storage apparatus includes a disk device for storing write data from a host computer as a primary volume and copied data of write data as a secondary volume, and a disk controller for collecting and managing status information of a plurality of copy pairs from the disk device with a primary volume and a secondary volume as a single copy pair. The disk controller monitors the status information of the plurality of copy pairs according to the status of failure, and, upon receiving a status notification command, transfers the detailed information concerning a copy pair as the status information of the copy pair subject to a failure, and flag information showing the overall status of all other copy pairs as status information of such other copy pairs. | 05-07-2009 |
| 20090125691 | APPARATUS FOR MANAGING REMOTE COPYING BETWEEN STORAGE SYSTEMS - A resource status value, which shows the resource status of a resource to be utilized in a remote copy that conforms to a copy mode configured for a copy unit created from a first data volume and a second data volume, is acquired either regularly or irregularly. A determination is made as to whether or not the acquired resource status value exceeds a prescribed threshold, and when it is determined that the acquired resource status value exceeds this prescribed threshold, either the resource to be used for a remote copy conforming to a configured copy mode is increased, or the configured copy mode is changed to a different copy mode. | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090125692 | BACKUP SYSTEM AND METHOD - A storage system, upon receiving a marker from a host computer, executes a generation determination process for determining a generation of a first logical volume that is used by a host computer, and writes information related to the generation determined in this generation determination process to a physical storage device and/or a memory. A backup controller determines whether or not any data or a specified file and/or folder inside the first logical volume of the immediately preceding generation has changed, and when the result of this determination is affirmative, sends a marker insert indication, which induces the issuance of a marker, to the host computer, and when the result of the determination is negative, does not send the marker insert indication to the host computer. | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090132775 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR ARCHIVING DIGITAL DATA - Method and apparatus are disclosed to enable secure archiving and backup of data with reduced risk of data lost. Additionally, embodiments are provided which enable reduction of costs for CAS backup of archived files by use of low-cost tape storage devices rather than expensive hard drive devices. | 05-21-2009 |
| 20090138669 | Frequency Converter - The present invention relates to a frequency converter ( | 05-28-2009 |
| 20090144515 | METHOD AND SYSTEM THEREOF FOR RESTORING VIRTUAL DESKTOPS - A method and system thereof for restoring a virtual desktop. The method comprising generating a try-snapshot upon selection of a restore point of the virtual desktop, wherein the try-snapshot is an empty file; linking the try-snapshot subsequently to a snapshot of the restore point without modifying snapshots created after the snapshot of the restore point; and using the try-snapshot as an active snapshot upon affirmation of said restore point. | 06-04-2009 |
| 20090150626 | DETERMINING WHETHER TO USE A FULL VOLUME OR REPOSITORY FOR A LOGICAL COPY BACKUP SPACE - Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture for determining whether to use a full volume or repository for a logical copy backup space. A determination is made of a source volume to backup using a logical copy operation. The logical copy operation is completed upon indicating the source volume data to backup. During a logical copy duration, point-in-time data in the source volume as of a point-in-time when the logical copy was established is copied to a backup space in response to receiving an update to the point-in-time data. A history of writes to the source volume is processed to determine whether to allocate a full target volume as the backup space providing a corresponding data unit for each data unit in the source volume or allocate a repository as the backup space, wherein the repository uses less storage space than the full target volume. The logical copy operation using the determined full target volume or repository as the backup space is initiated. | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090150627 | DETERMINING WHETHER TO USE A REPOSITORY TO STORE DATA UPDATED DURING A RESYNCHRONIZATION - Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture for determining whether to use a repository to store data updated during a resynchronization. Writes to a primary storage are transferred to a secondary storage. A logical copy of the secondary storage as of a point-in-time is established. Writes to the secondary storage in the logical copy received from the primary storage during a logical copy duration after the point-in-time are stored in a repository that comprises less storage space than the secondary storage in the logical copy. The transferring of writes to the secondary storage is suspended. During the suspension writes to the primary storage are indicated in an out-of-synch data structure. A determination is made as to as to whether available storage space in the repository is sufficient to store writes transferred from the secondary storage while transferring the writes from the out-of-synch data structure in response to ending the suspension of the transferring of writes from the primary to the secondary storages. The repository is used to store data in the secondary storage as of the point-in-time that is to be updated by writes transferred from the primary storage following the ending of the suspension in response to determining that the available storage space in the repository is sufficient to store writes transferred from the secondary storage while transferring the writes indicated in the out-of-synch data structure. | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090150628 | Backup apparatus, backup method, and file reading apparatus - Proposed are a backup apparatus and a backup method capable of improving the backup performance, as well as a file reading apparatus capable of improving the file reading performance. As a result of determining a read sequence upon reading the respective files from a disk device based on a physical address of the respective storage areas storing data of each of the files in the disk device, and sequentially reading data of each of the files from the disk device according to the determined read sequence, overhead such as the head seek and rotational delay in the disk device upon reading a plurality of files from such disk device can be dramatically reduced. | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090150629 | STORAGE MANAGEMENT DEVICE, STORAGE SYSTEM CONTROL DEVICE, STORAGE MEDIUM STORING STORAGE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM, AND STORAGE SYSTEM - A storage management device includes a management unit for managing a storage device assigned thereto and a temporary storage unit assigned thereto. The management unit comprises a backup unit for, when data is written into the storage device, storing the data in the previously assigned temporary storage unit before the writing of the data into the storage device is completed, and a take-over unit for, when data which is already stored in the temporary storage unit, but which is not yet written into the storage device exists when the storage device and the temporary storage unit are assigned, writing the not-yet-written data into the storage device. | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090150630 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AND CONTROL METHOD FOR THE COMPUTER SYSTEM - A computer system including a first storage system connected to a first host computer, a second storage system connected to a second host computer and a third storage system connected to the first and second storage systems. The second storage system sets transfer setting before an occurrence of a failure, the transfer setting being provided with a dedicated storage area to be used for transferring data to the third storage system by asynchronous copy in response to a failure at the first host computer. Before the start of data transfer between the second storage system and third storage system to be executed after an occurrence of the failure, the second storage system checks the dedicated storage area, data transfer line and transfer setting information, and if an abnormal state is detected, this abnormal state is reported to the host computer as information attached to the transfer setting. | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090157990 | Backing-up apparatus, backing-up method, and backing-up program - A backing-up apparatus, upon receiving an instruction to execute backing up, allocates a storage area to store a snapshot to be produced to each time point indicated by the instruction. When the original data is updated after the time point indicated by the instruction, it is checked that the original data corresponding to the place to which the updating has been executed at a time point immediately before the time point indicated by the instruction is stored in the storage area allocated as the storage area to store the latest snapshot produced for the immediately previous time point. When it has been confirmed that the original data is not stored, the original data immediately before the updating corresponding to the place to which the updating has been executed is stored in only the storage area to store the latest snapshot. | 06-18-2009 |
| 20090157991 | Reliable storage of data in a distributed storage system - The present invention relates to the reliable storage of data within a distributed storage system. A method and system for storing a data unit within a distributed storage system is disclosed, wherein the distributed storage system comprises a plurality of storage elements of unspecified system reliability, a public network interconnecting the plurality of storage elements and a reliability index control unit measuring a plurality of storage element reliability indexes associated with the plurality of storage elements. The data unit is stored following the steps of receiving a request to store the data unit according to a data unit reliability index and storing replicated copies of the data unit in at least one storage element, such that the data unit reliability index is achieved. | 06-18-2009 |
| 20090164742 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF SELECTIVE DATA MIRRORING IN A DATA STORAGE DEVICE - Systems and methods of selective data mirroring are disclosed. In a particular embodiment, a device is disclosed that includes a data storage medium and a controller operably coupled to the data storage medium. The controller configured to selectively enable a data mirroring function to copy data in a first data storage location of the data storage medium to one or more second data storage locations of the data storage medium when the one or more second data storage locations do not have valid primary data stored to them. | 06-25-2009 |
| 20090164743 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND DATA RECOVERING METHOD - A information processing apparatus includes, upon instructing for writing back stored contents of a main memory unit to the stored contents of the main memory unit at the time of previous modification in a sequence number that is used for identifying whether write back to the main memory unit is needed, from a backup data stored in a backup memory unit, the sequence number stored in a sequence number memory unit. The information processing apparatus selects the backup data including an integrity verification data indicating that writing is carried out completely. The information processing apparatus extracts an original data and a write destination address included in the selected backup data and writes the original data, for each original data and the write address extracted from the backup data, to a storage area, of the main memory unit, indicated by the write destination address. | 06-25-2009 |
| 20090172322 | Automatically Adjusting a Number of Backup Data Sources Concurrently Backed Up to a Storage Device on a Server Computer - Various embodiments of a system and method for backing up data to a backup server computer are disclosed. According to one embodiment of the method, a group of backup data sources may be associated with a writer module on the backup server computer. Each backup data source may comprise data to be backed up from one of a plurality of client computer systems. The writer module may write the data from each of the backup data sources in the group to a target storage device in order to concurrently backup each backup data source to the target storage device. The writer module may also keep track of the rate at which data is written to the target storage device. The number of backup data sources in the group may be automatically adjusted based on the write rate, e.g., in order to maximize throughput to the target storage device. | 07-02-2009 |
| 20090172323 | METHODS AND APPRATUS FOR DEMAND-BASED MEMORY MIRRORING - A method includes determining an amount of memory space in a memory device available for memory mirroring. The method further includes presenting the available memory space to an operating system. The method further includes selecting at least a portion of the amount of memory space to be used for memory mirroring with the operating system. The method further includes adding a non-selected portion of the available memory to memory space available to the operating system during operation. An associated system and machine readable medium are also disclosed. | 07-02-2009 |
| 20090172324 | Storage system and method for opportunistic write-verify - A storage system that stores verify commands for all the write commands requiring verification in a verify-list that will be processed as a background task is described. The verify-list can include coded data fields that flexibly designate selected alternative states or possibilities for how and where the user data is actually stored. Alternatives for the verify-list include storing the actual raw data, no data, the data in compressed form, a CRC type signature of the data and/or a pointer to a backup copy of the data that is stored either in non-volatile memory such as flash memory or on the disk media in a temporary area. In case of a verification error in various alternative embodiments the user data can be recovered using the backup copy in the verify-list in the write cache, the backup copy in flash memory or on the disk, or from the host. | 07-02-2009 |
| 20090172325 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND DATA RECOVERING METHOD - In an information processing apparatus, when an instruction is issued to write back storage contents of a main memory unit that is non-volatile, data and a write destination address included in a backup data that is set with a read permission are extracted from the backup data stored in a backup memory unit that is non-volatile. Further, according to the data and the write destination address extracted from the backup data, the data is written to a storage area of the main-memory unit indicated by the write destination address. | 07-02-2009 |
| 20090172326 | EMULATED STORAGE SYSTEM SUPPORTING INSTANT VOLUME RESTORE - In a back-up storage system, an apparatus and methods for mounting a data volume corresponding to a back-up data set to a host computer. In one example, a method includes mounting a data volume on a host computer, the data volume comprising at least one data file, the data file corresponding to a most recently backed-up version of the at least one data file stored on a backup storage system, and storing, on the backup storage system, data corresponding to a second version of the at least one data file that is more recent than the most recently backed-up version of the at least one data file stored on the backup storage system while preserving the most recently backed-up version of the at least one data file. | 07-02-2009 |
| 20090177855 | BACKING UP A DE-DUPLICATED COMPUTER FILE-SYSTEM OF A COMPUTER SYSTEM - The present invention provides a method and system of backing up a de-duplicated computer file-system of a computer system. In an exemplary embodiment, the method and system include (1) dividing the file-system into partitions and (2) storing each of the partitions on a separate storage medium. | 07-09-2009 |
| 20090177856 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATED BACKUP PROCESS - A computer implemented method, apparatus, and computer usable program code for backing up data. In response to a request to backup the data from a data processing system, a unique identifier is identified for the data processing system. Also responsive to the request, the data is backed up to a storage system to form backup data. The unique identifier for the data processing system is associated with the backup data. | 07-09-2009 |
| 20090177857 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANAGING DATA STORAGE - An apparatus for controlling a log-structured data storage system, operable with a first log-structured data storage area for storing data, comprises a metadata storage component for controlling the first log-structured data storage area and comprising a second log-structured data storage area for storing metadata; and means for nesting the second log-structured data storage area for storing metadata within the first log-structured data storage area. The apparatus may further comprise at least a third log-structured data storage area for storing further metadata, and means for nesting the at least a third log-structured data storage area within the second log-structured data storage area. | 07-09-2009 |
| 20090182963 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING A SNAPSHOT AND FOR RESTORING DATA - The present invention relates to a method for tracking a plurality of snapshots of an information store. The present invention comprises performing a first snapshot of an information store that indexes the contents of the information store, copying the contents of the information store to a first storage device, using the first snapshot, and updating a replication volume table indicating the storage of the contents of the first information store using the first snapshot on the first storage device. A second snapshot is performed of the information store that indexes the contents of the information store, the contents of the information store are copied to a second storage device using the second snapshot and the replication volume table is updated to indicate the storage of the contents of the first information store using the second snapshot on the second storage device. | 07-16-2009 |
| 20090187719 | DATA BACKUP METHOD FOR LOGICAL VOLUME MANAGER - A data backup method for logical volume manager (LVM) is used for backup the original data in the LV when adding newly data into a logical volume of the LVM. Before adding a snapshot volume, a new storage space is created. The LVM writes the data to be altered in the logical volume into the new storage space. The LVM then renames the logical volume to the snapshot volume, and names the new storage space to the logical volume. According to the method, reading and writing times of the physical disk can be reduced, so as to quicken backup efficiency. | 07-23-2009 |
| 20090187720 | AUTOMATIC BACKUP METHOD AND COMPUTER SYSTEM WITH AUTOMATIC BACKUP FUNCTION - An automatic backup method to deal with at least a backup data is provided. First, offering a data-sync program and a wireless transmission module driven by the data-sync program; transmitting a first data stream to a first storage unit as a first file; transmitting the first file to a second storage unit by a wireless transmission module and stored as a second file in the second storage unit, the first file being substantially equal to the second file; and copying a third file to the second storage unit and overwrites the second file therein when the first file is modified to the third file but the second file is not modified yet. | 07-23-2009 |
| 20090187721 | Computer System, Management Computer, and Volume Allocation Change Method of Management Computer - A computer system to prevent intervention and falsification by setting encrypted transfer between a host computer and a first storage device that provides a virtual volume and between the first storage device and second and third storage devices that provide a real volume corresponding to the virtual volume. A management computer specifies the second and third storage device that provide the real volume corresponding to the virtual volume by providing a volume corresponding to the virtual volume used by a host computer in which encrypted transfer becomes necessary, and setting the encrypted transfer to communication between the first storage device and the second and third storage devices, makes a reconnection thereof, and also sets the encrypted transfer to an I/O port used for the communication with the host computer in the first storage device. | 07-23-2009 |
| 20090187722 | Computer System Storing Data on Multiple Storage Systems - During the normal operation state of a computer system | 07-23-2009 |
| 20090193206 | Storage system and snapshot configuration migration method - A migration controller | 07-30-2009 |
| 20090193207 | Computer system, remote copy method and first computer - In a computer system of the present invention, the logical volume of a network storage device can be exclusively shared by a plurality of computers. A first computer, upon receiving a remote copy request, writes a remote copy target file to a logical volume inside a shared storage device, and stores location management information showing the write-destination or the like of the file in a memory device. A second computer, upon receiving an access request, acquires the logical volume lock from the first computer. The second computer mounts the logical volume, and executes the desired processing. Furthermore, the second computer reads out the file from the logical volume based on the location management information. | 07-30-2009 |
| 20090193208 | STORAGE CONTROL SYSTEM - A storage control system is provided where a first host system connected to a first storage controller can issue a control command to a second storage controller connected another host system. The first storage controller is connected to the second storage controller and the command is issued without providing the command to the other host system. The first storage controller has a virtual volume, a memory unit for storing information necessary for mapping the virtual volume to a logical device in the second storage controller, and attribute information for the logical device. The host system identifies the virtual volume as the logical device in the second storage controller and issues a control command to this logical device via the virtual volume. | 07-30-2009 |
| 20090198928 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING DATA BACKUP TO MULTIPLE STORAGE MEDIA - A method and system for providing automatic data backup to multiple storage media is disclosed herein. An archive pack is used as a data backup and the archive pack comprises: plurality of storage media arranged as pairs, the storage media in the pair are configured to function independently and only one storage medium in the pair is configured to be visible to a user at any time; and a coordinator configured to co-ordinate the storage media in the pair such that data is stored to each storage medium in the pair substantially simultaneously, but separately. | 08-06-2009 |
| 20090198929 | STORAGE CONTROL DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MANAGING SNAPSHOT - An erasure declaration-related write request is received. In cases where, in response to the erasure declaration-related write request, erasure-corresponding data elements which are data elements corresponding to an erasure target and which are stored in a storage area A in the first logical volume are overwritten with erasure data elements which are data elements signifying erasure at or after the snapshot acquisition time point, the storage area A is associated with a storage area B in which encrypted data elements corresponding to the erasure-corresponding data elements stored in storage area A are stored. | 08-06-2009 |
| 20090198930 | INFORMATION BACKUP SYSTEM FOR HANDHELD DEVICES - An information backup system [ | 08-06-2009 |
| 20090198931 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND DATA BACKUP METHOD - An information processing apparatus includes a battery for providing the interior of the information processing apparatus with power; a volatile memory for storing data; a nonvolatile memory for backupping the data stored in the volatile memory; a controller for controlling backup of the data in accordance with a process comprising the steps of: saving the data into the nonvolatile memory; upon recovery of the power from the external power source, writing back the data into the volatile memory; and deleting the data saved in the nonvolatile memory; wherein when the power from an external power source to the information processing apparatus is stopped during deleting data in the nonvolatile memory, the controller selectively writes back deleted data from the volatile memory into the nonvolatile memory. | 08-06-2009 |
| 20090204773 | METHOD OF WRITING DEVICE DATA IN DUAL CONTROLLER NETWORK STORAGE ENVIRONMENT - A method of writing device data in a dual controller network storage environment is described. According to the method, functions of a virtual data router (VD router) and a mirror technology are integrated, so as to efficiently transmit internal network data and write data into disk devices on different controllers in a dual controller network storage environment. Thereby, the internal network data transmission efficiency and actual internal network utilization can be improved. | 08-13-2009 |
| 20090204774 | Remote Copy System and Method of Deciding Recovery Point Objective in Remote Copy System - A remote copy system comprises a primary storage system having a primary volume, and a secondary storage system having a secondary volume forming a pair relationship with the primary volume. When the primary storage system receives a write command from a primary host computer, it stores the command in the primary volume and creates a journal added with time information. The secondary storage system receives the journal from the primary storage system and updates the secondary volume based on the received journal. The primary host computer determines, based on the operating status of the secondary storage system, either the time added to the latest journal that the secondary storage system received or the time added to the latest journal that updated the secondary volume as the recovery point objective, and provides the determined time this to the user. | 08-13-2009 |
| 20090204775 | DATA COPYING METHOD - A method for controlling a switch apparatus connectable to a host and a storage device including first and second areas, the method includes: establishing schedule of copying data stored in the first area of the storage device into the second area of the storage device; monitoring a state of access by the host to the storage device; carrying out copying the data stored in the first area into the second area while the monitored state of the access by the host allows copying of the data from the first area into the second area; and enhancing copying, if any portion of the data remains when a time set by the schedule is expired, the remaining portion of the data from the first area into the second area. | 08-13-2009 |
| 20090210640 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR IMPROVING READ PERFORMANCE IN DATA DE-DUPLICATION STORAGE - The present invention is directed toward methods and systems for data de-duplication. More particularly, in various embodiments, the present invention provides systems and methods for data de-duplication that may utilize a data de-duplication system that retrieves data from a data storage device in an order based on the location of blocks on the data storage device. Some embodiments break a data stream into multiple blocks of data and store the blocks of data on a data storage device of a data de-duplication system, wherein a code representing a redundant block of data is stored in place of the block of data. A location for each block of data may be stored. Additionally, the blocks may be read in an order that is determined based on the location of the blocks. | 08-20-2009 |
| 20090210641 | PRE-CACHING FILES FROM REMOVABLE DEVICE TO EXPEDITE PERCEIVED DOWNLOAD PERFORMANCE - A method and a processing device may be provided for detecting a device newly connected to the processing device. The processing device may copy files from the device to a cache of the processing device. In some embodiments, the files may include a digital image files and associated files, such as wav files, or other files. Acquisition processing of the files stored in the cache may be initiated at any time after the processing device begins to copy the files from the device to the cache. Via a user interface, a user may preview thumbnail images corresponding to digital image files stored in one or more virtual devices, corresponding to one or more respective caches. The user may be prompted to initiate acquisition processing of a cache, having unprocessed files, after a configurable amount of time has passed since a file was last copied to the cache. | 08-20-2009 |
| 20090210642 | POINT IN TIME REMOTE COPY FOR MULTIPLE SITES - A method for copying data to multiple remote sites includes transmitting data from a first volume in a primary storage system to a back-up volume provided in a secondary storage system. The primary storage system is located at a primary site, and the secondary storage system is located at a first remote site from the primary site. The data from the first volume in the primary storage system is copied to a second volume in the primary storage system using a point in time (PiT) as a reference point of time for the copying. The second volume is provided with a first time consistent image of the first volume with respect to the reference point of time. The data from the second volume in the primary storage system is transferred to a third volume in a ternary storage system at a second remote site. The third volume is provided with a second time consistent image of the second volume with respect to the reference point of time, where the second time consistent image is a mirror image of the first time consistent image. The data from the third volume is transferred to a fourth volume in the ternary storage system. The fourth volume is provided with a third time consistent image. In the ternary storage, either of the third volume or fourth volume can always keep time consistent image of the first volume. | 08-20-2009 |
| 20090210643 | System, Method and Computer Program Product for Generating a Consistent Point in Time Copy of Data - Generating a consistent point in time copy of data in a source volume and a target volume is achieved responsively to a first data modification request by writing a first altered version of the data onto a single source volume, asynchronously transferring the first altered version from the first storage site to a target volume located at a remote second storage site, while avoiding copying the first altered version onto other volumes at the first storage site. While asynchronously transferring the first altered version de-queuing a second modification request, and responsively to the second modification request synchronously transferring the first altered version from the first storage site to the target volume. Then a second altered version of the data is written to the single source volume and a copy transferred to the target volume in like manner. | 08-20-2009 |
| 20090216969 | Remote data mirroring system - A method for data protection includes accepting data for storage from one or more data sources ( | 08-27-2009 |
| 20090216970 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR VIRTUAL MACHINE BACKUP - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for a virtual machine backup. A name module establishes an administrative machine name for a virtual machine. A space module associates at least one administrative name space with the administrative machine name. A backup module backs up files belonging to the virtual machine using a backup proxy, wherein the files are segregated under the administrative machine name and are accessible using only a secure key belonging to the virtual machine and without using a backup proxy secure key. A mask module masks out pathname components for each backup file pathname so that the backup file pathname is equivalent to a virtual machine file pathname. | 08-27-2009 |
| 20090216971 | Storage System and Copy Method - In a storage system, one or more storage apparatuses provide a management computer with a first volume for storing data from the management computer, provide a host computer with a second volume for storing data from the host computer, and manage a volume address for the one or more storage apparatuses to manage the first volume and the second volume in the one or more storage apparatuses. The management computer issues a command specifying an arbitrary volume address to the one or more storage apparatuses, and designates, when receiving a normal response from the arbitrary volume address, a volume with the arbitrary volume address as the second volume. | 08-27-2009 |
| 20090216972 | STORAGE SYSTEM, COPY METHOD, AND PRIMARY STORAGE APPARATUS - A storage system having a primary storage apparatus for storing data from a host computer in a primary logical volume, and a secondary storage apparatus connected to the primary storage apparatus, for providing a secondary logical volume for storing a copy of the data, the storage system comprising: a search unit for checking whether or not data exists in each primary slot area formed by partitioning a storage area in the primary logical volume into predetermined storage areas; a transmission unit for sending, if no data is held in the primary slot area, a notice indicating no data stored to the secondary storage apparatus; and a data write unit for writing, when the notice is received from the primary storage apparatus, zero data in the secondary slot area. | 08-27-2009 |
| 20090216973 | COMPUTER SYSTEM, STORAGE SUBSYSTEM, AND DATA MANAGEMENT METHOD - To prevent, when data is erased from a storage system that stores differential of updated data, a large amount of differential data from being created, a storage subsystem provides a first storage area which stores data, and includes a second storage area which stores a replication of data stored in the first storage area. When the data stored in the first storage area is updated, the data is replicated to the second storage area before the data is updated. When a request to erase the data stored in the first storage area is received, replication of unupdated data to the second storage area is suspended and the data stored in the first storage area is erased based on the request to erase the data. | 08-27-2009 |
| 20090216974 | MICROCOMPUTER - A microcomputer includes a first CPU, a first bus, a first memory, a second CPU, a second bus, and a second memory. The first memory and the second memory are arranged in address spaces individually managed by the first CPU and the second CPU corresponding to the memories. An address translation circuit is provided. When a task so programmed to have a data area in the first memory is transferred to the second memory and executed by the second CPU, the address translation circuit carries out the following processing: the address translation circuit translates an address outputted from the second CPU so that access to the first memory by the task becomes access to the second memory. As a result, the number of access cycles is reduced and degradation in computing capability is avoided when a task is transferred between CPUs for load sharing. | 08-27-2009 |
| 20090216975 | EXTENDING SERVER-BASED DESKTOP VIRTUAL MACHINE ARCHITECTURE TO CLIENT MACHINES - A server-based desktop-virtual machines architecture may be extended to a client machine. In one embodiment, a user desktop is remotely accessed from a client system. The remote desktop is generated by a first virtual machine running on a server system, which may comprise one or more server computers. During execution of the first virtual machine, writes to a corresponding virtual disk are directed to a delta disk file or redo log. A copy of the virtual disk is created on the client system. When a user decides to “check out” his or her desktop, the first virtual machine is terminated (if it is running) and a copy of the delta disk is created on the client system. Once the delta disk is present on the client system, a second virtual machine can be started on the client system using the virtual disk and delta disk to provide local access to the user's desktop at the client system. This allows the user to then access his or her desktop without being connected to a network. | 08-27-2009 |
| 20090216976 | COMPUTER SYSTEM ALLOWING ANY COMPUTER TO COPY ANY STORAGE AREA WITHIN A STORAGE SYSTEM - A computer system having a plurality of host computers and a storage system is provided which allows any one host computer to perform a global copy operation on any arbitrary or all storage areas in the storage system. To this end, storage areas provided by the disk devices are grouped into groups by allocating group numbers to a plurality of specified storage areas. The copy operation can be performed by specifying desired groups. Each of the groups is made up of sub-groups and the sub-groups are defined for each computer to assure a consistency of copy order of the sub-groups. | 08-27-2009 |
| 20090216977 | Storage System and Snapshot Data Preparation Method in Storage System - The present invention is devised so that snapshot data preparation processing does not end abnormally as a result of the pool region becoming full with saved data from the primary logical volume during snapshot data preparation. When the CHA receives a snapshot data preparation request, the CHA checks whether or not update information is present in the logical volume that is the object of this data preparation. If such information is present (YES in S | 08-27-2009 |
| 20090216978 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INCREASING AN AMOUNT OF MEMORY ON DEMAND WHEN MONITORING REMOTE MIRRORING PERFORMANCE - A method and storage system for increasing an amount of memory in a queuing area on. The storage system includes first and second storage subsystems connected to each other via a path. A primary volume in the first storage subsystem and a remote secondary volume in the second storage subsystem are mirrored and operated in the asynchronous mode. A queuing area having memory is provided in the second storage subsystem for temporarily storing data transferred to the second storage subsystem from the first storage subsystem in response to a write input/output (I/O) issued by a host to write data in the primary volume. Data temporarily stored in the memory is retrieved and stored in the remote secondary volume. An unused area of the queuing area is monitored and the memory increased if the unused area becomes less than a predetermined amount. | 08-27-2009 |
| 20090222632 | STORAGE SYSTEM CONTROLLING METHOD, SWITCH DEVICE AND STORAGE SYSTEM - A method for controlling a storage system having first and second switches and a storage device connected to the switches via a network in response to a request from a host, the storage device having first and second areas, each of the first and second switch accessing to the first and second area, the method includes, receiving a request for copying data stored in the first area to the second area from the host, transmitting initiation notification of the copying to the second switch, executing the copying by the first switch, maintaining progress status of the copying, controlling the second switch to refer to the progress upon receiving a request for access to the first or second area by the host before completion of the copying, and determining whether to permit access to the first or second area by the second switch. | 09-03-2009 |
| 20090222633 | INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD CAPABLE OF PERFORMING DETAILED STATE NOTIFICATION EVEN IN A DIFFICULT SITUATION - In an information processing system having a main central processing unit for processing object information being a processing object, a sub-central processing unit adapted to operate independently of the main central processing unit is further provided. The main central processing unit produces execution information indicating executing contents and a corresponding time point. The sub-central processing unit processes state information indicating a state of the information processing system while receiving the execution information. | 09-03-2009 |
| 20090240904 | LOOSE SYNCHRONIZATION OF VIRTUAL DISKS - Computer implemented methods, computer program products and computer systems synchronize copies of a virtual disk. A record of blocks that are modified during an access session of a copy of the virtual disk is maintained. For each partition of the virtual disk, a file system level indication of currently relevant blocks is obtained. Only those blocks that were modified during the access session and are currently relevant are copied to at least one additional copy of the virtual disk. | 09-24-2009 |
| 20090240905 | Real-time backup method for single storage medium - The present invention provides a real-time backup method for single storage medium which partitions a single storage medium into multiple logic units, and then the logic unit is designated as a backup logic unit or a normal storage logic unit, and the backup logic unit is partitioned into two or more unit blocks. Data with backup demand are simultaneously written into two individual stripe blocks belonging in the two selected unit blocks respectively in the backup logic unit for real-time backup function. Therefore the storage medium is used efficiently and the real-time backup function is achieved. | 09-24-2009 |
| 20090240906 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM THAT RECORDS HISTORY INFORMATION CONTROL PROGRAM - A method and an apparatus include storing history information into a first storage section that accumulates history information concerning a process performed, transmitting a received acquisition request of the history information accumulated into the first storage section, transmitting the accumulated history information to the history information accumulation section having transmitted the acquisition request, transmitting the history information to the another history information accumulation section, transmitting the acquisition request to the first history information accumulation section at a time of startup, and storing the transmitted history information into a second storage section. | 09-24-2009 |
| 20090249003 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MULTIPLEXING CONCATENATED STORAGE DISK ARRAYS TO FORM A RULES-BASED ARRAY OF DISKS - A method, system and computer-readable medium are disclosed for efficiently multiplexing concatenated storage devices. An intelligent storage controller continuously monitors data access of a number of concatenated storage devices. In response to a request to write new data, the controller writes a primary data copy to the concatenated storage device having the lowest data access. Then the controller writes a secondary data copy to the device having the next lowest data access. In response to a read request, the controller reads data from the data copy located on the concatenated storage device having the lower data access. In response to an update request, the controller, after determining that data access does not exceed a predetermined threshold, the controller updates the data copy having the lowest data access, set that copy as the new primary copy and subsequently updates the other copy, setting that copy as the new secondary copy. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090249004 | DATA CACHING FOR DISTRIBUTED EXECUTION COMPUTING - Embodiments for caching and accessing Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) data to and from a computing device of a DAG distributed execution engine during the processing of an iterative algorithm. In accordance with one embodiment, a method includes processing a first subgraph of the plurality of subgraphs from the distributed storage system in the computing device. The first subgraph being processed with associated input values in the computing device to generate first output values in an iteration. The method further includes storing a second subgraph in a cache of the device. The second subgraph being a duplicate of the first subgraph. Moreover, the method also includes processing the second subgraph with the first output values to generate second output values if the device is to process the first subgraph in each of one or more subsequent iterations. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090249005 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING A BACKUP/RESTORE INTERFACE FOR THIRD PARTY HSM CLIENTS - A method for performing a backup of a stub object located on a file system managed by a hierarchical storage manager configured to migrate data objects from the file system to a migration storage pool is provided. The stub object includes information for recalling a migrated data object. The method comprises determining whether a backup copy of the migrated data object is stored in a backup storage pool if the backup is performed in an incremental backup operation; directing the hierarchical storage manager to recall the migrated data object to the file system if the backup copy of the migrated data object is not stored in the backup storage pool or if the backup is performed in a selective backup operation; creating the backup copy of the migrated data object if the migrated data object is recalled; storing the backup copy of the migrated data object in the backup storage pool if the migrated data object is recalled; creating a backup copy of the stub object if the migrated data object is not recalled; storing the backup copy of the stub object from the file system in the backup storage pool if the migrated data object is not recalled; and logically grouping the backup copy of the migrated data object with the backup copy of the stub object in the backup storage pool such that the backup copy of the migrated data object cannot be deleted from the backup storage pool unless the backup copy of the stub object does not exist in the backup storage pool if the migrated data object is not recalled. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090249006 | System and Method for Setting an Activation State for a Device Used in a Backup Operation - Various embodiments of a system and method for performing a backup operation are disclosed. Backup operation information may be stored, where the backup operation information specifies a backup operation to be performed using at least a first device. Subsequent to storing the backup operation information, state information for the first device may be stored, where the state information indicates whether the first device is eligible for use in backup operations. Before the backup operation is performed, the state information for the first device may be accessed. If the state information for the first device indicates that the first device is eligible for use in backup operations then the backup operation may be performed using the first device (as well as possibly other devices). If the state information for the first device indicates that the first device is ineligible for use in backup operations then the backup operation may be prevented from using the first device. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090249007 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ACCESSING DATA USING AN ASYMMETRIC CACHE DEVICE - A system configured to receive a first request for a first datum, query the cache metadata to determine whether the first datum is present in the main memory or the asymmetric cache device (ACD), retrieve the first datum from the main memory when the first datum is present in the main memory, retrieve the first datum from the ACD when the first datum is present in the ACD and not present in the main memory, store a copy of the first datum in the main memory when the first datum is present in the ACD and not present in the main memory, update the cache metadata to indicate that the copy of the first datum is stored in the main memory when the first datum is present in the ACD and not present in the main memory, and retrieve the first datum from the disk when the first datum is not present in the ACD and is not present in the main memory. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090249008 | Disk array device - In control of the disk array device (backup system), when a blackout occurs, the disk array device is first operated in a first method to backed up a main memory by using a power supply from a battery. During the first method, a blackout continuous time and the like are integrated, and at a timing in which the integrated value satisfies a condition, the first method is then shifted to the second method to evacuate data from the main memory onto a nonvolatile memory based on a power supply. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090249009 | METHOD FOR COPYING DATA FROM AN EXTERNAL STORAGE DEVICE TO A COMPUTER, AND COMPUTER CAPABLE OF PERFORMING THE METHOD - In a method for copying data from an external storage device to a computer, the computer is provided with a basic input/output system (BIOS) program used for performing the method. The method includes the steps of: (a) after the computer is powered on, initializing the external storage device in response to a hot key trigger; and (b) storing the data from the external storage device to the computer. Since data is copied from the external storage device to the computer immediately after powering on the computer, efficiency is enhanced. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090249010 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING COPYING - Pre-update data is copied from a first storage device onto a second storage device in response to an update instruction to update data on the backup target volume on the first storage device. A copy status of each data on the backup target volume is managed with position information of the data mapped thereto. If bad data is present in the data on the backup target volume, the position information indicating the position of the bad data is searched. In accordance with the copy status managed with the position information mapped thereto, it is determined whether the pre-update data of the bad data is stored on the second storage device. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090249011 | DELIVERY DATA BACKUP APPARATUS, DELIVERY DATA BACKUP METHOD AND DELIVERY DATA BACKUP PROGRAM - A delivery data backup apparatus, a delivery data backup method, and delivery data backup program are provided. The apparatus includes a delivery data receiving part receiving, from a data delivery server, delivery data transmitted from the data delivery server to a terminal device in response to a download request for the delivery data issued by the terminal device is provided. The apparatus includes a temporary storage part temporarily storing the delivery data received by the delivery data receiving part and a delivery data backup storage part storing, for backup, the received delivery data. The apparatus includes a backup process part moving the delivery data having been temporarily stored in the temporary storage part from the temporary storage part to the delivery data backup storage part in accordance with a backup instruction for the delivery data issued by the terminal device. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090249012 | SYSTEM MANAGING A PLURALITY OF VIRTUAL VOLUMES AND A VIRTUAL VOLUME MANAGEMENT METHOD FOR THE SYSTEM - This invention provides a control technique of a data processing system, in which functions of a highly-functional high-performance storage system are achieved in an inexpensive storage system so as to effectively use the existing system and reduce the cost of its entire system. This system has a RAID system, an external subsystem, a management server, a management client and the like. The management server includes an information management table for storing mapping information of the RAID system and the external subsystem. When performing copy process, the pair creation in which a logical volume of the RAID system is set as a primary volume of copy source and a logical volume of a mapping object of the RAID system mapped from the logical volume of the external subsystem is set as a secondary volume of copy destination is executed from the management client by using the information management table. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090254721 | STORAGE APPARATUS AND VOLUME RESTORATION METHOD - A storage apparatus conducts, in a protection period, data protection processing for protecting, in a third logical volume, data stored in a first logical volume by using backup data stored in a second logical volume, and suspends the data protection processing in a no-protection period, during which backup relative to the second logical volume is suspended, in the protection period. Then, upon receiving an external order for restoring the first logical volume to its state as of at a time not in the no-protection period within the protection period, the storage apparatus restores the first logical volume to its state as of at a time of the order by using the data backed up in the second logical volume and the data protected in the third logical volume. | 10-08-2009 |
| 20090254722 | DATA STORAGE APPARATUS - A method for controlling a storage apparatus connectable to a server, the storage apparatus including a first storage area and a second storage area for storing data, the method comprises: copying the data stored in the first storage area into the second storage area; copying data stored in the location of the first storage area addressed by the command to be accessed by the server into the location of the second storage area before execution of the command when the storage apparatus receives a command for accessing data stored in a location of either of the first storage area and second storage area from the server; and executing the command for accessing at least one of the location in the first storage area and the corresponding location in the second storage area. | 10-08-2009 |
| 20090254723 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR INCREMENTAL PACKAGE DEPLOYMENT - A method and apparatus for incremental package deployment are described. In one embodiment, the method includes the redirection of disk input/output (I/O) requests to preserve contents of disk memory. Following redirection of the disk I/O request, a software distribution package is created according to disk I/O write requests redirected to unused blocks of disk memory. In one embodiment, the software distribution package is generated using a firmware agent, which uploads the software distribution package to a server, which provisions the software distribution packet to other computers within a uniform environment to ensure that each system within the uniform environment has an identical system and memory image. Other embodiments are described and claimed. | 10-08-2009 |
| 20090254724 | METHOD AND SYSTEM TO MANAGE MEMORY ACCESSES FROM MULTITHREAD PROGRAMS ON MULTIPROCESSOR SYSTEMS - A method, computer program and system for controlling accesses to memory by threads created by a process executing on a multiprocessor computer. A page table structure is allocated for each new thread and copied from the existing threads. The page access is controlled by a present bit and a writable bit. Upon a page fault the access is provided to one thread. The kernel handles the new page entry creation process and set the page present bits to zero which creates page faults. In a second embodiment, two page table structures are created, one for one thread having access to the address space and the other page table structure shared by all the other threads not having access to the address space. | 10-08-2009 |
| 20090259816 | Techniques for Improving Mirroring Operations Implemented In Storage Area Networks and Network Based Virtualization - A technique is provided for implementing online mirroring of a volume in a storage area network. A first instance of the volume is instantiated at a first port of the fibre channel fabric for enabling I/O operations to be performed at the volume. One or more mirroring procedures may be performed at the volume. In at least one implementation, the first port is able to perform first I/O operations at the volume concurrently while the mirroring procedures are being performed at the first volume. In one implementation, the mirroring procedures may be implemented at a fabric switch of the storage area network. Additionally, in at least one implementation, multiple hosts may be provided with concurrent access to the volume during the mirroring operations without serializing the access to the volume. | 10-15-2009 |
| 20090259817 | Mirror Consistency Checking Techniques For Storage Area Networks And Network Based Virtualization - A technique is provided for facilitating information management in a storage area network. The storage area network may utilize a fibre channel fabric which includes a plurality of ports. The storage area network may also comprise a first volume which includes a first mirror copy and a second mirror copy. The storage area network may further comprise a mirror consistency data structure adapted to store mirror consistency information. A mirror consistency check procedure is performed to determine whether data of the first mirror copy is consistent with data of the second mirror copy. According to one implementation, the mirror consistency check procedure may be implemented using the consistency information stored at the mirror consistency data structure. | 10-15-2009 |
| 20090259818 | Storage controller and data management method - This storage controller providing a volume for storing data transmitted from a host system includes a management unit for managing the data written in the volume with a first block area, or a second block area in the first block area which is smaller than the first block area; a snapshot acquisition unit for acquiring a snapshot of the volume at a prescribed timing; and a transfer unit for transferring the data of the volume acquired with the snapshot of the snapshot acquisition unit to an external device with the first block area or the second block area. | 10-15-2009 |
| 20090265518 | DYNAMIC VOLUME COMPARE FOR ASYNCHRONOUS REMOTE COPY VERIFICATION - A method, device, and computer program product for performing asynchronous remote copy verification is provided. An initial track-to-track comparison between a primary and a secondary volume pair is performed. Differences between primary and secondary volume tracks are recorded as noncompare tracks. A first predetermined time is waited for. A subsequent track-to-track comparison of the noncompare tracks is performed. | 10-22-2009 |
| 20090265519 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR POWER AWARE I/O SCHEDULING - A method for retrieving a logical block, including receiving a request to read the logical block, and obtaining metadata associated with the logical block, wherein the metadata includes a replication type used to store the logical block and physical block locations in a storage pool for each physical block associated with the logical block. The method further includes obtaining power state information including a power state for the storage devices specified in the physical block locations, selecting a first set of physical block locations using the metadata, the power state information, and a power-usage selection policy, and generating I/O requests, where each I/O request specifies one of the first set of physical block locations. The method further includes issuing the I/O requests, receiving physical blocks in response to the I/O requests, and constructing the logical block using the physical blocks. | 10-22-2009 |
| 20090265520 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BACKING UP DATA - A method and apparatus for backing up data in the source LUN is disclosed. The method for backing up the data in a source Logic Unit Number (LUN), includes: copying the data which needs to be modified in the source LUN to a resource pool; monitoring the resource utilization amount in the resource pool; creating a target LUN when the resource utilization amount exceeds a preset threshold; and copying the unmodified data in the source LUN and the backup data of the source LUN in the resource pool into the target LUN. | 10-22-2009 |
| 20090271581 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR RELIABLY MANAGING FILES IN A COMPUTER SYSTEM - Systems and methods allow for reliably and efficiently managing files stored on a data storage medium associated with a computer system such as a set-top box. The computer system manages a collection of metadata describing each of the files stored on the data storage medium in a memory during operation of the computer system. A current snapshot of the collection of metadata is periodically or otherwise stored to the data storage medium. Following a reboot of the computer system, the collection of metadata can be recovered to the memory from the snapshot of the collection of metadata stored on the data storage medium. | 10-29-2009 |
| 20090271582 | Information System and I/O Processing Method - First and second storage apparatuses respectively and internally set a remote copy pair for copying data of a first volume to a second volume and associate a third volume with a remote copy pair according to an external command. When an I/O request to the first volume ends in an error, a host computer sends an I/O request directed to the second volume to the second storage apparatus. If the first and the second storage apparatuses detect a failure in the first or the second storage apparatus of the other side or a connection failure between the first and the second storage apparatuses, the first and the second storage apparatuses store in the third volume a failure information flag showing that the failure was detected. | 10-29-2009 |
| 20090276589 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DATA DOWNLOAD FROM A MOBILE VEHICLE - A method and apparatus are provided for autonomous data download. The method includes the steps of navigating an autonomous data download device to a first data storage device located in a mobile vehicle and parking the autonomous data download device adjacent to the first data storage device. The method further includes the steps of connecting the autonomous data download device to the first data storage device and downloading data from the first data storage device to the autonomous data download device. The method thereafter includes the steps of navigating the autonomous data download device to a location determined to be suitable for transmission of the data and transmitting the data from the autonomous data download device to a second data storage device after determining that the autonomous data download device has reached the location determined to be suitable for transmission of the data. | 11-05-2009 |
| 20090276590 | MAINTAINING CHECKPOINTS DURING BACKUP OF LIVE SYSTEM - Techniques introduced here support block level transmission of a logical container from a network storage controller to a backup system. In accordance with the techniques, transmission can be restarted using checkpoints created at the block level by allowing restarts from various points within a logical container, for example a point at which 10%, 50%, or 75% of the logical container had been transmitted. The transmission can be restarted while maintaining data consistency of the logical container data and included meta-data. Advantageously, changes made prior to a checkpoint restart to, for example, meta-data, do not lead to inconsistent logical container backups. | 11-05-2009 |
| 20090276591 | EXTENSIBLE APPLICATION BACKUP SYSTEM AND METHOD - An archive method and system receives a backup request for a target dataset used by an application on a primary storage system to be backed up on a secondary storage system. Different applications may each have a corresponding proprietary application format for storing their datasets. An application translator module is loaded into an extensible backup manager that converts between a proprietary application format associated with the target dataset and a predetermined storage format used by the extensible backup manager. The application translator module converts from the proprietary application format into the predetermined storage format when the baseline backup of the target dataset has not yet been performed. An incremental backup uses the application translator module to convert from the proprietary application format associated with the application into the predetermined storage format of the extensible backup manager. Once completed, a data mover component causes the incremental backup and the baseline backup of the entire target dataset, if scheduled, to be moved from the primary storage to the secondary storage and stored in the predetermined storage format rather than the proprietary application format associated with the application. | 11-05-2009 |
| 20090276592 | BACKUP COPY ENHANCEMENTS TO REDUCE PRIMARY VERSION ACCESS - A method, system, and computer program product for performing a backup operation in a computing environment is provided. A dataset corresponding to a backup copy is examined to determine if the dataset has changed from a previous backup operation. If the dataset has not changed, a backup inventory registry is consulted to determine a current version of a backup copy. The current version is one of a plurality of available versions. The backup operation is performed using the current version of the backup copy. | 11-05-2009 |
| 20090276593 | Data storage systems, methods and networks having a snapshot efficient block map - A data storage system includes a storage device divided into a plurality of blocks for storing data for a plurality of volumes, and a processor to execute instructions for maintaining a block map corresponding to the data stored on the storage device. The storage system may be part of a storage system network. The block map stores reference data indicating which of the volumes reference which blocks on the storage device, and which blocks on the storage device are unallocated. The reference data may include, for groups of one or more blocks, a first value identifying the oldest volume in which the group of blocks was allocated and a second value identifying the newest volume in which the group of blocks was allocated. The volumes may include one or more snapshots. | 11-05-2009 |
| 20090276594 | Storage system - Provided is a storage system capable of simply and promptly changing the operation of a storage subsystem as a stand-alone system and the operation of a storage subsystem as a virtual storage system. This storage system is able to set a first mode that operates as a stand-alone system and a second mode that operates as a virtual storage system from a management apparatus to each of the multiple storage subsystems. | 11-05-2009 |
| 20090282203 | MANAGING STORAGE AND MIGRATION OF BACKUP DATA - A method and system for client backup data management and storage using virtual tape libraries (VTLs). A VTL controller executing a software method receives metadata that distinguishes among a plurality of different versions of backup data. The VTL controller determines a latest version of the backup data. The VTL controller determines a migration set of zero or more versions of the backup data. The latest version and any version included in the migration set are included in the plurality of different versions. The VTL controller determines that a storage of the latest version in a first storage medium (e.g., magnetic disk) of the VTL is complete. The VTL controller migrates the migration set to a second storage medium (e.g., magnetic tape) of the VTL if the migration set includes at least one version of the backup data. | 11-12-2009 |
| 20090282204 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BACKING UP STORAGE SYSTEM DATA - A method for backing up data of a storage system, where at least two mirroring channels are provided between a first mainboard and a second mainboard of a storage system, and the method includes: transmitting data through at least one mirroring channel if all the mirroring channels are effective; and transmitting the data through remaining mirroring channel(s) if at least one of the mirroring channels for transmitting the data fails. The present disclosure enables traffic to be transmitted evenly on normal mirroring channels, and ensures maximized utilization of the bandwidth of mirroring channels. Corresponding to the foregoing method, an apparatus for backing up data of a storage system is provided in another embodiment of the present disclosure. | 11-12-2009 |
| 20090292887 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRESERVING MEMORY CONTENTS DURING A POWER OUTAGE - A method and apparatus for preserving contents of a volatile memory when a main (e.g., AC) power source is disconnected. The apparatus comprises flash memory, a controller for writing to the flash memory and a temporary power source. The temporary power source may be a relatively low power battery or supercapacitor. The apparatus is removably attached to a computing device (e.g., via a USB port). When main power of the device is disconnected, the temporary power source provides power for the apparatus, the volatile memory containing data to be safeguarded, and sufficient processing resources to transfer the data. For example, an auxiliary processor may be powered (instead of a relatively high-power processor) or just one core of a multi-core processor. Data are written to the apparatus and can be recovered when main power is reconnected. Or, the apparatus may be detached and attached to a different device for data recovery. | 11-26-2009 |
| 20090292888 | Backing up Data from Backup Target to Backup Facility - Aspects of the subject matter described herein relate to backup up data. In aspects, a backup target determines a degree to which a data set included on the backup target is not backed up on a backup facility. The degree can represent more than just that the data set is completely backed up or is not backed up at all. If the degree satisfies a condition, the backup target utilizes information derived from a backup history of one or more attempted or successfully completed backup sessions between the backup target and the backup facility to determine whether to provide a notification regarding backup state. The backup target also may send the degree and other backup information to a backup facility which may use this information in determining a backup scheme to employ with the backup target. | 11-26-2009 |
| 20090292889 | Automated backup and reversion system - An automated backup and reversion system comprising at least two storage systems with one source storage system being physically connected to at least one host system during normal processing at any given time. During the backup process, involved storage devices are physically disconnected from the host system. The at least one destination storage system receiving the information backup may thereafter be connected to the host system to allow for subsequent host processing. The initial source storage system may then remain disconnected from the host system and assume the role of a destination storage system. Each storage system is located at the same logical location while being processed so that the host system is unaware that any storage system change has occurred. A plurality of storage systems may be configured with only one being processed at any given time, and the remainder may comprise successive backups after any negative event. | 11-26-2009 |
| 20090292890 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IMPROVED SNAPCLONE PERFORMANCE IN A VIRTUALIZED STORAGE SYSTEM - A system and method of creating a snapclone for on-line point-in-time complete backup in a virtualized storage system is disclosed. In one embodiment, a method for creating a snapclone for on-line point-in-time complete backup in a virtualized storage system includes receiving a copy operation directed to one or more identified segments of an original virtual disk, in response to the copy operation, substantially sequentially copying the one or more identified segments to a snapclone virtual disk, clearing bits in an in-memory sharing bitmap associated with already copied one or more identified segments, and writing the cleared bits in the in-memory sharing bitmap to a disk resident virtual disk metadata associated with the snapclone virtual disk upon receiving a current write I/O operation while the copy operation is in progress. The received current write I/O operation is targeting data outside the LBA range of the already copied one or more identified segments. | 11-26-2009 |
| 20090292891 | MEMORY-MIRRORING CONTROL APPARATUS AND MEMORY-MIRRORING CONTROL METHOD - When an update instruction for updating task data stored in a memory is transmitted through a transaction process performed by an application server, an active node apparatus generates, based on the update instruction, an update log indicating update contents of the task data stored in the memory, and then distributes, in a multicast manner, the generated update log to other standby node apparatuses each with a memory. With this, mirroring among the plurality of memories is controlled. | 11-26-2009 |
| 20090300301 | OFFLOADING STORAGE OPERATIONS TO STORAGE HARDWARE - In a computer system with a disk array that has physical storage devices arranged as logical storage units and is capable of carrying out hardware storage operations on a per logical storage unit basis, the hardware storage operations can be carried out on a per-file basis using various primitives. These primitives include instructions for zeroing file blocks, cloning file blocks, and deleting file blocks, and these instructions operate on one or more files defined in a blocklist, that identifies the locations in the logical storage units to which the files map. | 12-03-2009 |
| 20090300302 | OFFLOADING STORAGE OPERATIONS TO STORAGE HARDWARE USING A SWITCH - In a computer system with a disk array that has physical storage devices arranged as logical storage units and is capable of carrying out hardware storage operations on a per logical storage unit basis, a switch is provided to offload storage operations from a file system to storage hardware. The switch translates primitives used for performing storage operations into commands executable by the physical storage devices so that the data moving portion of the storage operations can be offloaded from the file system to the storage devices. | 12-03-2009 |
| 20090300303 | Ranking and Prioritizing Point in Time Snapshots - A storage area network system having a data storage means for storing computer data, a storage manager routine running on a client, the storage manager routine having functional elements for directing snapshots to be taken of the computer data on the data storage means, and a snapshot ranking manager for determining characteristics of the snapshots, and for selectively deleting given ones of the snapshots based at least in part on the characteristics of the snapshots. The characteristics of the snapshots might include the type of application that uses the data in the logical volume from which the snapshots were taken, or mission critical aspects of the data. | 12-03-2009 |
| 20090300304 | MANAGING CONSISTENCY GROUPS USING HETEROGENEOUS REPLICATION ENGINES - Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture for controlling a first storage system receiving commands from a first and second managers to create a consistency group with a second storage system. Host writes are received at the first storage system, wherein the first storage system includes a first storage system primary site and a first storage system secondary site. The first storage system sends the host writes from the first storage system primary site to the first storage system secondary site. Host write operations are quiesced at the first storage system in response to a first command from a first manager. Host write operations are resumed at the first storage system in response to receiving a second command from the first manager. The first storage system receives a run command with a marker, wherein the marker indicates a cycle number to control the cycles of the first and second storage systems. The first storage system sends the marker from the first storage system primary site to the first storage system secondary site. The first storage system sends the marker to a second manager. The first storage system applies the host writes to the first storage system secondary site. The first storage system sends a first message to the first storage system primary site from the first storage system secondary site after completing the applying of the host writes. The first storage system sends a second message to the first manager indicating whether conformation was received from the first storage system secondary site that the host writes were applied. | 12-03-2009 |
| 20090300305 | METHOD FOR CREATING CONSISTENT BACKUP IMAGE OF A STORAGE VOLUME WITHOUT REQUIRING A SNAPSHOT - Method for creating a consistent image, on a destination volume, of a target volume that remains in production use while the image is being created, without requiring the use of a snapshot. | 12-03-2009 |
| 20090300306 | DATA COPYING METHOD - A method for controlling a switch apparatus connectable to a host and a storage device including first and second areas, the method includes: establishing schedule of copying data stored in the first area of the storage device into the second area of the storage device; monitoring a state of access by the host to the storage device; carrying out copying the data stored in the first area into the second area while the monitored state of the access by the host allows copying of the data from the first area into the second area; and enhancing copying, if any portion of the data remains when a time set by the schedule is expired, the remaining portion of the data from the first area into the second area. | 12-03-2009 |
| 20090307447 | Managing Migration of a Shared Memory Logical Partition from a Source System to a Target System - Migration management is provided for a shared memory logical partition migrating from a source system to a target system. The management approach includes managing migration of the logical partition from the source system to the target system by: transferring a portion of logical partition state information for the migrating logical partition from the source system to the target system by copying at the source system contents of a logical page of the migrating logical partition into a state record buffer for forwarding to the target system; forwarding the state record buffer to the target system; and determining whether the migrating logical partition is suspended at the source system, and if not, copying at the target system contents of the state record buffer to paging storage of the target system, the paging storage being external to physical memory managed by a hypervisor of the target system. | 12-10-2009 |
| 20090307448 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTAINERIZED DATA STORAGE AND TRACKING - The invention provides a method and system for automatically aggregating data items and storage media and placing each in a container, based on a storage preferences. The items in the container are generally of a similar type or classification. The container may be tracked by the system instead of individually tracking and monitoring each of the data items and storage media contained in the container. The location of the container is tracked within the storage system and at offsite storage, for administrative, reporting or other uses. | 12-10-2009 |
| 20090307449 | SNAPSHOT STORAGE AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM WITH INDEXING AND USER INTERFACE - A system and method of managing stored data in a storage management system. The storage management system includes a storage manager, a media agent connected to the storage manager, and a primary volume connected to the media agent. A plurality of snapshots are taken of the primary volume. The snapshots are indexed by associating respective information with the snapshot. The indexed snapshots are copied to a recovery volume. In this way, browsing features are enabled for the user. The user may view the snapshots in a hierarchical format, and may even view snapshot data in association with the corresponding application. The resultant recovery volume may be used to replace a primary volume. | 12-10-2009 |
| 20090307450 | Snapshot Preserved Data Cloning - A method and device for cloning snapshots is provided. A new snapshot can be created by cloning an existing snapshot. The clone snapshot may use the preserved data of the existing snapshot, thereby obviating the need to copy the preserved data. Additionally, the clone snapshot may be created with a data structure for storing write data. Since the clone snapshot initially has no write data to store, the creation of the entire clone snapshot can be accomplished without copying any preserved data or write data from the existing snapshot, thereby increasing the efficiency with which a clone snapshot can be created. | 12-10-2009 |
| 20090313445 | System and Method for Improving Memory Locality of Virtual Machines - A system and related method of operation for migrating the memory of a virtual machine from one NUMA node to another. Once the VM is migrated to a new node, migration of memory pages is performed while giving priority to the most utilized pages, so that access to these pages becomes local as soon as possible. Various heuristics are described to enable different implementations for different situations or scenarios. | 12-17-2009 |
| 20090313446 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CROSS-DOMAIN DATA SHARING - A method for sharing data between a first domain and a second domain, including issuing a first request for data from a storage pool by the first domain, receiving the first request by a control domain driver in a control domain, obtaining the data by the control domain driver, storing a first copy of the data in shared memory at a first physical address, updating a hypervisor page map to include an entry associating a first pseudo-physical page number with the first physical address, notifying the first domain that the first request has been completed, issuing a second request for the data by the second domain, receiving the second request by the control domain driver, determining that the first copy of the data is present in the shared memory, and updating the hypervisor page map to include an entry associating the second pseudo-physical page number with the first physical address. | 12-17-2009 |
| 20090313447 | Remote, Granular Restore from Full Virtual Machine Backup - In one embodiment, a backup application transmits a remote request to a virtual machine that includes an application to be backed up. The request solicits metadata from the application that describes a structure of the data stored by the application on the virtual storage devices of the virtual machine. Using the metadata, the backup application may identify objects within the virtual machine (e.g. individual files, individual messages, database records or tables, etc.). Accordingly, a granular restore of data to the virtual machine may be possible without installing backup software within the virtual machine. | 12-17-2009 |
| 20090313448 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EXTENDED MEDIA RETENTION - The present invention provides systems and methods for extending media retention. Methods are provided in which a set of aging preferences are obtained. Data elements of a data set stored on storage media are evaluated against the aging preferences to determine whether each of the data elements satisfy the aging preferences. Each of the data elements that is determined to satisfy the aging preferences is aged. Aging can include freeing a portion of storage media, previously used to store a data element, for other storage usage. | 12-17-2009 |
| 20090319735 | Space Efficient De-Allocation for Cascade/Multiple Target Flash Copy Cleaning - Illustrative embodiments provide a computer implemented method for incremental storage de-allocation during a clean process within a point-in-time copy storage management system. The computer implemented method determines whether to perform the clean process and responsive to a determination to perform the clean process, determines whether a set of discrepant bits is present. Responsive to the determination that the set of discrepant bits is present, the computer implemented method copies each dirty grain for each discrepant bit in the set of discrepant bits to a downstream target to form a set of copied dirty grains and determines whether a particular dirty grain in the set of copied dirty grains has been allocated to a space efficient storage unit. Responsive to a determination that the particular dirty grain was allocated to a space efficient storage unit, the computer implemented method de-allocates the particular grain from an upstream source. | 12-24-2009 |
| 20090319736 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INTEGRATED NAS AND CAS DATA BACKUP - An integrated NAS and CAS storage system and method. System includes NAS and CAS devices and NAS and CAS clients. NAS device includes a NAS head for file sharing, and a storage system providing disk volume to store files. CAS device includes CAS head for archiving files, and a storage system providing disk volume to store archived files. CAS client includes archive AP for migrating files from NAS device to CAS device for archiving, and generating stub data indicating destination file path of archived data. When NAS client accesses stub data, NAS device receives data from CAS device and sends the data to NAS client. When NAS client accesses stub data as backup server, NAS device merely sends stub data to NAS client. NAS device employs methods of classifying the access type from NAS client, as normal NAS access or special NAS access for backup operation. | 12-24-2009 |
| 20090319737 | METHOD FOR EXECUTING APPLICATIONS FROM A PORTABLE STORAGE DEVICE | 12-24-2009 |
| 20090319738 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR STORING TRANSIENT STATE INFORMATION - A method, system and computer program product for storing transient state information, the method includes: defining a first logical storage space within at least one storage device in response to at least one characteristic of a processing system logical memory space utilized for storing current transient state information of the processing system; repetitively storing current transient state information at a logical location within the first logical storage space that corresponds to a logical location of the current transient state information within the processing system logical memory space and storing, within a second logical storage space, previous transient state information. | 12-24-2009 |
| 20090327626 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MANAGEMENT OF COPIES OF A MAPPED STORAGE VOLUME - Methods and systems for rapid creation of copies of a mapped storage volume. A new copy of a mapped storage volume is created by copying the mapping table and updating meta-data associated with the new copy and any ancestral parents thereof. The physical blocks remain untouched when creating a new copy as does any meta-data associated with the physical blocks. Rather, reference meta-data associated with each physical block is updated only in response to processing of a write request to an identified block of an identified copy of the mapped storage volume. Thus copy creation is rapid as compared to prior techniques reliant on reference counters. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20090327627 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR COPYING DATA - A storage system and a method for copying data is provided. The method includes storing data at a first storage unit of a primary site, transferring the data from the first storage unit to a second storage unit of a remote site and updating shadow storage unit metadata to reflect the storing of the data at the first storage unit, and copying, in response to the updating of the shadow storage unit metadata, the data from an entity that differs from the shadow storage unit to a third storage unit. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20090327628 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RESUMING BACKUP OF A VOLUME AFTER A BACKUP OPERATION PREMATURELY TERMINATES - A first snapshot of a volume is created at a first point in time. A first backup operation to backup the volume to a first backup image using the first snapshot is initiated. The first backup operation terminates before completion, e.g., due to a failure. A second snapshot of the volume representing the state of the volume at a second point in time is then created. The second snapshot is used by a second backup operation to resume backing up the volume to a second backup image. The first backup image is then merged with the second backup image. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20090327629 | Remote Copy Method and Remote Copy System - In a configuration in which it is necessary to transfer data from a first storage system to a third storage system through a storage system between the storage systems, there is a problem that it is inevitable to give an excess logical volume to a second storage system between the storage systems. A remote copy system includes first storage system that sends and receives data to and from an information processing apparatus, a second storage system, and a third storage system. The second storage system virtually has a second storage area in which the data should be written and has a third storage area in which the data written in the second storage area and update information concerning the data are written. Data sent from the first storage system is not written in the second storage area but is written in the third storage area as data and update information. The data and the update information written in the third storage area are read out from the third storage system. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20090327630 | SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION ITEM BACK-UP FACILITY - A system may identify a second software configuration item for possible backup in response to selection of a first software configuration item for backup, where the first and second software configuration items are related. The system may include a detecting unit for detecting information regarding at least one hardware and at least two software configuration items. A repository may store a set of data for each configuration item based on the detected information. The set of data may include a predetermined attribute of the configuration item and a relation between the configuration item and another configuration item. An identifying unit may then identify the second software configuration item from the attribute and/or the relation upon selection of the first software configuration item for backup. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20090327631 | STORAGE SYSTEM, COPY CONTROL METHOD, AND COPY CONTROL UNIT - A system and method of controlling copying including a management table for managing an update target data in a first storage volume and stored locations of before-update data of the update target data in a second storage volume, and relocating data in the second storage volume upon confirming a predetermined range of the first storage volume has been copied into the second storage volume using the management table. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20090327632 | COPYING WORKLOAD FILES TO A VIRTUAL DISK - The present invention is directed to a system and method for transferring workload files on a host to a Virtual Machine (VM) destination disk without the need for the VM to be running. This accomplished by creating a VM disk device interface to move data from the workload files to the VM destination disk. The VM disk device interface comprises a device driver to interact with the VM destination disk and destination access software utilizing standard operating system procedures to access the VM destination disk. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20100005258 | BACKUP SYSTEM AND METHOD - Backup of a production instance of an application in a production machine environment is performed by creating a snapshot image that captures the state of the production machine, and then backing up the application from a backup machine created using the snapshot image. The backup of the application can be effected by shutting down the backup machine and backing up its storage, or by using backup software to act on the backup version of the application. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100005259 | CONTINUOUS DATA PROTECTION OVER INTERMITTENT CONNECTIONS, SUCH AS CONTINUOUS DATA BACKUP FOR LAPTOPS OR WIRELESS DEVICES - A portable data protection system is described for protecting, transferring or copying data using continuous data protection (CDP) over intermittent or occasional connections between a computer system or mobile device containing the data to be protected, transferred or copied, called a data source, and one or more computer systems that receive the data, called a data target. CDP can be broken down logically into two phases: 1) detecting changes to data on a data source and 2) replicating the changes to a data target. The portable data protection system uses a method that performs the first phase continuously or near continuously on the data source, and the second phase when a connection is available between the data source and the data target. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100005260 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND REMOTE COPY RECOVERY METHOD - Data written in the primary logical volume of the first storage device are transmitted to the third storage device via the second storage device, the data being written in the same location as the primary logical volume within the secondary logical volume in the third storage device; when transmission of the data stops among the first to the third storage devices, the respective second storage device and the third storage device manage locations in the secondary logical volume where the data held thereby are to be written; and, when transmission of the data resumes among the first to the third storage devices, the locations in the secondary logical volume managed by the respective second and the third storage devices are aggregated, the data to be written in the respective aggregated location in the secondary logical volume being transmitted from the first storage device to the third storage device via the second storage device. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100005261 | STORAGE DEVICE AND POWER CONTROL METHOD - The storage device of the present invention has: a first recording unit that records a time zone history of access to each storage area assigned to a virtual volume; a second recording unit that executes a predetermined calculation based on the time zone history of access to a plurality of storage areas belonging to a plurality of pool areas and records the calculation result for each of the plurality of pool areas; a comparison unit that acquires, from the first recording unit, the time zone history of access to an optional storage area among the plurality of storage areas and compares the acquired access time zone history with the calculation result recorded in the second recording unit; and a migration unit that selects, from among the plurality of pool areas, a pool area for which the calculation result is similar to the acquired access time zone history on the basis of the result of the comparison by the comparison unit, and migrates the data stored in the optional storage area to a storage area in the selected pool area. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100005262 | Information Processing Apparatus, Data Restoring Method of Information Processing Apparatus, and Data Restoring Program of Information Processing Apparatus - According to the present invention, an information processing apparatus includes: a first storage module; a second storage module; a first acquiring module configured to acquire data from the first storage module when a failure occurs; a determination module configured to determine whether the data acquired by the first acquiring module includes system data having a possibility of changing system operation; and a first copying module configured to copy the data to the second storage device with a destination information, wherein, when the determination module determines that the data does not include the system data, a previous location of the data before occurrence of the failure is set as the destination information, and wherein, when the determination module determines that the data includes the system data, a certain location in the first storage module is set as the destination information. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100005263 | INFORMATION BACKUP METHOD, FIREWALL AND NETWORK SYSTEM - An information backup method, a firewall, and a network system are provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure. The method of the present disclosure implements information backup between at least two firewalls. The method includes: receiving a packet; and backing up changed session information to the another firewall if it is detected that the received packet causes the recorded session information to have changed. As such, session information recorded in the firewalls is consistent in real time. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100011177 | METHOD FOR MIGRATION OF SYNCHRONOUS REMOTE COPY SERVICE TO A VIRTUALIZATION APPLIANCE - A method, system, computer program product, and computer program storage device for receiving and processing I/O requests from a host device and providing data consistency in both a primary site and a secondary site, while migrating a SRC (Synchronous Peer to Peer Remote Copy) from a backend storage subsystem to a storage virtualization appliance. While transferring SRC from the backend storage subsystem to the storage virtualization appliance, all new I/O requests are saved in both a primary cache memory and a secondary cache memory, allowing a time window during which the SRC at the backend storage subsystem can be stopped and the secondary storage device is made as a readable and writable medium. The primary cache memory and secondary cache memory operates separately on each I/O request in write-through, read-write or no-flush mode. | 01-14-2010 |
| 20100011178 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PERFORMING BACKUP OPERATIONS OF VIRTUAL MACHINE FILES - Backup systems and methods are disclosed for a virtual computing environment. Certain examples include a system having a backup management server that communicates with a host server having at least one virtual machine. The management server coordinates with the host server to perform backup copies of entire virtual machine disks from outside the guest operating system of the virtual machine. In certain examples, such backup systems further utilize a volume shadow copy service executing on the host server to quiesce virtual machine applications to put data in a consistent state to be backed up. The backup system then utilizes hypervisor snapshot capabilities of the host server to record intended changes to the virtual machine disk files while such files are being copied (e.g., backed up) by the host server. Such recorded changes can be later committed to the virtual machine disk files once the backup operation has completed. | 01-14-2010 |
| 20100011179 | REMOTE COPY SYSTEM AND METHOD - A remote copy system includes a first storage device performing data transmission/reception with a host computer, a second storage device receiving data from the first storage device, and a third storage device receiving data from the second storage device. The first storage device includes a logical volume, the second storage device includes a logical volume being a virtual volume, and the third storage device includes a logical volume. The first storage system changes the state of a first pair of the logical volumes based on the state of a second pair of the logical volumes. With such a remote copy system and a method for use therein, any data backup failure can be prevented. | 01-14-2010 |
| 20100011180 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARTAUS, CONTENT CONTROL METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM - According to one embodiment, a storage medium configured to be connectable to apparatuses for processing an encrypted content, the medium stores a content key of the encrypted content, and a copy control list includes information indicating one of the apparatuses which is a copying destination of the encrypted content. | 01-14-2010 |
| 20100011181 | Methods for synchronizing storage system data - In accordance with one example, a method for comparing data units is disclosed comprising generating a first digest representing a first data unit stored in a first memory. A first encoded value is generated based, at least in part, on the first digest and a predetermined value. A second digest representing a second data unit stored in a second memory different from the first memory, is generated. A second encoded value is derived based, at least in part, on the second digest and the predetermined value. It is determined whether the first data unit and the second data unit are the same based, at least in part, on the first digest, the first predetermined value, the first encoded value, and the second digest, by first processor. If the second data unit is not the same as the first data unit, the first data unit is stored in the second memory. | 01-14-2010 |
| 20100017573 | STORAGE SYSTEM, COPY CONTROL METHOD OF A STORAGE SYSTEM, AND COPY CONTROL UNIT OF A STORAGE SYSTEM - A storage system and a copy control method enabling copying of data stored in a first volume connected with a higher-level device to a second volume. The system and method include controlling an update using a first management table for managing an update during a period from reception of a copy instruction from the higher-level device to reception of a predetermined command, and transferring update data of the first volume to the second volume based on the update situation in the first management table. | 01-21-2010 |
| 20100017574 | STORAGE SYSTEM, METHOD OF CONTROLLING STORAGE SYSTEM, AND STORAGE DEVICE - The present invention provides a storage system and a method of controlling the storage system, in which a second site rapidly resumes system process when a first site is damaged. The storage system comprises a first site including a first storage device, a second site including a second storage device, and a third site including a third storage device, and the method of controlling the storage system comprises a step of making a logical volume of the second storage device consistent with a logical volume of the first storage device by remotely copying only the differential data between the logical volume of the first storage device and the logical volume of the second storage device from a logical volume of the third storage device to the logical volume of the second storage device when the first site is damaged. | 01-21-2010 |
| 20100023715 | SYSTEM FOR IMPROVING START OF DAY TIME AVAILABILITY AND/OR PERFORMANCE OF AN ARRAY CONTROLLER - An apparatus comprising a storage array, a controller, a cache storage area and a backup storage area. The storage array may include a plurality of storage devices. The controller may be configured to send one or more commands configured to control reading and writing data to and from the storage array. The commands may include volume configuration information used by each of the plurality of storage devices. The cache storage area may be within the controller and may be configured to store a copy of the commands. The backup storage area may be configured to store the copy of the commands during a power failure. | 01-28-2010 |
| 20100023716 | STORAGE CONTROLLER AND STORAGE CONTROL METHOD - Difference information between two snapshots from a first point-in-time snapshot, which has been copied, to an N | 01-28-2010 |
| 20100023717 | REMOTE COPY SYSTEM AND REMOTE SITE POWER SAVING METHOD - A computer migrates to the same remote controller, from among a plurality of remote virtual computers at a remote site, two or more remote virtual computers belonging to a group configured from remote virtual computers with similar remote copy patterns. In the remote controller, these two or more remote virtual computers and remote virtual computers with dissimilar remote copy patterns do not reside. | 01-28-2010 |
| 20100030982 | BACKING UP DIGITAL CONTENT THAT IS STORED IN A SECURED STORAGE DEVICE - A third party facilitates preparation of a backup SSD for backing up a source SSD. Digital data of the source SSD, which includes protected and sensitive data and information, is copied to the backup SSD either by and via the third party or directly from the source SSD but under supervision of the third party. The digital data of the source SSD is copied to the backup SSD under stringent rules and only if each party (i.e., the source SSD, destination SSD, and third party) proves to a counterpart device with which it operates that it is authorized to send to it digital data or to receive therefrom digital data, depending on the device with which that party operates. | 02-04-2010 |
| 20100030983 | Backup without overhead of installed backup agent - Methods and apparatus involve providing computing backup for virtual representations on a physical hardware platform without the attendant overhead of an installed backup agent per each of the virtual representations. Representatively, a hardware platform has a processor and memory upon and a plurality of virtual machines are configured on the processor and memory as guest computing devices by way of scheduling control of a hypervisor layer. A common I/O path between the virtual machines and the hardware platform exists in the hypervisor layer and a single backup agent for the entirety of the virtual machines monitors data flows in the common I/O path. In this way, each virtual machine avoids dedicated backup agents, and their attendant overhead, especially by avoiding backup agents configured uniquely per a guest operating system, a guest file system, etc. Some other features contemplate particular I/O paths, operating systems, hypervisors, domains, and computer program products. | 02-04-2010 |
| 20100030984 | Method and system for optimizing data backup - There is provided a method for optimizing a data backup. The method comprising determining a backup project size, the backup project size identifying the quantity of data to be backed up; detecting available recording devices for transferring the data backup to storage media; receiving an input corresponding to at least one user specified optimization variable, wherein the at least one user specified optimization variable comprises an upper limit on the length of each of the calculated plurality of data streams; utilizing the at least one user specified optimization variable to calculate a plurality of data streams for performing the data backup; and assigning subsets of the plurality of data streams to the available recording devices to optimize the data backup. | 02-04-2010 |
| 20100030985 | Data backup apparatus - In a data backup apparatus using memory as the data backup apparatus of an electronic device, the data backup apparatus includes a data backup module and a memory controller. The data backup module includes an interface card, and the interface card includes a plurality of memories which are carriers of backup data, and the memories are movably inserted into memory slots. The memory controller is provided for storing, reading and backing up data. With the memories, the data storage capacity can be expanded, and users can operate a start means to drive a memory controller to back up data directly into the data backup module. The invention can enhance the data backup speed and reduce human operating errors, so as to improve the security and efficiency of the data backup operation of the electronic device. | 02-04-2010 |
| 20100030986 | STORAGE SYSTEM CONTROL METHOD - An apparatus for copying data to another apparatus including a receiving buffer, includes: a transmitting buffer including a plurality of areas for temporary storing data of the copying; and a processor for executing a process, including: receiving information indicative of an instantaneous vacant area of the receiving buffer of the another apparatus, the vacant area being capable of temporarily storing data that could be transmitted from the transmitting buffer, determining an area of the transmitting buffer that stores data to be transmitted subsequently in reference to the information of the vacant area, and transmitting data stored in the determined area of the transmitting buffer to the receiving buffer of the another apparatus. | 02-04-2010 |
| 20100030987 | DATA STORING LOCATION MANAGING METHOD AND DATA STORAGE SYSTEM - A data storing location managing method including generating an access frequency of a storing area accessed in a first storage apparatus according to a command received, copying data stored in the storing area of the first storage apparatus to a storing area of a second storage apparatus when the access frequency of the storing area of the first storage apparatus is greater than a reference value, and replacing location information of the storing area of the first storage apparatus with location information of the storing area of the second storage apparatus. | 02-04-2010 |
| 20100030988 | VIRTUALIZING SWITCH AND COMPUTER SYSTEM - A virtualizing switch includes a storage virtualizing section for making the host computer recognize storage areas prepared by combining storage areas of a physical storage devices as virtual storage devices, a data copying section for executing data copying between the virtual storage devices, a range locking section for dividing a storage area for storing data to be copied of a virtual storage device of a copy source into storage area parts having a previously set division size and inhibiting access to a divided storage area part, an instruction number counting section for counting the number of access instructions to the divided storage area part that is inhibited by the range locking section, and a divided capacity changing section for changing the division size based on the number of instructions counted by the instruction number counting section. | 02-04-2010 |
| 20100030989 | STORAGE MANAGEMENT METHOD AND STORAGE CONTROL APPARATUS - A storage control apparatus that stores backup target in a predetermined storage area of a storage apparatus includes a determination unit for determining whether or not the backup target data has been modified, and a backup processing unit for performing the backup processing for the backup target data when the determination unit determines that the backup target data has been modified. | 02-04-2010 |
| 20100037031 | PROVIDING EXECUTING PROGRAMS WITH ACCESS TO STORED BLOCK DATA OF OTHERS - Techniques are described for managing access of executing programs to non-local block data storage. In some situations, a block data storage service uses multiple server storage systems to reliably store copies of network-accessible block data storage volumes that may be used by programs executing on other physical computing systems, and snapshot copies of some volumes may also be stored (e.g., on remote archival storage systems). A group of multiple server block data storage systems that store block data volumes may in some situations be co-located at a data center, and programs that use volumes stored there may execute on other computing systems at that data center, while the archival storage systems may be located outside the data center. The snapshot copies of volumes may be used in various ways, including to allow users to obtain their own copies of other users' volumes (e.g., for a fee). | 02-11-2010 |
| 20100042791 | DATA STORAGE WITH SNAPSHOT-TO-SNAPSHOT RECOVERY - A method for data storage includes creating first and second copies of a logical volume, such that the first and second copies are represented by respective first and second sets of pointers to physical storage locations in which data used by the copies is stored. Responsively to a corruption of at least part of the data that is used by the first copy, the first copy is restored from the second copy by replacing the first set with the pointers in the second set. | 02-18-2010 |
| 20100042792 | ACTIVE-ACTIVE REMOTE CONFIGURATION OF A STORAGE SYSTEM - A method for data storage, including configuring a first logical volume on a first storage system and a second logical volume on a second storage system. The second logical volume is configured as a mirror of the first logical volume, so that the first and second logical volumes form a single logical mirrored volume. The method also includes receiving at the second storage system a command submitted by a host to write data to the logical mirrored volume, and transferring the command from the second storage system to the first storage system without writing the data to the second logical volume. On receipt of the command at the first storage system, the data is written to the first logical volume. Subsequent to writing the data to the first logical volume, the data is mirrored on the second logical volume. | 02-18-2010 |
| 20100042793 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND DATA PROTECTION METHOD OF THE SAME - The configuration of a copy pair is prevented in which data replication is conducted from a secondary system to a primary system and data is protected. A first storage device manages first information including a first measurement result related to a command received from a first host, and a second storage device manages second information including a second measurement result related to a command received from a second host. When a management computer makes an instruction to configure data replication from a first volume to a second volume, a storage system determines whether data replication from the first volume to the second volume or data replication from the second volume to the first volume is replication from the primary system to the secondary system based on the managed first information and second information, and the determined result is displayed on the management computer. | 02-18-2010 |
| 20100042794 | DATA PROTECTION SYSTEM AND METHOD - A data protection system and method apply to a computer device. The computer device links to a data protection system. The data protection system contains or links to at least two storage units. The data protection method partitions all the storage units into two blocks, and one block functions as an active memory zone, and another block functions as a backup memory zone. In each cycle of data backup, a portion of the operating storage units are backuped to the storage units in the backup memory zone. Then, the role of the storage units that have been backuped and the role of the storage units that have backuped data interchange with the active memory zone and the backup memory zone respectively having original numbers of the storage units. When one storage unit malfunctions, data can be retrieved from another storage unit and written back to the malfunctioning storage unit. In the present invention, the storage units alternately backup data. Thereby, the storage units are averagely used, and the service lives thereof are prolonged, and data intactness is guaranteed. In the present invention, a mirror-technology is used to backup data and maintain the correctness and security of data. Therefore, the present invention can provide an effective data protection method. | 02-18-2010 |
| 20100042795 | STORAGE SYSTEM, STORAGE APPARATUS, AND REMOTE COPY METHOD - Plural storage devices are cascade connected via a network, and the remote copy is executed among the plural storage devices. The data transferred from the copy source are temporarily stored in the buffer. Upon completion of the data reception, the data in the buffer are output to the data storage unit collectively, and the data are transmitted to the network connected storage device as the copy destination. | 02-18-2010 |
| 20100042796 | Updation of Disk Images to Facilitate Virtualized Workspaces in a Virtual Computing Environment - The present invention provides methods and systems for updating one or more virtualized workspaces. The one or more virtualized workspaces may be facilitated by cloning a master root disk image, and then applying temporary personalization to the master root disk image clone. The master root image clone may then be published to one or more of the users by omitting one or more portions of the personalization. Furthermore, re-personalization of a user's copy of the published master root disk image clone may be provided for use on the local computer of the user; re-personalization of a user's copy may be based at least in part on the clone. | 02-18-2010 |
| 20100049925 | EXECUTING HOST DATA TRANSFER OPERATIONS DURING SETUP OF COPY SERVICES OPERATIONS - Host input/output (I/O) operations are performed via a file stored in a non-volatile storage coupled to a storage controller while data structures are being generated in the storage controller to copy data from source logical volumes to target logical volumes. The source logical volumes and the target logical volumes are logical representations of physical storage maintained in a plurality of direct access storage devices. The contents of the file are transferred from the non-volatile storage to one or more of the plurality of direct access storage devices, after the data structures have been generated, wherein the host I/O operations are performed via the file while the contents of the file are being transferred to the one or more of the plurality of direct access storage devices. The host I/O operations to the plurality of direct access storage devices are resumed, in response to transferring entire contents of the file to the one or more of the plurality of direct access storage devices. | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100049926 | ENHANCEMENT OF DATA MIRRORING TO PROVIDE PARALLEL PROCESSING OF OVERLAPPING WRITES - A storage unit adapted for use in a processing system, includes: a journal for managing execution of incomplete writing of data for at least two segments of data, wherein a designated storage location for the first write of data overlaps a least a portion of a designated storage location for the second write of data, wherein the journal includes a reference table for tracking incomplete writes of data; and, the journal includes machine executable instructions stored within machine readable media for performing the managing by: monitoring writes of data to identify incomplete writes of data sharing at least one designated storage location of a primary media; reading the associated writes of data into the reference table; sequencing the associated writes of data in the reference table; and writing the data in the reference table in sequence order to each designated storage location of the primary media and associated secondary media. | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100049927 | ENHANCEMENT OF DATA MIRRORING TO PROVIDE PARALLEL PROCESSING OF OVERLAPPING WRITES - A storage unit including redundant storage includes: a primary storage unit and a journal for managing execution of incomplete writing of data for at least two overlapping data segments, a reference table for tracking incomplete writes of data; and includes instructions for managing data by: monitoring writes of data to identify incomplete writes of data sharing at least one designated storage location of a primary media; reading the associated writes of data into the table; sequencing the associated writes of data; writing data in sequence order to each designated storage location of the primary media and providing the data in sequence order to secondary media with a sequence number; and at least one secondary storage unit including a duplicate record of data comprised within the primary media, each secondary storage unit equipped for ensuring recent data is not overwritten with prior data by controlling writes according to the sequence number. | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100049928 | COMMAND SEQUENCE NUMBERING APPARATUS AND METHOD - A method, system, and computer program product to preserve data integrity in a mirror and copy environment is disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a method may include receiving a write command and data from a host device. The method may further include writing the data to a primary storage device and attaching a primary sequence number associated with the primary storage device to the write command, thereby providing a numbered write command with a command sequence number. The numbered write command may then be transmitted to a secondary storage device. The method may further include comparing the command sequence number to a secondary sequence number associated with the secondary storage device. If the command sequence number matches the secondary sequence number, then the command may be executed. Otherwise, it may be ignored. | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100049929 | Efficient Management of Archival Images of Virtual Machines Having Incremental Snapshots - In one embodiment, a backup application is disclosed which is configured to detect that one or more incremental virtual disk files are provided in a virtual machine image. The backup application may invoke a merge function in the virtual machine monitor, and may merge the incremental virtual disk files into the base virtual disk file. Redundant data is thus eliminated, and may reduce the amount of archive media needed to store the backed-up virtual machine image. | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100049930 | Managing Backups Using Virtual Machines - One embodiment is a method for providing incremental backups for a source computing machine, the method including: (a) creating a first backup snapshot including a virtual machine (VM) snapshot of an initial copy of a source computing machine volume, wherein said VM snapshot includes a timestamp and a first redo log file; (b) reconfiguring and customizing said first backup snapshot to create a first bootable VM, writing changes associated with said reconfiguring and customizing into said first redo log file, then creating a first bootable snapshot including a VM snapshot of said first bootable VM, wherein said VM snapshot of said first bootable VM includes a timestamp for said first bootable VM and a redo log file; (c) performing an incremental update of said first backup snapshot or a subsequent backup snapshot, then creating a subsequent backup snapshot including a VM snapshot of said incremental update, wherein said VM snapshot of said incremental update includes a timestamp for said incremental update and a redo log file; and (d) reconfiguring and customizing said subsequent backup snapshot to create a subsequent bootable VM, then creating a subsequent bootable snapshot including a VM snapshot of said subsequent bootable VM, wherein said VM snapshot of said subsequent bootable VM includes a timestamp for said subsequent bootable VM and a redo log file. | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100049931 | Copying Logical Disk Mappings Between Arrays - In one embodiment, a storage controller comprises a first port that provides an interface to a host computer, a second port that provides an interface to a storage device, a processor, and a memory module communicatively connected to the processor and comprising logic instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium which, when executed by the processor, configure the processor to copy a logical disk mapping from a first storage array managed by a source storage controller to a second storage array managed by a destination storage controller by performing operations comprising obtaining, in the source storage controller, an object identifier listing for use with the logical disk mappings in the destination storage controller, copying, in the source storage controller, contents of logical disk mappings for use in the first storage array from a first storage container to a second storage container, and replacing, in the source storage controller, object identifiers associated with the logical disk mappings in the first storage array with object identifiers from the object identifier listing received in the first storage controller. | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100049932 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC SNAPSHOT - A method for automatic snapshot includes obtaining the amount of data written into a source Logical Unit Number (LUN) and performing increment accumulation; and taking a snapshot when a value of the increment accumulation exceeds the upper limit value. An apparatus for automatic snapshot is disclosed. In one embodiment of the invention, snapshots are taken according to the size of a data variable, only two characterizing parameters, an upper limit value and an increment value need to be added, and the determination logic is clear and concise. Thus, system efficiency or resource overload is not affected, the pertinence is strengthened, the resource usage is increased, and the adaptability is strengthened. Furthermore, stored data may be automatically protected with snapshot, and data safety and reliability are greatly improved. | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100049933 | REMOTE COPY SYSTEM - Even when a host does not give a write time to write data, consistency can be kept among data stored in secondary storage systems. The present system has plural primary storage systems each having a source volume and plural secondary storage systems each having a target volume. Once data is received from a host, each of the plural storage systems creates write-data management information having sequential numbers and reference information and sends, to one of the primary storage systems, the data, sequential number and reference information. Each of the secondary storage systems records reference information corresponding to the largest sequential number among serial sequential numbers and stores, in a target volume in an order of sequential numbers, data corresponding to reference information having a value smaller than the reference information based on the smallest value reference information among reference information recorded in each of the plural secondary storage systems. | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100058010 | INCREMENTAL BACKUP USING SNAPSHOT DELTA VIEWS - A backup method that uses snapshot delta views to create backups of a data collection is provided. The method comprises taking a first snapshot of the data collection, in response to determining that a previous snapshot used to create a backup does not exist; creating a backup of the data collection using the first snapshot, in response to determining that the previous snapshot does not exist; recording that the first snapshot was used as a source for the creation of a backup; and taking a second snapshot of the data collection, in response to determining that the previous snapshot that was used as a source for a backup does exist. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100058011 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AND BACKUP METHOD THEREFOR - A computer system includes a first volume that is read and written from a first computer and in which write data is written, a second volume that stores journal data in the first volume with the journal data delimited at each predetermined point, a third volume as a virtual volume, a virtual-volume creating unit that creates, when a backup instruction for the first volume at a predetermined point is received, the third volume from which a second computer can read the journal data and in which the second computer can write the journal data, a mapping unit that maps the journal data to the third volume, and a backup unit that transfers the write data to a storage device via the second computer or transfers, through the third volume to which the journal data is mapped by the mapping unit, the journal data to the storage device via the second computer and backs up the write data and the journal data. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100058012 | Backup Data Management Method in Which Differential Copy Time is Taken Into Account - Provided is a computer system, comprising a storage system and a management computer. The management computer manages differential copy start times, differential data amounts of first pairs, and a data amount that can be copied in differential copy per unit time; identifies one of the first pairs for which the differential copy is to be started and a start time of the differential copy; subtracts the data amount of differential copy per unit time that is allocated to the identified one of the first pairs from a differential data amount of the identified first pairs; add the unit time to the identified start time; judges that the differential copy has been finished at a time when the subtracted differential data amount reaches zero or less; and calculates time zones in which the first pairs execute differential copy based on the time at which differential copy has been finished. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100058013 | Online backup system with global two staged deduplication without using an indexing database - An encryption for a distributed global online backup system with global two-stage deduplication in the absence of an indexing database where data blocks are encrypted using their SHA-1 signatures as encryption keys. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100058014 | SWITCH APPARATUS - A switch connectable between hosts and storage device, the switch for providing a service of allotting virtual areas to be deployed in the storage device to any of the hosts upon demand, the switch includes: a processor for controlling allotment of virtual areas to the hosts and allocation of physical areas of the storage device to the virtual areas; and a memory for storing information of the host allowed access to the virtual areas, the processor controlling access by any of the hosts to the virtual area so as to restrict access by any of the hosts to a part of the virtual areas allotted to the any of the hosts in reference to the memory. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100058015 | BACKUP APPARATUS, BACKUP METHOD AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM HAVING A BACKUP PROGRAM - A backup apparatus and method which stores backup data into a backup data storage area includes detecting whether to increase a capacity of the backup data storage area, assigning a storage area, within an addition-source area set as a storage area permitted to be additionally assigned as the backup data storage area, when a storage area the capacity of which is to be increased is detected, detecting whether to increase the capacity of the addition-source area, and setting the addition-source area in a free storage area as the backup data storage area when detecting that the capacity of the addition-source area is to be increased. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100070721 | BUFFER SNAPSHOTS FROM UNMODIFIABLE DATA PIECE TABLES - A snapshots data structure provides compilers and other tools with snapshots of a buffer at different points in time. Snapshot heads identify trees within a directed acyclic graph (DAG) of nodes. Leaf nodes of a given tree collectively hold data elements representing information that was resident in the buffer at a particular point in time regardless of subsequent editing of the buffer. During buffer editing operations a new tree is created in the DAG with leaf nodes holding data elements that match one-to-one a subsequence of data elements held by leaf nodes of an existing tree. | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100070722 | Method and apparatus for storage migration - Embodiments of the invention provide a method and apparatus for storage subsystem migration without re-configuration of the I/O path. In one embodiment, a computer system comprises a first storage subsystem, a second storage subsystem, and a computer device connected via a network. The first storage subsystem has a first port name for a first port through which a first volume in the first storage subsystem has I/O connection with the computer device. The second storage subsystem defines a first virtual volume which is associated with the first volume, and a first virtual port having a first virtual port name that is identical to the first port name. After activation of the first virtual port, the computer device switches I/O connection for the first volume from the first storage subsystem to the second storage subsystem via the network using the first virtual port name on the second storage subsystem. | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100070723 | STORAGE AREA MANAGEMENT METHOD FOR CREATING COPY PAIR - Provided is a storage area management method used in a computer system which includes host computers, storage systems and a management computer, the method including: a step of retrieving at least one candidate logical volume for creating the primary logical volume from a plurality of storage device groups of the storage systems; a step of judging whether the retrieved at least one candidate logical volume on a primary side satisfies a condition of the primary logical volume; a step of retrieving at least one candidate logical volume for creating the secondary logical volume from the plurality of storage device groups; a step of judging whether the retrieved at least one candidate logical volume on a secondary side satisfies a condition of the secondary logical volume; and a step of creating a copy pair based on results of retrieving and results of judging. | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100070724 | Storage system and method for operating storage system - In acquiring a snapshot, when data in a P-VOL is updated, it is determined whether the same data as target data to be stored in a certain second storage area specified by a certain second address of a D-VOL is already stored in a different second storage area specified by a different second address of the D-VOL, the target data being the differential data generated by the update. When the same data as the target data is stored, the target data is not newly stored in the D-VOL, and the different second address, specifying the different second storage area where the same data is stored, is registered in a snapshot management table (CoW table), in association with a certain first address specifying a certain first storage area where the data from which the target data has been generated is stored. | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100070725 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MANAGEMENT OF VIRTUALIZATION DATA - Described in detail herein is a method of copying data of one or more virtual machines being hosted by one or more non-virtual machines. The method includes receiving an indication that specifies how to perform a copy of data of one or more virtual machines hosted by one or more virtual machine hosts. The method may include determining whether the one or more virtual machines are managed by a virtual machine manager that manages or facilitates management of the virtual machines. If so, the virtual machine manager is dynamically queried to automatically determine the virtual machines that it manages or that it facilitates management of. If not, a virtual machine host is dynamically queried to automatically determine the virtual machines that it hosts. The data of each virtual machine is then copied according to the specifications of the received indication. | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100070726 | USING A SNAPSHOT AS A DATA SOURCE - A system and method for using a snapshot as a data source is described. In some cases, the system stores a snapshot and an associated data structure or index to storage media to create a secondary copy of a volume of data. In some cases, the associated index includes application specific data about a file system or other application that created the data to identify the location of the data. The associated index may include three entries, and may be used to facilitate the recovery of data via the snapshot. | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100077160 | System And Method for High Performance Enterprise Data Protection - High performance, enterprise-level data protection system and method provides efficient block-level incremental snapshots of primary storage devices, and instant availability of such snapshots in immediately mountable form that can be directly used in place of the primary storage device. Related systems and applications are described, including an “Enterprise Image Destination” (EID) for backup images; a mirroring technique whereby a replacement physical primary facility may be created while working with a second storage unit as the primary source file system; and a technique for eliminating redundant data in backup images when multiple systems with partially common contents (e.g., operating system files, common databases, application executables, etc.) are being backed up. A number of examples showing “Fast Application Restore” (FAR) with the use of the invention are also provided. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100077161 | IDENTIFYING APPLICATION METADATA IN A BACKUP STREAM - A method of identifying application metadata in a backup stream comprises finding a known application metadata signature within a backup stream. A source application of user data in the backup stream is identified based upon the known application metadata signature. Application metadata, which has been generated by the source application, is removed from consideration by a data de-duplicator which is used to perform data de-duplication on the backup stream. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100077162 | METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING REPLICATION ENVIRONMENT AND STORAGE SYSTEM - A management computer collects a usage condition of a volume from a host computer and a storage apparatus at each site, consolidates management thereof, and prevents a volume from duplicating among applications as a copy source. This makes it possible to select a used volume in an application as a copy source without excess or deficiency and to create a copy pair configuration definition without duplication or incompatibility. If a replication environment is constructed in a large-scale storage system, the consolidated management of a usage condition of a volume collected from the host computer and the storage apparatus at each site makes it possible to create a copy pair configuration definition by a task constituted by a plurality of applications. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100077163 | Memory Management Method, Memory Management Apparatus, and Recording Medium Recording the Memory Management Program - In a memory management method, a memory management device, and a recording medium containing a memory management program, a main program executes a process by interrupting a process for generating a continuous usable region. When the main program writes data into a heap region during a compaction process, the memory management program judges whether the data write destination is a recording region of the object to be copied or a recording region of the copied object. If the data write destination is one of those recording regions, then the write data is written into both the recording regions of the object to be copied and the copied object. For this, even if the main program performs writing during a compaction process, it is possible to maintain consistency between data on the object to be copied and the copied object. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100077164 | MEMORY-CONTROLLER-EMBEDDED APPARATUS AND PROCEDURE FOR ACHIEVING SYSTEM-DIRECTED CHECKPOINTING WITHOUT OPERATING-SYSTEM KERNEL SUPPORT - System-directed checkpointing is enabled in otherwise standard computers through relatively straightforward augmentations to the computer's memory controller hub. Firmware routines executed by a control and dispatch unit that is normally part of any memory controller hub enable it to implement any of six different checkpointing strategies: post-image checkpointing in which an image of the system state at the time of the last checkpoint is maintained in a local shadow memory; post-image checkpointing in which an image of the system state at the time of the last checkpoint is maintained in a shadow memory located in a second, backup computer; post-image checkpointing using a bit-map memory, having one bit representing each data block in system memory, to reduce the amount of memory-to-memory copying required to establish a checkpoint; post-image checkpointing to a local shadow memory using two bit map memories to enable normal processing to continue while the shadow is being updated, post-image checkpointing to a local shadow memory using a block-state memory that eliminates the need for any memory-to-memory copying; and local pre-image checkpointing that does not require a shadow memory. Since each of these implementations has advantages and disadvantages relative to the others and since similar mechanisms are used in the memory controller hub for all of these options, it can be designed to support all of them with hardwired or settable status bits defining which is to be supported in a given situation. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100077165 | Tracking Block-Level Changes Using Snapshots - Writes to blocks of a protected storage volume that occur between the beginning of a prior backup interval and the beginning of a current backup interval are tracked using a first snapshot that is maintained through the current backup interval. At the beginning of the current backup interval, a second snapshot is generated. Blocks that are indicated by a dirty block list of the first snapshot as having been changed are read from the snapshot volume for the second snapshot and copied to a backup storage volume. For the next backup interval, the second snapshot or alternatively, a newly generated third snapshot, is used to track writes to blocks of a protected storage volume that occur between the beginning of the current backup interval and the beginning of a next backup interval. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100077166 | METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND PRODUCTS FOR RECORDING MEDIA - Methods, devices, and products are disclosed for recording media. An input is received via a user interface to record media. An entry is created in a recording schedule to record the media. The recording schedule is sent to a restoration server, such that the recording schedule is mirrored to the restoration server. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100082920 | Tracking Metadata Changes During Data Copy In A Storage System - Embodiments include methods, apparatus, and systems for tracking metadata changes during copying in a storage system. One embodiment includes a method that uses a bitmap and two fences to track changes to metadata while a copy of the metadata is being transferred from a source disk array to a destination disk array. | 04-01-2010 |
| 20100082921 | Systems And Methods For Data Snapshot Replication - Systems and methods for data snapshot replication are disclosed. In an exemplary implementation, a method for data snapshot replication may include inserting a token into a replication link when a data snapshot is generated at a source. The method may also include generating the data snapshot on a target in an order that the token is received. | 04-01-2010 |
| 20100082922 | VIRTUAL MACHINE MIGRATION USING LOCAL STORAGE - A method, apparatus, and system of virtual machine migration using local storage are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes creating a current snapshot of an operating virtual machine on a source physical server, storing a write data on a low-capacity storage device accessible to the source physical server and a destination physical server during a write operation on the destination physical server, and launching the operating virtual machine on the destination physical server when a memory data is copied from the source physical server to the destination physical server. The current snapshot may be a read-only state of the operating virtual machine frozen at a point in time. A time and I/O that may be needed to create the current snapshot that may not increase with a size of the operating virtual machine. | 04-01-2010 |
| 20100082923 | DEVICE FOR CONTROL OF SWITCHING OF STORAGE SYSTEM - A storage system includes a controller that controls switching from a system before switching to a system after switching. The controller includes a check unit that checks whether a connection between the system before switching and the system after switching is enabled, or not, a determination unit that determines whether switching from the system before switching to the system after switching is enabled, or not, a fail-over information migration unit that migrates fail-over information included in the system before switching to the system after switching, a user data migration unit that migrates user data in the system before switching to the system after switching, and a switching execution unit that enables the system after switching to receive I/O from a host. | 04-01-2010 |
| 20100082924 | Storage controller having virtual volume - To shorten time necessary for performing backup of data in a virtual volume managed by a storage controller to a backup destination storage device. A secondary volume including storage areas of the same number as the number of first primary virtual areas is created with respect to a primary virtual volume (a virtual logical volume to be an I/O destination from an external device) including plural primary virtual areas. The first primary virtual areas are primary virtual areas to which actual areas are allocated. Data copy is performed from the primary virtual volume to the secondary volume. At the time of backup to the backup destination storage device, data backup is performed from the secondary volume to the backup destination storage device. | 04-01-2010 |
| 20100082925 | MANAGEMENT COMPUTER USED TO CONSTRUCT BACKUP CONFIGURATION OF APPLICATION DATA - According to the present invention, it is possible to construct a backup configuration of a particular application data, without influencing data of another application. A management computer is coupled to a host computer on which an application operates, and to a storage apparatus that includes a plurality of volume groups each having one or more logical volumes. At least one of the logical volumes is allocated to the application. The management computer includes a volume group overlapping use determination part and a backup policy determination part. When the backup of the volume group to which one logical volume belongs is configured, the volume group overlapping use determination part determines whether there is another application that uses the volume group. The backup policy determination part determines whether there is set, for another volume group, backup policy information same as that set for the application. | 04-01-2010 |
| 20100088481 | WRITE CAPTURE FOR FIBRE CHANNEL FABRIC SNAPSHOT SERVICE - The snapshot capability moving into the SAN fabric and being provided as a snapshot service. A well-known address is utilized to receive snapshot commands. Each switch in the fabric connected to a host contains a front end or service interface to receive the snapshot command. Each switch of the fabric connected to a storage device used in the snapshot process contains a write interceptor module which cooperates with hardware in the switch to capture any write operations which would occur to the snapshot data area. The write interceptor then holds these particular write operations until the original blocks are transferred to a snapshot or separate area so that the original read data is maintained. Should a read operation occur to the snapshot device and the original data from requested location has been relocated, a snapshot server captures these commands and redirects the read operation to occur from the snapshot area. If, however, the read operation is directed to the original drive, the read is provided from the original data areas, even if the data had been replaced. The snapshot server determines the existence of particular snapshot devices, allocates their storage locations, provides this information to both the service interfaces and the write interceptors and handles read and write operations to the snapshot device. | 04-08-2010 |
| 20100095077 | Method System and Apparatus for Handling Information Related Applications - The present invention relates to the field of electronic information handling. In particular, the invention relates to the field of information or data storage and retrieval. In one form the present invention relates to a method, system, and apparatus for data recovery in relation to the back up of office information to both onsite and offsite locations. Preferably, the invention provides for the handling user information, comprising: generating a baseline where the baseline comprises a copy of an initial collection of user information; storing at least a predefined number of subsequent copies of predetermined user information; regenerating the baseline by merging the copy of predetermined user information stored immediately subsequent to a previously generated baseline with the previously generated baseline restoring of data either from the baseline or some other determined time in accordance with the subsequent copies of predetermined user information to a device of the user's choosing. | 04-15-2010 |
| 20100095078 | REMOTE COPY SYSTEM - A remote copy system includes a first storage system including a first storage controller and a first data volume. The first storage controller is configured to control data access requests to the first data volume. The first storage system is configured to store write data in the first data volume upon receiving a write request from a first host associated with the first storage system and generate a journal including control data and journal data. A second storage system includes a journal volume and configured to receive and store the journal generated by the first storage system in the journal volume. A third storage system includes a second data volume and configured to receive the journal from the second storage system and store the journal data of the journal to the second storage system according to information provided in the control data. | 04-15-2010 |
| 20100095079 | DEVICE FOR PROCESSING INFORMATION AND WORKING METHOD THEREOF - A device for processing information and the working method of the same are provided. The device for processing information comprises: a memory in which logic for driving a firmware is stored; a connector for connecting the memory to an external device; and a control unit for providing an interface with a host, for communicating with the host through the connector, and for reading and recording data on the memory. The control unit comprises: a first storing device in which a routine for calling the firmware logic stored in the memory is stored; and a processor for executing the firmware logic, stored in the memory, using the routine stored in the first storing device. | 04-15-2010 |
| 20100100695 | Storage system and remote copy control method - A storage system is provided which is capable of realizing a remote copy function for speeding up lines virtually by satisfying such demand to distribute copy data into a plurality of lines. In a storage system for connecting a local storage device and a remote storage device via a plurality of lines, the local storage device includes a remote copy program for distributing data of a plurality of logical volumes accessed from a host computer into a plurality of paths on the basis of status of the plurality of paths interposing the plurality of lines, to perform a remote copy from the local storage device to the remote storage device. Accordingly, the local storage device distributes data of the logical volumes into the plurality of lines to copy the data to the remote storage device, resulting in speeding up the lines virtually. | 04-22-2010 |
| 20100100696 | APPLICATION MIGRATION AND POWER CONSUMPTION OPTIMIZATION IN PARTITIONED COMPUTER SYSTEM - A storage device including a logical volume being a migration source of an application copies data stored in the logical volume being a migration source into a logical volume being a migration destination of the application. After such a copy process is started, the storage device stores the data written into the logical volume being a migration source as differential data without storing the data into the logical volume being a migration source. When the copy process is completed for the data stored in the logical volume being a migration source, a management computer starts copying of the differential data, and in a time interval after the copying of the data stored in the logical volume being a migration source is completed but before the copying of the differential data is completed, a computer being a migration destination of the application is turned ON. With such a logically-partitioned computer system, power consumption at the time of application migration can be reduced. | 04-22-2010 |
| 20100100697 | INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM AND MANAGEMENT METHOD THEREOF - An information processing apparatus is provided capable of effectively utilizing resources in data transmission processes executed by a plurality of control units. A contents delivery apparatus includes network IFs, control units, disk drives used by the respective control units, and cache areas in which content data read by the respective control units from the respective disk drives is temporarily stored. Upon receiving a content data delivery request from a terminal device, the control unit of the contents delivery apparatus checks whether the requested data is present in the cache area, and if it is present (cache hit), replicates the data to the disk drive used by any one of other control units to notify a portal server allocating a delivery destination so that it is well prepared for a new delivery request from the terminal device. | 04-22-2010 |
| 20100100698 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAXIMIZING DATA RECOVERABILITY USING COUPLING UPDATES BY PARTIES - A data recovery system is disclosed that permits recovery of data in a computer memory. The system includes an update storage system, a long-term storage system, a coupling functional circuit, and a parity register. The update storage system is for providing backup storage of recently updated data. The long-term storage system is for providing backup storage of data that has not been recently updated. The coupling functional circuit is for providing a bit-wise commutative binary operation of data from the update storage system and from the long term storage system. The parity register is for maintaining parity snapshots of the output of the coupling functional circuit. | 04-22-2010 |
| 20100106924 | COMPUTER SYSTEM FOR PERFORMING REMOTE COPY USING JOURNAL - An object of the invention is to maintain conformability of data stored in a secondary storage system although a time stamp is not granted to write data received by a primary storage system. At least one of one or more computers includes a storage managing unit. The storage managing unit issues an ID next to an immediately previously issued ID to one or more primary storage systems (PDKCs) at regular or irregular intervals. Upon receiving a write command from one of the one or more computers, each PDKC prepares a journal (JNL) including a replica (journal data) of write data and the newest ID from the storage managing unit, and transmits the journal to a secondary storage system (SDKC). The SDKC stores a received JNL and reflects up to a particular JNL of non-reflected JNLs in a secondary volume. The particular JNL has an ID older by one than the oldest ID of the newest arrival completion IDs in one or more SDKCs. | 04-29-2010 |
| 20100106925 | PROGRAMMING AND CONFIGURATION IN A HEATING, VENTILATION AND AIR CONDITIONING NETWORK - The disclosure provides an a system and method of backing up operating control data about a device connected to a controller in a network. In an embodiment, the network includes a storage system for the data about the device is in the controller; a first subsystem for determining that the data should be transferred to the device; and a second subsystem for transferring the data to the device for use. | 04-29-2010 |
| 20100115215 | Recovering From a Backup Copy of Data in a Multi-Site Storage System - To make available a backup copy of source data in a multi-site storage system, the source data is provided at a first storage site and an operational copy of the source data is provided at a second storage site. In response to a request to create a backup copy of the source data, the backup copy of the source data is produced at each of the first and second storage sites. In response to failure that causes the first storage site to be unavailable, recovery of a version of the source data is enabled based on accessing the backup copy of the source data at the second storage site, and accessing the operational copy of the source data at the second storage site. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100115216 | DATA ALLOCATION AND REPLICATION ACROSS DISTRIBUTED STORAGE SYSTEM - In a distributed storage system such as those in a data center or web based service, user characteristics and characteristics of the hardware such as storage size and storage throughput impact the capacity and performance of the system. In such systems, an allocation is a mapping from the user to the physical storage devices where data/information pertaining to the user will be stored. Policies regarding quality of service and reliability including replication of user data/information may be provided by the entity managing the system. A policy may define an objective function which quantifies the value of a given allocation. Maximizing the value of the allocation will optimize the objective function. This optimization may include the dynamics in terms of changes in patterns of user characteristics and the cost of moving data/information between the physical devices to satisfy a particular allocation. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100115217 | DATA MIRRORING IN SERIAL-CONNECTED MEMORY SYSTEM - A method of data mirroring in a serial-connected memory system between a first and a second memory device. A bypass command is issued to the first memory device, then a write data packet is provided to the first and second memory devices, and then a write data packet command is provided to the first and second memory devices by wherein the write data packet is passed to the second memory device through the first memory device. Mirroring of the write data packet into the first and second memory devices is thereby achieved. ECC (error correction codes) within spare fields provide means for recovering data after failure. The serial-connected memory system is especially useful for implementing SSD (solid-state disk) memory systems. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100115218 | MAINTAINING STORAGE DEVICE BACKUP CONSISTENCY - A method, system, and computer program product are provided for maintaining a storage device backup consistency group. The method comprises receiving a first I/O command for a first storage device, receiving a second I/O command for a second storage device, identifying a transaction comprising both the first I/O command and the second I/O command, accessing a storage device backup consistency group for the first storage device, determining whether a backup for the second storage device is a member of the storage device backup consistency group, and performing a predefined corrective action if a backup for the second storage device is not a member of the storage device backup consistency group. The predefined corrective action may comprise detecting or creating a backup for the second storage device and then adding the detected or created backup to the storage device backup consistency group, invalidating the second I/O command, and/or issuing a warning. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100115219 | STORAGE SECTION CONTROLLING APPARATUS, STORAGE SECTION CONTROLLING SYSTEM AND COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM ON OR IN WHICH STORAGE SECTION CONTROLLING PROGRAM IS RECORDED - A storage section controlling apparatus includes a queuing section adapted to retain a processing order of write requests and readout requests from a data processing apparatus to plural storage sections to, and a processing order controlling section adapted to change, where a readout request for a target region of a duplexing process of a second storage section of the plural storage sections by a duplexing controlling section is issued from the data processing apparatus and a write request for a target region of at least one first storage section of the plural storage sections of a copying source corresponding to the target region of the readout request exists later than a processing turn of the readout request in a processing order in the queuing section, the processing turn of the readout request in the processing order so as to be later than the writing request in the processing order. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100122050 | VIRTUAL STORAGE MIGRATION TECHNIQUE TO MINIMIZE SPINNING DISKS - A method, and system for employing the method, for virtual data storage migration providing a plurality of data storage devices communicating with at least one computer system. A plurality of data being managed by the computer system and an archive data storage device is selected from the plurality of data storage devices. Specified data is selected for archiving in the archive data storage device when the archive data meets a specified archive criteria. After the archived specified data is accessed in the archive data storage device at a predetermined frequency, the archive data is migrated to an active data storage device in a powered up state. The archive data storage device is then powering down. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100122051 | REMOTE COPYING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, METHOD AND APPARATUS - A management system for managing storage systems, having first correspondence information concerned with correspondence of copy pairs with copy groups as setting of remote copying of data in logical volumes of the storage systems, and second correspondence information concerned with correspondence of physical paths and logical paths between the storage systems with the copy groups, wherein when failure information designating a certain physical path is received, a copy group affected by failure in the certain physical path is specified and displayed by referring to the first correspondence information and the second correspondence information. Consequently, physical paths can be monitored from the viewpoint of remote copying. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100122052 | Generating and Using Checkpoints in a Virtual Computer System - To generate a checkpoint for a virtual machine (VM), first, while the VM is still running, a copy-on-write (COW) disk file is created pointing to a parent disk file that the VM is using. Next, the VM is stopped, the VM' s memory is marked COW, the device state of the VM is saved to memory, the VM is switched to use the COW disk file, and the VM begins running again for substantially the remainder of the checkpoint generation. Next, the device state that was stored in memory and the unmodified VM memory pages are saved to a checkpoint file. Also, a copy may be made of the parent disk file for retention as part of the checkpoint, or the original parent disk file may be retained as part of the checkpoint. If a copy of the parent disk file was made, then the COW disk file may be committed to the original parent disk file. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100122053 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PERFORMING DATA REPLICATION - Performing data management operations on replicated data in a computer network. Log entries are generated for data management operations of an application executing on a source system. Consistency point entries are used to indicate a time of a known good, or recoverable, state of the application. A destination system is configured to process a copy of the log and consistency point entries to replicate data in a replication volume, the replicated data being a copy of the application data on the source system. When the replicated data represents a known good state of the application, as determined by the consistency point entries, the destination system(s) may perform a storage operation (e.g., snapshot, backup) to copy the replicated data and to logically associate the copied data with a time information (e.g., time stamp) indicative of the source system time when the application was in the known good state. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100125712 | DATA BACKUP SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VIRTUAL INFRASTRUCTURE - Systems for backing up the data of an IT system by utilizing server or storage virtualization technology to create and move logical IT infrastructures dynamically. A virtualized IT system provides a server resource pool and a storage resource pool composed from multiple physical devices either within a datacenter or a globally located plurality of datacenters. The virtual server and the storage volume provisioned from those pools will be paired to form the virtual infrastructure. In other words, the virtual infrastructure becomes a logical IT environment build with the required computing and storage resources needed in order to execute specific applications. The virtual infrastructure can also be migrated within/among datacenter sites. | 05-20-2010 |
| 20100125713 | DATA BACKUP SYSTEM AND DATA BACKUP METHOD THEREOF - A data backup method is applicable to a cell phone with a data to be backed up stored therein. In the method, a timing instruction is first received to calculate a predetermined time period. Then, it is determined uninterruptedly whether the predetermined time period has elapsed. When the predetermined time period has elapsed, the data to be backed up is stored in a storage device. | 05-20-2010 |
| 20100131727 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND METHOD IMPLEMENTING ONLINE VOLUME AND SNAPSHOT WITH PERFORMANCE/FAILURE INDEPENDENCE AND HIGH CAPACITY EFFICIENCY - A storage system for storage of data written from a computer, and when a write request of data to a first logical volume is received, the data on request is stored into the first logical volume. When a first-generation snapshot creation request is received, the data stored in the first logical volume at the time of receiving the first-generation snapshot creation request is written into a pool region as data corresponding to a first-generation snapshot, and when a second-generation snapshot creation request is received, any portion of the data updated after the first-generation snapshot creation request is received but before the second-generation snapshot creation request is issued is read from the first logical volume for writing into the pool region. Such a storage system favorably implements snapshot backup with no dependency with a positive volume in terms of performance and failure, and with high capacity efficiency. | 05-27-2010 |
| 20100131728 | COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM STORING DATA MIGRATION PROGRAM, DATA MIGRATION METHOD, AND DATA MIGRATION APPARATUS - A data migration apparatus migrating data from a first storage to a second storage includes a switching unit for switching a destination of an I/O request issued by a business application from a device node of the first storage to a device node of the second storage; a copying unit for copying data stored in the first storage to the second storage; a transferring unit for transferring the I/O request to the device node of the first storage; an executing unit for executing the read or write process on the first storage; a re-copying unit for re-copying target data of the write process from the first storage to the second storage; and a stopping unit for stopping the transfer of the I/O request to the device node of the first storage. | 05-27-2010 |
| 20100138620 | Capturing and naming dynamic storage tiering configurations to support data pre-staging - A method for pre-staging data includes obtaining a DST configuration of a virtual volume at a first point in time. The method also includes creating a Point-in-Time copy (PiT) in a destination storage pool when the virtual volume includes at least one PiT, or reconfiguring at least one virtual volume segment to contain a hot-spot. The virtual volume may or may not have PiTs. The method further includes recording the DST configuration, specifying the DST configuration be applied to the storage array at a second point in time, and applying the DST configuration to the storage array at the second point in time. | 06-03-2010 |
| 20100138621 | INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM, CONTROLLING METHOD IN INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM, AND MANAGING APPARATUS - A problem is to support to realize the efficient power saving according to the status of a remote copy in an information processing system provided with a storage apparatus. When newly using any one of volumes of a first storage apparatus and a second storage apparatus, a management apparatus of the present invention extracts a candidate volume to screen-display the extracted volume so that the volumes, whose power control characteristics are the same or similar, are collected in the same array group. | 06-03-2010 |
| 20100138622 | BACKUP APPARATUS, BACKUP METHOD AND BACKUP PROGRAM - A backup apparatus has an address conversion table for storing, in correspondence with each other, a logical address and a physical address. The backup apparatus has a sequential data count setting unit, a sequential data information acquisition unit, and a reading unit. The sequential data count setting unit sets sequential data count information indicating the number of data blocks in a sequence in the physical address in the address conversion table. The sequential data information acquisition unit, upon receiving a read request, reads the data block in the address conversion table corresponding to the leading logical address among the logical addresses requested to be read and acquires the sequential data count information set in the address conversion table. The reading unit reads a physical volume corresponding to physical addresses in a sequence in accordance with the sequential data count information acquired by the sequential data information acquisition unit. | 06-03-2010 |
| 20100146231 | AUTHENTICATING A BACKUP IMAGE WITH BIFURCATED STORAGE - Authenticating a backup image stored on a storage device prior to restoring the backup image. A value such as a hash value is generated based on the image to be preserved. The value is stored on the storage device in a first area accessible for writing only when the computing device is in an update mode. The first area becomes read-only when the computing device is in an operating system mode. The image is stored on the storage device in a second area accessible for writing when the computing device is in the update mode or the operating system mode. When attempting to restore the image from the second area, the value from the first area is compared to another value generated at the time of the restoration for validation. | 06-10-2010 |
| 20100146232 | STORAGE SYSTEM, REMOTE COPY AND MANAGEMENT METHOD THEREFOR - A copy source storage controller received write data added with a time and issued from a host computer transfers the write data with the time to a copy destination storage controller. If there are a plurality of copy destination storage controllers, a representative copy destination storage controller compares times of write data copied to the plurality of copy destination storage controllers, and writes the write data in copy destination logical volumes in the sequential order of time. The representative copy destination storage controller judges that integrity of the write data is established, if a communication procedure is established with the copy destination storage controller and if the statuses of the copy source/destination logical volumes are coincident. In remote copy which guarantees integrity of write data and traverses a plurality of storage controllers, it is possible to judge at an optional time point whether integrity of write data can be guaranteed. | 06-10-2010 |
| 20100153666 | Storage system, method for calculating estimated value of data recovery available time and management computer - The invention provides a technology applicable to technologies other than a main frame technology and monitors data recovery available time while suppressing a monitoring error within a certain range in a storage system that performs Asynchronous Remote Copy among storage devices. A management computer in the storage system stores latest or quasi-latest management data corresponding to data staying in a buffer of the first storage device with temporal information at certain monitoring intervals, calculates an estimated value of the data recovery available time which is time of data stored in the second storage device corresponding to data stored in the first storage device, based on the temporal information stored, and based on a certain management data among earliest or quasi-earliest management data or a number of the data staying in the buffer at the certain time and displays the estimated value on a display section. | 06-17-2010 |
| 20100153667 | METHOD, COMPUTER PROGRAM AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE - A method for utilizing a secure memory in an electronic device for launching/running an application may include copying at least a portion of the application into the secure memory of the electronic device, and permanently storing the at least one portion of the application in the secure memory. The permanent storage of the at least one portion of the application in the secure memory obviates the need re-copy the application to the secure memory if/when the application is subsequently executed by the electronic device. | 06-17-2010 |
| 20100153668 | STORAGE SYSTEM, STORAGE MANAGING DEVICE AND STORAGE MANAGING METHOD - A storage system, a storage managing device, and a storage managing method are provided. The storage system includes plural mount devices in which storage devices are mounted and includes a router connected to at least two loops in which plural mount devices are cascade-connected to one another, an initialization completion determining unit that determines whether an initialization processing of obtaining identification information of the storage devices is completed when the initialization processing concerned is executed by using at least one loop of the loops connected to the router, an initialization time determining unit that determines whether an execution time of the initialization processing elapses a predetermined time based on a determination result of the initialization completion determining unit, and a time extending unit that extends the predetermined time when the determination result indicates that the initialization processing completed and the initialization processing is executed by the plural loops. | 06-17-2010 |
| 20100153669 | STORAGE DEVICE AND STORAGE DEVICE CONTROL METHOD - According to one embodiment, a storage device includes a storage medium and a controller. The storage medium includes a plurality of normal sectors that stores data and a redundant sector that stores redundant sector data for restoring data stored in each of the normal sectors. The controller stores invalid information in a normal sector when data is to be written to the normal sector belonging to a data section formed of a combination of the normal sectors and the redundant sector corresponding to the normal sectors. The invalid information indicates that the redundant sector data stored in the redundant sector belonging to the data section is invalid. | 06-17-2010 |
| 20100161921 | FLASH ROM PROGRAMMING - A method comprises providing a golden ROM unit comprising known good ROM code. The golden ROM is coupled to a ROM socket of a target system. The target system is booted, wherein booting comprises providing power to the target system and independently providing power to the ROM socket. The known good ROM code is loaded from the golden ROM to a system memory of the target system. Power is removed from the ROM socket and the golden ROM is decoupled from the ROM socket. A first subject ROM is coupled to the ROM socket. Power is provided to the ROM socket and the first subject ROM is programmed with the known good ROM code. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100161922 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING MIGRATION OF VIRTUAL MACHINES AMONG A PLURALITY OF PHYSICAL MACHINES - A method for facilitating migration of virtual machines among a plurality of physical machines includes associating a virtual machine with at least one physical resource inaccessible by a first subset of the plurality of physical machines and available to a second subset of the plurality of physical machines, the virtual machine executing on a first physical machine in the second subset of the plurality of physical machines. The method includes receiving a request to migrate the virtual machine to a second physical machine in the plurality of physical machines. The method includes identifying a second physical machine in the second subset of the plurality of physical machines. The method includes migrating the virtual machine to the second physical machine. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100161923 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REALLOCATING MEMORY CONTENT - Coherent memory copy logic is operative to copy data from a source memory location to a destination memory location and duplicate a write request to a source memory region to produce a duplicated write request. Coherent memory copy logic is also operative to execute the duplicated write request to copy content from the external memory region to the destination memory region. Power to the source memory can then be reduced to save power while the internal memory is being used. Accordingly, a type of “hardware memory mover” does not require the use of any complex software synchronization and does not result in any service interruption during a memory move. The coherent memory copy logic reallocates the application memory space from, for example, external memory to internal memory within a chip in a manner that is transparent to the application software and the user. Corresponding methods are also set forth. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100161924 | STORAGE SWITCH, STORAGE SYSTEM, AND DATA COPYING METHOD - A storage switch includes a first bitmap generator for generating a first bitmap, a controller for controlling copying of data, a first modifier, a second bitmap generator for generating a second bitmap, a second modifier, a merging controller for controlling to generate a third bitmap. When the writing of data is performed during the copying of data, the merging controller modifies a part of the index bits in the third bitmap corresponding to a part of the index bits of the first bitmap modified by the first modifier on account of the copying of data performed before the writing of data, and merges the second bitmap modified by the second modifier and the third bitmap modified by the merging controller. The controller resumes copying of data of any sub-regions on the basis of the merged bitmap. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100161925 | Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and computer-readable recording medium having an information processing program - An information processing apparatus includes a first storage unit; a second storage unit connected to the first storage unit via a data transfer channel; a HDD total capacity determination unit acquiring information about a total storage capacity of the first storage unit; a HDD partition capacity determination unit acquiring information about a storage capacity in use of the second storage unit; a comparison unit comparing the total storage capacity of the second storage unit with the storage capacity in use of the second storage unit; a copy determination unit determining whether data stored in the second storage unit can be transferred to the first storage unit based on a result of comparison by the comparison unit; and a copy processing unit transferring the data stored in the second storage unit to the first storage unit when it is determined by the copy determination unit that the transfer is possible. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100169589 | Redundant storage system using dual-ported drives - The present invention is an apparatus for providing redundant internet protocol (IP) storage. The apparatus includes an ethernet connection for connecting a plurality of users to a network having at least a first computer and a second computer, each computer having pre-boot software that controls whether the operating system is active or on standby, and wherein the pre-boot software of the first computer allows the operating system to be active and the pre-boot software of the second computer maintains the operating system on standby. Each computer is capable of running an operating system, and each computer includes a storage volume wherein each storage volume has dual ports and wherein the contents of the storage volume of the first computer is simultaneously mirrored to the storage volume of the second computer. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100169590 | Providing backups using a portable storage device - Backing up data from a client includes providing a direct coupling between the client and a portable storage device, copying full backup data from the client to the portable storage device using the direct coupling, and performing at least one incremental backup from the client to the backup site through a network that is separate from the direct coupling. The at least one incremental backup is based on the prior full backup. The network may be the Internet. Following copying full backup data to the portable storage device, the portable storage device may be shipped from the client to the backup site. The direct coupling may be USB, Firewire, or eSATA. Only a subset of data corresponding to a backup dataset may be copied from the client to the portable storage device. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100169591 | TIME ORDERED VIEW OF BACKUP DATA ON BEHALF OF A HOST - A method and systems of a time ordered view of backup data on behalf of a host are disclosed. In an embodiment, a method to provide a time-ordered snapshot view on behalf of a host of a specified portion of a backup of a first storage system data container stored at a second storage system includes initiating an order at the host to obtain a view of a data container. The order specifies a date and time of the ordered view. The method further includes receiving the order at a server adapted to assemble and enable access to the ordered view, and at the server, accessing the second storage system according to the date and time of the ordered view and accessing an applicable data write representing a data change to the data container. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100169592 | GENERATING A RECOVERY SNAPSHOT AND CREATING A VIRTUAL VIEW OF THE RECOVERY SNAPSHOT - Methods, software suites, and systems of generating a recovery snapshot and creating a virtual view of the recovery snapshot are disclosed. In an embodiment, a method includes generating a recovery snapshot at a predetermined interval to retain an ability to position forward and backward when a delayed roll back algorithm is applied and creating a virtual view of the recovery snapshot using an algorithm tied to an original data, a change log data, and a consistency data related to an event. The method may include redirecting an access request to the original data based on a meta-data information provided in the virtual view. The method may further include substantially retaining a timestamp data, a location of a change, and a time offset of the change as compared with the original data. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100169593 | Defer Separating Children in Parallel Copying Garbage Collection - Automatic memory management with a generational copy collector garbage collection algorithm running on parallel threads to perform simultaneous and independent copying and scanning. An object is scanned. It is determined whether an object referenced within the slot of the object being scanned may be copied to the same generation as the scanned object. A mark may be made to indicate that the referenced object may be copied to a different generation than the scanned object. The mark defers the copying of the referenced object. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100169594 | GRANULAR APPLICATION DATA LIFECYCLE SOURCING FROM A SINGLE BACKUP - A system or method for granular application data lifecycle sourcing from a single backup is disclosed. In one embodiment of the method, a computer system periodically creates a primary backup copy of data stored on a storage system in order to create a plurality of primary backup copies. The computer system also periodically creates a secondary backup copy of data stored on the storage system in order to create a first plurality of secondary backup copies, wherein each of the secondary backup copies of the first plurality is created in part by copying data from a respective one of the primary backup copies. The periodicity of creating the primary backup copies, however, is distinct from the periodicity of creating the secondary backup copies of the first plurality. The computer system can also periodically create another secondary backup copy of data stored on the storage system in order to create a second plurality of secondary backup copies. Each of the secondary backup copies of the first plurality is created in part by copying data from a respective one of the primary backup copies. The periodicity of creating the primary backup copies is distinct from the periodicity of creating the secondary backup copies of the second plurality, and the periodicity of creating the secondary backup copies of the first plurality is distinct from the periodicity of creating the secondary backup copies of the second plurality. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100169595 | STORAGE BACKUP - A storage system includes a secondary data store for backing up the primary data store, a deleted data store for retention of deleted data, and a data management application for managing the backing up of stored and deleted data of the primary data store. The deleted data store may be either separate from the secondary data store or implemented within the secondary data store. The data management application may automatically free up space for backup of data newly added to or deleted from the primary data store, by selectively removing data from the deleted data store, based application of appropriate criteria. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100169596 | STORAGE APPARATUS, BACKUP APPARATUS, AND BACKUP METHOD - A storage apparatus includes a second volume which stores data serving as a copying source of data to be stored in a first volume, serving as a data copying destination in another storage apparatus, a session establishing unit which establishes a session between the second volume and the first volume, and a copy directing unit which directs a volume, including a free area, in the other storage apparatus such that data equivalent to the data to be stored in the first volume is copied, in response to a copy setting command issued by a server. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100169597 | MEMORY SYSTEM - A memory system comprising a volatile memory unit, a nonvolatile memory unit, and a controller that performs data transfer between a host system and the nonvolatile memory unit via the volatile memory unit stores management information including a storage position of the data stored in the nonvolatile memory unit during a startup operation into the volatile memory unit, and performs, while updating stored management information, data management in the volatile and nonvolatile memory units based on the stored management information. The nonvolatile memory unit includes a snapshot storing area storing a snapshot which is the management information stored in the volatile memory unit at a certain point, a main log storing area storing a main log which is an update information of the management information stored in the volatile memory unit, and a backup log storing area storing a backup log having contents same as contents of the main log. The controller stores the management information of the volatile memory unit in the snapshot storing area as a snapshot when a predetermined condition is satisfied, and sequentially stores the main log in the main log storing area when the management information is changed and the backup log in the backup log storing area. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100169598 | REMOTE STORAGE DISK CONTROL DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME - A storage device system includes an information processing device, a first storage device equipped with a first storage volume, and a second storage device equipped with a second storage volume. The information processing device and the first storage device are communicatively connected to one another. Also, the first storage device and the second storage device are communicatively connected to one another. The information processing device is equipped with a first write request section that requests to write data in the first storage device according to a first communications protocol, and a second write request section that requests to write data in the second storage device according to a second communications protocol. The information processing device creates first data including a first instruction to be executed in the second storage device. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100174880 | METHOD FOR FAST FORMAT OF A FULLY ALLOCATED VOLUME WHEN COPIED FROM A SPACE EFFICIENT VOLUME - A computer system for fast format or reproducing data of a computer data storage device includes a computer system executing a reproducing process for reproducing data. A source disk (Ds) data storage device and a target disk (Dt) data storage device have data communication between each other and communicate with the computer system. The Ds data is reproducible to the Dt, and the Ds has blank regions with no data which corresponds to zero. The Ds having data regions and an intermediary flash copy map (D | 07-08-2010 |
| 20100174881 | OPTIMIZED SIMULTANEOUS STORING OF DATA INTO DEDUPLICATED AND NON-DEDUPLICATED STORAGE POOLS - One aspect of the present invention includes an optimized simultaneous storage operation for data objects onto a combination of deduplicated and non-deduplicated storage pools. In one embodiment, a data object is provided for storage onto destination storage pools in a storage management system, and placed into a source buffer. The data object is first divided into data chunks if the data object has not previously been chunked within the storage management system. The data object is then simultaneously copied from the source buffer to each destination storage pool (deduplicating and non-deduplicating) with the following operation. If the destination pool utilizes deduplication, then the individual data chunks are only transferred if copies of the individual data chunks do not already exist on the destination storage pool. If the destination pool does not utilize deduplication, then all chunks of the data object are transferred to the destination storage pool. | 07-08-2010 |
| 20100180092 | METHOD AND SYSTEM OF VISUALIZATION OF CHANGES IN ENTITIES AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS IN A VIRTUAL DATACENTER THROUGH A LOG FILE - Disclosed are a method and system of visualization of changes in entities and their relationships in a virtual data center through a log file. In one embodiment, a machine-readable medium embodying a set of instructions is disclosed. Periodically a snapshot is captured from an application programming interface of a management server. The snapshot comprises of entities and relationships of a virtual datacenter. An information of the snapshot is identified. The identified information is relevant to visualization of a state of the virtual datacenter in a log file. An activity of a change in entities and relationships of the virtual datacenter is tracked. An event is registered with the management server through the application programming interface. Based on the event a corresponding delta operation is created and added to the log file. | 07-15-2010 |
| 20100180093 | RAPID DEFRAGMENTATION OF STORAGE VOLUMES - Various embodiments for rapid defragmentation of storage volumes in a computing environment are provided. A plurality of source data sets is copied from the fragmented storage volume to a plurality of target data sets on an additional storage volume. The plurality of source data sets is placed on the additional storage volume as the plurality of target data sets in an unfragmented order. A first volume serial number (VOLSER) of the fragmented storage volume is swapped with a second VOLSER of the additional storage volume. The fragmented storage volume is varied offline, and the additional storage volume is varied online. The computing environment recognizes the additional storage volume having the plurality of target data sets placed in the unfragmented order. | 07-15-2010 |
| 20100180094 | STORAGE SYSTEM, BACKUP STORAGE APPARATUS, AND BACKUP CONTROL METHOD - A storage system includes a first storage apparatus and a second storage apparatus including a second controller for sequentially transferring a copy of the part of the segments of data from a second buffer into a second storage device segment by segment in the same sequence as the second buffer have received a copy of the part of segments of data from a first buffer of the first storage apparatus. The second controller producing a backup copy in a backup data storage portion by copying a copy of one of the segments of the data stored in the second storage device that has been transferred from the second buffer into the second storage device while transferring a copy of the subsequent segment of the data next to said one of the segments of the data in the sequence from the second buffer to the second storage device. | 07-15-2010 |
| 20100185824 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INCREASING AN AMOUNT OF MEMORY ON DEMAND WHEN MONITORING REMOTE MIRRORING PERFORMANCE - A method and storage system for increasing an amount of memory in a queuing area on. The storage system includes first and second storage subsystems connected to each other via a path. A primary volume in the first storage subsystem and a remote secondary volume in the second storage subsystem are mirrored and operated in the asynchronous mode. A queuing area having memory is provided in the second storage subsystem for temporarily storing data transferred to the second storage subsystem from the first storage subsystem in response to a write input/output (I/O) issued by a host to write data in the primary volume. Data temporarily stored in the memory is retrieved and stored in the remote secondary volume. An unused area of the queuing area is monitored and the memory increased if the unused area becomes less than a predetermined amount. | 07-22-2010 |
| 20100191926 | Remote copy system and path setting support method - A remote copy system includes: a host computer; a first storage system connected to the host computer; and a second storage apparatus connected to the first storage system. At least one of the first storage system and the second storage system holds, in a storage part thereof, path information used for performing a remote copy of data therebetween. The host computer references the path information in the storage part; determines whether or not a path required for conducting an operation instructed by a user exists, based on at least one of a type of the remote copy and a direction of the path; and, if the required path does not exist, displays, on a display part, that the necessary path does not exist and why the necessary path does not exist. | 07-29-2010 |
| 20100191927 | Method and Apparatus for Performing Volume Replication Using Unified Architecture - A method and apparatus for performing volume replication using a unified architecture are provided. Each volume has an exclusive volume log table (VLT) and an exclusive volume block update table (VBUT). The VLT is mainly used for recording the relationship between two volumes of a mirroring pair, and the VBUT is used for tracking the state of each data block of the volume itself. By means of the cross operations between the VLT and the VBUT, various volume replication processes such as volume copying and volume mirroring can be enabled under a unified architecture. Specifically, for each volume, different replication relationships with other volumes can be handled merely by administering its two exclusive tables. Hence, the method and apparatus provided by the present invention can advantageously simplify the architecture for synchronization replication and reduce the burdens of administrating tables, thereby making the operation of a storage system more efficient. | 07-29-2010 |
| 20100199053 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LOGICAL VOLUME MANAGEMENT - Systems and methods for consistent logical volume management of the storage subsystem. The present invention guarantees permanent identification data consistency while migrating, mirroring, creating, deleting LU and so on. It prevents the administrator from the change of management. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20100199054 | System and Method for Improving Memory Transfer - System and method for performing a high-bandwidth memory copy. Memory transfer instructions allow for copying of data from a first memory location to a second memory location without the use of load and store word instructions thereby achieving a high-bandwidth copy. In one embodiment, the method includes the steps of (1) decoding a destination address from a first memory transfer instruction, (2) storing the destination address in a register in the bus interface unit, (3) decoding a source address from a second memory transfer instruction, and (4) copying the contents of a memory location specified by the source memory address to a memory location specified by the contents of the register. Other methods and a microprocessor system are also presented. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20100205389 | BACKUP OF DEDUPLICATED DATA - Methods and systems back up deduplicated data to data storage media, the deduplicated data comprising a plurality of data blocks referenced for deduplication. In one embodiment, the existence of multiple references to each of the data blocks is determined; and at least two copies of at least each data block having multiple references thereto is stored, each to a separate data storage media. In another embodiment, the references to each of the data blocks is determined; the total of multiple references is compared to a percentage threshold; and multiple copies are stored for all the data blocks where the percentage threshold is exceeded. | 08-12-2010 |
| 20100205390 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR MIGRATING THIN PROVISIONING VOLUMES BETWEEN STORAGE SYSTEMS - Multiple storage systems have capability to provide thin provisioning volumes to host computers and capability to transfer (import/export) management information regarding thin provisioning between storage systems. Moreover, at least one of the storage systems posses capability to provide storage area of other storage system as own storage area virtually via connection to the other storage system (i.e. external storage). Target storage system achieves efficient migration and unifying storage resource pool by importing or referring the management information obtained from source storage system and by utilizing the source storage system as external storage. One implementation involves method and process for migration of thin provisioning volumes using chunks having same length between source storage system and destination storage system. In this implementation, storage resource pool is unified by importing management information from the source storage system, and automated page-based relocation is performed to adjust actual location of data. | 08-12-2010 |
| 20100205391 | MEMORY SYSTEM AND MANAGING METHOD THEREFOR - A memory system in which a first management unit includes an update information managing unit that manages update information indicating an updated section in status information stored in a volatile first storing unit, and an update information notifying unit that notifies a second management unit of the update information managed by the update information managing unit, and the second management unit includes a commit executing unit that collects, based on the update information, difference information of the status information from the status area when the update information is notified from the update information notifying unit, and causes a second storing unit to accumulate the difference information in a backup area. | 08-12-2010 |
| 20100205392 | Method for Remote Asynchronous Replication of Volumes and Apparatus Therefor - A method for remote asynchronous volume replication and apparatus therefore are disclosed. Asynchronous replication is applied to deal with data changes on the source volume on the local site incurred by Host IO requests. In coordination with the “point-in-time differential backup” technology, the data is subjected to be backuped to Source BAS on the local site (backup-on-write operation) only when the original data being written into the block of the source volume is different from the data of the corresponding block of the destination volume on the remote site. As a result, once a new data is written into the source volume completely, the host will be responded that its Host IO request is completed. Therefore, the data necessarily transmitted to the destination volume on the remote site can be minimized, and the problem of remote data transmission limited by network bandwidth can be prevented effectively, thereby keeping the operation performance of the storage system at a better level. | 08-12-2010 |
| 20100205393 | HIGH EFFICIENCY PORTABLE ARCHIVE - According to one embodiment, a method is disclosed for storing and archiving point-in-time sets of a raw data set in an environment including at least one server storing the raw data set. The method includes providing a virtualization layer on a computing resources pool. A virtualized storage application is operated on the virtualization layer. The virtualization layer shields the virtualized storage application from actual hardware in the computing resources pool. Storage efficient versions of the raw data set stored on one or more servers are generated. The storage efficient versions of the raw data set include point-in-time versions of the raw data set that are smaller in size than the raw data set. | 08-12-2010 |
| 20100217946 | INDIRECTLY-ACCESSED, HARDWARE-AFFINE CHANNEL STORAGE IN TRANSACTION-ORIENTED DMA-INTENSIVE ENVIRONMENTS - Embodiments of the invention provide a method, system, and computer program product for managing a computer memory system including a channel controller and a memory area. In one embodiment, the method comprises the channel controller receiving a request including a header and a payload, and separating said memory area into a working memory area and an auxiliary memory area. A copy of the header is deposited in the working memory area; and a full copy of the request, including a copy of the header and a copy of the payload, is deposited in the auxiliary memory area. The copy of the request in the auxiliary memory area is used to perform hardware operations; and the copy of the header in the working memory area is used to perform software operations. | 08-26-2010 |
| 20100228933 | AUTOMATIC SELECTION OF STORAGE VOLUMES IN A DATA STORAGE SYSTEM - Automatic Selection of Storage Volumes in a Data Storage System A method of selecting a target volume in a storage system is provided. The method comprises defining one or more parameters for a plurality of storage volumes in the storage system according to user preference; dynamically collecting information related to the parameters while the storage volumes are used; receiving a request to backup a first source volume in the storage system; and selecting or creating the target volume based on the collected information. | 09-09-2010 |
| 20100228934 | Zero Copy Transport for iSCSI Target Based Storage Virtual Appliances - A method of transferring data from a virtual machine (VM) to a storage virtual appliance (SVA) is disclosed. In this method, the data is transferred to an iSCSI (Internet Small Computer System Interface) device that is coupled to the VM and has a zero copy data mover implementation of a TCP socket interface. The method further includes sending a memory address of the data to the SVA. The SVA includes an iSCSI device having a zero copy data mover implementation of a TCP socket interface to receive the memory address of the data. The VM and the SVA are running in a same hypervisor host. | 09-09-2010 |
| 20100228935 | CONDITIONAL STORAGE OF MULTIPLE INFORMATION ITEMS - A method for consistent version of multiple information items is provided. The method includes receiving a conditional request to copy a version of multiple information items at a condition fulfillment point of time that is associated with a fulfillment of a condition of the conditional request. Then determining that the condition is fulfilled, and participating in generating a condition fulfillment point in time version of the multiple information items. | 09-09-2010 |
| 20100235594 | ENHANCEMENT OF EFFICIENCY IN POWER FAILURE HANDLING IN FLASH MEMORY - A method and system for enhancing efficiency in power failure handling in flash memory devices is disclosed. The method includes the controller of a storage device receiving a page of data, selecting a block having a desired back-up cost and copying previously stored data in the selected block to a back-up block prior to writing the received page to the selected block based on a category of the previously stored data. The system includes non-volatile memory having a plurality of operative blocks, at least one spare block and a controller. The controller is configured to receive a page of data, select an operative block in the memory having a desired back-up cost, and copy previously stored data in the selected block to a spare block based on a category of the previously stored data prior to writing the received page to the selected block. | 09-16-2010 |
| 20100235595 | DATA STORAGE SYSTEM AND BACKUP METHOD THEREOF - A data storage system and the backup method thereof are provided. The data storage system includes a storage device and a storage controller. The storage controller is coupled to the storage device and used for dividing the storage device into a primary data block and a backup data block and setting the data storage system to operate under one of a real time backup mode and a non-real time backup mode. Under the non-real time backup mode, the storage controller backups the data stored in the primary data block to the backup data block when the data storage system is idle. | 09-16-2010 |
| 20100241818 | Reducing Storage System Power Consumption in a Remote Copy Configuration - A storage system in a remote copy configuration includes a redirect mechanism. The redirect mechanism determines whether to redirect read operations to a remote storage system, which is part of the remote copy configuration, based on a power management policy and a redirect policy. The redirect mechanism takes into account response time data, input/output demand, power utilization data, and input/output classes and priorities to determine whether to redirect read access requests to the remote storage system. Redirection of read operations to the remote storage system results in reduced power consumption at the local system. | 09-23-2010 |
| 20100250877 | Method and system for moving active virtual partitions between computers - Embodiments of the present invention are directed to enhancing VPAR monitors to allow an active VPAR to be moved from one machine to another, as well as to enhancing virtual-machine monitors to move active VPARs from one machine to another. Because traditional VPAR monitors lack access to many computational resources and to executing-operating-system state, VPAR movement is carried out primarily by specialized routines executing within active VPARs, unlike the movement of guest operating systems between machines carried out by virtual-machine-monitor routines. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100250878 | Storage System of Storing Golden Image of a Server or Any Physical/Virtual Machine Execution Environment - A storage system stores golden image of a server or any physical/virtual machine execution environment and associate the golden image and the storage port. The storage system also creates the copy of the golden image to the logical volume, and allocates the internal path between the storage port and the logical volume. Upon receiving an access request from the host computer via the storage port, the storage system transfers the access request between the storage port and the logical volume which stores the copy of golden image associated with the host computer. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100250879 | DATA MANIPULATION METHOD OF LOGICAL VOLUME MANAGER - A data manipulation method of a logical volume manager is applicable to data management of dependent snapshot volumes (SVs) of a logical volume manager. The data management method includes the following steps generating a plurality of SVs, defining the SV generated at first as a first SV, defining the SV generated at last as a last SV, and defining the rest SVs as middle SVs; selecting a middle SV; combining content stored in the selected middle SV into a neighboring SV; according to the combined SV, combining meta-data of the selected middle SV into meta-data of the middle SV; deleting the selected middle SV. The logical volume manager does not need copy the data again, thereby saving access time in data management. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100250880 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR BACKUP AND RESTORE OF THIN PROVISIONING VOLUME - Methods and apparatuses for backing up virtual volumes effectively by eliminating transfer and preservation of parts of virtual volumes, which contain no data. By representing virtual volumes as virtual files in a virtual file system, it is thereby possible to avoid needlessly backing up empty data space in the virtual volume. In one implementation, a storage system includes multiple virtual volumes and a virtual file system as well as a storage system control module. Each virtual volume in the multiple virtual volumes is represented as a virtual file within the virtual file system with each virtual file representing data actually stored within the virtual volume; and the storage system control module facilitates backing up a selected virtual volume, the operations involving accessing the virtual file system on the storage system; and reading the virtual file corresponding to the selected virtual volume. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100250881 | SYSTEMS AND METHOD FOR DATA RECOVERY - Systems and a method for recovering data from a protected memory are provided. The protected memory system includes a memory for storing data related to the operation of a vehicle and an interface configured to transform said data stored in said memory from a proprietary format to an industry standard serial data format. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100250882 | INCREMENTAL BACKUP OF SOURCE TO TARGET STORAGE VOLUME - Various method, system, and computer program product embodiments for performing a backup of a source storage volume to a target storage volume are provided. In one exemplary embodiment, a flashcopy of the source storage volume to the target storage volume is initiated. The content of the source storage volume is stored on the target storage volume in a space efficient manner. The space requirement of the stored content on the target storage volume is monitored. The flashcopy is terminated when the space requirement reaches a predetermined level. The stored content on the target storage volume is copied to a backup storage medium. A new flashcopy of the source storage volume is initiated. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100250883 | APPARATUS FOR DYNAMICALLY MIGRATING LPARS WITH PASS-THROUGH I/O DEVICES, ITS METHOD, AND ITS PROGRAM - A dynamic migration apparatus of a system logically divides hardware resources of a physical machine to configure a plurality of logical partitions using the pass-through I/O method and performs migration on the logical partitions. The apparatus makes a setting so that the same I/O device used in a migration source logical partition continues to be used in a migration destination logical partition when migration is performed. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100250884 | STORAGE SYSTEM, STORAGE DEVICE AND INFORMATION STORING METHOD - A storage system includes a primary-side storage device and a secondary-side storage device. The primary-side storage device includes a first storage unit that functions as: a primary-side reserving unit to reserve a primary-side storage area in the first storage unit; a request unit to request the secondary-side storage device to reserve a secondary-side storage area; a checking unit to receive identifying information of the reserved secondary-side storage area; a management storage unit to store the identifying information of the secondary-side storage area in the way of being associated with the primary-side storage area; and a transfer unit to transfer data stored in the primary-side storage area to the secondary-side storage area. The secondary-side storage device includes a second storage unit that functions as: a request accepting unit to accept a request for reserving the secondary-side storage area from the primary-side storage device; a secondary-side reserving unit to reserve the secondary-side storage area in the second storage unit in response to the request; and a report unit to report the identifying information of the reserved secondary-side storage area to the primary-side storage device. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100250885 | STORAGE CONTROL DEVICE, STORAGE SYSTEM, AND COPYING METHOD - A storage control device that copies copy source data stored in a copy source volume to a copy destination volume, the storage control device include a copy source data-comparison section configured to compare data transmitted from a host computer to data written into an area specified in the copy source volume storing the transmitted data and a copy function-execution section configured to avoid writing the transmitted data into the copy source volume based on a determination that the data transmitted from the host computer and the data written into the area of the copy destination volume storing the transmitted data that are compared to each other through the copy source data-comparison section agree with each other. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100250886 | STORAGE SYSTEM HAVING DYNAMIC VOLUME ALLOCATION FUNCTION - Access to a plurality of logical devices is enabled regardless of the number of ports provided in a storage system and the number of logical devices that can be allocated to a single port, thereby improving the usability of the logical devices. A storage system comprises a plurality of logical devices, a target device which is the object of access from a computer, and a juke box system for allocating one of the plurality of logical devices to the target device. The juke box system changes the logical device that is allocated to the target device in accordance with a request from the computer. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100262794 | Data backup for virtual machines - Methods and apparatus involve computing backup for virtual representations on a physical hardware platform. The platform has a processor, memory and available storage upon which a plurality of virtual machines are configured. Also, each virtual machine has a type of operating system that may be the same or different as another virtual machine. A plurality of virtual machine proxies exists as complements to the virtual machines in order to actually conduct the backup. Upon indication of a present need for conducting a backup operation, the proxy with an operating system most closely approximating or matching the operating system of the virtual machine needing backup is selected for undertaking the operation. In this manner, backup is no longer conducted with ill-fitting physical backup proxies with incompatible operating systems. In other embodiments, nuances of conducting backup are described as are templates and cloning. Computer program products are further described. | 10-14-2010 |
| 20100262795 | SYSTEM, METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR ANALYZING MONITOR DATA INFORMATION FROM A PLURALITY OF MEMORY DEVICES HAVING FINITE ENDURANCE AND/OR RETENTION - A method according to one embodiment includes gathering monitor data information from a plurality of memory devices having finite endurance and/or retention, the monitor data being data of known content stored in dedicated memory cells of known write cycle count; analyzing the monitor data information; and taking an action relating to at least one of the devices based on the analyzing. Additional systems, methods, and computer program products are also disclosed. | 10-14-2010 |
| 20100262796 | METHOD FOR AUTOMATICALLY BACKING UP DIGITAL DATA PRESERVED IN MEMORY IN A COMPUTER INSTALLATION AND DATA MEDIUM READABLE BY A COMPUTER HAVING THE ASSOCIATED INSTRUCTIONS STORED IN THE MEMORY THEREOF - The invention relates in particular to a method for automatically backing up digital data preserved in memory in a computer installation to a remote backup system accessible through the computer installation via a data transmission network. This method comprises the steps consisting in: extracting and analysing ( | 10-14-2010 |
| 20100262797 | VIRTUAL MACHINE DATA BACKUP - Disclosed is a method and system for efficiently backing up a virtual machine file. A virtual machine file is logically divided into a plurality of fixed-size blocks of similar size, for example, a number of 1 MB data blocks. An MD5 hash value is generated from the contents of each block. Each block is written to a file having a filename that includes a filesystem-compliant form (e.g., hexadecimal form) of the computed MD5 hash value. A backup device includes a directory hierarchy having a plurality of first-level directories corresponding to the first two bytes of the hash value, and a plurality of second-level directories corresponding to the next two bytes of the hash value. The blocks are uniquely stored in the directory corresponding to the byte value pairs of the hash. The present disclosure provides data integrity checking and reduces storage requirements for duplicative, redundant, or null data. | 10-14-2010 |
| 20100262798 | STORAGE CONTROLLER AND DATA MANAGEMENT METHOD - Upon receiving a primary/secondary switching command from a secondary host system, a secondary storage control device interrogates a primary storage control device as to whether or not yet to be transferred data that has not been remote copied from the primary storage control device to the secondary storage control device is present. In the event that yet to be transferred data is present, the secondary storage control device receives yet to be transferred data from the primary storage control device and updates a secondary volume. The primary storage control device then manages positions of updates to the primary volume due to host accesses to the primary volume occurring at the time of the secondary storage control device receiving the primary/secondary switching command onwards using a differential bitmap table. | 10-14-2010 |
| 20100262799 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING FAST WAKE-UP OF A NON-VOLATILE MEMORY SYSTEM - A method includes storing at a non-volatile memory in a data storage device a first copy of a memory management table. The method further includes storing, at the non-volatile memory, a list of data entries that identify unused blocks of the non-volatile memory, where the list defines an order of allocating the unused blocks. The method further includes, in response to detecting a power event, accessing an entry of the ordered list to identify a block, and selectively updating the first copy of the memory management table based on a status of the identified block. | 10-14-2010 |
| 20100274981 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MIGRATION BETWEEN PHYSICAL AND VIRTUAL SYSTEMS - A method of migrating a computer system between a virtualized environment and a non-virtualized environment comprises configuring one or more storage volumes for a migration destination in a destination environment based on a migration request containing a backup requirement specifying one or more copy groups, each copy group including storage volumes that store data for at least one of a virtualized device and a non-virtualized device; converting and migrating data from a migration source in a source environment to the one or more configured storage volumes of the migration destination based on copy group information of the one or more copy groups, one of the source environment and the destination environment being a virtualized environment, and another of the source environment and the destination environment being a non-virtualized environment; and migrating backup unit/group information by replacing copy group information in the source environment with copy group information in the destination environment. | 10-28-2010 |
| 20100274982 | HYBRID DISTRIBUTED AND CLOUD BACKUP ARCHITECTURE - The claimed subject matter provides a system and/or a method that facilitates integration of a distributed backup environment and a online backup environment. A super peer device can be designated from a set of peer devices. The super peer can distribute backup data amongst the set of peer devices based upon availability and storage capacity of the peer devices. In addition, the super peer can transfer portions of backup data from the set of peers to an online backup service. | 10-28-2010 |
| 20100274983 | INTELLIGENT TIERS OF BACKUP DATA - The claimed subject matter relates to systems and/or methodologies that facilitate intelligent distribution of backup information across storage locations in network-based backup architectures. A virtual layering of backup information across storage locations in the backup architecture can be implemented. Statistical models are utilized to dynamically re-allocate backup information among storage locations and/or layers to ensure availability of data, minimum latency upon restore, and minimum bandwidth utilization upon restore. In addition, heuristics or machine learning techniques can be applied to proactively detect failures or other changes in storage locations such that backup information can be reallocated accordingly prior to a failure. | 10-28-2010 |
| 20100274984 | MANAGEMENT SERVER DEVICE FOR MANAGING VIRTUAL STORAGE DEVICE, AND METHOD FOR MANAGING VIRTUAL STORAGE DEVICE - The computer system has a plurality of physical server devices, a plurality of physical storage devices, and a management server device, and when migrating at least one of a plurality of first virtual server devices to another physical server device, the management server device compares at least one physical server device in which the plurality of first virtual server devices are disposed after the migration, with at least one physical server device in which a plurality of second virtual server devices are disposed, to calculate a first evaluation value, and also compares at least one physical server device in which the plurality of first virtual server devices are disposed after the migration, with at least one physical server device in which a plurality of third virtual server devices are disposed, to calculate a second evaluation value. Based on the first evaluation value and the second evaluation value, the management server device issues an instruction to migrate the first virtual storage device to the other physical storage device. | 10-28-2010 |
| 20100274985 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BACKUP AND RECOVERY USING STORAGE BASED JOURNALING - A storage system maintains a journal of journal entries and at lease one snapshot of one or more data volumes. By assigning a unique sequence number to journal and snapshot, it is easy to find a journal which can be applied to the snapshot. A technique is described for detecting an overflow condition of running out of journal space and recovering the journal space. | 10-28-2010 |
| 20100281228 | DATA ALLOCATION SYSTEM - A method of operating a data control system to copy a volume of data from a primary storage system to a secondary storage system comprises receiving an instruction to copy the volume of data, wherein the volume of data comprises a plurality of data blocks, in response to the instruction, determining if at least a data block of the plurality of data blocks requires copying to the secondary storage system, if the data block requires copying to the secondary storage system, then reading the data block from memory in the primary storage system and transferring the data block for writing to memory in the secondary storage system, and if the data block does not require copying, then transferring a synthetic block for writing to the memory in the secondary storage system. | 11-04-2010 |
| 20100281229 | Computer System Storing Data On Multiple Storage Systems - During the normal operation state of a computer system | 11-04-2010 |
| 20100287344 | CAPTURING AND LOADING OPERATING SYSTEM STATES - Operating system states capture and loading technique embodiments are presented that involve the capture and loading of baseline system states. This is accomplished, in one embodiment, by storing the states of a computer's operating system memory that it is desired to restore at a future time. No changes are permitted to the persisted storage associated with the computer. Instead, changes that would have been made to the persisted storage during an ensuing computing session, had they not been prevented, are stored in a separate computing session file. Whenever it is desired to return the operating system to its baseline condition, the stored baseline system memory states are loaded into the operating system memory, in lieu of the operating system memory's current states. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100287345 | System and Method for Migration of Data - Systems and methods for data migration are disclosed. A method may include allocating a destination storage resource to receive migration data. The method may also include assigning the destination storage resource a first identifier value equal to an identifier value associated with a source storage resource. The method may additionally include assigning the source storage resource a second identifier value different than the first identifier value. The method may further include migrating data from the source storage resource to the destination storage resource. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100287346 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MANAGING LARGE WRITE-ONCE TABLES IN SHADOW PAGE DATABASES - Methods and systems for managing large write-once tables are described. In some embodiments, a relational database management system includes a space allocation module that utilizes both a logical space allocation scheme, as well as a physical space allocation scheme, to allocate space in units (e.g., pages) having two different sizes—small pages and big pages. For instance, small pages are logically allocated with a conventional converter module, which manages a converter table for mapping logical pages to physical pages, while big pages are physically allocated with an object directory manager, which manages big objects comprised of big pages. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100287347 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MAPPING DATA TO A PROCESS - The invention relates to mapping data to a process. A method of the invention includes receiving a request to copy a parent process, where the parent process is associated with a first virtual memory address space that includes a first mapping to a page of a file loaded into physical memory. The method includes creating a child process (of the parent process) associated with a second virtual memory address space. The method includes determining that a fork count is greater than a fork count threshold and a COW count to fork count ratio is greater than a threshold ratio. The fork count is associated with the file and the COW count is associated with the page. The method includes creating a copy of the page in physical memory and further includes creating a second mapping from the second virtual memory address space to the copy of the page. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100287348 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DIFFERENTIAL BACKUP - A method and system for differential backup of a logical disk of a data storage array is presented. The system comprises: a pool of physical storage space divided into a plurality of addressable memory locations; and a logical disk adapted to store metadata associated with a differential snapshot of the logical disk. The metadata comprises a mapping structure defining a sharing relationship between the differential snapshot of the logical disk and a previous snapshot of the logical disk that is arranged to serve as a baseline snapshot of the logical disk. The mapping structure is adapted to indicate disk regions of the logical disk that have changed in the differential snapshot of the logical disk with reference to the baseline snapshot of the logical disk. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100293349 | CONVERTING LUNS INTO FILES OR FILES INTO LUNS IN REAL TIME - A LUN is provided that can store multiple datasets (e.g., data and/or applications, such as virtual machines stored as virtual hard drives). The LUN is partitioned into multiple partitions. One or more datasets may be stored in each partition. As a result, multiple datasets can be accessed through a single LUN, rather than through a number of LUNs proportional to the number of datasets. Furthermore, the datasets stored in the LUN may be pivoted. A second LUN may be generated that is dedicated to storing a dataset of the multiple datasets stored in the first LUN. The dataset is copied to the second LUN, and the second LUN is exposed to a host computer to enable the host computer to interact with the dataset. Still further, the dataset may be pivoted from the second LUN back to a partition of the first LUN. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100293350 | METHOD OF OPERATING AN INTEGRATED CIRCUIT, INTEGRATED CIRCUIT AND MEMORY MODULE - According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method of operating an integrated circuit including a plurality of resistance changing memory cells grouped into physical memory units is provided. The method includes: Monitoring writing access numbers assigned to the physical memory units, each writing access number reflecting the number of writing accesses to the physical memory unit to which the writing access number is assigned; if the value of a writing access number assigned to a first physical memory unit exceeds a writing access threshold value, a data exchange process is carried out during which the data content stored within the first physical memory unit is exchanged with the data content of a second physical memory unit having a writing access number of a lower value. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100299489 | Managing Data Storage Systems - A method, system and computer program product for managing data storage systems. The data storage system being coupled to a volume storage pool as data storage resource, the data storage system presenting at least one virtual volume as a storage resource to a host device, the method for managing the data storage system comprising collecting the volume storage pool occupancy and the virtual volume consumption; trending the volume storage pool and the virtual volumes consumption; forecasting the volume storage pool occupancy and virtual volume consumption; and recommending atleast one action based on the forecasted values of storage pool occupancy data and virtual volume consumption data. The method may further comprise detecting a rapid increase or surge in the volume storage pool occupancy data. | 11-25-2010 |
| 20100299490 | BLOCK-LEVEL SINGLE INSTANCING - Described in detail herein are systems and methods for single instancing blocks of data in a data storage system. For example, the data storage system may include multiple computing devices (e.g., client computing devices) that store primary data. The data storage system may also include a secondary storage computing device, a single instance database, and one or more storage devices that store copies of the primary data (e.g., secondary copies, tertiary copies, etc.). The secondary storage computing device receives blocks of data from the computing devices and accesses the single instance database to determine whether the blocks of data are unique (meaning that no instances of the blocks of data are stored on the storage devices). If a block of data is unique, the single instance database stores it on a storage device. If not, the secondary storage computing device can avoid storing the block of data on the storage devices. | 11-25-2010 |
| 20100299491 | STORAGE APPARATUS AND DATA COPY METHOD - A storage apparatus connectable to another storage apparatus so as to copy the data thereto, for providing a first virtual volume including at least a first block, includes at least a storage unit having storage areas, each storage area being allocatable as a one of the first blocks; a memory storing information for indicating a relationship between each first block and each the storage area, at least one of the storage areas being allocated to the at least one of the first blocks according to a usage pattern of the first virtual volume; and a controller configured to receive an instruction for copying data, determine whether each first block is allocated to any of the storage areas or not in reference to the information, transmit data indicating that one of the first blocks is unallocated to any of the first storage areas on the basis of the determination. | 11-25-2010 |
| 20100299492 | DISK DRIVE CONDITION REPORTING AND ERROR CORRECTION - A system that facilitates maintaining hard disk drive performance comprises a memory component that includes extensions to at least one protocol associated with a hard disk drive, the extensions enable communications to occur in real-time between an operating system and the hard disk drive. An interface component utilizes the extensions to receive a notification from the hard disk drive and relay the notification to the operating system, the notification relates to an operating parameter of the hard disk drive. | 11-25-2010 |
| 20100306485 | CONTENT LONGEVITY WITH USER DEVICE DOMAINS - A system is disclosed for providing trusted third-party management of user device domains in a digital rights management environment. The system includes a plurality of content providers that distribute digital content items via user accounts having associated user device domains. The user device domains are managed by an independent domain manager. The domain manager includes a device registrar which is operative, for a given user device domain, to receive a request to add a device to the user device domain. If the request is grantable, a domain controller of the domain manager is operative to cause a domain private key to be transmitted to the device being added to the user device domain. The domain private key is usable at the device to decrypt a content key which was previously released to the user device domain for decrypting protected digital content. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100306486 | POLICY-BASED APPLICATION AWARE STORAGE ARRAY SNAPSHOT BACKUP AND RESTORE TECHNIQUE - A method and system for performing a policy-based backup and recovery operation in a storage network is disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of performing a backup and restore operation in a storage network includes detecting each application entity in the storage network and configuring a backup and restore policy associated with the storage network for said each application entity. The storage network includes at least one host server and at least one storage array. The method also includes performing a backup operation of data associated with said each application entity based on the backup and restore policy using application utilities and operating system (OS) utilities configured to interface with said each application entity and a corresponding operating system of the at least one host server respectively, and using a storage array interface configured to directly interface with the at least one storage array. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100306487 | INFORMATION STORAGE MEDIUM, AND RECORDING/REPRODUCING METHOD AND APPARATUS - An information storage medium includes: a user data area for recording user data; a spare area including spare blocks each for replacing a defective block occurring in the user data area; and a defect management area in which information about the defective block occurring in the user data area is recorded, wherein the spare blocks of the spare area include usable spare blocks with replacement blocks existing in forward parts of the usable spare blocks in a usage order, and usable spare blocks without replacement blocks existing in forward parts of the usable spare blocks in the usage order, wherein a next available position pointer of the spare area is recorded in the defect management area, and the next available position pointer of the spare area indicates a first usable spare block from among the usable spare blocks without the replacement blocks existing in the forward parts of the usable spare blocks in the usage order. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100306488 | PERFORMING MIRRORING OF A LOGICAL STORAGE UNIT - Mirroring of a logical storage unit initially associated with a first controller is performed, where the first log segment associated with the first controller is maintained of writes by the first controller to the logical storage unit. The first log segment is for use in mirroring writes to a mirror system. Control of the logical storage unit is transferred from the first controller to at least a second controller, and in response to the transfer, a first marker is provided in the first log segment to enable the mirror system to synchronize mirrored writes corresponding to writes to the logical storage units by the first controller and at least a second controller. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100312976 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING DATA VOLUME CREATION IN DATA STORAGE SYSTEM WITH DYNAMIC CHUNK ALLOCATION CAPABILITY - Embodiments of the invention provide methods and apparatus for controlling data volume creation at the storage system. In one embodiment, a storage system comprises a processor; a memory; and a plurality of chunks that are to be allocated to data volumes, each chunk having one or more data blocks. The plurality of chunks include zero or more used chunks which are allocated to one or more data volumes, and zero or more remaining chunks which are not used chunks. A new data volume creation operation to create a new data volume is prohibited or warned against before the new data volume is created, in accordance with a total number of the remaining chunks in the storage system. The remaining chunks may further include reserved chunks which are reserved for use in one or more data volumes but have not been allocated. | 12-09-2010 |
| 20100312977 | Method of managing memory in multiprocessor system on chip - Provided is a method of managing memory in a multiprocessor system on chip (MPSoC). According to an aspect of the present invention, locality of memory can be reflected and restricted memory resources can be efficiently used by determining a storage location of a variable or a function which corresponds to a symbol with reference to a symbol table based on memory access frequency of the variable or the function, comparing the determined storage location and a previous storage location, and copying the variable or the function stored in the previous storage location to the determined storage location if the determined storage location is different from the previous storage location. | 12-09-2010 |
| 20100318756 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING TIMING OF COPY START - A volume group is a group of two or more copy-source volumes and two or more copy-destination volumes. A computer system stores access rate information, which is information denoting an access rate for a copy-source volume at respective time periods. The computer system estimates the access rate for a future target period for each copy-source volume based on information denoting the access rate of each copy-source volume for one or more past target periods in a predetermined period from among the access rate information. The computer system determines the start timing of a copy for each copy-source volume based on the result of this estimation. A start time and an end time of the past target period are the same as the start time and the end time of a future target period. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20100318757 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DATA BACKUP - A backup control apparatus for periodic data backup, in a virtualized storage system having a point-in-time copy function operable to copy first data into a cascade, comprises a storage targeting component for selecting a target virtual disk for one of a full copy or an incremental copy of the first data; a periodic backup component for triggering a periodic point-in-time copy of the first data to a virtual disk in the cascade; a testing component for testing a status of the full copy, the incremental copy and the periodic point-in-time copy; and a cascade splitting component responsive to the status for splitting the cascade to remove a dependency relationship of at least one of the full copy, the incremental copy and the periodic point-in-time copy on the first data. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20100325376 | Apparatus and Method to Maintain Write Operation Atomicity Where a Data Transfer Operation Crosses a Data Storage Medium Track Boundary - A method to maintain write operation atomicity where a write operation crosses a data storage medium track boundary. The method supplies a storage controller comprising a host adapter, a processor, and a NVS. The primary host adapter receives from a host computer a write request and data. The method determines if the write request will cross a data storage medium track boundary. If the write request will cross a data storage medium track boundary, the method indicates to the host adapter that the write request comprises a two-track transfer, and writes the data to the primary NVS as the data is received. If the host computer fails prior to providing all the data to the storage controller, the method discards the data written to the NVS to ensure write operation atomicity. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20100325377 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RESTORING DATA ON DEMAND FOR INSTANT VOLUME RESTORATION - A technique is disclosed for restoring data of sparse volumes, where one or more block pointers within the file system structure are marked as ABSENT, and fetching the appropriate data from an alternate location on demand. Client data access requests to the local storage system initiate a restoration of the data from a backing store as required. A demand generator can also be used to restore the data as a background process by walking through the sparse volume and restoring the data of absent blocks. A pump module is also disclosed to regulate the access of the demand generator. Once all the data has been restored, the volume contains all data locally, and is no longer a sparse volume. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20100325378 | DATA MIGRATING METHOD TAKING END TIME INTO CONSIDERATION - There is provided a data migrating method including the steps of: calculating, in a case where data stored in a volume is migrated to another volume, a required period of time for migrating the data based on a size of data to be migrated and volume configuration information on the volume in which the migrated data is stored and the volume to which the data is to be migrated; determining a start time at which the data migration starts to generate a volume migration plan; setting a priority of the generated volume migration plan; prioritizing, in a case where a periods of time during which the generated volume migration plan is executed and a period of time during which an existing volume migration plan is executed are overlapped with each other, and changing the start time of at least one of those volume migration plans having a lower priority. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20100332776 | COMPUTER SYSTEM REMOTE COPYING SYSTEM AND COMPUTER SYSTEM - When a virtual tape of the main storage system is updated, journal data is created. The journal data is transmitted to the disaster recovery storage system asynchronously with the timing at which the write data is received. The journal data includes a marker to notify of the start of updating and a marker to notify of the completion of updating. The disaster recovery storage system prohibits the use of the copy destination data during the period from start of updating until completion of updating, and permits referencing the copy destination data during other periods. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20100332777 | DATA BACKUP APPARATUS AND DATA BACKUP METHOD - A data backup apparatus includes a host interface, a first storage medium interface, a second storage medium interface and a controller. The host interface is utilized to be electrically connected with a host, the first storage medium interface is utilized to be electrically connected with a first storage medium, and the second storage medium interface is utilized to be electrically connected with a second storage medium. The controller is coupled to the host interface, the first storage medium interface and the second storage medium interface, and is utilized for copying data from the first storage medium to the second storage medium without passing through the host interface. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20100332778 | CONTROL UNIT FOR STORAGE DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING STORAGE DEVICE - A storage device includes storage units, a management section that manages a logically defined storage area as a real logical volume by associating the storage area with a physical storage area created using the storage units in advance and manages the logically defined storage area as a virtual logical volume by associating the storage area with a physical storage area when data is added, a determination section that determines whether the activity ratio of the virtual logical volume exceeds a threshold and whether the physical storage area associated with a storage area of the virtual logical volume is managed by another control unit, and a migration section that migrates data stored in the virtual logical volume to a real logical volume when the activity ratio exceeds the threshold and the physical storage area associated with the storage area of the virtual logical volume managed by another control unit. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20100332779 | STORAGE CONTROL APPARATUS - A method for a storage control apparatus for controlling a plurality of storage units, each of the plurality of storage units having data area for storing data includes receiving a first command for copying data stored in a first data area of the storage units into a second data area of the storage units from an exterior, executing copying in accordance with the first command, receiving a second command for copying data stored in the second data area into the first data area from the exterior, executing copying in accordance with the second command, receiving a third command for cancelling copying corresponding to the first command and a fourth command for cancelling copying corresponding to the second command from the exterior until completion of copying process corresponding to at least one of the first and second command, and invalidating one of the third command and the fourth command. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20100332780 | STORAGE SYSTEM, CONTROL APPARATUS AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING CONTROL APPARATUS - A storage system has a storage pool for at least one of a logical volume having a plurality of slices, a memory for storing a slice table indicating whether each slices of the logical volume is assigned from the storage pool or not, and a controller for receiving a release command for releasing one of the slices, sending out a response indicating the releasing of one of the slices corresponding to the release command has completed regardless of an execution of processing corresponding to the release command, duplicating a copy target area included in the one of the slices corresponding to the release command into a copy target volume included in the storage pool, and releasing the one of the slices upon completely duplicating the copy target area into the copy target volume. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20100332781 | Secure Document Processing Using Removable Data Storage - The subject application is directed to a system and method for secure document processing. A removable storage, such as a flash drive, magnetic storage, IC card, is installed in document processing device. A selected document processing operation, such as copying, scanning, and the like, is then performed. Data files resultant from the selected document processing operations are directed to the removable storage for being stored temporary, instead of being sent to the storage inherent to the document processing device. Data files temporary stored in the removable storage are then deleted. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20100332782 | Virtualization system and area allocation control method - A virtualization system, upon judging that a write operation from a higher-level device is an operation to write in the format of the virtual volume, even when the write position of the write operation is in a virtual area different from a virtual area to which an allocated actual area has been allocated, if there is an unused area in the allocated actual area, writes management information to the unused area according to the write operation, and if there is no unused area in the allocated actual area, newly allocates an unallocated actual area, and writes management information to the newly allocated actual area according to the write operation. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20110004735 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TWO-PHASE STORAGE-AWARE PLACEMENT OF VIRTUAL MACHINES - Techniques for placement of a virtual machine in a computing system. A first request is sent from a pool management subsystem to a placement subsystem. The first request includes specification of available storage capacities of storage systems in a computer network. The placement subsystem automatically determines a target storage system based, at least in part, on the available storage capacities. An identification of the target storage system is received at the pool management subsystem. At least one disk image of the virtual machine is written to the target storage system. Then, a second request is sent to the placement subsystem. The placement subsystem automatically determines a target computer. The latter determination is based, at least in part, on connectivity between the target computer and the target storage system. The virtual machine is installed at the target computer. The techniques facilitate live migration of virtual machines placed thereby. | 01-06-2011 |
| 20110004736 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AND CONTROL METHOD FOR THE COMPUTER SYSTEM - A computer system including a first storage system connected to a first host computer, a second storage system connected to a second host computer and a third storage system connected to the first and second storage systems. The second storage system sets transfer setting before an occurrence of a failure, the transfer setting being provided with a dedicated storage area to be used for transferring data to the third storage system by asynchronous copy in response to a failure at the first host computer. Before the start of data transfer between the second storage system and third storage system to be executed after an occurrence of the failure, the second storage system checks the dedicated storage area, data transfer line and transfer setting information, and if an abnormal state is detected, this abnormal state is reported to the host computer as information attached to the transfer setting. | 01-06-2011 |
| 20110010513 | STORAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR PRESERVING CONSISTENCY OF REMOTE COPY DATA - A storage control system adapted to operate as a remote copy pair by communicating between a primary and a secondary of the remote copy pair comprises: a selector for selecting writes to be placed in a batch based on one or more criteria; a sequence number requester for requesting a sequence number for the batch; a sequence number granter for granting a sequence number for the batch; a batch transmitter for transmitting the batch to the secondary; a permission receiver for receiving a permission to write the batch from the secondary; and a write component responsive to the permission receiver to write the batch to completion; wherein the secondary is responsive to the completion to grant a further permission to write for a further batch. | 01-13-2011 |
| 20110010514 | Adjusting Location of Tiered Storage Residence Based on Usage Patterns - Mechanisms for managing data segments in a tiered storage system are provided. The mechanisms maintain at least one counter for each data segment in the tiered storage system. Each counter in the at least one counter counts a number of access operations to a corresponding data segment for a predetermined time interval. The mechanisms further perform one or more analytical operations based on one or more values of the at least one counter for each data segment to make residence determinations for each data segment. The mechanisms also adjust a storage location of one or more data segments in tiers of the tiered storage system to thereby move the one or more data segments to appropriate tiers of the tiered storage system based on results of the one or more analytical operations. | 01-13-2011 |
| 20110010515 | BACKUP OF VIRTUAL MACHINES USING CLONED VIRTUAL MACHINES - A system and method for creating a backup of a virtual machine running on a host computer is described herein. The system and method operate by creating a copy or “clone” of a virtual machine running on a first host computer on a second host machine connected thereto. After generation of the clone, a backup of the virtual hard disk of the clone can be obtained in a manner that does not consume any resources of the first host machine. The backup of the virtual hard disk of the clone can then be used as the backup of the original virtual machine. | 01-13-2011 |
| 20110016281 | Line allocation in multi-level hierarchical data stores - A storage apparatus for storing data is disclosed. The storage apparatus comprises: a plurality of stores having storage locations for storing data items, including a level one store and a level two store the storage apparatus having a hierarchy such that in response to an access request for accessing a data item the level one store is accessed and in response to detecting that the item is not stored in the level one store the level two store is accessed. The storage apparatus is configured to store a copy of at least some items in both of the one level one store and the level two store, the storage apparatus comprising a plurality of indicator storage elements associated with a corresponding plurality of storage locations of the level two store, a set value of an indicator stored in one of the indicator storage elements indicating that the corresponding stored data item is also stored in the level one store. The storage apparatus is configured such that in response to a request to allocate a storage location in the level two store, storage locations having a set indicator associated with them are not selected for eviction. | 01-20-2011 |
| 20110022811 | INFORMATION BACKUP/RESTORATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND INFORMATION BACKUP/RESTORATION PROCESSING SYSTEM - To reduce the size of backup data, increase the backup speed, and solve a problem that the amount of unnecessary writing could undesirably increase in a restoration process, which would otherwise require physical disks with a capacity greater than the size of a virtual volume. On a backup server having mounted thereon a virtual volume that is the target to be backed up and restored, read/write access to only the blocks of data areas is performed by a device driver that filters I/O access to a device from a file system on the basis of the data mapping information of the virtual volume, whereby read/write access to unnecessary portions is avoided. Thus, it is possible to reduce the size of backup data, increase the backup speed, and prevent an increase in the amount of unnecessary writing to the virtual volume in a restoration process. | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110029748 | REMOTE COPY SYSTEM AND REMOTE COPY CONTROL METHOD - Proposed are a remote copy system and a remote copy control method capable of performing the operation of remote copy according to the user's usage status. Resource information representing a resource usage status is collected from a first storage apparatus installed at a primary site and a second storage apparatus installed respectively at one or more secondary sites, a transfer mode of differential data between snapshots to be transferred from the first storage apparatus to the second storage apparatus based on the collected resource information, and the first and second storage apparatuses are controlled so as to transfer the differential data from the first storage apparatus to the second storage apparatus based on the decided transfer mode. | 02-03-2011 |
| 20110029749 | SEMICONDUCTOR STORAGE SYSTEM FOR DECREASING PAGE COPY FREQUENCY AND CONTROLLING METHOD THEREOF - A semiconductor storage system includes a memory controller that classifies a memory block of a memory area into a data block and a buffer block. The buffer block corresponds to the data block. The memory controller compares the number of free pages of both the data block and the buffer block with the number of valid pages of the data block and the buffer block during mergence in order to select the merged target block. Depending on the result of the comparison, either the data block or the buffer block is selected as the merged target block. | 02-03-2011 |
| 20110029750 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING DATA USING JAVA APPLICATION IN MOBILE TERMINAL - A method and apparatus for managing data acquired by means of a Java application in a mobile device having a backup interface to an external interface. At least one location information acquired by execution of a Java application is stored within an internal memory. A backup request signal for storing in an external memory the location information selected from among the at least one location information contained in an internal memory is detected. The selected location information is backed up to the external memory through a backup interface established between the internal memory and the external memory in response to the backup request signal. | 02-03-2011 |
| 20110035562 | PROVIDING MIRRORING WRITE DATA - An apparatus, method, and system are described. In one embodiment, the system is configured to store, in a non-volatile memory, mirroring data intended for a member of a set of mirroring drives that is in a powered-down state. | 02-10-2011 |
| 20110035563 | Data Mirroring System - A system includes a primary storage unit connected to a secondary storage unit such that data written to the primary storage unit is replicated on the secondary storage unit. The primary storage unit in at least one exemplary embodiment includes the capability to intercept input/output instructions for routing to a buffer and/or directly to the secondary storage unit. The system in at least one exemplary embodiment includes a backup storage unit for backing up data from at least the secondary storage unit offline and the capability to update the secondary storage unit once it returns to an online status. | 02-10-2011 |
| 20110040943 | DATA MIGRATION METHOD - A storage apparatus for controlling a storage unit includes a cache memory for temporarily storing data to be stored in the storage unit, and a processor for executing a process including receiving unit data which is divided from data to be migrated, calculating first checksum data from the received unit data, storing the unit data and the first checksum data to the cache memory, reading out the stored unit data and the first checksum data from the cache memory, calculating second checksum data from the read out unit data, storing the unit data to the storage unit, and determining whether data migration has been performed properly by comparing the first checksum data to the second checksum data. | 02-17-2011 |
| 20110047339 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD OF BACKING UP MEMORY IN SAID APPARATUS - Disclosed is an information processing apparatus having a first memory and being capable of installing a second memory. The apparatus moves target data to be backed up stored in the first memory into the second memory, in a case that the second memory is installed in the information processing apparatus, and releases an memory area of the first memory in which the target data was stored, and sets the second memory to be backed up in a case that the second memory is installed in the information processing apparatus, and sets the first memory to be backed up in a case that the second memory is not installed in the information processing apparatus. | 02-24-2011 |
| 20110047340 | Proxy Backup of Virtual Disk Image Files on NAS Devices - A system and method for backing up a virtual machine executing on a virtualization server computer are described. A snapshot of a virtual disk image file of the virtual machine may be created on a network-attached storage (NAS) device coupled to the virtualization server computer. The snapshot may be used to backup the virtual disk image file from the NAS device to a backup storage device without transferring the virtual disk image file through the virtualization server computer. Mapping information useable to access the plurality of files stored in the virtual disk image file on an individual basis may be created and stored together with the backup copy of the virtual disk image file on the backup storage device. | 02-24-2011 |
| 20110047341 | REMOTE DATA BACKUP METHOD AND REMOTE DATA BACKUP SYSTEM USING THE SAME - A remote data backup method and a remote data backup system using the same are provided. The remote data backup system includes a data generating device which transmits data based on communication status, a data transmitting device which transmits the received data to outside, and a remote backup device which backs up the received data on real-time basis. As a result, images are transmitted to outside and backed up on real-time basis. | 02-24-2011 |
| 20110047342 | SIMULTANEOUS DATA BACKUP IN A COMPUTER SYSTEM - A data processing system using a client-server configuration includes a method and apparatus for simultaneously generating multiple copies of data sets in multiple storage pools. Simultaneous copies of data sets may be made for storage pools having LAN-free paths in addition to storage pools having only access from a LAN path. | 02-24-2011 |
| 20110047343 | DATA STORAGE SYSTEM FOR FAST REVERSE RESTORE - Techniques are provided for performing a copy operation. A fast reverse restore command indicating a new source and a new target is received, wherein the new source is an original target and the new target is an original source. A synchronous scan is performed on the new target. A new target structure associated with the new target is updated using a new source structure associated with the new source. Techniques are also provided for performing a copy operation in which a fast reverse restore command is received after an instant virtual copy has been performed from a new target to a new source and wherein the fast reverse restore command is performed before a background copy has been performed by the instant virtual copy. | 02-24-2011 |
| 20110055499 | Managing Backup Relationships in a Data Storage System - A method for re-establishing a backup relationship between first and second volumes associated with one or more storage media in a data storage system is provided. The method comprises storing first information for preserving the backup relationship, in response to or in advance of receiving a request to terminate the backup relationship; recording changes to the first or second volumes that occur subsequent to terminating the backup relationship; and re-establishing the backup relationship between the first and second volumes according to the first information such that the first and second volumes are synchronized by merging the recorded changes with the first or second volumes. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110055500 | Data Storage Snapshot With Reduced Copy-On-Write - Producing snapshots of data stored on a data storage device, the method including producing a first snapshot of data stored in a set of data storage units on a data storage device, where the first snapshot is allowed to include data written to the set of data storage units during the production of the first snapshot, and producing a second snapshot of the data stored in the set of data storage units on the data storage device, where the production of the second snapshot is begun after the completion of the first snapshot, and where the second snapshot includes only data present in the set of data storage units before the production of the second snapshot is begun. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110055501 | DATA BACKUP MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, COMPUTER SYSTEM, AND PROGRAM RECORDING MEDIUM - In a backup management system, data is copied remotely from a backup source volume to an intermediate volume. When access by a host ends and a backup time arrives, data is copied locally from the intermediate volume to a backup target volume. During a data restore, a user is able to select not only backup target volumes but also the intermediate volume as restore source candidates. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110055502 | DATA LOGGER, DATA SAVING METHOD AND PROGRAM - It is an object to provide a data logger which solves a problem in which data required to analyze a cause of occurrence of abnormality cannot be acquired. Temporary memory | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110055503 | REMOTE ONLINE BACKUP SYSTEM AND METHOD BASED ON STAGER FRAGMENTED TRANSMISSION - The present invention provides a remote online backup method based on stager fragmented transmission, comprising: defining a journal storage system as a journal relay system, i.e., a Journal Stager; dividing the Journal Stager into a Local Journal Stager and a Remote Journal Stager to optimize backup transmission performance of the whole online backup system; setting between the Local Journal Stager and the Remote Journal Stager a transmitter, by which a journal is transmitted from one stager to another stager; applying the journal to a backup storage device through a Journal Replayer at a backup destination site. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110055504 | STORAGE SYSTEM - When a computer | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110055505 | DATA COPYING - A method, computer management apparatus, and computer program product are provided for copying data in a data processing system. The data processing system includes a host and a plurality of locations. A difference recording operation between a first location of the plurality of locations and a second location of the plurality of locations is started. A first operational relationship between a third location of the plurality of locations and the first location is started. A signal is sent is response to the first operational relationship starting after the difference recording operation. A first dataset is updated in response to the host writing data to at least one of the first location or the second location. The first dataset is updated with changes to the first location in response to the signal. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110055506 | Storage System and Method of Producing Recovery Volume - A storage system for writing data sent from a computer to storage regions is described. The storage system includes storage regions configured to store data, and a controller coupled with the storage regions. The controller is configured to control writing of the data from the computer. The controller is further configured to set a first storage region for writing data sent from the computer to a second storage region. The controller then acquires a snapshot of the first storage region at a predetermined time, writes a snapshot journal for the snapshot to the second storage region, and manages a snapshot management table. The controller also acquires a recovery point journal when a recovery volume designated by the computer is made, and writes the recovery point journal to the second storage region. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110060882 | Request Batching and Asynchronous Request Execution For Deduplication Servers - A system and method for processing disk access requests on a deduplication backup server coupled to a storage device. The storage device may store a first set of one or more data items where at least a portion of each data item is stored as a reference to a comparable portion of a stored data item. Disk access requests may be received. Accordingly, disk access requests may be generated based on received disk access requests. At least one generated disk access request references one of the first set of data items. The method may include obtaining, for each of at least two generated disk access requests, data storage location information associated with a corresponding data item stored on the disk. The method may include determining an execution sequence for the generated disk access requests based on the data storage location information and issuing generated disk access requests in the execution sequence. | 03-10-2011 |
| 20110060883 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EXTERNAL LOGICAL STORAGE VOLUME MANAGEMENT - Exemplary embodiments provide logical volume management between multiple storage subsystems or between one or more storage subsystems and a storage service. In one embodiment, a system has a host computer, a storage subsystem, an external system connected with the storage subsystem, and a management computer. The storage subsystem comprises a volume I/O control to expose one or more volumes in the storage subsystem to the host computer to provide storage I/O capability; and a volume management control to allow the management server to operate a second volume in the external system by operating a first volume in the storage subsystem. The volume management control is configured, in response to a command from the management server to create/delete the first volume, to create/delete the first volume and to create/delete the second volume. | 03-10-2011 |
| 20110060884 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR COLLAPSING A DERIVATIVE VERSION OF A PRIMARY STORAGE VOLUME - Disclosed is a method of collapsing a derivative version of a primary storage volume into the primary storage volume. The method comprises generating the derivative version of the primary storage volume that contains a plurality of data items stored in a secondary storage volume, wherein the derivation version comprises a plurality of blocks, identifying changed blocks of the plurality of blocks that changed as a result of modifying at least one of the data items, identifying which of the changed blocks of the plurality of blocks that changed remain allocated, and collapsing the derivative version of the primary storage volume into the primary storage volume by copying those blocks identified as changed and allocated to the primary storage volume. | 03-10-2011 |
| 20110066817 | HIERARCHICAL SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PERFORMING STORAGE OPERATIONS IN A COMPUTER NETWORK - A system for performing storage operations using hierarchically configured storage operation cells. The system includes a first storage manager component and a first storage operation cell. The first storage operation cell has a second storage manager component directed to performing storage operations in the first storage operation cell. Moreover, the first storage manager component is programmed to instruct the second storage manager regarding performance of storage operations in the first storage operation cell. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110066818 | STORAGE DEVICE, MEMORY CONTROLLER, AND DATA PROTECTION METHOD - A storage device, a memory controller, and a data protection method are provided. The method includes when receiving a read command sent by a host, adopting a corresponding output flow rate limit to determine an operation that is executed on read data corresponding to the read command by the host according to location information included in the read command or a type of a transmission interface between the host and the storage device. The method also includes executing an interference procedure by the storage device to prevent the read data from being copied to the host or slow down the speed of copying the read data to the host when identifying that the operation is a copy operation. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110066819 | Method and System for Optimizing Live Migration of Persistent Data of Virtual Machine Using Disk I/O Heuristics - Techniques for migrating persistent data of virtual machines between and across data stores are optimized using special tracking data structures and monitoring methods. Special tracking data structures include an incremental change block tracking bitmap that indicate what blocks have been modified during a copy operation. The determination of whether any one block has been modified during the copy operation is based on whether or not the copy operation has progressed past that block. Another special tracking data structure is a Bloom filter, which provides a space-efficient data structure for keeping track of dirtied blocks. In addition, heat-based optimization techniques are applied so that blocks that are frequently updated are filtered and not transferred to the destination data store until the last iteration of the migration process. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110072224 | SNAPSHOT METADATA MANAGEMENT IN A STORAGE SYSTEM - Methods and systems for improving performance in a storage system utilizing snapshots are disclosed by using metadata management of snapshot data. Specifically, various metadata structures associated with snapshots are utilized to reduce the number of IO operations required to locate data within any specific snapshot. The number of IO operations are reduced by allowing the various metadata structures associated with the temporally current snapshot to locate data directly within any temporally earlier snapshot or on the original root volume. | 03-24-2011 |
| 20110072225 | APPLICATION AND TIER CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT IN DYNAMIC PAGE REALLOCATION STORAGE SYSTEM - For storage management in a tiered storage environment in a system having one or more applications running on a host computer which is connected to a storage system, the storage system comprises storage volumes in a pool which are divided into a plurality of tiers having different tier levels, the tiers being organized according to a tier configuration rule; and a controller. The controller allocates the pool to a plurality of virtual volumes based on a change of the tier levels against the physical storage devices. The controller stores a relation between data in the storage system being accessed by each application running on the host computer and an application ID of the application accessing the data. The tier level of a portion of a storage volume of the plurality of storage volumes is changed based at least in part on the application accessing data in the storage volume. | 03-24-2011 |
| 20110072226 | SNAPSHOTTING OF A PERFORMANCE STORAGE SYSTEM IN A SYSTEM FOR PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT OF A CAPACITY OPTIMIZED STORAGE SYSTEM - A system for storing data comprises a performance storage system for storing one or more data items. A data item of the one or more data items comprises a data file or a data block. The system further comprises a segment storage system for storing a snapshot of a stored data item of the one or more data items in the performance storage system. The taking of the snapshot of the stored data item enables recall of the stored data item as stored at the time of the snapshot. At least one newly written segment is stored as a reference to a previously stored segment. | 03-24-2011 |
| 20110072227 | PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT OF A CAPACITY OPTIMIZED STORAGE SYSTEM USING A PERFORMANCE SEGMENT STORAGE SYSTEM AND A SEGMENT STORAGE SYSTEM - A system for storing data comprises a performance storage unit for storing a data stream or a data block in. The data stream or the data block comprises one or more data items. The system further comprises a segment storage system for automatically storing a stored data item of the one or more data items as a set of segments. The system further comprises a performance segment storage unit for storing the set of segments in the event that the stored data item has been stored using the segment storage system. | 03-24-2011 |
| 20110072228 | STORAGE CONTROLLER AND CONTROL METHOD FOR THE SAME - An object of the invention is to provide a storage controller and control method that can efficiently and easily prevent reduced data I/O processing performance due to an imbalance between loads on controllers. In the storage controller and control method for providing, to a host computer, logical volumes created in a storage area provided by a storage device and controlling data I/O to/from the logical volumes, the state of loads on the control units for controlling data I/O to/from the logical volumes is monitored, and a control unit allocated to a logical volume is changed to another control unit to equalize loads on the control units. | 03-24-2011 |
| 20110072229 | METHOD OF MIRRORING DATA BETWEEN CLUSTERED NAS SYSTEMS - Data of a global file system spread over multiple local NAS systems may be consolidated as a copy into a single remote NAS system. When remote copy is set up, the local NAS systems replace referrals within the global file system with directories and send these in place of the referrals to the remote NAS system. Then, other local NAS systems referred to by the referrals send files and directories under the directories replacing the referrals on the remote NAS system. Alternatively, to split copy data of a locally-stored global file system amongst multiple remote NAS systems, the local NAS system replaces specified directories with referrals, and sends the referrals with the data to one of the remote NAS systems. Then, the local NAS system sends files and directories under the directories replaced with referrals to one or more other remote NAS systems as referred to by the referrals. | 03-24-2011 |
| 20110078395 | COMPUTER SYSTEM MANAGING VOLUME ALLOCATION AND VOLUME ALLOCATION MANAGEMENT METHOD - In a management computer which manages a storage system including a main logical volume and subsidiary logical volumes, when the access volume to the main logical volume exceeds a threshold value, a subsidiary logical volume associated with a physical volume having higher input/output performance than the physical volume associated with the main logical volume is selected. When the migration time of the data stored in the physical volume corresponding to the selected subsidiary logical volume is within a prescribed time period, then data stored in the physical volume corresponding to the main logical volume is migrated to the physical volume corresponding to the selected subsidiary logical volume, and the physical volume corresponding to the selected subsidiary logical volume is associated with the main logical volume. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110078396 | REMOTE COPY CONTROL METHOD AND SYSTEM IN STORAGE CLUSTER ENVIRONMENT - The present invention causes an asynchronous remote copy to work together with storage clustering technology. A host computer program for controlling the asynchronous remote copy carries out an asynchronous remote copy pair operation by asynchronously working together with a switchover instruction of a storage clustering control program that performs a host write-destination volume switchover in a storage clustering environment. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110078397 | REMOTE COPY SYSTEM - Even when a host does not give a write time to write data, consistency can be kept among data stored in secondary storage systems. The present system has plural primary storage systems each having a source volume and plural secondary storage systems each having a target volume. Once data is received from a host, each of the plural storage systems creates write-data management information having sequential numbers and reference information and sends, to one of the primary storage systems, the data, sequential number and reference information. Each of the secondary storage systems records reference information corresponding to the larges sequential number among serial sequential numbers and stores, in a target volume in an order of sequential numbers, data corresponding to reference information having a value smaller than the reference information based on the smallest value reference information among reference information recorded in each of the plural secondary storage systems. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110078398 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DYNAMIC STORAGE TIERING USING ALLOCATE-ON-WRITE SNAPSHOTS - The present disclosure describes a systems and methods for dynamic storage tiering | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110082989 | STRUCTURE AND METHOD FOR MAKING A STORAGE CARD - A procedure for reproducing a storage card includes providing a preliminary storage card, wherein the preliminarily storage card has been partitioned into at least a first partitioned region and a second partitioned region and content has been written into the first partitioned region; providing a master storage card without being partitioned; copying the preliminary storage card with at least the first partitioned region and the second partitioned region into the master storage card based on the logic block addressing (LBA) mode, wherein the preliminary storage card is still not partitioned yet; and writing a signature into a DOS file system area of the first partitioned region at a specific signature area, wherein the signature includes a signature ID and a partition information corresponding to at least the first partitioned region and the second partitioned region in the preliminary storage card. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110082990 | Simple Preconfigured Client Management Failsafe - A system, method and computer-usable medium are disclosed for recovering data from a memory storage device. The operating system (OS) of an IPS comprising a source memory storage device, further comprising stored data, is monitored to detect a defective operating state. If a defective operating state of the OS is detected, then operation of the IPS is terminated, followed by the initiation of IPS boot operations to recover data from the source memory storage device. The OS is bypassed, and initial boot operations are performed from a management controller or from the BIOS of the IPS. Additional boot operations are performed, and once the IPS has been brought to an operative state, a data recovery module is used to transfer data from the source memory storage device to a target storage device. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110082991 | REMOTE BACKUP WITH LOCAL BUFFERING - A method and system for performing a backup operation at a local-area network (LAN) including at least one LAN device and a LAN gateway (GW) includes adding backup data to a local backup archive coupled to the LAN. A request to send backup data may be sent to a data center accessible via a wide-area network (WAN). The data center may indicate authorization to send the backup data. The local backup archive may then be sent to the data center, which may generate a secure backup archive at one or more remote locations. The local backup archive may be sent at an advantageous time with respect to LAN/WAN network availability. After the secure backup archive has been successfully created, the GW may be notified and may then delete the local backup archive. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110082992 | COMMUNICATION-LINK-ATTACHED PERSISTENT MEMORY SYSTEM - A system and method is described that accesses a network persistent memory unit (nPMU). One embodiment comprises a primary region corresponding to a predefined portion of a primary network persistent memory unit (nPMU) communicatively coupled to at least one client processor node via a communication system, wherein the primary region is assigned to a client process running on the client processor node and is configured to store information received from the client process; and a mirror region corresponding to a predefined portion of a mirror nPMU communicatively coupled to the client processor node via the communication system, wherein the mirror region is assigned to the client process and is configured to store the information received from the client process. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110087850 | STORAGE APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR STORAGE APPARATUS - A storage apparatus includes a storage module, a memory having areas storing data to be copied to the storage device, a saving buffer for temporarily saving the data stored in the areas, a control module for executing receiving a write request including the data to be stored in the storage apparatus, storing the data included in the write request to the storage module and one area, saving the data stored in the one area to the saving buffer when the number of areas which the copying is executed is not less than the threshold value, copying the data stored in the one area to the storage device or writing the saved data stored in the saving buffer to the one area when the number of areas which the copying is executed is less than the threshold value, determining the threshold value in accordance with an amount of the write request. | 04-14-2011 |
| 20110087851 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR COMBINING DATA STREAMS IN A STORAGE OPERATION - Described herein are systems and methods for multiplexing pipelined data for backup operations. Various data streams are combined such as by multiplexing by a multiplexing module. The multiplexing module combines the data from the various data streams received by receiver module(s) into a single stream of chunks. The multiplexing module may combine data from multiple archive files into a single chunk. Additional modules perform other operations on the chunks of data to be transported such as encryption, compression, etc. The data chunks are transmitted via a transport channel to a receive pipeline that includes a second receiver module and other modules. The data chunks are then stored in a backup medium. The chunks are later retrieved and separated such as by demultiplexing for restoring to a client or for further storage as auxiliary copies of the separated data streams or archive files. | 04-14-2011 |
| 20110093673 | METHOD OF MANAGING A MEMORY OF A TERMINAL - The invention provides a method of managing a memory of a terminal, wherein a substitute file is substituted in the memory of the terminal for at least one predetermined file, which file is previously backed-up in a member other than the terminal, the substitute file having content that is obtained at least in part from the predetermined file. | 04-21-2011 |
| 20110093674 | Method and Apparatus for Automatic Solid State Drive Performance Recovery - A method and apparatus are disclosed for automatic solid state drive performance recovery. A detection module detects a first SSD exceeding a fragmentation threshold. A plurality of drives comprises the first SSD and stores a data copy of data stored on the first SSD. An erase module erases a mapping table for the first SSD. The mapping table maps Logical Block Addresses LBA to physical addresses for the first SSD. A rebuild module rebuilds the data and the mapping table on the first SSD from the data copy. | 04-21-2011 |
| 20110093675 | METHOD FOR PROTECTING REDUNDANT DATA - A method for protecting redundant data is provided. In the present invention, when a working data area and a redundant data area are not destroyed, whether global unique identifiers (GUIDs) of both the working data area and the redundant data area are the same is determined when a power on self test (POST) is executed. If the GUIDs are different, the data of the working data area is synchronized to the redundant data area. Next, the working data area and the redundant data area are set to share the same memory address space. One of the working data area and the redundant data area is selected for mapping to the memory address space in case that an operating system is executed. | 04-21-2011 |
| 20110093676 | SYSTEM MANAGING A PLURALITY OF VIRTUAL VOLUMES AND A VIRTUAL VOLUME MANAGEMENT METHOD FOR THE SYSTEM - This invention provides a control technique of a data processing system, in which functions of a highly-functional high-performance storage system are achieved in an inexpensive storage system so as to effectively use the existing system and reduce the cost of its entire system. This system has a RAID system, an external subsystem, a management server, a management client and the like. The management server includes an information management table for storing mapping information of the RAID system and the external subsystem. When performing copy process, the pair creation in which a logical volume of the RAID system is set as a primary volume of copy source and a logical volume of a mapping object of the RAID system mapped from the logical volume of the external subsystem is set as a secondary volume of copy destination is executed from the management client by using the information management table. | 04-21-2011 |
| 20110099342 | Efficient Logging for Asynchronously Replicating Volume Groups - A system and method for logging for asynchronously replicating volume groups. A write request to write data to a location in a volume may be received. Metadata associated with the write request may be stored. It may be determined if the write request possibly overlaps with one or more earlier write requests to the volume that have not yet been replicated to a secondary storage. The data may be stored in a replication log only if the write request possibly overlaps with one or more earlier write requests to the volume. The data may not be stored in the replication log if the write request does not overlap with one or more earlier write requests to the volume. The data may be written to the location in the volume. Changes to the volume may periodically be replicated to the secondary storage using the replication log. | 04-28-2011 |
| 20110099343 | Self-Adjusting Change Tracking for Fast Resynchronization - System and method for tracking changes to a volume. A write request to write data to a first location in the volume may be received. It may be determined if the first location is overlapping with or adjacent to one or more locations of earlier write requests to the volume. First location information may be stored in a data structure in response to determining that the first location is overlapping with or adjacent to one or more second locations of earlier write requests to the volume. The first location information may identify the first location and the one or more second locations. Second location information may be removed from the data structure, where the second location information identifies the one or more second locations of earlier write requests to the volume. The data may be written to the first location in the volume in response to the write request. | 04-28-2011 |
| 20110099344 | FACILITATING DATA COMPRESSION DURING REPLICATION USING A COMPRESSIBLE CONFIGURATION BIT - Computer program product, system and method are provided for facilitating data replication in a storage system. A logical volume of a first storage array of a replicated pair is preconfigured with one or more logical volume attributes, which include a compressible configuration bit that indicates whether data blocks to be stored to that logical volume are compressible during replication. Subsequently, with receipt of a data block at the first storage array to be stored to the logical volume, a check of the compressible configuration bit is made to determine whether the data block is compressible during replication, and if so, the data block is compressed for replication. The compressible configuration bit is placed into the payload region of the data packet being replicated to the second storage array. At the second storage array, the compressible configuration bit is used to determine whether to uncompress the replicated data block. | 04-28-2011 |
| 20110099345 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AND PROGRAM RECORDING MEDIUM - One or a plurality of copy pairs are disposed in a plurality of storage systems. A management server determines the propriety of execution of an operation request for each user for either a local copy pair or a remote copy pair. As operation requests, a pair create, a split, a resync, a restore, and a pair delete can be cited. | 04-28-2011 |
| 20110099346 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING STORAGE SYSTEM - In a storage control apparatus, a first duplication control unit causes a logical volume in a disk array device to be copied to a secondary storage medium. A second duplication control unit causes the logical volume to be copied also to an export storage medium in a library device, in connection with the copying to the primary storage medium by the first duplication control unit, when export attributes indicate that the logical volume copied by the first duplication control unit is supposed to be exported. A medium ejection control unit causes the library device to eject the export storage medium, in response to an ejection request therefor. | 04-28-2011 |
| 20110107043 | SELF LEARNING BACKUP AND RECOVERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - A system and method provide for a reception of data at a computer processor. The data relates to a dataset in a computer system. The computer processor calculates a weight for the dataset as a function of the data, and the processor executes an action on the dataset as a function of the weight. In an embodiment, the action is a backup of data on the computer system, and through recalculation of the weight over a period of time, the backup schedule, backup media, and other parameters are altered based on the changing weight for a dataset. | 05-05-2011 |
| 20110107044 | MEMORY MIGRATION - A source system comprises memory and a processor executing code to cause at least some of the memory to be migrated over a network to a target system. The processor causes the memory to be migrated by migrating some of the memory while a guest continues to write the memory, halts execution of the guest, and completes a remainder of the memory migration. | 05-05-2011 |
| 20110107045 | HYBRID STORAGE DATA MIGRATION BY SELECTIVE DATA REMOVAL - A hybrid data storage system is one which has data storage clusters of different types. In a hybrid data storage system, at least one first data storage cluster is configured to store data and has high data storage capacity; and at least one second data storage cluster is configured to store data and has lower data storage capacity than the first cluster. The data is initially replicated and stored by at least one first and at least one second data storage cluster. The method identifies a portion of the stored initially replicated data of at least one second data storage cluster as “pinned”; continues to store the pinned initially replicated data; and selectively removes non-pinned initially replicated data from the second data storage cluster(s) to account for the capacity difference. | 05-05-2011 |
| 20110107046 | BINARY-LEVEL UPDATE OF COMPRESSED READ-ONLY FILE SYSTEMS - A method and computer-readable memory device that enable processing of a first memory image comprising a plurality of compressed sub-blocks and uncompressed sub-blocks to produce a second memory image comprising contents of the first memory image arranged as a plurality of memory blocks. The memory blocks of the second memory image may be independently decompressible, to enable more efficient updating of an electronic device. | 05-05-2011 |
| 20110113206 | METHOD FOR OBTAINING A SNAPSHOT IMAGE OF A DISK SHARED BY MULTIPLE VIRTUAL MACHINES - Methods for obtaining a snapshot of a shared virtual machine (VM) image are described herein. In response to a request for obtaining a snapshot of a first VM image stored in a storage disk accessed and shared by a plurality of VMs, a virtualization manager selects a VM from the plurality of VMs hosted within one or more hosts. First needs to notify others to prepare for the snapshot by pausing, etc. A process associated with the selected VM is configured to capture a snapshot from the first VM image, generating a second VM image to be stored in storage disk. Thereafter, the virtualization manager notifies the plurality of VMs to utilize the second image after the second VM image has been generated. | 05-12-2011 |
| 20110113207 | DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM WITH APPLICATION-CONTROLLED ALLOCATION OF FILE STORAGE SPACE - A data processing system stores data in a data file by first identifying the data file as a large file type known to require an amount of storage space substantially greater than a system allocation unit size. As data is to be written to the data file beginning at a location identified by a file pointer, the system determines whether it is necessary to allocate storage space of the data processing system to store the data to be written, and if so then commands are issued to the file system including (i) one or more first commands to set an end of file marker for the data file to a new value greater than a current value of the end of file marker by at least an application allocation unit size which is at least twice the system allocation unit size, and (ii) one or more second commands to mark a region of the data file extending between the current and new values of the end of file marker as holding valid data. Subsequently the data is written to the data file at the location identified by the file pointer. | 05-12-2011 |
| 20110113208 | STORING CHECKPOINT DATA IN NON-VOLATILE MEMORY - Methods and systems for storing checkpoint data in non-volatile memory are described. According to one embodiment, a data storage method includes executing an application using processing circuitry and during the execution, writing data generated by the execution of the application to volatile memory. An indication of a checkpoint is provided after writing the data. After the indication has been provided, the method includes copying the data from the volatile memory to non-volatile memory and, after the copying, continuing the execution of the application. The method may include suspending execution of the application. According to another embodiment, a data storage method includes receiving an indication of a checkpoint associated with execution of one or more applications and, responsive to the receipt, initiating copying of data resulting from execution of the one or more applications from volatile memory to non-volatile memory. In some embodiments, the non-volatile memory may be solid-state non-volatile memory. | 05-12-2011 |
| 20110113209 | Data Recovery Systems and Methods - Nearline disaster recovery (“nearline DR”) storage systems and methods that permit the use of previously restored stored data from a near time period by virtual applications operating off a backup storage location during the period of disaster recovery at a primary site. This is generally referred to as a “nearline DR storage process.” | 05-12-2011 |
| 20110119456 | EFFICIENCY OF HARDWARE MEMORY ACCESS USING DYNAMICALLY REPLICATED MEMORY - Dynamically replicated memory is usable to allocate new memory space from failed memory pages by pairing compatible failed memory pages to reuse otherwise unusable failed memory pages. Dynamically replicating memory involves detecting and recording memory faults, reclaiming failed memory pages for later use, recovering from detected memory faults, and scheduling access to replicated memory pages. | 05-19-2011 |
| 20110119457 | Computing system and method controlling memory of computing system - Provided is a computing system and method. The computing system may back up, based on an overlay scheme, a task of an internal memory in an external memory, and the task may be restored to the internal memory from the external memory. The computing system may include a first memory to store data associated with a first task processed in a processor, as a first data structure, a second memory to store backup data of the data associated with the first task, and a memory controller to copy, to the second memory, data other than data previously backed up in the second memory among the data associated with the first task, when the data associated with the first task is backed up in the second memory to process a second task in the processor. | 05-19-2011 |
| 20110119458 | RELAY DEVICE - In order to allow a user to backup data, a backup system is used to transfer data from an information terminal to a backup device via a relay device. The information terminal includes a storing unit storing the data to be backed up, and includes a communication unit transmitting the data to the relay device and transferring condition information indicating a condition to be satisfied by the relay device. Further, the relay device includes (i) a storing unit storing information relating to transfer destination devices, (ii) a receiving unit receiving the data and the transfer condition information, and (iii) a transfer control unit selecting a transfer destination device that satisfies the condition indicated by the transfer condition information, and controlling transfer of the received data in accordance with the selection. The backup device includes a receiving unit receiving the data transferred by the relay device, and a storing unit storing the received data. | 05-19-2011 |
| 20110119459 | SNAPSHOT SYSTEM - A storage system including: a storage device which configures an original volume for storing data which is read/written by a host, a copy volume for storing a copy of the original volume at a predetermined timing, and a snapshot volume for storing a snapshot data which is a snapshot of the original volume; and a controller which controls access from the host to the storage device; wherein the controller: copies data of the original volume to the copy volume at a predetermined timing; stores the snapshot data in the snapshot volume corresponding to a write request to the original volume without decreasing a performance of the original volume; manages a generation of the stored snapshot according to predetermined copy volume blocks and snapshot volume blocks, and manages a generation of the copy volume; and reads data from the snapshot volume and/or the copy volume when a read request to a volume of a generation different from that of the original volume is received from the host, without decreasing a performance of the original volume. | 05-19-2011 |
| 20110125977 | ALIGNING DATA STORAGE DEVICE PARTITION TO BOUNDARY OF PHYSICAL DATA SECTOR - A method of aligning a partition of a data storage device to a boundary of a physical data sector is disclosed. The data storage device comprises a non-volatile memory comprising a plurality of physical data sectors, wherein each physical data sector comprises a plurality of logical data sectors. A partition map is read from the non-volatile memory, wherein the partition map identifies a partition comprising a number of logical data sectors. A number of logical data sectors in each physical data sector is determined. Whether at least part of the partition aligns with a boundary of a physical data sector is determined. When at least part of the partition does not align with a boundary of a physical data sector, at least part of the partition is moved to align at least part of the partition to a boundary of a physical data sector. | 05-26-2011 |
| 20110125978 | CONCURRENT DATA PROCESSING USING SNAPSHOT TECHNOLOGY - A method for processing data using snapshots is provided. The method comprises generating a primary snapshot of data stored in a first storage medium, wherein the primary snapshot is a copy of the data stored in the first storage medium at a point in time; generating one or more secondary snapshots of the primary snapshot, wherein the secondary snapshots are copies of the data stored on the first storage medium at the point in time; and extracting the data stored in the first storage medium at the point in time by accessing the data included in the secondary snapshots, wherein multiple processing units concurrently transform the extracted data and load the transformed data onto a second storage medium. | 05-26-2011 |
| 20110125979 | Migrating Logical Partitions - Methods, systems, and products for migrating logical partitions. The method may include dynamically discovering a destination system for migration; remotely creating an environment on the destination system for accepting, the runtime migration; and migrating a running logical partition from a source system to the destination system. The source system may be managed by a source management system and the destination system may be managed by a destination management system. Dynamically discovering the destination system for migration may comprise establishing a communications channel between the source management system and the destination management system; obtaining a list of candidate systems from the destination management system; and validating resources of at least one candidate system. | 05-26-2011 |
| 20110125980 | Data Backup System Including a Data Protection Component - A data backup system is provided for backing up data files from a data source and for securing those data files against accidental modification or deletion. The system comprises storage and a data protection component that includes an application programming interface defining a command set. The system can also comprise a backup application that is configured to use the commands of the command set. The data protection component allows applications that use the commands of the command set, such as the backup application, to access the storage of the system. The data protection component prevents operating systems and applications that do not use the commands of the command set from accessing the storage. The data protection function of the data protection component can optionally be disabled to allow open access to the storage. | 05-26-2011 |
| 20110138138 | WRITE SET BOUNDARY MANAGEMENT FOR HETEROGENEOUS STORAGE CONTROLLERS IN SUPPORT OF ASYNCHRONOUS UPDATE OF SECONDARY STORAGE - A data storage system including at least one storage controller having a first color policy and operative to store data onto a first data storage unit at a primary site as part of a current color of the primary site, at least one storage controller having a second color policy and operative to store data onto a second data storage unit at the primary site as part of the current color, and a color control node operative to provide each of the controllers with new color information while maintaining the integrity of dependent writes across color boundaries. | 06-09-2011 |
| 20110138139 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INCREASING AN AMOUNT OF MEMORY ON DEMAND WHEN MONITORING REMOTE MIRRORING PERFORMANCE - A method and storage system for increasing an amount of memory in a queuing area on. The storage system includes first and second storage subsystems connected to each other via a path. A primary volume in the first storage subsystem and a remote secondary volume in the second storage subsystem are mirrored and operated in the asynchronous mode. A queuing area having memory is provided in the second storage subsystem for temporarily storing data transferred to the second storage subsystem from the first storage subsystem in response to a write input/output (I/O) issued by a host to write data in the primary volume. Data temporarily stored in the memory is retrieved and stored in the remote secondary volume. An unused area of the queuing area is monitored and the memory increased if the unused area becomes less than a predetermined amount. | 06-09-2011 |
| 20110138140 | DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM - A data processing system has a plurality of storage systems. In this system, data replication is performed at high speed and efficiency while maintaining data integrity. In addition, when failure has occurred in a configuration element, the time necessary to resume the data replication is reduced. In accordance with an instruction from first host computer, updating of replication-target data and creation of a journal are performed in a storage system A, and updating of replication data and creation of a journal are performed in a storage system B. A storage system C retrieves a journal from the storage system B in asynchronization with the updating, and performs updating of replication data. When failure has occurred in the storage system B, a journal-retrieving end is altered to the storage system, and the replication data is updated in accordance with the retrieved journal. | 06-09-2011 |
| 20110145526 | CLOUD SCALE DIRECTORY SERVICES - Embodiments described herein are directed to providing scalability to software applications. A computer system partitions a portion of data stored in a directory services system into multiple different data partitions. Each data partition includes a primary writable copy and at least one secondary read-only copy of the data. The computer system receives a client request for a portion of the data that is stored in the directory services system and accesses various stored partition mappings to determine which of the different data partitions includes the requested data. The computer system also accesses a dynamic copy locator to determine which of the read-only copies of the indicated partition to access and provide the accessed primary writeable copy of the indicated partition and the determined read-only copy to the client in a virtualized manner so that the client is not aware of the data partitions. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110145527 | Consistency Without Ordering Dependency - Aspects of the subject matter described herein relate to maintaining consistency in a storage system. In aspects, one or more objects may be updated in the context of a transaction. In conjunction with updating the objects, logical copies of the objects may be obtained and modified. A request to write the updated logical copies is sent to a storage controller. The logical copies do not overwrite the original copies. In conjunction with sending the request, a data structure is provided for the storage controller to store on the disk. The data structure indicates the one or more objects that were supposed to be written to disk and may include verification data to indicate the content that was supposed to be written to disk. During recovery, this data structure may be used to determine whether all of the object(s) were correctly written to disk. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110145528 | STORAGE APPARATUS AND ITS CONTROL METHOD - Proposed are a storage apparatus and its control method capable of restoring data of a virtual page to an appropriate device hierarchy according to its data value. This storage apparatus stores, in a backup-destination storage medium, data stored in the respective physical pages allocated with the virtual volume and management information of the virtual volume including information concerning the device hierarchy to which the respective physical pages belong according to a backup command of the virtual volume, and allocates a physical page of the same device hierarchy as the device hierarchy of the physical page that was allocated before the backup to each of the restoration-target virtual pages of the virtual volume, respectively, and writes corresponding data, which was read from the storage medium, into each of the allocated physical pages according to a restoration command of the virtual volume and based on the management information of the virtual volume stored in the storage medium. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110145529 | CONTROLLER - A controller includes a first judging part that judges abnormality of a first memory part, and a second judging part that judges abnormality of a second memory part based on ( | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110153964 | PRIORITIZING SUBGROUPS IN A CONSISTENCY GROUP - A method which prioritizes the subgroups in a consistency group by usage and/or business process. Thereafter, in case of abnormal operation of the process for copying the consistency group from primary storage to secondary storage, only a portion of the subgroups of the consistency group are copied from primary storage to secondary storage. | 06-23-2011 |
| 20110153965 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR VIRTUALIZING STORAGE SYSTEMS AND MANAGING DATA INDEPENDENTLY - Method, data processing systems, and computer program products are provided for virtualizing and managing a storage virtualization system (SVS) in a storage management architecture. Source data is copied from the source storage media to target data in a target storage media based on a predefined copy policy in a copy mapping table. A relation between the source data and the target data is tracked in a copy mapping table. It is determined if a copy of the requested data exists using the copy mapping table. A least utilized storage system having a copy of the requested storage media is determined. Access to the requested storage media in the least utilized storage system is tested. If access is not possible, access to a copy of the requested storage media in another storage system is provided by updating a frontend-backend mapping table and forwarding all data access commands to the other system. | 06-23-2011 |
| 20110153966 | STORAGE CONTROLLER AND DATA MANAGEMENT METHOD - Upon receiving a primary/secondary switching command from a secondary host system, a secondary storage control device interrogates a primary storage control device as to whether or not yet to be transferred data that has not been remote copied from the primary storage control device to the secondary storage control device is present. In the event that yet to be transferred data is present, the secondary storage control device receives yet to be transferred data from the primary storage control device and updates a secondary volume. The primary storage control device then manages positions of updates to the primary volume due to host accesses to the primary volume occurring at the time of the secondary storage control device receiving the primary/secondary switching command onwards using a differential bitmap table. | 06-23-2011 |
| 20110153967 | STORAGE AREA DYNAMIC ASSIGNMENT METHOD - A storage system allocates a data storage area in response to an access request from a first computer if the capacity of a first physical storage device configuring a first logical storage area, provided to the first computer, is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold. The storage system associates the first logical storage area with another physical storage device, which is different from the first physical storage device associated with a second logical storage area provided to the first computer and a second computer, and allocates a data storage area from the another physical storage device if the capacity of the first physical storage device associated with the first logical storage area exceeds the predetermined threshold. | 06-23-2011 |
| 20110153968 | DATA DUPLICATION CONTROL METHOD - When there is a change in a group of volumes managed by a host computer, data duplication processing is immediately carried out against the changed volume. The host computer includes a volume-managing portion, a data duplication-controlling portion which executes the data duplication of data stored in a volume in a main data center, and a data duplication storing portion which stores data necessary for the data duplication. The data duplication-controlling portion compares data held by the volume-managing portion with the data in the data duplication storing portion, and updates the data in the data duplication storing portion based on the data held by the volume-managing portion. | 06-23-2011 |
| 20110161607 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR - There is provided a storage technique for efficiently solving concentration of accesses to a particular storage medium. In the present invention, in a storage system having multiple storage media which are physically separated, duplicates of multiple blocks forming particular contents are generated, and the duplicated blocks are uniformly (in stripes) stored in storage media other than the storage medium which stores the particular contents (see FIG. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110161608 | METHOD TO CUSTOMIZE FUNCTION BEHAVIOR BASED ON CACHE AND SCHEDULING PARAMETERS OF A MEMORY ARGUMENT - Disclosed are a method, a system and a computer program product of operating a data processing system that can include or be coupled to multiple processor cores. In one or more embodiments, each of multiple memory objects can be populated with work items and can be associated with attributes that can include information which can be used to describe data of each memory object and/or which can be used to process data of each memory object. The attributes can be used to indicate one or more of a cache policy, a cache size, and a cache line size, among others. In one or more embodiments, the attributes can be used as a history of how each memory object is used. The attributes can be used to indicate cache history statistics (e.g., a hit rate, a miss rate, etc.). | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110161609 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND ITS CONTROL METHOD - Proposed is an information processing apparatus and its control method capable of acquiring the operation results of the same point in time in a plurality of storage apparatuses in a highly reliable manner. With this information processing apparatus connected to a plurality of storage apparatuses and its control method, a time difference between an internal time of the storage apparatus and an internal time of the information processing apparatus is detected regarding each of the plurality of storage apparatuses, a time added with the time difference between the internal time of the storage apparatus and the internal time of the information processing apparatus as an execution time of a predetermined operation is set to the plurality of storage apparatuses at an arbitrary future time, and an execution result of the predetermined operation is collected from each of the plurality of storage apparatuses after the lapse of the future time. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110167232 | STORAGE CONTROL APPARATUS AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING STORAGE CONTROL APPARATUS - The storage control apparatus arranges, in microprocessor packages, management information relating to logical volumes managed by the microprocessor packages. In a predetermined case, each of the management information is rearranged in appropriate places. The management information can be moved, taking into account the difference in the technical properties between a mainframe and an open system host | 07-07-2011 |
| 20110167233 | COMPUTING SYSTEM AND BACKUP METHOD - This invention proposes a computing system and a backup method capable of improving the backup efficiency. In accordance with copy requests from the host, the data written to the first logical volume in the first storage system is copied to the second logical volume in the relevant first storage system, the data copied to the second logical volume is transferred to the second storage system asynchronously from writing of data from the host to the first logical volume and, in the second storage system, the data transferred from the first storage system is written to the third logical volume in the relevant second storage system. | 07-07-2011 |
| 20110167234 | BACKUP SYSTEM AND ITS CONTROL METHOD - A replication system capable of automatically forming an authentic copy pair with a primary volume at a copy destination system without depending on an operator and realizing the pair formation without labeling a tape is provided. | 07-07-2011 |
| 20110167235 | REMOTE COPY SYSTEM AND REMOTE COPY CONTROL METHOD - To provide a remote copy system and the control method for the same capable of performing the setting of volume pairs in the consistency group and changing the setting by the simple operation without depending on the pair definition processing. A copy pair configured of a primary volume and a secondary volume is suspended, and the suspended primary volume and the secondary volume are set to another consistency group different from the original consistency group, and then the primary volume and the secondary volume are resynchronized. | 07-07-2011 |
| 20110173401 | PRESENTATION OF A READ-ONLY CLONE LUN TO A HOST DEVICE AS A SNAPSHOT OF A PARENT LUN - A method, apparatus, and system of presentation of a read-only clone Logical Unit Number (LUN) to a host device as a snapshot of a parent LUN are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes generating a read-write clone LUN of a parent LUN and coalescing an identical data instance of the read-write clone LUN and the parent LUN in a data block of a volume of a storage system. A block transfer protocol layer is modified to refer the read-write clone LUN as a read-only clone LUN, according to the embodiment. Furthermore, according to the embodiment, the read-only clone LUN is presented to a host device as a snapshot of the parent LUN. | 07-14-2011 |
| 20110173402 | HARDWARE SUPPORT FOR COLLECTING PERFORMANCE COUNTERS DIRECTLY TO MEMORY - Hardware support for collecting performance counters directly to memory, in one aspect, may include a plurality of performance counters operable to collect one or more counts of one or more selected activities. A first storage element may be operable to store an address of a memory location. A second storage element may be operable to store a value indicating whether the hardware should begin copying. A state machine may be operable to detect the value in the second storage element and trigger hardware copying of data in selected one or more of the plurality of performance counters to the memory location whose address is stored in the first storage element. | 07-14-2011 |
| 20110173403 | USING DMA FOR COPYING PERFORMANCE COUNTER DATA TO MEMORY - A device for copying performance counter data includes hardware path that connects a direct memory access (DMA) unit to a plurality of hardware performance counters and a memory device. Software prepares an injection packet for the DMA unit to perform copying, while the software can perform other tasks. In one aspect, the software that prepares the injection packet runs on a processing core other than the core that gathers the hardware performance counter data. | 07-14-2011 |
| 20110173404 | USING THE CHANGE-RECORDING FEATURE FOR POINT-IN-TIME-COPY TECHNOLOGY TO PERFORM MORE EFFECTIVE BACKUPS - A method for using a change-recording feature to perform more effective backups includes generating an initial point-in-time copy of source data residing in a storage device. The method may then perform an initial backup of the initial point-in-time copy. As changes are made to the source data, the method may record changes made to the source data after the initial point-in-time copy is generated. These changes may be stored as incremental change data. At some point, the initial point-in-time copy may be updated using the incremental change data. In order to perform an incremental backup of the updated point-in-time copy, the method may query the incremental change data to determine which changes were used to update the point-in-time copy. The method may then perform an incremental backup of the updated point-in-time copy by backing up the changes designated in the incremental change data. | 07-14-2011 |
| 20110173405 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REDUCING LATENCY TIME WITH CLOUD SERVICES - A system and method for reducing service latency includes dividing an information technology service for a customer into an infrastructure management service and a data management service. Data associated with the information technology service is stored in a backup memory. A set of infrastructure images related to the information technology service is stored at a cloud service provider. The infrastructure images are updated with software updates and hardware updates, as needed, and the data associated with the information technology service is updated through backup and restore mechanisms. The set of infrastructure images that have been updated with data with latest updates are started for recovery, continuity, testing, etc. | 07-14-2011 |
| 20110173406 | DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM HAVING A PLURALITY OF STORAGE SYSTEMS - It is an object of the present invention to conduct data transfer or data copying between a plurality of storage systems, without affecting the host computer of the storage systems. Two or more auxiliary storage systems | 07-14-2011 |
| 20110179241 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND ITS INITIAL COPY METHOD - Upon starting the initial copy process, a pair creation command is issued from a primary disk subsystem to a secondary disk subsystem. The secondary disk subsystem sets a target area of a second disk drive to an unwritten status, and thereafter writes update data that was updated in a primary site into a designated area of the second disk drive. Subsequently, when data of a first disk drive is backed up to an external medium, the external memory medium is transported to a secondary site, and then connected to a host computer. Unwritten data among the backup data recorded in the external memory medium is thereafter restored to the first disk drive, and the initial copy is completed on the condition that all data in the first disk drive has been copied to the second disk drive. | 07-21-2011 |
| 20110179242 | Multi-Stage Multiplexing Operation Including Combined Selection and Data Alignment or Data Replication - A multi-stage multiplexing operation that includes combined selection and data alignment or data replication is disclosed. In a particular embodiment, a method includes performing a first stage of a multi-stage multiplexing operation. During the first stage, a first data source is selected from a first plurality of data sources. At least one of a first data alignment operation and a first data replication operation is also performed on first data from the selected first data source during the first stage. | 07-21-2011 |
| 20110179243 | Asymmetric Data Mirroring - An asymmetric data mirroring method with a local storage device and a remote storage device being separated by large distances is disclosed. A server determines a predetermined time period associated with a round trip latency between the server and a remote storage device. The server submits a request to a local storage device, a remote storage device and a memory device disposed between the server and the remote storage device. The server submits additional requests to the local and remote storage devices during the predetermined time period. The server stores a copy of each request submitted by the server to the remote storage device in a memory disposed between the server and the remote storage device while the server waits for whether an acknowledgement associated with the request has been received from the remote storage device during the predetermined time period. The server resubmits the request and the additional requests to the remote storage device if the acknowledgement is not received. If an acknowledgement is received, the server continues submission of additional new requests to the local and remote storage devices. | 07-21-2011 |
| 20110185135 | STORAGE APPARATUS AND ITS CONTROL METHOD - In a storage apparatus and its control method including multiple first virtual volumes to be provided to a host system and multiple pools each having a memory capacity, and equipped with a function of dynamically allocating a storage area to the first virtual volumes from the pools associated with the first virtual volumes in accordance with the usage status of the first virtual volumes, the unused capacity in each of the pools is managed, and, when the unused capacity of one of the pools falls below a predetermined threshold value, a part of the unused capacity of the other pools is allocated to the one pool. It is thereby possible to realize a highly reliable storage apparatus and its control method. | 07-28-2011 |
| 20110185136 | MOVING LARGE DYNAMIC DATASETS VIA INCREMENTAL CHANGE SYNCHRONIZATION - Incremental change synchronization for moving large data sets may be provided. Source data to be moved may be identified and a snapshot of the data may be created. The data may be moved to a new datastore and a second snapshot may be created. The snapshots may be compared to identify any data elements that have been modified and the modified elements may be copied to the new datastore. | 07-28-2011 |
| 20110185137 | CONCURRENT COPY OF SYSTEM CONFIGURATION GLOBAL METADATA - Method, system, and computer program product embodiments for concurrent copy of system configuration global metadata in a data storage system are provided. In one exemplary embodiment, a global data rank is quiesced, followed by an unquiesce of the global data rank except for a global metadata area. The global metadata area is updated in memory, and then unquiesced. A current range of the global metadata area to be copied is quiesced. The current range of the global metadata area is copied from a source area to a target area. The current range is unquiesced. The steps of quiescing an additional current range, copying the range from a source area to a target area, and unquiescing the current range continue until the entire global metadata area has been copied. | 07-28-2011 |
| 20110191554 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND ITS CONTROL METHOD - Proposed are a highly reliable storage system and its control method capable of accelerating the processing speed of the copy processing seen from the host device. | 08-04-2011 |
| 20110191555 | MANAGING COPY-ON-WRITES TO SNAPSHOTS - An attempt to write to a block of data in a main volume of data is detected. An indicator associated with the block of data is accessed before a copy-on-write operation to a snapshot volume is performed for the block of data. The indicator is used to determine whether the copy-on-write operation is to be performed for the block of data. | 08-04-2011 |
| 20110191556 | OPTIMIZATION OF DATA MIGRATION BETWEEN STORAGE MEDIUMS - Exemplary method, system, and computer program embodiments for data migration between first and second storage mediums of an available plurality of storage mediums in a computing storage environment are provided. In one embodiment, pursuant to migrating the data from the first to the second storage medium, the data is allocated to the second storage medium while retaining an allocation of the data in the first storage medium. If the data is migrated from the second storage medium back to the first storage medium, the data is pointed to the allocation of the data in the first storage medium to alleviate data movement from the second storage medium to the first storage medium. If the allocation of the data in the first storage medium is determined to be needed for other data, the allocation of the data in the first storage medium is freed. | 08-04-2011 |
| 20110191557 | SYNCHRONIZING DATA STORAGE SYSTEMS IN A DATA STORAGE ENVIRONMENT - A method for synchronizing data storage systems is provided. The method comprises designating a relationship between a first data storage system and a second data storage system, such that data stored in the first data storage system is copied to the second data storage system, in response to determining that the data stored in the first data storage system has been modified; receiving a first request to modify data stored in a first data block of a first storage volume in the first data storage system, wherein the data block is modified according to the first request; determining that the first data block has not been successfully synchronized when the modified data stored in the first data block is not copied to the second data storage system; and executing a process to retry synchronization of the first data block until synchronization of the first data block is successful, without suspending the relationship while the process is executed. | 08-04-2011 |
| 20110191558 | DATA MIGRATION METHODOLOGY FOR USE WITH ARRAYS OF POWERED-DOWN STORAGE DEVICES - A method for managing extents in a data storage system includes monitoring usage statistics for an extent residing on one or more powered-up storage devices. In the event the extent has not been accessed for specified period of time (as determined from the usage statistics), the method automatically compresses the extent and migrates the extent to an intermediate repository. Once the amount of data in the intermediate repository reaches a specified level, the method migrates the extent from the intermediate repository to one or more normally powered-down storage devices. If I/O is received for the extent while it resides in the normally powered-down storage devices or the intermediate repository, the method automatically migrates the extent from the normally powered-down storage devices or the intermediate repository to the normally powered-up storage devices. A corresponding apparatus and computer program product are also disclosed. | 08-04-2011 |
| 20110191559 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR DATA PROCESSING AND SYSTEM DEPLOYMENT IN A VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT - Systems, methods, and computer program products for processing data are disclosed. A method according to one embodiment includes reading a data processing instruction locally called by a virtual work unit; optimizing the read data processing instruction; and performing data processing for the virtual work unit using the optimized data processing instruction. The step of optimizing the read data processing instruction may include one or more of: merging data processing instructions from different virtual work units for same data, and analyzing data processing instructions from different virtual work units to select suitable data processing timing. The data processing method is executed in a virtual environment. | 08-04-2011 |
| 20110191560 | EFFICIENT DATA STORAGE USING TWO LEVEL DELTA RESEMBLANCE - Storage using resemblance of data segments is disclosed. It is determined that a new segment resembles a second prior stored segment wherein the second prior stored segment is represented as a first stored delta and a first prior stored segment. A second delta between the new segment and the prior stored segment is determined. A representation of the new segment based at least in part on the second delta is stored. | 08-04-2011 |
| 20110197039 | Background Migration of Virtual Storage - Described is a technology by which a virtual hard disk is migrated from a source storage location to a target storage location without needing any shared physical storage, in which a machine may continue to use the virtual hard disk during migration. This facilitates use the virtual hard disk in conjunction with live-migrating a virtual machine. Virtual hard disk migration may occur fully before or after the virtual machine is migrated to the target host, or partially before and partially after virtual machine migration. Background copying, sending of write-through data, and/or servicing read requests may be used in the migration. Also described is throttling data writes and/or data communication to manage the migration of the virtual hard disk. | 08-11-2011 |
| 20110197040 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND STORAGE CONTROL METHOD - A storage system to copy data from a copying origin to a copying destination. The storage system includes a storing area creating unit. The storing area creating unit causes a storing unit in a storage to create a status information storing area to have status information stored therein, based on grouping, the grouping being executed on data that is divided into plural pieces, the grouping being executed when the divided data is stored in the storage. The status information of each group is stored in the status information storing area that is created by the storing unit. | 08-11-2011 |
| 20110197041 | STORAGE APPARATUS, STORAGE APPARATUS CONTROL PROGRAM, AND STORAGE APPARATUS CONTROL METHOD - A save control section included in a storage apparatus continuously performs writeback by which a data group is read out from a plurality of storage sections of the storage apparatus and by which the data group is saved in a data group storage section of the storage apparatus, or staging by which a data group saved in the data group storage section is distributed and stored in the plurality of storage sections according to storage areas of the data group storage section which store a plurality of data groups. An output section of the storage apparatus outputs in block a data group including the data stored in each of the plurality of storage sections. The data group storage section has the storage areas for storing a data group. | 08-11-2011 |
| 20110197042 | STORAGE DEVICE AND STORAGE DEVICE CONTROL METHOD - A storage device for storing data includes, a first storage part which stores data, a second storage part which stores backup data of the data stored in the first storage part, a writing order determination part which determines a writing order of data to the second storage part such that the writing order is an order from data whose storage period remains longest to data whose storage period remains shortest, and a writing control part which performs control such that the data stored in the first storage part is written to the second storage part in accordance with the writing order. | 08-11-2011 |
| 20110202734 | STORAGE SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Systems and methods for backup test restore are presented. In one embodiment a backup restore test method includes performing a backup process; performing a test restore virtual environment creation process, the test restore virtual environment including a plurality of virtual machines; and performing a test of the backup on the test restore virtual environment. The backup process can include backing up information associated with an application; identifying prerequisites associated with running the application; and backing up information associated with the prerequisites. The test restore virtual environment creation process can include gathering information identifying the prerequisites associated with the application; creating the plurality of virtual machines, wherein the plurality of virtual machines includes virtual machines corresponding to physical machines the application and perquisites run on; and bringing up the plurality of virtual machines utilizing the information from the backup process. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110202735 | COMPUTER SYSTEM, AND BACKUP METHOD AND PROGRAM FOR COMPUTER SYSTEM - A backup is completed within a backup window designated by a user. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110202736 | INFORMATION-STORAGE SYSTEM - An information-storage system storing information includes, an information-storage unit configured to store data, an encoding/decoding unit configured to encode and store input data in the information-storage unit, and decode and output the encoded data stored in the information-storage unit upon receiving a request for an information output, a transmission unit configured to output the encoded data stored in the information-storage unit, the encoded data being left undecoded, and store the encoded data in a backup spot different from the information-storage unit, a status-monitoring unit configured to monitor an unusual status of the information-storage system, and a selection unit configured to select the transmission unit between the encoding/decoding unit and the transmission unit when the status-monitoring unit confirms the unusual status of the information-storage system. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110202737 | STORAGE APPARATUS AND STORAGE SYSTEM - A storage apparatus includes: an associating unit that associates a first memory area in which data to be copied are stored and a second memory area of a destination storage apparatus to which the data are copied; a detecting unit that detects a start or an end of copying the data from the first memory area to the second memory area associated by the associating unit; and an access control unit that controls access to the first memory area and the second memory area based on a result of detection performed by the detecting unit. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110202738 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AND CONTROL METHOD FOR THE COMPUTER SYSTEM - A computer system including a first storage system connected to a first host computer, a second storage system connected to a second host computer and a third storage system connected to the first and second storage systems. The second storage system sets transfer setting before an occurrence of a failure, the transfer setting being provided with a dedicated storage area to be used for transferring data to the third storage system by asynchronous copy in response to a failure at the first host computer. Before the start of data transfer between the second storage system and third storage system to be executed after an occurrence of the failure, the second storage system checks the dedicated storage area, data transfer line and transfer setting information, and if an abnormal state is detected, this abnormal state is reported to the host computer as information attached to the transfer setting. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110208928 | System and Method for Improving Performance of Data Container Backups - A method for improving performance of data container backups comprises identifying a data container on a source computer to be backed up. A snapshot image of the data container is generated, wherein the snapshot image comprises one or more partitions. Data is read simultaneously from each of the one or more partitions to a destination computer over one or more transport paths. Each of the one or more transport paths comprises one or more threads. The data read to the destination computer is backed up such that the data retains a physical block sequence of the data container. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110208929 | IN-PLACE VIRTUALIZATION DURING OPERATING SYSTEM INSTALLATION - A computing device executing an operating system installer generates a virtual disk image at a temporary location. The computing device copies data from one or more existing partitions on a storage device to the virtual disk image, wherein the one or more existing partitions include an existing operating system and associated data. The virtual disk image is stored at a temporary location. The one or more existing partitions are then replaced with a new partition on the storage device. A new operating system is installed on the new partition. The virtual disk image is moved to the new partition from the temporary location. The virtual disk image can then be loaded into a virtual machine that runs on the new operating system. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110208930 | Providing Shared Access to Data Storage Resources Across Cluster Computing Environment Boundaries - Providing shared access to data storage resources in a cluster computing environment, including detecting when a computer node requests access to a data storage device in a manner that excludes a computing device from accessing the data storage device, where the computer node is configured to communicate with the data storage device along a first communications channel, and where the computing device is configured to communicate with the data storage device along a second communications channel that is exclusive of the first communications channel, and responsive to the detecting, causing the data storage device to allow the computer node and the computing device to share access to the data storage device. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110208931 | Systems and Methods for Enabling Replication Targets to Reclaim Unused Storage Space on Thin-Provisioned Storage Systems - A computer-implemented method for enabling replication targets to reclaim unused storage space on thin-provisioned storage systems may include: 1) replicating data from a replication source to a replication target, 2) identifying unused storage space within the replicated data, 3) generating a reclamation request for reclaiming the unused storage space from a thin-provisioned storage system that provides thin-provisioned storage for the replication target, and then 4) issuing the reclamation request to the thin-provisioned storage system in order to reclaim the unused storage space from the thin-provisioned storage system. Various other related systems, methods, and configured computer-readable media are also disclosed. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110208932 | FLASHCOPY HANDLING - A technique for handling a FlashCopy® process includes receiving a FlashCopy® instruction for a source disk, performing a FlashCopy® point in time copy of the source disk on to a target disk, creating a map specifying the FlashCopy® point in time copy from the source disk to the target disk, creating a primary fdisk for the source disk, if one does not already exist, and creating a primary fdisk for the target disk, if one does not already exist, or, if one does already exist, converting the existing primary fdisk for the target disk into a secondary fdisk, and creating a new primary fdisk for the target disk. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110208933 | Mass-Storage System Utilizing Solid-State Storage and Non-Solid-State Storage - Disclosed is a storage system which includes a primary storage space associated with a first plurality of VS devices, a temporary backup storage space associated with a second plurality of VS devices, a permanent backup storage space associated with a third plurality of NVS devices, a storage controller responsive to a write request including storing the data-element within the primary storage space and substantially immediately or concurrently storing recovery-enabling-data corresponding to the data-element within the temporary backup storage space, and asynchronously with the provisional redundant storage sequence, the controller is adapted to destage the recovery-enabling data to the permanent backup storage space, and one or more UPS units configured to provide backup power in case of power interruption to enable completion of destaging of recovery-enabling data for the entire data-set of the storage system. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110208934 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ALLOCATING MEMORY SPACE OF A MOBILE TERMINAL - A method and a system for allocating memory space of a mobile terminal are provided. The system comprises: a user interface means configured to prompt a user to select a allocating mode of the memory space; a control means configured to store space dividing information in various allocating modes; a memory allocating means configured to clear the data of the whole space to be divided when the memory space is to be reallocated, to acquire according to an allocating mode selected by the user the space dividing information of the allocating mode stored in the control means, and to configure required memory space for storing various parts of information according to the space dividing information. The technical solution of the invention can allocate the memory space according to user requirement, and enable the space allocation and management of a mobile terminal to satisfy various requirements of individuals. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110213939 | QUICK DEPLOYMENT METHOD - Provided is a deployment method for a server system that includes a storage system having logical disks where disk images are stored and plural servers connected to the storage system via a storage network, the method including the step of causing a deploy management module to copy the logical disks which store the disk images to a free area of the storage system before a deployment command is received. According to this invention, disk images are quickly deployed to servers. | 09-01-2011 |
| 20110219201 | COPY ON WRITE STORAGE CONSERVATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Systems and methods for copy on write storage conservation are presented. In one embodiment a copy on write storage conservation method includes creating and mounting a snapshot; mounting a snapshot; monitoring interest in the snapshot; initiating a copy on write discard process before a backup or replication is complete; and deleting the snapshot when the backup or replication is complete. In one embodiment the method also includes marking a file as do not copy on write. In one embodiment, the copy on write discard process includes discarding copy on write data when a corresponding read on the file in the snapshot is successful. Initiating a copy on write discard process can be done at a variety of levels (e.g., a file level, an extent level, a block-level, etc.). | 09-08-2011 |
| 20110225379 | VOLUME MANAGEMENT APPARATUS AND STORAGE SYSTEM - The present invention allocates a suitable physical device to each volume page according to the state transition command relating to paired volumes. A plurality of logical devices forming a logical storage area of a plurality of physical devices of varying performance are tiered according to the performance of the physical devices to form a pool volume, and each of the areas of the primary logical volume, secondary logical volume and pool volume are managed by a controller, divided into a primary page, secondary page and pool page. Upon receiving a pair formation-related command from the host computer, the controller allocates pool pages belonging to the same tier to the primary page and secondary page, and upon subsequently receiving a pair-related state transition command, the controller allocates a pool page, in a different tier from the primary page, to the secondary page. | 09-15-2011 |
| 20110225380 | MULTIPLE BACKUP PROCESSES - Handling multiple backup processes comprises detecting that a defined storage volume is present in a first cascade of storage volumes, detecting that the defined storage volume is also present in a second cascade of storage volumes, receiving a data write for either the defined storage volume or the last storage volume in the first cascade of storage volumes, and performing a cleaning data write on the defined storage volume in the second cascade of storage volumes, the cleaning data write corresponding to the received data write. | 09-15-2011 |
| 20110225381 | NONVOLATILE STORAGE DEVICE, ACCESS DEVICE AND NONVOLATILE STORAGE SYSTEM - A memory controller includes a reading/writing control unit for controlling writing and reading of data to and from a physical block of a nonvolatile memory, a writing mode table for storing one of a first writing mode of protecting data against a power shutdown during writing and a second writing mode of writing data at a higher speed than the first writing mode, and a setting unit for setting the writing mode received from an access device in a writing mode table. The reading/writing control unit performs data writing based on the writing mode that has been set in the writing mode table. | 09-15-2011 |
| 20110225382 | INCREMENTAL REPLICATION USING SNAPSHOTS - A first snapshot is taken of a first block storage resource that is initially identical in content to a second block storage resource. A second snapshot of the first block storage resource is taken at a later time. A record is kept of all blocks modified on the first block storage resource. Only those blocks modified between the time of the first and second snapshots are written to the second block storage resource. After all the modified blocks are written to the second block storage resource, a snapshot is taken of the second block storage resource to maintain a consistent snapshot of the second block storage resource in case of communication failure during the next round. The first snapshot is then deleted, the second takes the role of the first, and the next round of replication begins. | 09-15-2011 |
| 20110231624 | CONTROLLER, DATA STORAGE DEVICE, AND PROGRAM PRODUCT - According to one embodiment, a write instructing unit instructs a data access unit to write, in a storage area of a data storage unit indicated by a first physical address, write object data, instructs a management information access unit to update address conversion information, and instructs a first access unit to update the first physical address. A compaction unit extracts a physical address of compaction object data, instructs the data access unit to read the compaction object data stored in a storage area of the data storage unit indicated by the physical address, instructs the data access unit to write the compaction object data in a storage area of the data storage unit indicated by a second physical address, instructs the management information access unit to update the address conversion information, and instructs a second access unit to update the second physical address. | 09-22-2011 |
| 20110238935 | Systems and/or methods for distributed data archiving - Certain example embodiments of this invention relate to system and/or methods that pair a data extractor with a data accumulator, wherein these components may be located on any one or more computers in a network system. This distributed peer extract-accumulate approach is advantageous in that it reduces (and sometimes completely eliminates) the need for a “funnel” approach to data archiving, wherein all data is moved or backed up through a central computer or central computer system. In certain example embodiments, recall-accumulate, search, verify, and/or other archive-related activities may be performed in a similar peer-based and/or distributed manner. Certain example embodiments may in addition or in the alternative incorporate techniques for verifying the integrity of data in an archive system, and/or techniques for restoring/importing data from a non-consumable form. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110238936 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR EFFICIENT SNAPSHOTTING OF DATA-OBJECTS - One embodiment of the present invention is directed to a multi-node data-storage system, including a number of component-data-storage-system nodes, which stores data objects, each data object stored as a mirrored portion and an additional portion and a snapshot-operation-triggering mechanism that invokes a snapshot operation on a data object in which mirrored data stored in the mirrored portion of the data object is transformed into data stored in non-mirroring redundant data storage associated with a next snapshot level within the additional portion of the data object. An additional embodiment of the present invention is directed to a multi-node data-storage system in which a snapshot-operation-triggering mechanism automatically invokes a snapshot operation on a data object. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110238937 | STORAGE APPARATUS AND SNAPSHOT CONTROL METHOD OF THE SAME - [Problem] Providing a storage apparatus and a snapshot control method for the same for preventing, even after long-term operation of snapshots as a means for backup, an increase in the amount of pre-update data retained in a differential volume. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110238938 | EFFICIENT MIRRORING OF DATA ACROSS STORAGE CONTROLLERS - A method includes multicasting an Input/Output (I/O) data associated with a host computing device through a multicast device associated with a storage controller coupled to another storage controller in a redundant configuration, and minoring, through the multicasting, the I/O data across the storage controller and the another storage controller through a bus utilized to couple the storage controller and the another storage controller. The method also includes transmitting an early write status message to the host computing device following the minoring of the I/O data across the storage controller and the another storage controller. The early write status message is associated with a successful completion of the mirroring of the I/O data across the storage controller and the another storage controller prior to the I/O data being written to a storage device associated therewith. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110246731 | BACKUP SYSTEM AND BACKUP METHOD - Provided are a backup system and a backup method for backing up data written by a host into a logical volume provided by a storage system, wherein an update location in the logical volume updated by the host is managed, and the storage system is controlled to selectively back up the data written into the update location in the logical volume based on the management result of the update location. It is thereby possible to ensure a fast data read speed in the backup of raw volumes and an easy multiplatform backup, whereby a backup system and a backup method capable of performing backup efficiently are realized. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110246732 | COMPUTER SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING BACKUPS USING WIDE AREA NETWORK - One of a backup apparatus and a storage system performs control to store backup data in a storage system which belongs to an organization and/or location different from an organization and/or location to which a storage-target storage system for original data belongs, based on information (P) and/or (Q) below:
| 10-06-2011 |
| 20110246733 | RESTORATION OF A PARENT LUN THROUGH MODIFICATION OF A READ-WRITE CLONE LUN AS THE PARENT LUN - A method, apparatus and system of restoration of a parent LUN through modification of a read-write clone LUN as the parent LUN are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes transforming a snapshot of a parent LUN from a read-only state to a read-write clone LUN using a target module of a storage system. The method also includes changing a first data structure of a block transfer protocol to refer to the parent LUN as another clone LUN. Further, the method includes modifying a second data structure of the block transfer protocol to refer to the read-write clone LUN as the parent LUN. Then, the method includes restoring the parent LUN when the modification of the second data structure is completed. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110246734 | INTELLIGENT DATA STORAGE UTILIZING ONE OR MORE RECORDS - Systems, methods, and apparatus for facilitating intelligent data storage utilizing one or more records are presented herein. A write component of a storage medium can receive data and write one or more portions of the data to a storage block of the storage medium. Further, a signature component of the storage medium can create a record within the storage medium, and update at least one part of the record corresponding to the storage block based on the one or more portions of the data. Moreover, a query component of the storage medium can receive a request and transmit the record based on the request; and transmit one or more attributes of the storage medium based on another request. Furthermore, the signature component can update the at least one part of the record based on whether content of the storage block changed as a function of the write. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110246735 | REAL TIME BACKUP STORAGE NODE ASSIGNMENT - A method of assigning a storage node from a storage grid to a server is presented. The storage grid includes multiple storage nodes capable of backing up a policy stored on the server. The method includes receiving an assignment request which requests assignment of one of the multiple storage nodes of the storage grid to the server to backup the policy stored on the server. The method also includes performing a storage node assignment operation in an automated manner in response to the assignment request, the storage node assignment operation providing an assignment result identifying a storage node assigned to backup the policy stored on the server, the assignment result being based on an assessment of storage space requirements of the policy and available storage space resources of the storage grid. The method further includes notifying the server of the assignment result to effectuate backing up of the policy stored on the server by the storage node. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110246736 | BACKUP APPARATUS, BACKUP METHOD AND COMPUTER READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM IN OR ON WHICH BACKUP PROGRAM IS RECORDED - Upon production of a backup of a first generation, all of an operation volume is stored. However, upon production of a backup of a second or later generation, an update situation of the operation volume is confirmed, and a physical region of a capacity corresponding to a capacity of an update region of the operation volume is secured. Then, only data of the update region is stored into the secured physical region. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110246737 | REMOTE STORAGE DISK CONTROL DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME - A storage device system includes an information processing device, a first storage device equipped with a first storage volume, and a second storage device equipped with a second storage volume. The information processing device and the first storage device are communicatively connected to one another. Also, the first storage device and the second storage device are communicatively connected to one another. The information processing device is equipped with a first write request section that requests to write data in the first storage device according to a first communications protocol, and a second write request section that requests to write data in the second storage device according to a second communications protocol. The information processing device creates first data including a first instruction to be executed in the second storage device. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110252208 | EXPRESS-FULL BACKUP OF A CLUSTER SHARED VIRTUAL MACHINE - A computer-implemented method includes creating a first snapshot of at least one virtual machine at a first time. The first snapshot is created at a computing device of a cluster of computing devices configured to share the at least one virtual machine. As an example, each computing device in the cluster may modify the shared virtual machine via a direct input/output (I/O) transaction, bypassing a file-system stack. The first snapshot is transmitted to a backup device. The method includes creating a second snapshot of the at least one virtual machine at a second time and determining a set of changed data blocks associated with a difference between the second snapshot and the first snapshot. The set of changed blocks is transmitted to the backup device. | 10-13-2011 |
| 20110258404 | METHOD AND APPARATUS TO MANAGE GROUPS FOR DEDUPLICATION - A storage system comprises one or more pool volumes having chunks for storing data; one or more primary volumes; writable snapshots as virtual volumes for each primary volume which is a common ancestor of the writable snapshots, each primary volume and corresponding writable snapshots being members forming a snapshot group; and a storage controller which includes a processor, a memory storing, for each snapshot group, group information of the members within the snapshot group, and a deduplication module. The deduplication module may identify a snapshot group for deduplication based on the group information and perform deduplication of data for the identified snapshot group in a deduplication area, or perform deduplication of data in a deduplication area which is specified based on the group information of a snapshot group being generated in the storage system. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110258405 | METHOD FOR CONTROLLING DATA WRITE TO VIRTUAL LOGICAL VOLUME CONFORMING TO THIN PROVISIONING, AND STORAGE APPARATUS - The virtual volume is a virtual logical volume that conforms to Thin Provisioning, and is a logical volume configured from a plurality of virtual areas and used by a plurality of applications. In a case where the storage apparatus receives a write request comprising write-destination information for identifying a write-destination virtual area in the virtual volume, and, in addition, the write-destination virtual area is an unallocated virtual area, the storage apparatus selects a medium, which corresponds to the write to the write-destination virtual area and/or the identification information of the source of this write, from a plurality of media, which have different performances and which are each configured from two or more real areas, and allocates a real area from the selected medium to the write-destination virtual area. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110258406 | STORAGE APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD OF STORAGE APPARATUS - A storage apparatus having a plurality of logical volumes, each providing a data storage area to an external device, comprises a storage device providing a physical storage area, and a storage controller creating a plurality of unit physical storage areas from the storage device, operating each of the logical volumes as a virtual volume in which, in response to a data TO request from the external device, the unit physical storage area is added to each of the logical volumes, selecting any one of the logical volumes as a primary volume, selecting any one of the rest of the logical volumes as a secondary volume, the primary volume and the secondary volume being configured as a copy pair in which data in the primary volume can be copied to the secondary volume, in the case that the primary volume receives a discarding request for the unit physical storage area from the external device, determining whether or not the unit physical storage are exists, the unit physical storage area configuring the secondary volume corresponding to the unit physical storage area being a target of the discarding request, and in the case that it is determined that the unit physical storage area configuring the secondary volume exists, transmitting to the secondary volume an instruction for discarding the unit physical storage area assigned to the secondary volume. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110258407 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND MANAGEMENT METHOD THEREOF - A storage system having at least two storage apparatuses capable of partitioning an internal resource into logical partitions and managing the logical partitions, and which replicates data written into a primary volume of a primary storage apparatus as the replication source storage apparatus to a secondary volume of a secondary storage apparatus as the replication destination storage apparatus, including: a configuration information sending unit for sending configuration information of the logical partition, to which the primary volume belongs, to the secondary storage apparatus; and a logical partition setting unit for setting the configuration of the logical partition to which the secondary volume belongs based on the configuration information of the logical partition to which the primary volume belongs sent from the configuration information sending unit. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110258408 | CREATING A SNAPSHOT BASED ON A MARKER TRANSFERRED FROM A FIRST STORAGE SYSTEM TO A SECOND STORAGE SYSTEM - Storage arrangements including: a first storage system including: a first volume which includes a first data area storing data sent from a computer; and a first processor which stores data sent from the computer in the first volume; a second storage system including: a second volume which includes a second data area; a third volume; and a second processor which is configured to store data sent from the first storage system in the second volume; wherein the first processor transfers the data stored in the first data area of the first volume, to the second storage system, and the second processor stores the data in the second data area of the second volume; and wherein in executing a snapshot, the second processor checks and waits until a local copy control flag of the data that is stored in the second data area, is a predetermined value, before executing the snapshot. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110264875 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND DATA STORAGE METHOD USING STORAGE SYSTEM - A secondary subsystem reads first differential data recorded in a magnetic tape device into a magnetic disk device, and manages such data based on second differential data that was created based on the read first differential data and differential management information. Then, whether differential data exists in partial data is determined based on the differential management information, and, if such differential data exists, the partial data is read into a cache memory, and differential data is applied to the partial data. Meanwhile, if differential data does not exist, the partial data is read into the buffer. Moreover, new full data is recorded by writing the partial data, which was read into the cache memory or the buffer, onto the magnetic tape device in parallel with other read processing. | 10-27-2011 |
| 20110264876 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING STORAGE SYSTEM - A storage system | 10-27-2011 |
| 20110264877 | STORAGE SUBSYSTEM AND ITS DATA PROCESSING METHOD, AND COMPUTER SYSTEM - Efficiently utilizing the bandwidth of the host interface unit even after restoration. A controller manages a storage area of a disk as multiple logical units (LUs), as well as measures the bandwidth used by each host interface unit as load information, stores the load information at the time of the backup, and at the time of the restoration, restores the backup data in logical units in the restoration destination and, with reference to the load information, distributes the paths connecting the logical units in the access source and the logical units in the restoration destination to the host interface units. | 10-27-2011 |
| 20110264878 | Volume Swapping of Point-In-Time Read-Only Target Volumes - A mechanism is provided for adding point-in-time copy relationships to a data processing system. A request is received to establish a first point-in-time copy relationship. Responsive to determining that a first target of the first point-in-time copy relationship is target write inhibited, that a source of the first point-in-time copy relationship is a source of a first continuous synchronous copy relationship, that a target of the first continuous synchronous copy relationship is part of a second point-in-time copy relationship, and that the source of the first point-in-time copy relationship is part of a volume swap configuration, a volume swap relationship is added between the first point-in-time target volume and the second point-in-time target volume to the volume swap configuration. Both point-in-time copy relationships are established and any continuous synchronous copy requirements of the volume swap relationship between the first point-in-time target volume and the second point-in-time target volume are disabled. | 10-27-2011 |
| 20110264879 | Making Automated Use of Data Volume Copy Service Targets - A method for automatically managing copies of source data volumes is provided. A copy management agent receives a message that target volume copies of source volumes are available. The copy management agent accesses the target volume copies of the source volumes. The copy management agent analyzes metadata for the target volume copies. The copy management agent determines whether any of the target volume copies is a boot volume copy based on the analyzed metadata. In response to a determination that one of the target volume copies is a boot volume copy, the copy management agent directs a provisioning agent to provision a new host for the target volume copies. The copy management agent directs the storage subsystem to present the target volume copies to a storage area network port associated with the new host. Then, the new host is booted using the boot volume copy. | 10-27-2011 |
| 20110264880 | Object copying with re-copying concurrently written objects - Objects are copied concurrently with mutator execution, while tracking writes to the objects being copied. Objects (or fields) that are written into during copying are re-copied to the same destination locations. Mutators use the original objects until copying is complete and are, in some embodiments, atomically (with respect to the mutators) switched to use the new copies, together with a final re-copy. | 10-27-2011 |
| 20110264881 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND REMOTE COPY RECOVERY METHOD - Data written in the primary logical volume of the first storage device are transmitted to the third storage device via the second storage device, the data being written in the same location as the primary logical volume within the secondary logical volume in the third storage device; when transmission of the data stops among the first to the third storage devices, the respective second storage device and the third storage device manage locations in the secondary logical volume where the data held thereby are to be written; and, when transmission of the data resumes among the first to the third storage devices, the locations in the secondary logical volume managed by the respective second and the third storage devices are aggregated, the data to be written in the respective aggregated location in the secondary logical volume being transmitted from the first storage device to the third storage device via the second storage device. | 10-27-2011 |
| 20110271067 | Efficient Cloud Network Attached Storage - Snapshots of data and metadata associated with the data are created. The snapshot of the data is separate from the snapshot of the associated metadata. The snapshot of metadata is maintained locally in a cloud network attached storage (NAS) and globally. The snapshot of data is maintained according to an accessibility metric. | 11-03-2011 |
| 20110271068 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SYNCHRONIZING APPLICATIONS FOR DATA RECOVERY USING STORAGE BASED JOURNALING - Disclosed is a method to synchronize the state of an application and an application's objects with data stored on the storage system. The storage system provides API's to create special data, called a marker journal, and stores it on a journal volume. The marker contains application information, e.g. file name, operation on the file, timestamp, etc. Since the journal volume contains markers as well as any changed data in the chronological order, IO activities to the storage system and application activities can be synchronized. | 11-03-2011 |
| 20110276771 | STORAGE SYSTEM - A storage system includes: an identification information providing means that provides identification information distinguishing a group of data requested to be stored, to the group of data; a data set generating means that divides storage target data as part of the group of data into multiple pieces and makes the data redundant, thereby generating a data set composed of multiple fragment data; and a distribution storage controlling means that distributes the fragment data composing the data set and store the fragment data, respectively, in same positions within storage regions formed in the respective storing means, thereby storing the storage target data. The distribution storage controlling means stores the fragment data composing respective data sets corresponding to multiple storage target data included in the group of data provided with the same identification information, into the respective storage regions so that storing positions within the respective storage regions become successive. | 11-10-2011 |
| 20110276772 | MANAGEMENT APPARATUS AND MANAGEMENT METHOD - Proposed are a management apparatus and a management method capable of supporting and executing storage operation and management capable of improving the utilization ratio of storage resources. With this management apparatus for managing a storage apparatus equipped with a function for providing a virtual logical volume to a host system, and dynamically allocating a storage area to the virtual logical volume upon receiving a write request for writing data into the virtual logical volume, the capacity utilization of the virtual logical volume by a file system is acquired, the capacity utilization of the virtual logical volume configured from the capacity of the storage area allocated to the virtual logical volume is acquired, and the capacity utilization of the file system and the capacity utilization of the corresponding virtual logical volume are associated and displayed. | 11-10-2011 |
| 20110276773 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR GENERATING CONSISTENT SNAPSHOTS FOR A GROUP OF DATA OBJECTS - Snapshots that are consistent across a group of data objects are generated. The snapshots are initiated by a coordinator, which transmits a sequence of commands to each storage node hosting a data object within a group of data objects. The first command prepares a data object for a snapshot. After a data object has been successfully prepared, an acknowledgment is sent to the coordinator. Once all appropriate acknowledgments are received, the coordinator sends a command to confirm that a snapshot has been created for each data object in the respective group. After receiving this confirmation, the coordinator takes action to confirm or record the successful completion of the group-consistent snapshot. | 11-10-2011 |
| 20110276774 | OPERATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, MANAGEMENT APPARATUS, MANAGEMENT METHOD AND MANAGEMENT PROGRAM - A management apparatus has a control unit for realizing a management function through a comprehensive process of characteristic information of a storage apparatus, a connecting apparatus and a computer. The management apparatus also has an interface for receiving characteristic information from the storage apparatus, connecting apparatus and computer, depending on the standard protocol among the management apparatus, storage apparatus, connecting apparatus and computer. Moreover, an integrated management apparatus is also provided for integrated management based on the result of realization of a plurality of management functions. This integrated management apparatus includes an interface for receiving the result of realization of the management function from the management apparatus, depending on the standard protocol between the management apparatus and integrated management apparatus. | 11-10-2011 |
| 20110283070 | Method to Separate and Persist Static and Dynamic Portions of a Control Application - The subject matter disclosed herein describes a method of allocating and persisting memory in an industrial controller without requiring a battery backup or a large capacitive storage system. Each data object is identified as static or dynamic. Static objects are further classified by whether frequent access of that data object is required. Each of the data objects is stored in non-volatile memory. The dynamic data objects and static data objects requiring frequent access are stored in volatile memory. A record of static data objects is maintained in non-volatile memory and a record of dynamic data objects is maintained in volatile memory. Upon power loss, the present value of each dynamic data object is copied to non-volatile memory. When power is restored, the values of both the dynamic data objects and the static data objects that require frequent access at run-time are copied from non-volatile memory to volatile memory. | 11-17-2011 |
| 20110283071 | Dynamically Configurable Memory System - In a digital system with a processor coupled to a paged memory system, the memory system may be dynamically configured using a memory compaction manager in order to allow portions of the memory to be placed in a low power mode. As applications are executed by the processor, program instructions are copied from a non-volatile memory coupled to the processor into pages of the paged memory system under control of an operating system. Pages in the paged memory system that are not being used by the processor are periodically identified. The paged memory system is compacted by copying pages that are being used by the processor from a second region of the paged memory into a first region of the paged memory. The second region may be placed in a low power mode when it contains no pages that are being used by the processor. | 11-17-2011 |
| 20110283072 | Backup System and Backup Method - When detecting the completion of remote copying of a primary volume to a secondary volume, a host compute splits a copy pair into the primary volume and the secondary volume and has the secondary volume store a snapshot of the primary volume. A backup server recognizes the secondary volume. | 11-17-2011 |
| 20110283073 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING AUXILIARY STORAGE OPERATIONS - Systems and methods for protecting data in a tiered storage system are provided. The storage system comprises a management server, a media management component connected to the management server, a plurality of storage media connected to the media management component, and a data source connected to the media management component. Source data is copied from a source to a buffer to produce intermediate data. The intermediate data is copied to both a first and second medium to produce a primary and auxiliary copy, respectively. An auxiliary copy may be made from another auxiliary copy. An auxiliary copy may also be made from a primary copy right before the primary copy is pruned. | 11-17-2011 |
| 20110283074 | Backup management method in a remote copy environment - Provided is a computer system which is capable of backup operation with a minimum count of volumes in a remote copy environment when a disaster or the like causes a storage system to stop working normally. The computer system has a host computer, a first storage system, a second storage system, and a management computer. The first storage system contains a data volume which stores data requested by an application to be written. The second storage system contains a mirrored volume to which data stored in the data volume is copied. The computer system is characterized by being configured to receive an input of a policy about backup processing executed in backup volumes and set a configuration of the first storage system and a configuration of the second storage system under the received policy. | 11-17-2011 |
| 20110283075 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DYNAMIC STORAGE TIERING USING ALLOCATE-ON-WRITE SNAPSHOTS - A method for dynamic storage tiering may comprise: detecting a storage hot-spot located in a first storage pool; and creating a first point-in-time copy of a virtual volume including the storage hot-spot located in the first storage pool in a second storage pool according to the detecting. | 11-17-2011 |
| 20110283076 | SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY CARD ACCESS APPARATUS, A COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM, AN INITIALIZATION METHOD, AND A SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY CARD - A predetermined number of erasable blocks positioned at a start of a volume area in a semiconductor memory card are provided so as to include volume management information. A user area following the volume management information includes a plurality of clusters. A data length NOM of an area from a master boot record & partition table sector to a partition boot sector is determined so that the plurality of clusters in the user area are not arranged so as to straddle erasable block boundaries. Since cluster boundaries and erasable block boundaries in the user area are aligned, there is no need to perform wasteful processing in which two erasable blocks are erased to rewrite one cluster. | 11-17-2011 |
| 20110289289 | BACKUP AND RESTORE OF ITEMS USING BOUNDED CHECKPOINT AND LOG BUFFERS IN MEMORY - Architecture that is an efficient checkpoint process that performs backup and restore of checkpoint data items using bounded checkpoint buffers and log buffers in memory. Checkpoint processing can be performed using sequential inputs/outputs to a non-volatile storage medium (e.g., hard disk) on which the checkpoint files are persisted. Checkpoint processing is performed is in response to memory parameters that indicate the number or size of log entries accumulating in-memory relative to a memory threshold. In other words, given a bounded memory (e.g., cache), the rate of change of the log entries in the bounded memory triggers checkpoint processing. | 11-24-2011 |
| 20110289290 | SPACE RESERVATION IN A DEDUPLICATION SYSTEM - Various embodiments for space reservation in a deduplication system are provided. A calculated factoring ratio is determined as a weighted ratio of current nominal data to physical data based on at least one storage capacity threshold and a used storage space currently physically consumed by one of backup and replication data. A maximal nominal estimated space in the computing storage environment is calculated. A remaining space, defined as the maximal nominal estimated space minus a current nominal space in the computing storage environment, is calculated. If the remaining space is one of equal and less than a user-configured reservation space for backup operations, data replication operations are accepted and stored in the computing storage environment. | 11-24-2011 |
| 20110289291 | CASCADE ORDERING - A system and a method of handling multiple backup processes have been provided. The method comprises receiving one or more instructions initiating a plurality of backup processes from a single source storage volume to a plurality of target storage volumes, adding each target storage volume to a cascade of target storage volumes from the source storage volume, the target storage volumes added to the cascade in an order inversely proportional to the copy rate of the respective backup process, and starting each backup process in turn, the backup processes started in an order from the most recent target storage volume added to cascade to the first target storage volume added to cascade. | 11-24-2011 |
| 20110289292 | STORAGE SYSTEM PERFORMING VIRTUAL VOLUME BACKUP AND METHOD THEREOF - The respective data fragments stored in each page assigned to the respective virtual areas of the virtual volume are copied to the logical volume, and information representing the respective copy source pages corresponding with information representing the respective virtual areas in the mapping information that indicates which storage area corresponds with which virtual area is updated to information representing the respective copy destination storage areas of the data fragments stored in the respective copy source pages and copies the updated mapping information to the logical volume which constitutes the data fragment copy destination. | 11-24-2011 |
| 20110296127 | MULTIPLE CASCADED BACKUP PROCESS - Provided are a method, system, and a computer program product handling a backup process. An instruction is received initiating a new backup from a source volume to a target volume using one of a plurality of backup processes. A determination is made as to whether there is a cascade of volumes using the backup process including the source volume of the new backup. The cascade includes a cascade source volume and at least one cascade target volume, and a write to a storage location in one of the cascade volumes causes a copying of the storage location to be written in the cascade source volume to each of the cascade target volumes in the cascade according to a cascade order in which the at least one cascade target volume and the cascade source volume are linked in the cascade. The cascade, using the backup process of the new backup already including the source volume of the new backup, is modified to include the target volume of the new backup in response to determining that there is the existing cascade. A new cascade using the backup process of the new backup including the source volume and the target volume of the new backup is created in response to determining that there is not the existing cascade. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110296128 | RETAINING DISK IDENTIFICATION IN OPERATING SYSTEM ENVIRONMENT AFTER A HARDWARE-DRIVEN SNAPSHOT RESTORE FROM A SNAPSHOT-LUN CREATED USING SOFTWARE-DRIVEN SNAPSHOT ARCHITECTURE - A program, method and system are disclosed for managing a snapshot backup restore through a hardware snapshot interface, i.e. a hardware-driven snapshot restore, based upon a software-driven snapshot backup, e.g. created with software such as volume shadow copy service (VSS). When conventional hardware-driven snapshot restores are performed using a snapshot backup that was created using the VSS-based software such as copy services, data access issues can arise, due to the operating system assigning of a new disk signature to the disk being restored. This problem can be overcome by temporarily storing the original disk signature and then overwriting the new, incorrect disk signature after initializing the restore. This can ensure that the operating system identifies the source LUNs (and accordingly, the drive letter and mount points of the disk) using the same disk signature as before the restore. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110302381 | DATA REPLICATION FROM ONE-TO-ONE OR ONE-TO-MANY HETEROGENEOUS DEVICES - Embodiments of the system described herein can be implemented in a software application that runs on a host device or is embedded in a logic or memory device such as a gate array, EEPROM, a control, or dynamical system. The system embodiment allows a set of similar or dissimilar intelligent devices or sensors, which may be interconnected with any type of network or bus, to replicate data between themselves for the purpose of remote backup, redundancy, content distribution, or measurements. The attributes of the data, which may be changed or created on one device or passed through the device, are tracked and journaled in volatile or non-volatile storage in a first phase. This occurs in real-time as the data changes or passes through the device. In a second phase, the attributes that match patterns pre-specified in a configuration are used to decide what changes or the content to replicate to one or more devices. In a third phase, the data is replicated. In practice, the techniques described herein are independent of hardware, operating systems, and applications. The example embodiment is designed to be transparent for system redundancy and error recovery processes such as error correction, retransmission on links, and raid reconfiguration. | 12-08-2011 |
| 20110302382 | STORAGE SYSTEM, REMOTE COPY AND MANAGEMENT METHOD THEREFOR - A copy source storage controller received write data added with a time and issued from a host computer transfers the write data with the time to a copy destination storage controller. If there are a plurality of copy destination storage controllers, a representative copy destination storage controller compares times of write data copied to the plurality of copy destination storage controllers, and writes the write data in copy destination logical volumes in the sequential order of time. The representative copy destination storage controller judges that integrity of the write data is established, if a communication procedure is established with the copy destination storage controller and if the statuses of the copy source/destination logical volumes are coincident. In remote copy which guarantees integrity of write data and traverses a plurality of storage controllers, it is possible to judge at an optional time point whether integrity of write data can be guaranteed. | 12-08-2011 |
| 20110302383 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TRANSFERRING DATA IN A BLOCK-LEVEL STORAGE OPERATION - The invention provides a system and method for storing a copy of data stored in an information store. In one embodiment, a data agent reads one or more blocks containing the data from the information store. The data agent maps the one or more blocks to provide a mapping of the blocks, and transmits the one or more blocks and mapping to a media agent for a storage device. The media agent stores the one or more blocks in the storage device according to the mapping. | 12-08-2011 |
| 20110307674 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SYNCHRONIZING A SNAPSHOT IMAGE - An apparatus and method for synchronizing a snapshot image are provided. A synchronization page is detected based on whether a page fault is generated in a snapshot page that is part of a snapshot image and based on attributes of a process that generated the page fault. The detected synchronization page is reflected in the snapshot image at a specific time. | 12-15-2011 |
| 20110307675 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DE-DUPLICATION AFTER MIRROR OPERATION - An amount of storage capacity used during mirroring operations is reduced by applying de-duplication operations to the mirror volumes. Data stored to a first volume is mirrored to a second volume. The second volume is a virtual volume having a plurality of logical addresses, such that segments of physical storage capacity are allocated for a specified logical address as needed when data is stored to the specified logical address. A de-duplication operation is carried out on the second volume following a split from the first volume. A particular segment of the second volume is identified as having data that is the same as another segment in the second volume or in the same consistency group. A link is created from the particular segment to the other segment and the particular segment is released from the second volume so that physical storage capacity required for the second volume is reduced. | 12-15-2011 |
| 20110307676 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND COPY METHOD - In a storage system, one or more storage apparatuses provide a management computer with a first volume for storing data from the management computer, provide a host computer with a second volume for storing data from the host computer, and manage a volume address for the one or more storage apparatuses to manage the first volume and the second volume in the one or more storage apparatuses. The management computer issues a command specifying an arbitrary volume address to the one or more storage apparatuses, and designates, when receiving a normal response from the arbitrary volume address, a volume with the arbitrary volume address as the second volume. | 12-15-2011 |
| 20110314238 | COMMON MEMORY PROGRAMMING - A method for unidirectional communication between tasks includes providing a first task having access to an amount of virtual memory, blocking a communication channel portion of said first task's virtual memory, such that the first task cannot access said portion, providing a second task, having access to an amount of virtual memory equivalent to the first task's virtual memory, wherein a communication channel portion of the second task's virtual memory corresponding to the blocked portion of the first task's virtual memory is marked as writable, transferring the communication channel memory of the second task to the first task, and unblocking the communication channel memory of the first task. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110314239 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AND SYSTEM CONTROL METHOD - Operation of an environment that supports both host-based replication and array-based replication is realized. According to the present invention, data in the first storage area is copied first to the second storage area using an array-based replication engine. In this case, the execution result of the replication is managed using a flag from which the copy timing can be known. In addition, data in the first storage area is copied to the third storage area using a host-based replication engine, and further, data in the third storage area is copied to the fourth storage area. Then, when data in the second storage area is restored to the first storage area, data in the fourth storage area is returned to the third storage area so that the third storage area has data of the same time as the second storage area (see FIG. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110314240 | Virtualization system and area allocation control method - A virtualization system, upon judging that a write operation from a higher-level device is an operation to write in the format of the virtual volume, even when the write position of the write operation is in a virtual area different from a virtual area to which an allocated actual area has been allocated, if there is an unused area in the allocated actual area, writes management information to the unused area according to the write operation, and if there is no unused area in the allocated actual area, newly allocates an unallocated actual area, and writes management information to the newly allocated actual area according to the write operation. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110314241 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS INCLUDING STORAGE UNIT AND CONNECTION UNIT FOR CONNECTING EXTERNAL STORAGE DEVICE - A main controller of an image forming apparatus allows a user to select whether to perform backup of an internal storage device to an external storage device when detecting that the external storage device is connected to a USB I/F. If the user selects to perform backup, the main controller denies access to the external storage device from processing other than the backup processing at least during the backup processing, and if the user selects not to perform backup, the main controller permits access to the external storage device from processing other than the backup processing. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110314242 | COMPUTER SYSTEM FOR HIERARCHICALLY MANAGING A JOURNAL AND METHOD THEREFOR - A computer system having a first storage system which includes a first logical volume and a second logical volume, wherein the second logical volume stores a first differential data item representing a differential between data that was stored in the first logical volume at a first time instant and data that was stored in the first logical volume at a second time instant being later than the first time instant, and a second storage system which includes a third logical volume. The first storage system transmits the first differential data item to the second storage system, the second storage system stores the first differential data item into the third logical volume, the first storage system deletes the first differential data item from the second logical volume, and the computer system retains management information set for associating the first logical volume with the third logical volume storing therein the first differential data item. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20120005440 | STORAGE SUBSYSTEM AND ITS CONTROL METHOD - A new storage tier is added to a plurality of storage tiers configured in storage areas of a plurality of types of storage devices, whose processing performance is different from each other, without changing its operation form. | 01-05-2012 |
| 20120005441 | COPYING APPARATUS, COPYING METHOD, MEMORY MEDIUM, AND PROGRAM - A copying apparatus is used for copying data stored in a memory medium including a memory unit storing the data therein and having a management data area in which unique information of the memory medium is stored and a user data area into which user data is written, as a master medium to the memory medium as a copy destination medium. The copying apparatus includes: a memory means for storing an image data file of the master medium and the unique information that is stored in the management data area of the master medium therein; a reading/writing unit that writes or reads data on or from the installed copy destination medium; and a control unit that is configured so as to perform a necessary control process by operating an operating system based on an application program. The control unit performs a file/folder recognizing process and a writing control process. | 01-05-2012 |
| 20120011336 | METHOD OF CONTROLLING INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM AND INFORMATION APPARATUS - A storage resource is effectively utilized in migration of a snapshot. First de-duplication efficiency which is de-duplication efficiency of snapshot data, and second de-duplication efficiency which is de-duplication efficiency of snapshot entities created on the basis of the snapshot data are calculated and compared with each other. Based on a result of the comparison as well as a first preservation period set for the snapshot in the migration source and a second preservation period set for the snapshot in the migration destination, one of the following methods is selected: a first method of migrating an snapshot image, a second method of migrating snapshot data to an archive storage system, and a third method of migrating data materialized from a first differential volume, a second differential volume, and a switch snapshot. | 01-12-2012 |
| 20120011337 | HETEROGENEOUS REDUNDANT STORAGE ARRAY - A method and system is disclosed for providing fault tolerant data storage with built-in backup capabilities, improved I/O performance, and improved utilization of storage devices. A method for writing data includes receiving request to write a logical block of data to a heterogeneous data volume comprising plurality of storage devices (disks), determining number of copies of the logical block to store and associated classes of disks within the data volume to be used with each copy, processing each copy of the logical block in accordance with properties associated with the corresponding classes of disks within the data volume, determining replication schemes used in the data volume and associated with the specified classes of disks, segmenting the logical block into data blocks and generating additional parity blocks in accordance with the replication schemes, selecting data writing mechanisms in accordance with the classes of disks and using those mechanisms to write the data and parity blocks to the data volume. | 01-12-2012 |
| 20120011338 | DATA INSERTION SYSTEM, DATA CONTROL DEVICE, STORAGE DEVICE, DATA INSERTION METHOD, DATA CONTROL METHOD, DATA STORING METHOD - The data insertion system has a storage system | 01-12-2012 |
| 20120017056 | COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM, INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD - A computer readable medium stores a program causing a computer to execute a process. The process includes receiving from a user a request for performing a process for copying information; executing the process for copying information in accordance with the received request; and performing control to determine whether or not copied information and a change history of original information from which the copied information is produced are to be stored in a memory in association with each other, when the process for copying information is executed, in accordance with whether or not a relationship between information relating to a user associated with the original information and information relating to a user who has made the request for performing the process for copying information satisfies a predetermined condition. | 01-19-2012 |
| 20120017057 | DATA COPYING DEVICE, METHOD FOR COPYING DATA AND DATA STORAGE DEVICE - A data copying device that copies data stored in a first data storage device to a second data storage device is disclosed. The data copying device includes a data reading unit that reads data that has an amount determined based on a number of a plurality of logical volumes included in the first data storage device storing the data to be copied and an amount of data to be transferred from each of the logical volumes, a storage unit that stores the data read by the data reading unit, and a data transfer unit that transfers the data stored in the storage unit to the second storage device. | 01-19-2012 |
| 20120017058 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AND METHOD OF MANAGING STATUS THEREOF - There is disclosed a data storage system used in a computer environment where there are plural host computers and plural storage array controllers. When a remote copy is made while assuring the order of writing across plural storage array controllers, one of the host computers gains copy information about all the storage array controllers associated with the remote copy as a representative. The representative one of the storage array controllers collects and stores copy statuses which are individually managed by the storage array controllers for which a remote copy is made. The host computer gains the copy statuses from the representative controller using an instruction to gain the copy statuses. | 01-19-2012 |
| 20120017059 | MAKING A PHYSICAL COPY OF DATA AT A REMOTE STORAGE DEVICE - Systems and methods relating to making a physical copy at a remote storage device of data on a local storage device in response to a command from a backup application operatively associated with the local storage device are disclosed. An exemplary method comprises replicating the data from the local storage device on the remote storage device. The method also comprises copying the data replicated at the remote storage device to a physical medium operatively associated with the remote storage device in response to a command from the backup application operatively associated with the local storage device. | 01-19-2012 |
| 20120017060 | DEDUPLICATION OF DATA STORED IN A COPY VOLUME - A source volume and a copy volume are stored, where the copy volume contains data that has been modified by writes to the source volume. In response to a write to a particular location and resource volume, a deduplication data structure is checked to determine whether the copy volume contains data that is the same as data in the particular location. In response to determining from the deduplication data structure that a copy volume contains the same data as the data in the particular location, a reference to the first location of the copy volume storing the same data is added instead of repeating storing of the data of the particular location in the copy volume. | 01-19-2012 |
| 20120023300 | MEMORY PAGE MANAGEMENT IN A TIERED MEMORY SYSTEM - Memory page management in a tiered memory system including a system that includes at least one page table for storing a plurality of entries, each entry associated with a page of memory and each entry including an address of the page and a memory tier of the page. The system also includes a control program configured for allocating pages associated with the entries to a software module, the allocated pages from at least two different memory tiers. The system further includes an agent of the control program capable of operating independently of the control program, the agent configured for receiving an authorization key to the allocated pages, and for migrating the allocated pages between the different memory tiers responsive to the authorization key. | 01-26-2012 |
| 20120023301 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AND ITS CONTROL METHOD - Provided is a system in which, when connecting an external storage apparatus to a primary storage apparatus, the setting of an external volume to be mapped to the primary storage apparatus can be set to the external storage apparatus by a volume creation request to the primary storage apparatus without requiring direct setting processing on the external storage apparatus. When an administrator registers, in the primary storage apparatus, a command for setting a volume to the external storage apparatus and the administrator executes processing for setting a volume to the primary storage apparatus, if the primary storage apparatus determines that it is necessary to create a volume in the external storage apparatus, the primary storage apparatus sends the registered command to the external storage apparatus so that the administrator can set the volume to the external storage apparatus via the primary storage apparatus. | 01-26-2012 |
| 20120030439 | Data Sharing for File Clones Using Reverse Ditto References - A method, system, and computer program product for creating and implementing file clones using reverse ditto references. A clone inode is created as a copy of an original inode. The clone inode and the original inode are indistinguishable to an end user. Each additional file clone created spawns a clone inode. An immutable clone-parent inode is created that contains the disk block addresses, while writable clones inode instead contain dittos linking the clone inode to data blocks referenced in the clone-parent inode. Data block address links in the original inode are moved to the new clone-parent inode and dittos replace the original data block address links in the original inode. When a clone file is updated, the new data is written to a new disk location and a corresponding ditto in the clone inode is replaced with a data block link address, keeping the data of the clone-parent inode intact. | 02-02-2012 |
| 20120030440 | STORAGE SYSTEM GROUP INCLUDING SCALE-OUT STORAGE SYSTEM AND MANAGEMENT METHOD THEREFOR - A management system is coupled to a storage system group including a scale-out storage system (a virtual storage system). The management system has storage management information, which includes information denoting, for each storage system, whether or not a storage system is a component of a virtual storage system. The management system, based on the storage management information, determines whether or not a first storage system is a component of a virtual storage system, and in a case where the result of this determination is affirmative, identifies, based on the storage management information, a second storage system, which is a storage system other than the virtual storage system that includes the first storage system, and allows a user to perform a specific operation only with respect to this second storage system. | 02-02-2012 |
| 20120030441 | SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE DETECTING ERROR - According to one embodiment, a semiconductor memory device includes first to fifth units. The first unit compares first data being write target data before write in a memory, with second data written in the memory and then read out. The second unit stores the first data if a data comparison result indicates mismatch. The third unit stores a write address corresponding to the write target data if the data comparison result indicates mismatch. The fourth unit compares a read address corresponding to read target data with an address stored in the third unit. The fifth unit selects data read out from the memory in accordance with the read address as the read target data if a address comparison result indicates mismatch, and selects data read out from the second unit as the read target data if the address comparison result indicates match. | 02-02-2012 |
| 20120036330 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AND DATA MIGRATION METHOD - With a computer system having a host computer and first and second storage apparatuses, the second storage apparatus virtualizes first logical units in the first storage apparatus and provides them as second logical units to the host computer, collects configuration information about each first logical unit, and sets each piece of the collected configuration information to each corresponding second logical unit. The host computer adds a path to the second logical units and deletes a path to the first logical units. The second storage apparatus copies data stored in the first logical units to a storage area provided by the second storage device and associates the storage area with the second logical units. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120036331 | METHOD FOR BACKUP STORAGE DEVICE SELECTION - A method and system for backing up computer data uses a network device to select a storage device in a manner that enhances at least one parameter associated with the backup process. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120036332 | ACTIVE-ACTIVE REMOTE CONFIGURATION OF A STORAGE SYSTEM - A method for data storage, including configuring a first logical volume on a first storage system and a second logical volume on a second storage system. The second logical volume is configured as a mirror of the first logical volume, so that the first and second logical volumes form a single logical mirrored volume. The method also includes receiving at the second storage system a command submitted by a host to write data to the logical mirrored volume, and transferring the command from the second storage system to the first storage system without writing the data to the second logical volume. On receipt of the command at the first storage system, the data is written to the first logical volume. Subsequent to writing the data to the first logical volume, the data is mirrored on the second logical volume. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120036333 | TRIANGULAR ASYNCHRONOUS REPLICATION - Storing recovery data includes providing chunks of data to a remote destination, where each chunk of data represents data written before a first time and after a second time and where the second time for one of the particular chunks corresponds to a first time for a subsequent one of the particular chunks, providing synchronous data to a local destination, and providing an indicator to the local destination in connection with creation of a new chunk of data for storage at the remote destination. The local destination may maintain a plurality of maps, where each of the maps associates synchronous data being provided thereto with a specific chunk of data. In response to receiving an indicator in connection with creation of a new chunk of data, the local destination may point to a new map. There may be two maps or more than two maps. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120042139 | MAINTAINING ASYNCHRONOUS MIRRORING - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for maintaining asynchronous mirroring. A detection module detects insufficient storage space to store a snapshot of a logical volume in at least one of a primary storage system and a secondary storage system. The primary storage system comprises the logical volume. A write from a host to the logical volume is acknowledged, maintaining asynchronous mode mirroring between the primary storage system and the host. The mirror module mirrors the write to the logical volume at the secondary storage system using a backup synchronous mode in response to detecting the insufficient storage space. Under the backup synchronous mode, the primary storage system acknowledges the write to the host while concurrently mirroring the write to the secondary storage system. The secondary storage system acknowledges the mirrored write to the primary storage system. | 02-16-2012 |
| 20120042140 | METHOD FOR PROVIDING VIRTUAL OPTICAL DISK FUNCTION IN PORTABLE STORAGE DEVICE AND PORTABLE STORAGE DEVICE WITH VIRTUAL OPTICAL DISK FUNCTION - The present invention provides a method for providing a virtual optical disk function in a portable storage device and a portable storage device with a virtual optical disk function. The method for providing the virtual optical disk function in the portable storage device provided by the present invention can make a general standard portable storage device (such as flash drive, memory card, and external hard drive, etc.) to simulate functions of a conventional optical disk device, and have disk ejecting function and disk changing function. In addition, the portable storage device with the virtual optical disk function provided by the present invention can replace the conventional optical disk device to reduce the weight and volume of a computer system (such as notebook computer and desktop personal computer, etc.), and also can replace the virtual optical disk software of the computer system, to avoid occupying memory resource of the computer system. | 02-16-2012 |
| 20120042141 | STORAGE APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - Improvement of read/write access performance with respect to a disk is proposed. A controller manages a first volume format LDEV, in which each distributed user data area and each distributed information area among a plurality of the distributed user data areas for storing a data part and a plurality of the distributed control information area for storing a control information part, are targets that capacity is changed. The controller also manages a second format LDEV, which include a plurality of groups each of which is formed from one distributed user data area and one distributed control information area, and in which each group is a unit that capacity is expanded in a real storage area. The controller converts a data address of the data part belonging to the first volume format LDEV into a data address of a data part of the second volume format LDEV in order to execute input/output processing with respect to the data part, when received an request for access to the data part belonging to the first volume format LDEV. | 02-16-2012 |
| 20120042142 | PROVIDING EXECUTING PROGRAMS WITH RELIABLE ACCESS TO NON-LOCAL BLOCK DATA STORAGE - Techniques are described for managing access of executing programs to non-local block data storage. In some situations, a block data storage service uses multiple server storage systems to reliably store block data that may be accessed over one or more networks by programs executing on other physical computing systems. Users may create block data storage volumes that are each stored by at least two of the server block data storage systems, and may initiate use of such volumes by one or more executing programs, such as in a reliable manner by enabling an automatic switch to a second volume copy if a first volume copy becomes unavailable. A group of multiple server block data storage systems that store block data volumes may in some situations be co-located at a data center, and programs that use volumes stored there may execute on other physical computing systems at that data center. | 02-16-2012 |
| 20120042143 | INFORMATION RECORDING APPARATUS AND COPY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM - An information recording apparatus includes: means that obtains medium identifying information of an inserted information recording medium; means that obtains information regarding an allowable number of copies from a server | 02-16-2012 |
| 20120047337 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INITIALIZING A MEMORY SYSTEM - Systems and methods for initializing a memory system are provided. One system includes a processor and a memory including a storage volume coupled to the processor. The storage volume includes a first bitmap for tracking an initialization process for the storage volume and a second bitmap for tracking a copying process for the storage volume. A method includes performing, via the processor, an initialization process for the storage volume and tracking, via the processor utilizing the first bitmap, the initialization process. The method further includes performing, via the processor, a copying process for the storage volume prior to completing the initialization process and tracking, via the processor utilizing the second bitmap, the copying process. Also provided are computer storage mediums including computer program code for performing the above method. | 02-23-2012 |
| 20120047338 | SWITCHING VISIBILITY BETWEEN VIRTUAL DATA STORAGE ENTITIES - Various embodiments for switching visibility between virtual data storage entities in a data storage environment using a processor device are provided. Visibility of a data storage entity on a first storage system is switched to a replicated data storage entity on a second storage system. Data from the data storage entity is replicated from the first storage system to the second storage system using a common serial number. The data storage entity is hidden from the first storage system by concealing the common serial number. An ejection of the data storage entity from the first storage system is automated, and the replicated data storage entity is introduced to the second storage system. | 02-23-2012 |
| 20120047339 | REDUNDANT ARRAY OF INDEPENDENT CLOUDS - A computing device executing a reliable cloud storage module divides data into a first data block and a second data block. The computing device stores the first data block in a first storage cloud provided by a first storage service, and stores the second data block in a second storage cloud provided by a second storage service. The computing device thereafter receives a command to read the data. In response, the computing device retrieves the first data block from the first storage cloud and the second data block from the second storage cloud. The computing device then reproduces the original data from the first data block and the second data block. | 02-23-2012 |
| 20120047340 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, METHOD OF CONTROLLING INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND PROGRAM - An apparatus includes a plurality of storage units, a setting unit configured to set mirroring areas to be subjected to mirroring in storage areas of the plurality of storage units, a determination unit configured to determine a degree of importance of data to be stored in the storage units, and a control unit configured to perform control to store data that has a high degree of importance into the mirroring areas of the plurality of storage units, and store data that has a low degree of importance into a non-mirroring area of any one of the storage units. | 02-23-2012 |
| 20120047341 | DATA RECOVERY APPARATUS AND DATA RECOVERY METHOD - A data recovery apparatus includes accepting unit configure to accept an instruction to recover data in a first storage device, generating unit configure to generate difference information describing differences between backup data backed up from the first storage device to a second storage device and data stored in the first storage device at the point in time when the data recovery instruction has been received by the accepting unit; and updating unit configure to update data stored in the first storage device on the basis of the difference information generated by the generating unit and the backup data. | 02-23-2012 |
| 20120060005 | TECHNIQUES FOR COPYING ON WRITE - Techniques for copying on write are provided. Snapshots are managed and maintained for a source volume via sparse files. Metadata defines the sparse files and operations of a file system are used to create, define, and manipulate the metadata. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120060006 | MANAGING ACCESS OF MULTIPLE EXECUTING PROGRAMS TO NON-LOCAL BLOCK DATA STORAGE - Techniques are described for managing access of executing programs to non-local block data storage. In some situations, a block data storage service uses multiple server storage systems to reliably store network-accessible block data storage volumes that may be used by programs executing on other physical computing systems. A group of multiple server block data storage systems that store block data volumes may in some situations be co-located at a data center, and programs that use volumes stored there may execute on other physical computing systems at that data center. If a program using a volume becomes unavailable, another program (e.g., another copy of the same program) may in some situations obtain access to and continue to use the same volume, such as in an automatic manner in some such situations. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120066464 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROGRAMMABLE READ PREAMBLE - A memory device is provided. The memory device includes a preamble memory and a memory controller. The preamble memory is arranged to store a read preamble such that the read preamble includes a training pattern that is suitable for aligning a capture point for read data. Further, the training pattern is programmable such that the training pattern can be altered at least once subsequent to manufacture of the preamble memory. In response to a read command, the memory controller provides the read preamble stored in the preamble memory, as well as the read data. | 03-15-2012 |
| 20120066465 | TECHNIQUES FOR RESOLVING READ-AFTER-WRITE (RAW) CONFLICTS USING BACKUP AREA - Methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for generating an update package based on a comparison between a base data image and a new data image, the update package including a set of instructions used for, in a remote client device, creating the new data image from the base data image, and for creating the new data image from the base data image based on the instructions included in the update package are provided. The method for generating an update package includes determining differences between the base data image and the new data image, generating COPY instructions corresponding to respective sections of code in the base data image that can be used in creating the new data image by copying the respective sections of code into new data locations in the new data image, organizing the COPY instructions into a directed acyclic graph, performing cycle detection on the COPY instructions in the directed acyclic graph to detect any cycles, when a cycle is detected, identifying a COPY instruction in the detected cycle with a smallest overlapping part, removing the overlapping part from the identified COPY instruction, and generating a COPYBACK instruction including the overlapping part removed from the identified COPY instruction, and after all cycles have been detected, generating the update package based on the COPY and COPYBACK instructions. | 03-15-2012 |
| 20120066466 | STORAGE SYSTEM STORING ELECTRONIC MODULES APPLIED TO ELECTRONIC OBJECTS COMMON TO SEVERAL COMPUTERS, AND STORAGE CONTROL METHOD FOR THE SAME - This storage system supplies, to a plurality of computers, a plurality of duplicate volumes (CVOLs) (corresponding to duplicates of a master volume (MVOL) upon which is stored an electronic object (EO) that is common to the plurality of computers). Both the MVOL and the CVOLS are virtual logical volumes that follow sync provisioning. In the plurality of CVOLs, a plurality of physical regions that are allocated to the MVOL (i.e. regions in which the electronic object is stored) (PAs) are allocated. A storage, when writing an electronic module (EM) to which the EO is applied to the first CVOL, copies data within a first PA that is allocated to the virtual region (VA) that is the write destination to a second PA, writes the EM to the second PA, and moreover allocates the second PA to a VA of the write destination, instead of the first PA. And the storage allocates the second PA to a VA within the second CVOL corresponding to the VA of the write destination, instead of the PA that is allocated to that VA. | 03-15-2012 |
| 20120072685 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BACKUP OF VIRTUAL MACHINE DATA - Embodiments of the invention provide backup of virtual machine data and preferably simplify the backup system, especially in the virtual machine environment that uses an external storage subsystem. A system includes a storage system coupled via a network to a server and a management server. The storage system includes a plurality of storage volumes. The server includes virtual machines running thereon and has virtual machine data stored on the storage volumes. The management server comprises a processor, a memory, and a backup control module, which is configured to detect a virtual machine on the server which is suspended or terminated; identify one or more storage volumes which are used by the detected virtual machine; and direct the storage system to create a backup volume of the determined one or more storage volumes to back up data of the identified one or more storage volumes. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120072686 | INTELLIGENT COMPUTER MEMORY MANAGEMENT - A plurality of memory allocators are initialized within a computing system. At least a first memory allocator and a second memory allocator in the plurality of memory allocators are each customizable to efficiently handle a set of different memory request size distributions. The first memory allocator is configured to handle a first memory request size distribution. The second memory allocator is configured to handle a second memory request size distribution. The second memory request size distribution is different than the first memory request size distribution. At least the first memory allocator and the second memory allocator that have been configured are deployed within the computing system in support of at least one application. Deploying at least the first memory allocator and the second memory allocator within the computing system improves at least one of performance and memory utilization of the at least one application. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120072687 | COMPUTER SYSTEM, STORAGE VOLUME MANAGEMENT METHOD, AND COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM - A computer system in an embodiment comprises a storage apparatus, a host computer, and a copy control program. The storage apparatus performs copy operations of volumes allocated to a guest OS of the host computer. The copy control program obtains volume information of the guest OS from a VM control program at a given time. The control program compares the information with previous volume information of the guest OS and performs volume copy control for the guest OS in accordance with the comparison result. This process achieve appropriate copy operations even if the association relationship between the guest OS and volumes is changed during system operation. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120072688 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND DATA RESTORATION METHOD THEREOF - This storage system includes a first storage sub system having a first logical volume where a first data area is dynamically allocated to each prescribed area, and which stores data transmitted from a host computer in the first data area, and a second storage sub system having a second data area for backing up the first logical volume; wherein the first storage sub system includes: a first management unit for managing the status of the first data area allocated to each of the areas of the first logical volume; a transfer unit for transferring the data stored in the first data area allocated to each of the areas of the first logical volume to the second storage sub system; and a restoration unit for restoring the first logical volume based on the status of the first data area managed by the first management unit and/or the data transferred from the second storage sub system. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120072689 | Method of data replication in a distributed data storage system and corresponding device - The present invention generally relates to distributed data storage systems. In particular, the present invention relates to optimization of the distributed storage system in terms of number of data replicas needed to ensure a desired level of data replication. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120072690 | MEMORY DEVICE AND METHOD OF TRANSFERRING DATA - A USB-SATA conversion circuit board of a memory device includes a data traffic counter that retains a data traffic transferred in accordance with a reading command within a certain time period. Subsequently, the data transfer is prohibited when it is determined that the data is transferred from the memory device to the host device at a speed faster than a data transfer speed requisite at the time of playing of a motion image based on a value retained by the data traffic counter. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120072691 | Storage System and Control Method for the Same - An externally-connected volume of a main storage is correlated to an AOU volume inside of an external storage. The AOU volume is allocated with a not-yet-used page in a pool in accordance with data writing. When a command is issued to the externally-connected volume for formatting or others, a first controller in the main storage converts the command into a format command or an area deallocation command with respect to the AOU volume in the external storage. As such, the external AOU volume is subjected to a write process in its entirety, thereby being able to prevent any unnecessary page allocation. With such a configuration, the storage system of the present invention can use pages in the pool with good efficiency. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120079220 | System and Method for Optimized Data Backup - A spilt backup agent model where a component on a host and a component on the block storage device function together logically to provide a backup agent. In certain embodiments, the mechanism provides a split backup agent model using a NDMP protocol. The NDMP protocol is an industry standard protocol that allows for backup of hosts with a single backup agent that is compatible with multiple independent software vendor (ISV) backup software. Thus with the present invention, proprietary backup software dependent host agents are not required. The NDMP protocol provides for separation of control and data connections where the control path runs between the data server on the host that needs to be backed up and backup software (e.g., a Data Management Application (DMA)) and between the backup device and the backup software. The data path runs between the host and the backup device. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120079221 | System And Method For Providing Flexible Storage And Retrieval Of Snapshot Archives - A group of computers is configured to implement a block storage service. The block storage service includes a block-level storage for storing data from a set of distinct computing instances for a set of distinct users. An interface is configured to allow the set of distinct users to specify respective destinations for storing backup copies of respective data stored in the block-level storage for the distinct users. At least some of the respective destinations are for different storage systems remote from one another. A backup copy function is provided for creating backup copies of data stored in the block-level storage by the set of distinct computing instances for the set of distinct users. The backup copies are stored in different destination locations specified by respective ones of the plurality of distinct users via the interface. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120079222 | Host Based Write Ordering for Asynchronous Replication - A host write based write ordering mechanism is used so the write ordering on the secondary system is derived from the write ordering applied by the host to the primary system. In this scheme any set of writes that was issued in parallel on the primary system may also be issued in parallel on the secondary system. The parallel writes provide better performance compared to absolute or strict write ordering allowing only one outstanding write per volume group. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120079223 | METHODS FOR MANAGING OWNERSHIP OF REDUNDANT DATA AND SYSTEMS THEREOF - A storage system according to one embodiment includes a first storage tier; an intermediate storage tier; a second storage tier; logic for storing instances of a file in the first storage tier, the intermediate storage tier, and the second storage tier; logic for determining which of a plurality of instances of the file in the first storage tier are to be migrated to the second storage tier; logic for copying one instance of the file from the first storage tier to the intermediate storage tier; and logic for copying the instance of the file from the intermediate storage tier to the second storage tier for creating an instance of the file on the second storage tier for each instance of the file on the first storage tier that is to be migrated to the second storage tier. Additional systems, methods, and computer program products are also presented. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120079224 | MAINTAINING MIRROR AND STORAGE SYSTEM COPIES OF VOLUMES AT MULTIPLE REMOTE SITES - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for maintaining mirror and storage system copies of volumes at multiple remote sites. A first server maintains a mirror copy relationship in a computer readable storage medium between a first storage system at a first site and a second storage system at a second site to mirror data at the first storage system to the second storage system, wherein the first and second sites connect over a network. The first server performs a first point-in-time copy operation from the first storage system to a first storage system copy, wherein the data for the first storage system copy is consistent as of the determined point-in-time, wherein the point-in-time copy operation is completed upon creating a data structure indicating data for the first storage system copy as located at the first storage or the first storage system copy. The first server transmits a command to a second server to create a point-in-time copy of the second storage system. The second server processes mirror data transferred from the first server as part of the mirror copy relationship to determine when to create a second point-in-time copy from the second storage system to a second storage system copy in response to the command. The second server performs the second point-in-time copy operation, in response to determining from the mirror data to create the second point-in-time copy. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120079225 | DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM - A data processing system includes a first storage system that is connected to a host device and sends and receives data to and from the host device; a second storage system that is connected to the first storage system and receives data from the first storage system; and a third storage system that is connected to the first storage system and receives data from the first storage system. The first storage system, the second storage system and the third storage system are arranged to be changeable between a first status including first and second copy pairs and a second status including a third copy pair in response to a predetermined condition at the first storage system. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120084518 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR RETAINING AND USING DATA BLOCK SIGNATURES IN DATA PROTECTION OPERATIONS - A system according to certain embodiments associates a signature value corresponding to a data block with one or more data blocks and a reference to the data block to form a signature/data word corresponding to the data block. The system further logically organizes the signature/data words into a plurality of files each comprising at least one signature/data word such that the signature values are embedded in the respective file. The system according to certain embodiments reads a previously stored signature value corresponding to a respective data block for sending from a backup storage system having at least one memory device to a secondary storage system. Based on an indication as to whether the data block is already stored on the secondary storage system, the system reads the data block from the at least one memory device for sending to the secondary storage system if the data block exists on the secondary storage system, wherein the signature value and not the data block is read from the at least one memory device if the data block exists on the secondary storage system. | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120084519 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR RETAINING AND USING DATA BLOCK SIGNATURES IN DATA PROTECTION OPERATIONS - A system according to certain embodiments associates a signature value corresponding to a data block with one or more data blocks and a reference to the data block to form a signature/data word corresponding to the data block. The system further logically organizes the signature/data words into a plurality of files each comprising at least one signature/data word such that the signature values are embedded in the respective file. The system according to certain embodiments reads a previously stored signature value corresponding to a respective data block for sending from a backup storage system having at least one memory device to a secondary storage system. Based on an indication as to whether the data block is already stored on the secondary storage system, the system reads the data block from the at least one memory device for sending to the secondary storage system if the data block exists on the secondary storage system, wherein the signature value and not the data block is read from the at least one memory device if the data block exists on the secondary storage system. | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120084520 | Method and Apparatus for Efficient Memory Replication for High Availability (HA) Protection of a Virtual Machine (VM) - High availability (HA) protection is provided for an executing virtual machine. At a checkpoint in the HA process, the active server suspends the virtual machine; and the active server copies dirty memory pages to a buffer. During the suspension of the virtual machine on the active host server, dirty memory pages are copied to a ring buffer. A copy process copies the dirty pages to a first location in the buffer. At a predetermined benchmark or threshold, a transmission process can begin. The transmission process can read data out of the buffer at a second location to send to the standby host. Both the copy and transmission processes can operate asynchronously on the ring buffer. The ring buffer cannot overflow because the transmission process continues to empty the ring buffer as the copy process continues. This arrangement allows for using smaller buffers and prevents buffer overflows, and thereby, it reduces the VM suspension time and improves the system efficiency. | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120084521 | Managing Snapshots of Virtual Server - Configuration information and a system log are acquired for each of virtual servers running on an external computer, and the acquired system logs are analyzed. Relation information on the relation between the acquired configuration information and a configuration item indicating an existing snapshot, which is acquired from the same virtual server and stored, is extracted on the basis of the analysis result. Identification information for identifying the acquired configuration information is generated on the basis of the extracted relation information, and the acquired configuration information and system log are stored as a configuration item indicating a snapshot in association with the generated identification information. | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120084522 | VIRTUALIZATION CONTROL APPARATUS AND STORAGE SYSTEM - A virtualization control apparatus includes a selection unit that, when receiving a copy request, conducting an access test corresponding to the copy request on each of the virtualization switch units and selects one of the virtualization switch units of the highest performance among the plurality of the virtual switch units, and a sending unit that sends the copy request to the selected virtualization switch unit. | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120084523 | DATA RECOVERY OPERATIONS, SUCH AS RECOVERY FROM MODIFIED NETWORK DATA MANAGEMENT PROTOCOL DATA - The systems and methods herein permit storage systems to correctly perform data recovery, such as direct access recovery, of Network Data Management Protocol (“NDMP”) backup data that was modified prior to being stored in secondary storage media, such as tape. For example, as described in greater detail herein, the systems and methods may permit NDMP backup data to be encrypted, compressed, deduplicated, and/or otherwise modified prior to storage. The systems and methods herein also permit a user to perform a precautionary snapshot of the current state of data (e.g., primary data) prior to reverting data to a previous state using point-in-time data. | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120084524 | ARCHIVING DATA OBJECTS USING SECONDARY COPIES - A system for archiving data objects using secondary copies is disclosed. The system creates one or more secondary copies of primary copy data that contains multiple data objects. The system maintains a first data structure that tracks the data objects for which the system has created secondary copies and the locations of the secondary copies. To archive data objects in the primary copy data, the system identifies data objects to be archived, verifies that previously-created secondary copies of the identified data objects exist, and replaces the identified data objects with stubs. The system maintains a second data structure that both tracks the stubs and refers to the first data structure, thereby creating an association between the stubs and the locations of the secondary copies. | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120089795 | MULTIPLE INCREMENTAL VIRTUAL COPIES - Provided are techniques for, in response to establishing each incremental virtual copy from a source to a target, creating a target change recording structure for the target. While performing destage to a source data block at the source, it is determined that there is at least one incremental virtual copy target for this source data block. For each incremental virtual copy relationship where the source data block is newer than the incremental virtual copy relationship and an indicator is set in a target inheritance structure on the target for a corresponding target data block, the source data block is copied to each corresponding target data block, and an indicator is set in each target change recording structure on each target for the target data block corresponding to the source data block being destaged. | 04-12-2012 |
| 20120089796 | MEMORY DATA BACKUP SYSTEM AND MEMORY DATA BACKUP CONTROL METHOD - A memory data backup system capable of shortening time required to back up data from a volatile memory to a nonvolatile memory is provided. | 04-12-2012 |
| 20120089797 | COMPUTER SYSTEM, STORAGE MANAGEMENT COMPUTER, AND STORAGE MANAGEMENT METHOD - A storage apparatus includes a storage unit for storing data read/written by a host computer and provides the host computer with a storage area of the storage unit as one or more volumes. The storage management computer includes a first memory for storing task information including contents of an operation process performed on the storage apparatus, as well as a scheduled starting time and scheduled termination time of a process, and, in the case where first task information is stored in the first memory, when resources used in the process of second task information stored in the first memory are the same as resources used in the process of the first task information, the storage management computer computes times required for executing the first task information and the second task information, based on a time during which the processes of the first and second task information conflict with each other. | 04-12-2012 |
| 20120089798 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATING AND MANAGING QUICK RECOVERY VOLUMES - The invention relates to computer readable medium storing program code which when executed on a computer causes the computer to perform a method for creating a quick recovery volume of a primary data set used by a first computer in a backup storage system, which includes identifying a snapshot image of the primary data set generated by a snapshot application, creating the quick recovery volume of the primary data set from the snapshot image of the primary data set and controlling transfer of data from the first computer to an archival storage unit. In one embodiment, the invention provides a method for creating a quick recovery volume of a primary data set that includes creating a snapshot image of the primary data set and creating a quick recovery volume of the primary data set from the snapshot image of the primary data set. | 04-12-2012 |
| 20120089799 | DATA BACKUP PROCESSING METHOD, DATA STORAGE NODE APPARATUS AND DATA STORAGE DEVICE - A data backup processing method is provided, which includes: numbering at least one data storage node in a data storage device, in which the data storage node includes a primary storage area and a backup storage area, and the primary storage area of the data storage node and a backup storage area of a next adjacently numbered data storage node are logically connected, so that a number of data storage nodes form a ring structure with sequential logical connection; and respectively backing up the data stored in a primary storage area of a random data storage node into a backup storage area of at least one next adjacently numbered data storage node of the data storage node in the ring structure. Therefore, data redundancy may be provided for users among a random number of disks, thereby effectively guaranteeing the security of user data and achieving high flexibility and practicability. | 04-12-2012 |
| 20120089800 | INTERFACE SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ACCESSING STORED DATA - A modular data and storage management system. The system includes a time variance interface that provides for storage into a storage media of data that is received over time. The time variance interface of the modular data and storage management system provides for retrieval, from the storage media, of an indication of the data corresponding to a user specified date. The retrieved indication of the data provides a user with an option to access specific information relative to the data, such as content of files that are included in the data. | 04-12-2012 |
| 20120096230 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CREATING SNAPCLONE LOGICAL DISKS - Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a logical disk provided by a storage system. The logical disk comprises a number of data segments mapped to physical data-storage, metadata, stored in an electronic memory and/or mass-storage devices, that includes, for each segment of the logical disk, a three-bit field, and a set of operations, carried out by a storage-system controller, that can be directed to the logical disk by an entity that accesses the storage system, including a snapclone operation that generates a snapclone of the logical disk and a snapshot operation that generates a snapshot of the logical disk, an existing snapshot of the logical disk, or a snapclone of the logical disk. | 04-19-2012 |
| 20120096231 | DATA MIGRATION SYSTEM AND DATA MIGRATION METHOD - A second storage maps a migration source volume to a virtual volume of a migration destination volume according to storage virtualization technology. A host system including a host switches an access path from an access path to the migration source volume to an access path to the migration destination volume. The second storage executes copy processing of migrating, from the migration source volume to the migration destination volume, data in an assigned area of a virtual volume according to thin provisioning of the migration source volume based on the information contained in the first thin provisioning information in the first storage, and copying that data from the migration destination volume to a virtual volume according to thin provisioning of a copy destination volume in the second storage. The second storage associates the virtual volume of the copy destination volume with the migration destination volume in substitute for the original virtual volume. | 04-19-2012 |
| 20120096232 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AND CONTROL METHOD FOR THE COMPUTER SYSTEM - A computer system including a first storage system connected to a first host computer, a second storage system connected to a second host computer and a third storage system connected to the first and second storage systems. The second storage system sets transfer setting before an occurrence of a failure, the transfer setting being provided with a dedicated storage area to be used for transferring data to the third storage system by asynchronous copy in response to a failure at the first host computer. Before the start of data transfer between the second storage system and third storage system to be executed after an occurrence of the failure, the second storage system checks the dedicated storage area, data transfer line and transfer setting information, and if an abnormal state is detected, this abnormal state is reported to the host computer as information attached to the transfer setting. | 04-19-2012 |
| 20120102279 | PRESERVING A DELETED DATA VOLUME - An apparatus, system, and method for preserving a deleted storage volume. One embodiment of the apparatus includes a receiving module, a reference module, and a preservation module. The receiving module receives a deletion command to delete a data volume managed by a storage controller. The data volume is associated with one or more deletion parameters specifying that data of the data volume is to be preserved upon deletion of the data volume. The reference module references the deletion parameters. The preservation module preserves the data of the data volume prior to the storage controller deleting the data volume. The preservation module preserves the data of the data volume according to the deletion parameters. | 04-26-2012 |
| 20120102280 | MANAGEMENT SERVER AND DATA MIGRATION METHOD - The data backup processing time is shortened by improving the efficiency of data duplicate removal in the storage apparatus. | 04-26-2012 |
| 20120102281 | STORAGE DEVICE WITH MANUAL LEARNING - In a particular embodiment, a system is disclosed that includes a controller to read data from and write data to a first storage medium. The controller is adapted to monitor logical block addresses (LBAs) of each read operation from the first storage medium and to selectively store files associated with the monitored LBAs that are less than a predetermined length at a second storage medium to enhance performance of applications associated with the LBAs. | 04-26-2012 |
| 20120110287 | SNAPSHOTS IN A HYBRID STORAGE DEVICE COMPRISING A MAGNETIC DISK AND A SOLID STATE DISK - One or more snapshots of data stored over a period of time are maintained in a hybrid storage device comprising a magnetic disk and a solid state disk, wherein a selected snapshot stores information that allows recovery of data that is stored in the hybrid storage device at a selected point in time of the period of time. The hybrid storage device receives an input/output (I/O) command from a computational device. A category of a plurality of categories to which the I/O command belongs is determined, wherein the plurality of categories comprise writing to an unused block, writing to a used block, reading from an unused block, and reading from a used block. In response to determining the category to which the I/O command belongs, the I/O command is handled by one of the magnetic disk and the solid state disk based on the determined category. | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120110288 | TEMPORARY VTOC LOCKING DURING DEFRAGMENTATION - Various embodiments for defragmentation of a storage volume in a computing storage environment by a processor device are provided. A volume table of contents (VTOC) is serialized for a volume scan operation. At least one dummy data set in the storage volume is allocated, to be subsequently filled with actual data pursuant to a degragmentation operation. The serialization of the VTOC is released, allowing access to the storage volume. Input/output (I/O) operations are allowed to occur. | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120110289 | DATA BACKUP SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VIRTUAL INFRASTRUCTURE - Systems for backing up the data of an IT system by utilizing server or storage virtualization technology to create and move logical IT infrastructures dynamically. A virtualized IT system provides a server resource pool and a storage resource pool composed from multiple physical devices either within a datacenter or a globally located plurality of datacenters. The virtual server and the storage volume provisioned from those pools will be paired to form the virtual infrastructure. In other words, the virtual infrastructure becomes a logical IT environment build with the required computing and storage resources needed in order to execute specific applications. The virtual infrastructure can also be migrated within/among datacenter sites. | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120110290 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INCREASING AN AMOUNT OF MEMORY ON DEMAND WHEN MONITORING REMOTE MIRRORING PERFORMANCE - A method and storage system for increasing an amount of memory in a queuing area on. The storage system includes first and second storage subsystems connected to each other via a path. A primary volume in the first storage subsystem and a remote secondary volume in the second storage subsystem are mirrored and operated in the asynchronous mode. A queuing area having memory is provided in the second storage subsystem for temporarily storing data transferred to the second storage subsystem from the first storage subsystem in response to a write input/output (I/O) issued by a host to write data in the primary volume. Data temporarily stored in the memory is retrieved and stored in the remote secondary volume. An unused area of the queuing area is monitored and the memory increased if the unused area becomes less than a predetermined amount. | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120117342 | RESTORE FROM BLOCK LEVEL BACKUP - A computer implemented method includes creating a child disk for a machine. A configuration of a backed up disk drive is derived from a storage container that includes a block level backup copy of the disk drive. The child disk is populated with selected data from blocks of data corresponding to selected files desired to be used on the machine. Drivers may be injected and registries modified to start with booting of the virtual. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120117343 | MERGING DATA VOLUMES AND DERIVATIVE VERSIONS OF THE DATA VOLUMES - Responsive to an instruction to collapse a derivative version of an ancestor data volume into the ancestor data volume, it is determined if a characteristic of the derivative version of the ancestor data volume satisfies a criteria relative to a characteristic of the ancestor data volume. If the characteristic of the derivative version satisfies the criteria, the ancestor data volume is merged into the derivative version of the underlying data to form an updated derivative version. The updated derivative version is established as the ancestor data volume. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120117344 | COMPUTING SYSTEM AND HIBERNATION METHOD THEREOF - A hibernation method of a computing system that includes generating backup data and write addresses according to at least a portion of data utilized by the computing system at a hibernation request, generating conversion addresses corresponding to a first non-volatile memory when the write addresses correspond to a second non-volatile memory, and storing the backup data in the first non-volatile memory according to either the write addresses or the conversion addresses. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120117345 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BACKUP AND RESTORE IN A DYNAMIC CHUNK ALLOCATION STORAGE SYSTEM - Backup and restore operations are made possible in a storage system that has dynamic chunk allocation (DCA) capability. In a DCA storage system, a chunk of physical storage area is not allocated to a segment of a volume until a write command is received targeting the segment of the volume. During a restore operation of the volume in the DCA storage system, the wasting of storage capacity when a backup image of the volume is restored is mitigated by preventing allocation of physical storage areas to segments of restore data that are only void data. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120117346 | USER INTERFACE INDICATOR FOR MOBILE DEVICE BACKUP STATUS - Systems and methods are provided for performing data backup of a communication device. Data backup can occur automatically or manually. A data backup status indicator is displayed on the communication device indicating the current status of the data backup. The user can select the data backup status indicator to obtain additional information about the status of the data backup service. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120117347 | INITIALIZING OF A MEMORY AREA - A method for initializing a memory area, the method includes: receiving a request to access a first memory sub area of a first memory area that comprises multiple memory sub areas; and initializing the first memory sub area if a first memory area initialization indicator differs from a first memory sub area initialization request indicator; wherein the first memory area initialization request indicator is a multiple bit variable indicative of a time of a last request to initialize the first memory area and the first memory sub area initialization indicator is a multiple bit variable indicative of a time of a request to initialize the first memory area that resulted in a last initialization of the first memory sub area. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120124306 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING BACKUP OR RESTORE OPERATIONS UTILIZING DIFFERENCE INFORMATION AND TIMELINE STATE INFORMATION - Systems and methods for backing-up data from a first storage pool to a second storage pool using difference information between time states are disclosed. The system has a data management engine for performing data management functions, including at least a back-up function to create a back-up copy of data. By executing a sequence of snapshot operations to create point-in-time images of application data on a first storage pool, each successive point-in-time image corresponding to a specific, successive time-state of the application data, a series of snapshots is created. The snapshots are then used to create difference information indicating which application data has changed and the content of the changed application data for the corresponding time state. This difference information is then sent to a second storage pool to create a back-up copy of data for the current time-state. | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120124307 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING A PLURALITY OF PRESCRIBED DATA MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS IN A MANNER THAT REDUCES REDUNDANT ACCESS OPERATIONS TO PRIMARY STORAGE - Systems and methods are disclosed for performing a plurality of prescribed data management functions in a manner that reduces redundant access operations to primary storage, where the system includes a data management engine for performing data management functions, including at least a snapshot function and a back-up function. An electronic service level agreement (SLA) specifies a schedule for performing data management functions, where point-in-time images of data include a reference to a baseline image and difference data indicating changes at a later, specific point in time. The data management system also creates a point-in-time image of the primary storage data in response to a schedule requiring some data management functions to be performed concurrently, and communicates the difference information to secondary storage to update the back-up copy of the primary data, such that the primary storage is accessed only once for all updates to the secondary storage. | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120124308 | DETERMINING WHETHER TO EXTEND A DRAIN TIME TO COPY DATA BLOCKS FROM A FIRST STORAGE TO A SECOND STORAGE - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for determining whether to extend a drain time to copy data blocks from a first storage to a second storage. A data structure is generated indicating data blocks in the first storage to copy to the second storage. A drain operation is initiated to copy the data blocks indicated in the first storage to the second storage for a drain time period. Write requests to the data blocks indicated in the data structure are queued during the drain time period, wherein the queued write requests are not completed while queued. Metric information based on the writes that occur to data blocks in the first storage are gathered during the drain time period; and in response to expiration of the drain time period, a determination is made from the gathered metric information of whether to continue the drain operation or terminate the drain operation. | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120124309 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AND STORAGE MIGRATION METHOD - Proposed are a computer system and a storage migration method capable of simplifying the migration process of a storage apparatus while avoiding the performance degradation of the overall system. | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120124310 | SPLITTING WRITES BETWEEN A STORAGE CONTROLLER AND REPLICATION ENGINE - Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture for splitting writes between a storage controller and replication engine. A splitter executing in a storage controller manages access to primary volumes. An initialization command is received to communicate with a replication engine. A replication command is received for one primary volume and the primary volume is indicated as subject to replication. A write request is received to write data to a target primary volume of the primary volumes that is indicated as subject to the replication. The data in the write request is written to the target primary volume. The data in the write request is sent to the replication engine. The replication engine executes a copy services function associated with the target primary volume to write the data to a replication engine volume. | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120124311 | Data Gap Management in a Remote Data Mirroring System - A method includes monitoring a sequence of transactions in one or more volumes. The transactions are transferred to a primary storage ( | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120131289 | MULTIPATH SWITCHING OVER MULTIPLE STORAGE SYSTEMS - A system comprises a first storage system, a second storage system, a plurality of switches, and a server connected with the first storage system via a first group of switches and connected with the second storage system via a second group of switches. The first group and the second group have at least one switch which is not included in both the first and second groups. The first storage system receives I/O commands targeted to first logical units from the server via the first group of switches. The first storage system maintains first information regarding the ports of both the first and second storage systems. The first information is used to generate multipath communication between the server and the first storage system, including at least one path which passes through the second storage system and at least one other path which does not pass through the second storage system. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120131290 | Backup Memory Administration - Methods, systems, and computer program products for backup memory administration are provided. Embodiments include storing in an active memory device, by a memory backup controller, blocks of computer data received from random access memory; recording in a change log, by the memory backup controller, identifications of each block of computer data that is stored in the active memory device; detecting, by the memory backup controller, a backup trigger event; and responsive to the detecting of the backup trigger event: copying, by the memory backup controller, from the active memory device, to a backup memory device, the blocks of data identified in the change log; and clearing, by the memory backup controller, the change log. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120131291 | APPLICATION AWARE SNAPSHOTS - A method of creating an application aware snapshot comprises a host system receiving a request for a snapshot, and the host system sending a SCSI snapshot command directly to a disk controller without requiring a disk controller-specific provider to be installed on the host system. The disk controller then receives the SCSI snapshot command and creates the snapshot in response to receiving the SCSI command, wherein the snapshot is created in accordance with logic contained within the disk controller without requiring a disk controller-specific provider to be installed on the host system. Using the SCSI snapshot command facilitates a plurality of host systems being able to send a SCSI snapshot command directly to a disk controller without requiring a disk controller-specific provider to be installed on each of the plurality of host systems. Similarly, a single host system is able to send a SCSI snapshot command directly to a plurality of disk controllers without requiring a disk controller-specific provider for each disk controller to be installed on the host system. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120131292 | VARIABLE DATA PRESERVATION PREWRITE - In one aspect of the present description, a data preservation function is provided for preserving a set of data on a source storage device at a point in time, and includes identifying as a function of prior update usage, such as input/output usage, of the data to be preserved, a portion of the data which is more likely to be the subject of updates during at least a portion of the data preservation operation as compared to the remaining portion of the data to be preserved, and copies the identified portion of the data to be preserved to a target storage device. In another aspect, the size of the portion of data to be identified is variable. In one embodiment, the size of the portion of data to be identified is a function of a parameter of the command, such that a user can specify the command parameter which affects the size of the portion of data which is prewritten to the target storage device. The parameter may be, for example, a percentage of the data to be preserved, such that a user can specify the percentage of the point-in-time data which is prewritten to the target storage device. Alternatively, the parameter may be, for example, a probability of a collision occurring, such that a user can specify a probability of a collision occurring. Other features and aspects may be realized, depending upon the particular application. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120131293 | DATA ARCHIVING USING DATA COMPRESSION OF A FLASH COPY - Embodiments of the disclosure relate to archiving data in a storage system. An exemplary embodiment comprises making a flash copy of data in a source volume, compressing data in the flash copy wherein each track of data is compressed into a set of data pages, and storing the compressed data pages in a target volume. Data extents for the target volume may be allocated from a pool of compressed data extents. After each stride worth of data is compressed and stored in the target volume, data may be destaged to avoid destage penalties. Data from the target volume may be decompressed from a flash copy of the target volume in a reverse process to restore each data track, when the archived data is needed. Data may be compressed and uncompressed using a Lempel-Ziv-Welch process. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120131294 | PORTABLE DEVICE AND BACKUP METHOD THEREOF - Another embodiment of the invention provides a data saving system including a portable device having a first data, a third party and a storage management server. The storage management server connects at least one backup device, wherein when the portable device wants to save the first data, the portable device transmits the first data and a save command to the third party, the storage management server monitors the third party to determine whether there is data designated to the storage management server, and if yes, the storage management server acquires and transmits the first data to the backup device. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120131295 | DATA PROCESSING APPARATUS, ACCESS CONTROL METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM - When an accessible state of an external memory unit is instructed to be canceled and data is not storing in the external memory unit, a data processing apparatus cancels the accessible state of the external memory unit if the external memory unit is not set as a backup destination, and does not cancel the accessible state of the external memory unit if the external memory unit is set as the backup destination. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120131296 | Volume Management for Network-Type Storage Devices - An administrator's work load increases because the administrator has to both allocate volumes of PC server device applications and take over volumes for applications based on changes in PC server devices. A volume management system solves the problem with a computer system having storage devices each having a unit managing volume configuration information based on each application, a unit managing volume usage information based on the application volumes, and a unit managing and partitioning allocatable areas of the storage devices based on performance and reliability. The system has a unit selecting suitable allocation regions in accordance with the volume usages of the applications; a unit selecting a suitable allocation region based on change of host performance and migrating a volume to the suitable allocation region when the host configuration of an application changes; and a unit changing configuration information to perform change of setting on each host. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120131297 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SEAMLESS MANAGEMENT FOR DISASTER RECOVERY - A method, apparatus, article of manufacture, and system are presented for establishing redundant computer resources. According to one embodiment, in a system including a plurality of processor devices and a plurality of storage devices, the processor devices, the storage devices and the management server being connected via a network, the method comprises storing device information relating to the processor devices and the storage devices and topology information relating to topology of the network, identifying at least one primary computer resource, selecting at least one secondary computer resource suitable to serve as a redundant resource corresponding to the at least one primary computer resource based on the device information and the topology information, and assigning the at least one secondary computer resource as a redundant resource corresponding to the at least one primary computer resource. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120131298 | REMOTE COPY SYSTEM - Even when a host does not give a write time to write data, consistency can be kept among data stored in secondary storage systems. The present system has plural primary storage systems each having a source volume and plural secondary storage systems each having a target volume. Once data is received from a host, each of the plural storage systems creates write-data management information having sequential numbers and reference information and sends, to one of the primary storage systems, the data, sequential number and reference information. Each of the secondary storage systems records reference information corresponding to the larges sequential number among serial sequential numbers and stores, in a target volume in an order of sequential numbers, data corresponding to reference information having a value smaller than the reference information based on the smallest value reference information among reference information recorded in each of the plural secondary storage systems. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120137092 | REMOTE COPY SYSTEM - When performing asynchronous remote copying, whether or not a disaster has occurred at a main site is judged at a remote site; and if the disaster has occurred, recovery processing is immediately started at the remote site. When asynchronous remote copying is performed between a controller and a controller, the controller transfers remote copy target data in a storage apparatus and command information via a remote copy channel to the controller; and after receiving the remote copy target data, the controller stores the remote copy target data in a storage apparatus; and if the controller fails to receive the command information within a set time period, the controller judges that a disaster has occurred, and then outputs the judgment result to a backup center server; and the backup center server executes recovery processing based on data in the storage apparatus when the disaster has occurred. | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120137093 | RELIABLE WRITE FOR NON-VOLATILE MEMORY - Example embodiments described herein may relate to performing reliable right commands for non-volatile memory devices. | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120137094 | SNAPSHOT BASED REPLICATION - Embodiments of the invention relate to data replication and block allocation in a file system to support write transactions. Regions in a cluster file system are defined to support a block allocation. Blocks in the defined regions are allocated to support the data replication. A pipeline manager is provided to schedule population of the blocks in the allocated region(s) based upon network characteristics. | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120137095 | PARTITIONING DATA FOR STORAGE IN A DISPERSED STORAGE NETWORK - A method begins by a processing module receiving data for storage and determining whether to partition the data in accordance with a data partitioning dispersed storage scheme. When the data is to be partitioned, the method continues with the processing module partitioning the data into a local data portion and a remaining data portion in accordance with the data partitioning dispersed storage scheme, dispersed storage encoding the local data portion to produce a plurality of local encoded data elements in accordance with dispersed storage encoding parameters, sending the plurality of local encoded data elements to an associated dispersed storage network (DSN) memory for storage therein, and sending the remaining data portion to another DS module. | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120137096 | DUAL WRITING DEVICE AND ITS CONTROL METHOD - A computer system and method which stores path definition information including a storage ID, a volume ID, and validities of paths between a host computer and a first or second storage system identified by the storage ID for accessing a volume identified by the volume ID in one of the storage systems, sends an I/O request via the paths, based on the path definition information, receives information indicating the storage and volume IDs, and updates the path definition information. During initial copying from the second to the first volume, validity corresponding to a first path is set to “Invalid” and validity corresponding to a second path is set to “Valid”. After completion of initial copying, the validity corresponding to the first path included in the path definition information is changed to “Valid.” | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120137097 | COMMUNICATING CHUNKS BETWEEN DEVICES - An apparatus, for connection to a storage device, comprising: a module for communication with a software application and operable to receive instructions to copy data to the storage device; a chunking and identifier generation module operable to receive the data, to process the data into one or more chunks, to generate a first chunk identifier, representative of the identity of a first of the or each chunk of data and, upon processing of the data, to initiate the issuance of a confirmation signal to the software application indicating that the data has been copied to the storage device; and an interface for communication with the storage device, wherein the interface is operable to send the first chunk identifier to the storage device, and to send the first chunk of data to the storage device upon receipt of a transfer instruction from the storage device. | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120144135 | REDUCTION OF COMMUNICATION AND EFFICIENT FAILOVER PROCESSING IN DISTRIBUTED SHARED MEMORY-BASED APPLICATION - Various embodiments for reducing communication between cluster nodes and optimizing failover processing in a distributed shared memory (DSM)-based application by at least one processor device are provided. In one embodiment, for a data structure operable on a DSM, a read-mostly portion is maintained in a single copy sharable between the cluster nodes while an updatable portion is maintained in multiple copies, each of the multiple copies dedicated to a single cluster node. | 06-07-2012 |
| 20120144136 | RESTORATION OF DATA FROM A BACKUP STORAGE VOLUME - A method is provided for restoring data from a backup storage volume onto a source storage volume. A content of a memory unit of the backup storage volume and a content of the corresponding memory unit of the source storage volume are loaded into a computer memory, and are compared in the computer memory for identity. The content of the memory unit of the backup storage volume is written to the corresponding memory unit of the source storage volume if the comparison indicates that the content of the compared memory units is not identical. The invention further relates to a system for restoring data from a backup storage volume onto a source storage volume comprising a restore software running on a data processing device, which is connected to the backup storage volume and the source storage volume, whereby the restore software performs the above method. | 06-07-2012 |
| 20120144137 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND REMOTE COPY RECOVERY METHOD - The storage system includes a first storage device, configured to be installed in a first site and providing a primary logical volume in which data received from a host computer is written; a second storage device, configured to be installed in a second site and providing a virtual logical volume, which has no structure for storing data received from the first storage system; and a third storage device, configured to be installed in a third site and providing a secondary logical volume in which data received from the second storage system is written. Data written in the primary logical volume of the first storage device are remote-copied to the secondary logical volume of the third storage device via the virtual logical volume of the second storage device. | 06-07-2012 |
| 20120151163 | MANAGEMENT OF HOST PASSTHROUGH AND SESSION COMMANDS USING RESOURCE GROUPS - Exemplary method, system, and computer program embodiments for prescribing relationships for storage resources organized into a plurality of resource groups in a computing storage environment are provided. In one embodiment, by way of example only, for at least one storage resource object associated with at least one of the plurality of resource groups by a resource group attribute, at least one policy is defined for limiting host requests to the storage resources in the at least one of the plurality of resource groups to prevent an issuance of the host requests to an unowned one of the storage resources. | 06-14-2012 |
| 20120151164 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPTIMIZING REPLICATION - Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a method and system for optimizing replication within a storage system utilizing multiple tiers by using tier-specific replication modes. The method includes receiving, within an electronic system having a plurality of tiers, an access request for a portion of storage associated with a first tier of the plurality of tiers and accessing a replication attribute corresponding to the first tier and also corresponding to a replication mode. The method further includes sending the access request to the portion of storage; and replicating the access request to a remote storage wherein the replicating is based on the replication mode and wherein each of the plurality of tiers have associated therewith a respective replication attribute defining a respective replication mode. | 06-14-2012 |
| 20120151165 | Data protection technique that protects illicit copying of data Maintained in data storage - A data protection program for protecting data to be processed by an application, and a computer including volatile storage means and nonvolatile storage means performs a volatile file unpack function of writing, to the nonvolatile storage means, data corresponding to a data file to be read or written by the application so that the data is associated with the data file; and a volatile file repackage function of outputting the data file corresponding to the data written to the volatile storage means. | 06-14-2012 |
| 20120151166 | NONVOLATILE STORAGE DEVICE AND MEMORY CONTROLLER - Upon copying data stored on a page in a copy source block of a nonvolatile memory ( | 06-14-2012 |
| 20120159096 | SYNCHRONOUS EXTENT MIGRATION PROTOCOL FOR PAIRED STORAGE - Exemplary method, system, and computer program embodiments for, in a data storage environment configured for synchronous replication between a primary and secondary pair of storage entities, each having tiered storage devices, extent migration are provided. In one embodiment, by way of example only, a migration instruction is sent, by the primary storage entity, to the secondary storage entity, the migration instruction including a time delta approximately equal to a time of an intended migration at the primary storage entity adjusted for a transmission time such that the primary and secondary storage entities conduct the extent migration at approximately a same time. | 06-21-2012 |
| 20120159097 | SYNCHRONOUS EXTENT MIGRATION PROTOCOL FOR PAIRED STORAGE - Exemplary method, system, and computer program embodiments for, in a data storage environment configured for synchronous replication between a primary and secondary pair of storage entities, each having tiered storage devices, extent migration are provided. In one embodiment, by way of example only, a migration instruction is sent, by the primary storage entity, to the secondary storage entity, the migration instruction including a relative priority based on a primary ordered heat map of the tiered storage devices of the primary storage entity. The relative priority is used against a secondary ordered heat map of the tiered storage devices of the secondary storage entity to perform the extent migration, regardless of whether the primary and secondary storage entities are identical. | 06-21-2012 |
| 20120159098 | GARBAGE COLLECTION AND HOTSPOTS RELIEF FOR A DATA DEDUPLICATION CHUNK STORE - Techniques for garbage collecting unused data chunks in storage are provided. According to one implementation, data chunks stored in a chunk container that are unused are identified based an analysis of one or more stream map chunks indicated as deleted. The identified data chunks are indicated as deleted. The storage space in the chunk container filled by the data chunks indicated as deleted may then be reclaimed. Techniques for selectively backing up data chunks are also provided. According to one implementation, a data chunk is received for storing in a chunk container. A backup copy of the received data chunk is stored in a backup container if the received data chunk is in a predetermined top percentage of most referenced data chunks in the chunk container and has a number of references greater than a predetermined reference threshold. | 06-21-2012 |
| 20120159099 | Distributed Storage System - In one embodiment, a first computing device receives a write request and data from a second computing device; iteratively attempts to write the data until a copy of the data is successfully written to each and every storage node belonging to a storage volume; and transmits a volume identifier of the storage volume and a data identifier assigned to the data to the second computing device. In one embodiment, a first computing device receives a read request and a volume identifier and a data identifier from a second computing device; accesses a cache to select the storage volume identified by the volume identifier; iteratively attempts to read data identified by the data identifier until a copy of the data is successfully read from a storage node belonging to the selected storage volume; and transmits the copy of the data to the second computing device. | 06-21-2012 |
| 20120159100 | STORAGE DEVICE MIGRATION AND REDIRECTION - A data collection system may instrument and collect data from arbitrary executable code by loading the executable code into memory and instrumenting the code according to monitoring conditions. The instrumentation may include pointers or bindings to a data collector that may gather and store information when the monitoring condition exists. A display module may allow a programmer to browse the results. The data collection system may operate on any type of native code or intermediate code and may operate with or without symbol tables. | 06-21-2012 |
| 20120159101 | INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE - An information processing device includes: a data transferring unit configured to directly transfer data to a first memory area allocated to a virtual machine from an input/output device for controlling a data input/output to/from an external device by mutually translating between an address of the first memory area allocated to the virtual machine and an address of a second memory area that is a real memory of the first memory area; a detecting unit configured to detect the data directly transferred from the input/output device to the first memory area allocated to the virtual machine; a registering unit configured to generate update information about the first memory area changed using the detected data and to store the update information in a first storing unit when the detected data satisfies a predetermined condition; and an outputting unit configured to output the update information. | 06-21-2012 |
| 20120159102 | DISTRIBUTED STORAGE SYSTEM, DISTRIBUTED STORAGE METHOD, AND PROGRAM AND STORAGE NODE FOR DISTRIBUTED STORAGE - Storage nodes participating in the distributed storage system are divided into groups beforehand. A data replica creation unit operates so that a replica is created on each of the nodes participating in the distributed storage system on a hash ring. A unit that specifies an operating state of the system determines the number of data replicas for each group. The data replica creation unit traverses the hash ring and creates one or more replicas until it is determined that the number of replicas for each group is reached. | 06-21-2012 |
| 20120166745 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR COMBINING DATA STREAMS IN A STORAGE OPERATION - Described herein are systems and methods for multiplexing pipelined data for backup operations. Various data streams are combined such as by multiplexing by a multiplexing module. The multiplexing module combines the data from the various data streams received by receiver module(s) into a single stream of chunks. The multiplexing module may combine data from multiple archive files into a single chunk. Additional modules perform other operations on the chunks of data to be transported such as encryption, compression, etc. The data chunks are transmitted via a transport channel to a receive pipeline that includes a second receiver module and other modules. The data chunks are then stored in a backup medium. The chunks are later retrieved and separated such as by demultiplexing for restoring to a client or for further storage as auxiliary copies of the separated data streams or archive files. | 06-28-2012 |
| 20120173830 | SYNCHRONIZATION OF LOGICAL COPY RELATIONSHIPS - An approach to synchronization of logical copy relationships on a local site with those on a remote site that is a mirror. A withdraw command is received on the local site for logical copy relationships between local source tracks and local target tracks. The withdraw command is executed and sent to a remote site buffer, from which it will be transferred to the remote site. Change indicators are set for the at least one local track in the affected logical copy relationships. If the withdraw command is lost from the remote site buffer, the remote site buffer will be rebuilt using the change indicators. By setting change indicators for local tracks in a withdrawn logical copy relationship (even if the data in local tracks hasn't changed), the remote counterparts to these tracks on the remote site will be rewritten, resulting in withdrawal of the logical copy relationship there even if the withdrawal command was never sent to the remote site. | 07-05-2012 |
| 20120179885 | WRITE CONTROL SYSTEM - Embodiments disclosed herein provide systems and methods for writing a plurality of data blocks to from a primary source volume to a primary target volume. In a particular embodiment, a method provides receiving an instruction to write a plurality of data blocks from a primary source volume to a primary target volume and identifying in the data blocks occurrences of allocated data blocks and unallocated data blocks. The method further provides writing the allocated data blocks to the primary target volume and preventing writing of at least a portion of the unallocated data blocks to the primary target volume. | 07-12-2012 |
| 20120179886 | SNAPSHOT STORAGE AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM WITH INDEXING AND USER INTERFACE - A system and method of managing stored data in a storage management system. The storage management system includes a storage manager, a media agent connected to the storage manager, and a primary volume connected to the media agent. Multiple snapshots are taken of the primary volume. The snapshots are indexed by associating respective information with the snapshot. The indexed snapshots are copied to a recovery volume. In this way, browsing features are enabled for the user. The user may view the snapshots in a hierarchical format, and may even view snapshot data in association with the corresponding application. The resultant recovery volume may be used to replace a primary volume. | 07-12-2012 |
| 20120179887 | DATA MIGRATING METHOD TAKING END TIME INTO CONSIDERATION - A data migrating method including calculating, in a case where data stored in a volume is migrated to another volume, a required period of time for migrating the data based on a size of data to be migrated and volume configuration information on the volume in which the migrated data is stored and the volume to which the data is to be migrated, determining a start time at which the data migration starts to generate a volume migration plan, setting a priority of the generated volume migration plan, prioritizing, in a case where a periods of time during which the generated volume migration plan is executed and a period of time during which an existing volume migration plan is executed are overlapped with each other, and changing the start time of at least one of those volume migration plans having a lower priority. | 07-12-2012 |
| 20120185658 | PERFORMING WRITING OPERATIONS USING A QUEUE OF AVAILABLE PAGES - A method for performing a write operation on a computer system having a main store, including a plurality of pages, and a backing store, the write operation including a processing step for processing data of the write operation and a writing step for writing the processed data to the backing store. The method includes reserving a set of pages, among the plurality of pages, in the main store, retrieving a required number of pages from the reserved set in accordance with the size of the data, processing the required number of pages of the data using the retrieved pages, writing the processed data to the backing store, and returning the retrieved pages to the reserved set upon finishing the writing. | 07-19-2012 |
| 20120185659 | METHOD FOR CREATING CONSISTENT BACKUP IMAGE OF A STORAGE VOLUME WITHOUT REQUIRING A SNAPSHOT - Method for creating a consistent image, on a destination volume, of a target volume that remains in production use while the image is being created, without requiring the use of a snapshot. | 07-19-2012 |
| 20120185660 | USING A HEARTBEAT SIGNAL TO MAINTAIN DATA CONSISTENCY FOR WRITES TO SOURCE STORAGE COPIED TO TARGET STORAGE - 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. | 07-19-2012 |
| 20120191929 | METHOD AND APPARATUS OF RAPIDLY DEPLOYING VIRTUAL MACHINE POOLING VOLUME - Exemplary embodiments provide rapid creation and deployment of virtual machines by reducing communication processes between virtual machine user and storage and server administrators. One embodiment is a method for deploying virtual machines of host computers. A storage subsystem provides a pool of pre-created virtual volumes in the storage subsystem prior to deploying the virtual machines, the pre-created virtual volumes having pre-copied images for the virtual machines. The method comprises: selecting one of the pre-created virtual volumes for deploying one of the virtual machines; calculating a volume size for the selected virtual volume based on a specified image size for data and OS image; resizing the selected virtual volume according to the calculated volume size; and requesting one of the host computers to deploy the virtual machine using the resized virtual volume. | 07-26-2012 |
| 20120191930 | DATA INTEGRITY PROTECTION IN STORAGE VOLUMES - A plurality of logical volumes are stored at a plurality of sites. A command to execute an operation on a logical volume is received. A determination is made as to whether a rule associated with the logical volume permits execution of the operation on the logical volume. In response to determining that the rule associated with the logical volume permits execution of the operation on the logical volume, the operation is executed on the logical volume. | 07-26-2012 |
| 20120191931 | REPLICATION OF DEDUPLICATED STORAGE SYSTEM - A method for replicating a deduplicated storage system is disclosed. A stream of data is stored on an originator deduplicating system by storing a plurality of deduplicated segments and information on how to reconstruct the stream of data. The originator deduplicating system is replicated on a replica system by sending a copy of the plurality of deduplicated segments and information on how to reconstruct the stream of data to the replica system. A first portion of the deduplicated segments stored on the originator deduplicating system that is corrupted is identified. A copy of the first portion of the deduplicated segments is requested to be sent by the replica system to the originator deduplicating system. | 07-26-2012 |
| 20120191932 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AND BACKUP METHOD THEREFOR - A computer system includes a first volume that is read and written from a first computer and in which write data is written, a second volume storing journal data in the first volume, the journal data delimited at each predetermined point, a third volume as a virtual volume, a unit that creates, when a backup instruction for the first volume at a predetermined point is received, the third volume from which a second computer reads the journal data and in which the second computer writes the journal data, a unit that maps the journal data to the third volume, and a unit that transfers the write data to a storage device via the second computer or transfers, through the third volume to which the journal data is mapped, the journal data to the storage device via the second computer and backs up the write data and the journal data. | 07-26-2012 |
| 20120198188 | REGENERATION OF DELETED DATA - To prevent loss of a data volume by unintended deletion, including various versions of the data volume, the data is preserved, and, when needed, is regenerated at a different volume address than that of the deleted volume. In a computer-implemented data storage system, a method responds to a received command to delete a volume of data identified by a volume address, preserving data of the volume prior to deletion, and generates a unique token associated with the volume and version of the volume as of the deletion. The unique token is communicated as associated with the received delete command. The method responds to a received command to regenerate the data of the deleted volume, generating a command to find the data identified by the unique token, and creating a new, different, volume address for the data of the preserved deleted volume, thereby keeping both volume versions. | 08-02-2012 |
| 20120198189 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, CONTROL METHOD, AND PROGRAM - An information processing apparatus connected to first and second storage devices via a storage control apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes: an acquisition unit configured to acquire a model number of the second storage device when the storage control apparatus operates in a mirror state; a determination unit configured to determine whether the second storage device needs to be used, based on the model number acquired by the acquisition unit; and a second transfer unit configured to transfer the storage control apparatus from the mirror state to a rebuilding state if the determination unit determines that the second storage device needs to be used. | 08-02-2012 |
| 20120198190 | MAKING AUTOMATED USE OF DATA VOLUME COPY SERVICE TARGETS - A computer implemented method for automatically managing copies of source data volumes is provided. A copy management agent receives a message that target volume copies of source volumes are available. The copy management agent accesses the target volume copies of the source volumes. The copy management agent analyzes metadata for the target volume copies. The copy management agent determines whether any of the target volume copies is a boot volume copy based on the analyzed metadata. In response to a determination that one of the target volume copies is a boot volume copy, the copy management agent directs a provisioning agent to provision a new host for the target volume copies. The copy management agent directs the storage subsystem to present the target volume copies to a storage area network port associated with the new host. Then, the new host is booted using the boot volume copy. | 08-02-2012 |
| 20120198191 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DE-DUPLICATION AFTER MIRROR OPERATION - De-duplication operations are applied to mirror volumes. Data stored to a first volume is mirrored to a second volume. The second volume is a virtual volume having a plurality of logical addresses, such that segments of physical storage capacity are allocated for a specified logical address as needed when data is stored to the specified logical address. A de-duplication operation is carried out on the second volume following a split from the first volume. A particular segment of the second volume is identified as having data that is the same as another segment in the second volume or in the same consistency group. A link is created from the particular segment to the other segment and the particular segment is released from the second volume so that physical storage capacity required for the second volume is reduced. | 08-02-2012 |
| 20120203987 | FACILITATING DATA COMPRESSION DURING REPLICATION USING A COMPRESSIBLE CONFIGURATION BIT - A method is provided for facilitating data replication in a storage system. A logical volume of a first storage array of a replicated pair is preconfigured with one or more logical volume attributes, which include a compressible configuration bit that indicates whether data blocks to be stored to that logical volume are compressible during replication. Subsequently, with receipt of a data block at the first storage array to be stored to the logical volume, a check of the compressible configuration bit is made to determine whether the data block is compressible during replication, and if so, the data block is compressed for replication. The compressible configuration bit is placed into the payload region of the data packet being replicated to the second storage array. At the second storage array, the compressible configuration bit is used to determine whether to uncompress the replicated data block. | 08-09-2012 |
| 20120203988 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND VIRTUALIZATION METHOD - The storage system of the present invention is able to generate one virtual logical device from different logical devices which exist in each of the different storage control units and remote-copy all or part of the virtual logical device to another logical device. The same virtual identifier is set for a volume of the first storage unit and for a volume of the second storage unit. The path control unit of the host identifies a plurality of volumes which have the same virtual identifier as one virtual volume. A remote copy pair can also be set by a virtual volume and a volume of the third storage unit. The setting of the virtual volume and the setting of the remote copy can be performed by means of an instruction from the management server. | 08-09-2012 |
| 20120210083 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MANAGING UNSTRUCTURED DATA - Improved data management systems for managing and maintaining unstructured data in a computing system environment. Data content is associated with particular types of metadata to create data objects. In certain examples, the metadata is stored in various fields of the data objects, certain fields being designated as permanently read-only after their creation. Such fields can include, for instance, a unique identifier, a type of content and a classification governing copy permissions relating to the data object. Data objects, or didgets, can be grouped into logical containers referred to as chambers, which are further grouped by common control elements or attributes into domains. Chambers within a particular domain can generally freely share information therebetween, including copies of various types of didgets. A control program, or didget manager, in each domain manages the creation of didgets and subsequent operations directed thereto. | 08-16-2012 |
| 20120210084 | CONTENT MANAGER - An archive for digital content comprises archive storage, an archive service and a manifest. The archive storage is a unified storage structure for storing items, such a directory having a plurality of subdirectories. The manifest is stored within the archive storage when the archive storage is loaded onto a storage device, and may comprise an index of items stored in the unified structure of the archive and/or an organizational structure that supports defined categories that characterize items stored in the unified structure and/or at least one backup queue that temporarily queues a list of items that satisfy predetermined backup criteria by have not been backed up. The archive service serves as an intermediate between users, e.g., operators, software modules, programs, services, etc., and the archive storage to control requests for access to items stored in the unified storage structure. | 08-16-2012 |
| 20120215998 | DEPLOYING A COPY OF A DISK IMAGE FROM SOURCE STORAGE TO TARGET STORAGE - A technique deploys a copy of a disk image from source storage to target storage. The technique involves identifying a particular disk image to be copied from the source storage to the target storage. The technique further involves performing a comparison operation between a first disk image list which lists disk images on the source storage and a second disk image list which lists disk images on the target storage to generate a common disk image list which lists a set of common disk images on both the source and target storage. The technique further involves transferring, from the source storage to the target storage, a set of data portions representing differences between the particular disk image and a common disk image listed on the common disk image list. The set of data portions in combination with the common disk image form a deployed copy on the target storage. | 08-23-2012 |
| 20120215999 | SYNCHRONIZATION OF REPLICATED SEQUENTIAL ACCESS STORAGE COMPONENTS - A replication synchronization table (RST) is configured for the source instance. The RST is adapted for recording compacted information for at least one of a truncate and an erase operation applied on the source instance. The RST of the source instance is updated at a source component with the compacted information. The updated RST is transmitted from the source instance to the replicated instance. Based on the RST of the source instance and the RST of the replicated instance, data representative of a most recent position on the source component from which data should be transmitted to a replicated component to achieve a full synchronization is determined. | 08-23-2012 |
| 20120216000 | Flash-copying with asynchronous mirroring environment - A first command is sent from a primary host system to a primary storage controller device, specifying that a first primary volume is to be flash-copied to a second primary volume. Flash-copying provides for completion of copying the first primary volume to the second primary volume to be signaled prior to data on the first primary volume being physically copied to the second primary volume. A first state of the first primary volume and the second primary volume is verified by the primary storage controller device to determine whether the first state permits flash-copying of the first primary volume to the second primary volume. A first query is sent from the primary storage controller device to a secondary host system, requesting whether a first secondary volume can be flash-copied to a second secondary volume. The first and second secondary volumes asynchronously mirror the first and second primary volumes, respectively. | 08-23-2012 |
| 20120221813 | STORAGE APPARATUS AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME - The present invention enables efficient redundancy management of control information (data) while suppressing an influence on the storage apparatus. In the storage apparatus | 08-30-2012 |
| 20120221814 | REMOTE COPY SYSTEM - Provided is a remote copy system capable of guaranteeing the time ordering of data to be handled by a remote site even when the tasks at the remote site are operated across a plurality of storages or a plurality of volume groups. A consistency group consisting of a secondary journal volume and a replica is associated with a journal group consisting of a primary data volume, a primary journal volume, a secondary journal volume, and a secondary data volume. Upon backing up a secondary data volume and forming a replica, the host system issues a backup time reservation command to a storage apparatus, and the storage apparatus creates a replica by comparing the time stamp added to the journal data and the backup reservation time. | 08-30-2012 |
| 20120221815 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DATA BACKUP - A targeting storage component selects a target virtual disk for one of a full copy or an incremental copy of first data. A periodic backup component triggers a periodic point-in-time copy of the first data to a virtual disk in the cascade. A testing component tests a status of the full copy, the incremental copy and the periodic point-in-time copy. Responsive to the status, a cascade splitting component splits the cascade to remove a dependency relationship of at least one of the fully copy, the incremental copy and the periodic point-in-time copy on the first data. | 08-30-2012 |
| 20120221816 | INCREMENTAL BACKUP OF SOURCE TO TARGET STORAGE VOLUME - A flashcopy of a source storage volume to a target storage volume is initiated. The content of the source storage volume is stored on the target storage volume in a space efficient manner. The space requirement of the stored content on the target storage volume is monitored. The flashcopy is terminated when the space requirement reaches a predetermined level. The stored content on the target storage volume is copied to a backup storage medium. A new flashcopy of the source storage volume is initiated. | 08-30-2012 |
| 20120221817 | GLOBAL DE-DUPLICATION IN SHARED ARCHITECTURES - Redundant data is globally de-duplicated across a shared architecture that includes a plurality of storage systems. The storage systems implement copy-on-write or WAFL to generate snapshots of original data. Each storage system includes a de-duplication client to identify and reduce redundant original and/or snapshot data on the storage system. Each de-duplication client can de-duplicate a digital sequence by breaking the sequence into blocks and identifying redundant blocks already stored in the shared architecture. Identifying redundant blocks may include hashing each block and comparing the hash to a local and/or master hash table containing hashes of existing data. Once identified, redundant data previously stored is deleted (e.g., post-process de-duplication), or redundant data is not stored to begin with (e.g., inline de-duplication). In both cases, pointers to shared data blocks can be used to reassemble the digital sequence where one or more blocks were deleted or not stored on the storage system. | 08-30-2012 |
| 20120221818 | SPACE RESERVATION IN A DEDUPLICATION SYSTEM - A calculated factoring ratio is determined as a weighted ratio of current nominal data to physical data based on at least one storage capacity threshold and a used storage space currently physically consumed by one of backup and replication data. A maximal nominal estimated space in the computing storage environment is calculated. A remaining space, defined as the maximal nominal estimated space minus a current nominal space in the computing storage environment, is calculated. If the remaining space is one of equal and less than a user-configured reservation space for backup operations, data replication operations are accepted and stored in the computing storage environment. | 08-30-2012 |
| 20120221819 | DATA ALLOCATION SYSTEM - A method of operating a data control system to copy a volume of data from a primary storage system to a secondary storage system comprises receiving an instruction to copy the volume of data, wherein the volume of data comprises a plurality of data blocks, in response to the instruction, determining if at least a data block of the plurality of data blocks requires copying to the secondary storage system, if the data block requires copying to the secondary storage system, then reading the data block from memory in the primary storage system and transferring the data block for writing to memory in the secondary storage system, and if the data block does not require copying, then transferring a synthetic block for writing to the memory in the secondary storage system. | 08-30-2012 |
| 20120221820 | SWITCHING VISIBILITY BETWEEN VIRTUAL DATA STORAGE ENTITIES - Visibility of a data storage entity on a first storage system is switched to a replicated data storage entity on a second storage system. Data from the data storage entity is replicated from the first storage system to the second storage system using a common serial number. The data storage entity is hidden from the first storage system by concealing the common serial number. An ejection of the data storage entity from the first storage system is automated, and the replicated data storage entity is introduced to the second storage system. | 08-30-2012 |
| 20120226876 | NETWORK EFFICIENCY FOR CONTINUOUS REMOTE COPY - A method for controlling data for a storage system comprises: receiving a write input/output (I/O) command of a data from a host computer, the write I/O command including an application ID identifying an application operating on the host computer which sends the write I/O request; maintaining a record of a relation between the application ID in the write I/O command and a storage location of the data to be written in a first volume of the storage system; determining, based on the application ID, whether a data transfer function between the first volume and a second storage volume is to be performed on the data beyond writing the data to the storage location in the first volume; and if the data transfer function is to be performed on the data, then performing the data transfer function on the data to the second volume. | 09-06-2012 |
| 20120226877 | MAINTAINING MIRROR AND STORAGE SYSTEM COPIES OF VOLUMES AT MULTIPLE REMOTE SITES - Provided is a method for maintaining mirror and storage system copies of volumes at multiple remote sites. A first server maintains a mirror copy relationship between a first storage system at a first site and a second storage system at a second site. The first server performs a first point-in-time copy operation from the first storage system to a first storage system copy, wherein the data for the first storage system copy is consistent as of the determined point-in-time. The first server transmits a command to a second server to create a point-in-time copy of the second storage system. The second server processes mirror data transferred from the first server as part of the mirror copy relationship to determine when to create a second point-in-time copy. The second server performs the second point-in-time copy operation. | 09-06-2012 |
| 20120226878 | DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM - A data processing system has a plurality of storage systems. In this system, data replication is performed at high speed and efficiency while maintaining data integrity. In addition, when failure has occurred in a configuration element, the time necessary to resume the data replication is reduced. In accordance with an instruction from first host computer, updating of replication-target data and creation of a journal are performed in a storage system A, and updating of replication data and creation of a journal are performed in a storage system B. A storage system C retrieves a journal from the storage system B in asynchronization with the updating, and performs updating of replication data. When failure has occurred in the storage system B, a journal-retrieving end is altered to the storage system, and the replication data is updated in accordance with the retrieved journal. | 09-06-2012 |
| 20120226879 | FLASHCOPY HANDLING - A technique for handling a FlashCopy® process includes receiving a FlashCopy® instruction for a source disk, performing a FlashCopy® point in time copy of the source disk on to a target disk, creating a map specifying the FlashCopy® point in time copy from the source disk to the target disk, creating a primary fdisk for the source disk, if one does not already exist, and creating a primary fdisk for the target disk, if one does not already exist, or, if one does already exist, converting the existing primary fdisk for the target disk into a secondary fdisk, and creating a new primary fdisk for the target disk. | 09-06-2012 |
| 20120233416 | MULTI-TARGET, POINT-IN-TIME-COPY ARCHITECTURE WITH DATA DEDUPLICATION - A method for performing a write to a source volume in a multi-target architecture is described. The multi-target architecture includes a source volume and multiple target volumes mapped thereto. In one embodiment, such a method includes copying data in a track of the source volume to a corresponding track of a target volume (target x). The method enables one or more sibling target volumes (siblings) mapped to the source volume to inherit the data from the target x. When the data is successfully copied to the target x, the method performs a write to the track of the source volume. Other methods for reading and writing data to volumes in the multi-target architecture are also described. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120233417 | BACKUP AND RESTORE STRATEGIES FOR DATA DEDUPLICATION - Techniques for backup and restore of optimized data streams are described. A chunk store includes each optimized data stream as a plurality of chunks including at least one data chunk and corresponding optimized stream metadata. The chunk store includes data chunks in a deduplicated manner. Optimized data streams stored in the chunk store are identified for backup. At least a portion of the chunk store is stored in backup storage according to an optimized backup technique, an un-optimized backup technique, an item level backup technique, or a data chunk identifier backup technique. Optimized data streams stored in the backup storage may be restored. A file reconstructor includes a callback module that generates calls to a restore application to request optimized stream metadata and any referenced data chunks from the backup storage. The file reconstructor reconstructs the data streams from the referenced data chunks. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120233418 | MASSIVELY SCALABLE OBJECT STORAGE - Several different embodiments of a massively scalable object storage system are described. The object storage system is particularly useful for storage in a cloud computing installation whereby shared servers provide resources, software, and data to computers and other devices on demand. In several embodiments, the object storage system includes a ring implementation used to associate object storage commands with particular physical servers such that certain guarantees of consistency, availability, and performance can be met. In other embodiments, the object storage system includes a synchronization protocol used to order operations across a distributed system. In a third set of embodiments, the object storage system includes a metadata management system. In a fourth set of embodiments, the object storage system uses a structured information synchronization system. Features from each set of embodiments can be used to improve the performance and scalability of a cloud computing object storage system. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120233419 | COMPUTER SYSTEM, METHOD OF SCHEDULING DATA REPLICATION, AND COMPUTER-READABLE NON-TRANSITORY STORAGE MEDIUM - An embodiment of this invention schedules data replications for backing up a first storage system providing a plurality of applications with volumes to a second storage system. This scheduling determines scheduled finish times of respective data replications for the plurality of applications and determines start times of the respective data replications for the plurality of applications from the scheduled finish times of the respective data replications and the respective amounts of data to be transferred for the plurality of applications, using a data transfer rate between the storage systems and an overlap degree of data replication periods of the plurality of applications. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120233420 | FAULT-TOLERANT SYSTEM, MEMORY CONTROL METHOD, AND COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM STORING PROGRAMS - The object is to prevent the processing of a fault-tolerant computer from slowing down. The memory of the active system comprises a memory table and a transfer table. When data stored in the memory table are updated, the updated data are stored also in the transfer table. When data are transferred from the transfer table to the standby system, only update of data stored in the transfer table is restricted. The memory table is continuously used as the work area for normal operation. Consequently, slowing down in the processing of a fault-tolerant computer due to restriction on update of data stored in the memory is prevented. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120233421 | CYCLIC POINT-IN-TIME-COPY ARCHITECTURE WITH DATA DEDUPLICATION - A method for performing a write to a volume x in a cyclic point-in-time-copy architecture is described. In one embodiment, such a method includes determining whether the volume x has a child volume. The method then determines whether the target bit maps (TBMs) of both the volume x and the child volume are set. If the TBMs are set, the method finds a higher source (HS) volume from which to copy the desired data to the child volume. Once the HS volume is found, the method determines whether the HS volume and the child volume are the same volume. If the HS volume and the child volume are not the same volume, the method copies the data from the HS volume to the child volume. The method then performs the write to the volume x. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120233422 | DATA INTEGRITY PROTECTION IN STORAGE VOLUMES - A plurality of logical volumes are stored at a plurality of sites. A command to execute an operation on a logical volume is received. A determination is made as to whether a rule associated with the logical volume permits execution of the operation on the logical volume. In response to determining that the rule associated with the logical volume permits execution of the operation on the logical volume, the operation is executed on the logical volume. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120233423 | SUBSTITUTION OF A TARGET VOLUME OF A SECONDARY STORAGE CONTROLLER FOR A SOURCE VOLUME OF A PRIMARY STORAGE CONTROLLER FOR EXECUTING A WRITE OPERATION - A secondary storage controller receives metadata that uniquely identifies a source volume of a primary storage controller. Data stored in the source volume of the primary storage controller is synchronously copied to a target volume of the secondary storage controller. The secondary storage controller receives a command from a primary host to write selected data to the source volume. In response to receiving the command at the secondary storage controller, the selected data is written to the target volume of the secondary storage controller. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120233424 | DATA STORAGE CONTROL ON STORAGE DEVICES - An object of the present invention is to improve the usage efficiency of a storage extent in a storage system using the Allocation on Use (AOU) technique. A controller in the storage system allocates a storage extent in an actual volume to an extent in a virtual volume accessed by a host computer, detects any decrease in necessity for maintaining that allocation, and cancels the allocation of the storage extent in the actual volume to the extent in the virtual volume based on the detection result. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120233425 | DE-DUPLICATION IN A VIRTUALIZED STORAGE ENVIRONMENT - A data de-duplication application de-duplicates redundant data in the pooled storage capacity of a virtualized storage environment. The virtualized storage environment includes a plurality of storage devices and a virtualization or abstraction layer that aggregates all or a portion of the storage capacity of each storage device into a single pool of storage capacity, all or portions of which can be allocated to one or more host systems. For each host system, the virtualization layer presents a representation of at least a portion of the pooled storage capacity wherein the corresponding host system can read and write data. The data de-duplication application identifies redundant data in the pooled storage capacity and replaces it with one or more pointers pointing to a single instance of the data. The de-duplication application can operate on fixed or variable size blocks of data and can de-duplicate data either post-process or in-line. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120233426 | DATA COPYING - A data processing system includes a host and a plurality of locations. A difference recording operation between a first location of the plurality of locations and a second location of the plurality of locations is started. A first operational relationship between a third location of the plurality of locations and the first location is started. A signal is sent is response to the first operational relationship starting after the difference recording operation. A first dataset is updated in response to the host writing data to at least one of the first location or the second location. The first dataset is updated with changes to the first location in response to the signal. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120239892 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AND PROCESS FOR TRANSFERRING MULTIPLE HIGH BANDWIDTH STREAMS OF DATA BETWEEN MULTIPLE STORAGE UNITS AND MULTIPLE APPLICATIONS IN A SCALABLE AND RELIABLE MANNER - Multiple applications request data from multiple storage units over a computer network. The data is divided into segments and each segment is distributed randomly on one of several storage units, independent of the storage units on which other segments of the media data are stored. At least one additional copy of each segment also is distributed randomly over the storage units, such that each segment is stored on at least two storage units. When an application requests a selected segment of data, the request is processed by the storage unit with the shortest queue of requests. Random fluctuations in the load applied by multiple applications on multiple storage units are balanced nearly equally over all storage units. These techniques result in a system which can transfer multiple, independent high-bandwidth streams of data in a scalable and reliable manner in both directions between multiple applications and multiple storage units. | 09-20-2012 |
| 20120239893 | METHODS FOR DYNAMIC CONSISTENCY GROUP FORMATION - A method for dynamic consistency group formation, in one embodiment, includes creating a snapshot of first data stored on a source storage system with respect to data content and data structure, copying the snapshot to a target storage system, detecting one or more write operations affecting data on the source storage system while copying the first data, detecting one or more collisions affecting the first data on the source storage system, wherein a collision occurs whenever the write operations affect the first data prior to the first data being written, setting a consistency group interval which represents an interval duration between successive snapshot create-and-copy events, and altering the consistency group interval to minimize collisions affecting data on at least one of the storage systems. Other methods for dynamic consistency group formation are also described. | 09-20-2012 |
| 20120239894 | BACKUP METHOD FOR PORTABLE DEVICE - An embodiment of the invention provides a backup method for a portable device. The method includes steps of: creating a first log file according to a first file that has to be stored in a backup device; connecting the portable device to the backup device; transmitting the first log file to the backup device; reading the first log file, by the backup device, and storing the first file to a storage device of the backup device; wherein the first log file is transmitted to the storage device via a buffer that is controlled by a controller of the backup device. | 09-20-2012 |
| 20120246423 | Method and System for Data Replication - A method and system of replicating data where data is copied from a host server to a storage device in a first group of storage devices. A receipt is sent from the first group of storage devices to the host server when the data has been copied to all storage devices within the first group. The data is copied from the first group to at least one further group of storage devices. A receipt is sent from each further group of storage devices to the first group of storage devices when the data has been copied to all storage devices within each further group. | 09-27-2012 |
| 20120246424 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AND DATA BACKUP METHOD - The present invention proposes a computer system and data backup method which enable improvements in the response performance of a storage apparatus to a write request from a host apparatus. | 09-27-2012 |
| 20120246425 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT METHOD OF STORAGE SYSTEM - It is an object to use a storage region in an efficient manner and maintain a performance of a storage system. | 09-27-2012 |
| 20120246426 | METHOD FOR OPTIMIZING CLEANING OF MAPS IN FLASHCOPY CASCADES CONTAINING INCREMENTAL MAPS - A method for optimizing cleaning of maps in FlashCopy cascades includes determining whether a target disk of a map contains data unavailable to a downstream disk from an upstream disk in a FlashCopy cascade and detect whether the downstream disk has a copy of the data. Additionally, the method includes copying the data from the target disk to the downstream disk, if the target disk of the map contains data unavailable to the downstream disk from the upstream disk and the downstream disk does not have the copy of the data. Furthermore, the method includes copying the data from the target disk to the downstream disk, if the target disk of the map does not contain data unavailable to the downstream disk from the upstream disk or the downstream disk does have the copy of the data. Moreover, the method includes removing the map from the FlashCopy cascade. | 09-27-2012 |
| 20120246427 | MULTIPLE CASCADED BACKUP PROCESS - Provided are a method, system, and a computer program product handling a backup process. An instruction initiates a new backup from a source volume to a target volume using one of a plurality of backup processes. A cascade includes a cascade source volume and at least one cascade target volume, and a write to a storage location in one of the cascade volumes causes a copying of the storage location to be written in the cascade source volume to each of the cascade target volumes in the cascade according to a cascade order in which the at least one cascade target volume and the cascade source volume are linked in the cascade. The cascade is modified to include the target volume of the new backup in response to determining that there is an existing cascade, else a new cascade using the backup process of the new backup is created. | 09-27-2012 |
| 20120246428 | REDUCTION OF COMMUNICATION AND EFFICIENT FAILOVER PROCESSING IN DISTRIBUTED SHARED MEMORY-BASED APPLICATION - Various embodiments for reducing communication between cluster nodes and optimizing failover processing in a distributed shared memory (DSM)-based application by at least one processor device are provided. In one embodiment, for a data structure operable on a DSM, a read-mostly portion is maintained in a single copy sharable between the cluster nodes while an updatable portion is maintained in multiple copies, each of the multiple copies dedicated to a single cluster node. | 09-27-2012 |
| 20120246429 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND REMOTE COPY CONTROL METHOD FOR STORAGE SYSTEM - A storage system for managing a plurality of asynchronous remote copy proceedings between a plurality of first storage control devices and a plurality of second storage control devices, wherein each of a plurality of second storage control devices stores one or more update data corresponding to one or more update data related information including the same update reflection time information with the one that is received or older update reflection time information than this in a one or more second logical volume and changes status of the one or more second logical volumes to suspend status. | 09-27-2012 |
| 20120246430 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND DATA RELOCATION CONTROL DEVICE - The present invention achieves data relocation in accordance with a user's policies, in an environment where a plurality of storage devices coexist. The volumes belonging to storage devices A-D are managed virtually integrally. A host recognizes a plurality of storage devices A-D as a single virtual storage device. The user is able to group arbitrarily each volume belonging to the storage system, as a plurality of storage layers | 09-27-2012 |
| 20120254566 | PREVENTION OF OVERLAY OF PRODUCTION DATA BY POINT IN TIME COPY OPERATIONS IN A HOST BASED ASYNCHRONOUS MIRRORING ENVIRONMENT - A primary storage controller is configured to communicate with a secondary storage controller via a system data mover. In response to receiving a command to perform a point in time copy of a source volume of the primary storage controller to a target volume of the primary storage controller, a determination is made as to whether the target volume of the primary storage controller is a source for an asynchronous data replication operation, initiated by the system data mover, between the primary storage controller and the secondary storage controller. In response to determining that the target volume of the primary storage controller is the source for the asynchronous data replication operation, initiated by the system data mover, the point in time copy of the source volume of the primary storage controller to the target volume of the primary storage controller is performed. | 10-04-2012 |
| 20120254567 | DYNAMIC PROVISIONING OF A VIRTUAL STORAGE APPLIANCE - Systems, methods, and apparatus for facilitating dynamic provisioning of a virtual storage appliance in a cloud computing environment are presented herein. A storage system management component can provision storage from a storage medium to facilitate access of at least a portion of the storage by a virtual storage appliance (VSA) based on a request for at least one resource associated with the VSA. Further, a network management component can provision the VSA to facilitate the access of the portion of the storage by the VSA. Furthermore, a storage fabric management component can configure a network to facilitate the access of the portion of the storage by the VSA via the network. | 10-04-2012 |
| 20120254568 | DETERMINING WHETHER TO EXTEND A DRAIN TIME TO COPY DATA BLOCKS FROM A FIRST STORAGE TO A SECOND STORAGE - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for determining whether to extend a drain time to copy data blocks from a first storage to a second storage. A data structure indicates data blocks in the first storage to copy to the second storage. A drain operation copies the data blocks indicated in the first storage to the second storage for a drain time period. Write requests to the data blocks indicated in the data structure are queued during the drain time period, wherein the queued write requests are not completed while queued. Metric information based on the writes that occur to data blocks in the first storage are gathered during the drain time period; and in response to expiration of the drain time period, a determination is made from the gathered metric information of whether to continue the drain operation or terminate the drain operation. | 10-04-2012 |
| 20120254569 | CREATING A BUFFER POINT-IN-TIME COPY RELATIONSHIP FOR A POINT-IN-TIME COPY FUNCTION EXECUTED TO CREATE A POINT-IN-TIME COPY RELATIONSHIP - Provided are a method, system, and computer program product for creating a buffer point-in-time copy relationship. A point-in-time copy function is initiated to create a new point-in-time copy relationship from a source volume comprising a first volume to a target volume comprising a second volume. A buffer point-in-time copy relationship having a source volume comprising the target volume of the first pre-existing relationship and a target volume comprising a fifth volume is created in response to detecting that the target volume of the new point-in-time copy relationship is the source volume of a first pre-existing point-in-time copy relationship and detecting that the target volume of the first pre-existing point-in-time copy relationship is the source volume of a second pre-existing point-in-time copy relationship. | 10-04-2012 |
| 20120254570 | METHOD OF IMPROVING EFFICIENCY OF REPLICATION MONITORING - Copy pair monitoring is provided for a storage system having plural host computers, at least one storage subsystem, and a management computer. The storage subsystem including volumes storing data requested by the host computer, the management computer being accessible to the host computer and the storage subsystem. The copy pair monitoring includes obtaining every piece of copy pair definition information that is stored in the host computer, removing duplicate copy pair definition information from the whole copy pair definition information obtained, and collecting the copy pair status based on the obtained copy pair definition information from which duplicate copy pair definition information has been removed. Each host computer is assigned a priority level, and, when more than one host computer includes the same copy pair, the host computer with the lowest priority obtains the copy pair information to reduce the load on the higher priority host computers. | 10-04-2012 |
| 20120254571 | MANAGEMENT OF HOST PASSTHROUGH AND SESSION COMMANDS USING RESOURCE GROUPS - For at least one storage resource object associated with at least one of the plurality of resource groups by a resource group attribute, at least one policy is defined for limiting host requests to the storage resources in the at least one of the plurality of resource groups to prevent an issuance of the host requests to an unowned one of the storage resources. | 10-04-2012 |
| 20120260049 | CLONING METHOD AND SYSTEM - The invention is directed to a method and a system for cloning a source drive to a target drive. A cloning program launches in a host device, and an amount of partitions and a size of each said partition of the source drive are obtained. The size of each corresponding partition in the target drive is adaptively determined according to a size of the source drive and a size of the target drive. The host device is rebooted and contents of the source drive are copied to the target drive. | 10-11-2012 |
| 20120260050 | DATA STORAGE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Storage systems and methods are presented. In one embodiment, a data storage resource management method comprises: performing a data update process, including communicating a data update input output packet between a primary storage resource and a secondary storage resource, wherein corresponding data updates in the secondary storage resource are a mirror of data updates in the primary storage resource; and performing a reclamation process, including: communicating reclamation information in a reclamation input output packet through the same interface as the data update input output packet, wherein the reclamation input output packet is communicated between the primary storage resource and the secondary storage resource; and reclaiming storage locations on the secondary storage resource in accordance with reclamation information in the reclamation input output packet communicated between the primary storage resource and secondary storage resource. | 10-11-2012 |
| 20120260051 | COMPUTER SYSTEM, MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND DATA MANAGEMENT METHOD - A controller of a storage system migrates data managed in a virtual storage area of a virtual logical volume from an assigned real storage area to a real storage area of another storage medium with different characteristics according to predetermined conditions, and also executes copy processing for copying, to a second virtual logical volume, data in a copy target area being at least a part of a virtual storage area of a first virtual logical volume. When the second virtual logical volume is used, a management system controls the controller so as to migrate data of at least a part of the data that has been replicated in the second virtual logical volume by the copy processing, to a real storage area of the storage medium with more favorable characteristics. | 10-11-2012 |
| 20120260052 | SYNCHRONOUS EXTENT MIGRATION PROTOCOL FOR PAIRED STORAGE - Extent migration is provided in a data storage environment configured for synchronous replication between a primary and secondary pair of storage entities, each having tiered storage devices. In one embodiment, by way of example only, a migration instruction is sent, by the primary storage entity, to the secondary storage entity, the migration instruction including a time delta approximately equal to a time of an intended migration at the primary storage entity adjusted for a transmission time such that the primary and secondary storage entities conduct the extent migration at approximately a same time. | 10-11-2012 |
| 20120260053 | CASCADE ORDERING - A method comprises receiving one or more instructions initiating a plurality of backup processes from a single source storage volume to a plurality of target storage volumes, adding each target storage volume to a cascade of target storage volumes from the source storage volume, the target storage volumes added to the cascade in an order inversely proportional to the copy rate of the respective backup process, and starting each backup process in turn, the backup processes started in an order from the most recent target storage volume added to cascade to the first target storage volume added to cascade. | 10-11-2012 |
| 20120265955 | STORAGE CONTROL APPARATUS FOR COPYING DATA BETWEEN LOGICAL VOLUMES, STORAGE SYSTEM COMPRISING THIS STORAGE CONTROL APPARATUS, AND STORAGE CONTROL METHOD - A storage control apparatus comprises a virtualization control part in addition to a copy control part determining whether or not a PVOL (a copy-source VOL) attribute set and a SVOL (a copy-destination VOL) attribute set are the same and carrying out a data copy between VOLs in a case where the result of this determination is affirmative. The virtualization control part creates either a virtual PVOL which is a VOL obtained by virtualizing the PVOL and which comprises the SVOL attribute set, or a virtual SVOL which is a VOL obtained by virtualizing the SVOL and which comprises the PVOL attribute set. As a result, either the VOL attribute set of the virtual PVOL and the SVOL attribute set become the same, or the PVOL attribute set and the VOL attribute set of the virtual SVOL become the same, and the copy control part can thereby carry out a copy between VOLs. | 10-18-2012 |
| 20120265956 | STORAGE SUBSYSTEM, DATA MIGRATION METHOD AND COMPUTER SYSTEM - It is provided a storage subsystem, comprising: a storage device which provides a volume for storing data; a processor which executes a program for controlling the storage subsystem; a memory which stores data used by the processor; and a port which is coupled to another storage subsystem. The memory stores interface management information, which holds a use of the port in migration, and port management information, which holds a use of a port of the another storage subsystem in migration. The processor refers to the interface management information and the port management information to identify a port of the another storage subsystem which is permitted to communicate with the port of the storage subsystem, in order to determine a communication zone of the port coupled to the another storage subsystem for migration. | 10-18-2012 |
| 20120265957 | MEMORY MEDIA AND METHOD FOR DATA BACKUP AND RECOVERY - A method is applied for data backup and recovery between an external memory device and an internal memory. A first determination signal is output according to a resistance of the external memory device. The external memory device is switched to electrically connect to the internal memory from a previous state according to the first determination signal. If an operation signal is received, a second determination signal is output. If no operation signal is received, a delay signal is output. Whether the operation signal is a saving operation signal or a recovering operation signal is determined according to the second determination signal. A control signal is output to the internal memory in response to the first determination signal and the operation signal, to control the internal memory reading or writing data to and from the external memory device. | 10-18-2012 |
| 20120265958 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CASCADED FLASHCOPY ZONING AND ALGORITHM AND/OR COMPUTER PROGRAM CODE AND METHOD IMPLEMENTING THE SAME - A method of performing cascaded flashcopy (FC) including starting a flashcopy map when a target disk is already a source of an active FC map. A computer storage system includes a configuration that allows a flashcopy (FC) map to be started when a target disk is already the source of an active FC map. | 10-18-2012 |
| 20120265959 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONVERTING A PHYSICAL DISK TO A VIRTUAL DISK - A method for converting a disk of a physical computer into a virtual disk for use by a virtual machine is described. Contents of the disk of the physical computer are copied into an image file, wherein the image file has a different sector-by-sector organization of the contents than the disk but a logically equivalent file system organization. Hardware configuration information from the image file is then extracted, wherein the hardware configuration information relates to hardware of the physical computer and, based on a comparison of the extracted hardware configuration information and a virtual hardware configuration of the virtual machine, hardware-dependent files in the image file are replaced with substitute files that are compatible with the virtual hardware configuration of the virtual machine. | 10-18-2012 |
| 20120272021 | MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND CONTROL METHOD FOR COMPUTER SYSTEM - To provide a storage management technique for creating and managing, with single operation by a user, a large quantity of writable snapshots, which satisfy a requirement desired by the user, while controlling a use form of a storage apparatus not to exceed limits of the performance and the capacity of the storage apparatus. Therefore, a management computer manages configuration information and performance information of plural storage apparatuses and an operation state of a writable snapshot. When a writable snapshot is created, the management computer controls, concerning an original snapshot, a use form of the storage apparatuses not to exceed a disk performance limit and a controller performance limit and a capacity limit of a storage on the basis of the number of writable snapshots to be created and a performance requirement (IOPS) and a capacity requirement of the writable snapshot. | 10-25-2012 |
| 20120272022 | DATA ACCESS PROCESSING METHOD AND APPARATUS - A data access processing method and apparatus, the method comprising: copying a kernel code and a global descriptor table on a memory of each of nodes respectively ( | 10-25-2012 |
| 20120272023 | STORAGE APPARATUS, CONTROLLER, AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING CONTROLLER - Provided are a processor generates second notification information by copying first notification information including target information about all communication adaptors in a storage apparatus; updates the first notification information, upon configuration information on the communication adaptors being modified; updates, when receiving a target information obtainment request, the second notification information with second notification information; blocks, when a predetermined copy prevention condition is met, copy of the first notification information to the second notification information; and sends, when receiving the target information obtainment request, the second notification information to the host apparatus, thereby, the load for notifying notification information to the host apparatus can be reduced, as well as preventing any inconsistency in notifying the notification information. | 10-25-2012 |
| 20120272024 | DATA STORAGE SYSTEM AND A DATA RETENTION METHOD THEREOF - A data retention method that includes sampling a plurality of nonvolatile memory devices included in a data storage device to detect retention information for each of the nonvolatile memory devices in response to a request of a host and outputting, from the data storage device to the host, sampling data based on a result of the sampling, determining, at the host, whether to perform a retention operation on each of the nonvolatile memory devices based on the sampling data, and performing the retention operation on each of the nonvolatile memory devices based on a result of the determination. | 10-25-2012 |
| 20120272025 | SELECTING DATA NODES USING MLUTILPE STORAGE POLICIES IN CLOUD STORAGE SYSTEM - Provided are a method and a server for selecting data nodes for storing an object and replicas thereof in a cloud storage system having a plurality of data nodes grouped in a plurality of storage areas. The method may include selecting at least one storage area for storing the object and the replicas thereof sequentially with a locality policy, a low-cost policy, a load-balancing policy, and a space-balancing policy and selecting at least one data node from the selected at least one storage area sequentially using a load-balancing policy and a space-balancing policy. | 10-25-2012 |
| 20120272026 | MANAGING WRITE OPERATIONS TO AN EXTENT OF TRACKS MIGRATED BETWEEN STORAGE DEVICES - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for managing write operations to an extent of tracks migrated from a second storage to a first storage. An extent object exists if the extent was previously migrated from the first storage to the second storage at a previous time. In response to determining that the extent object exists, a determination is made of the tracks in the extent having a write indicator indicating that the track was updated in the second storage since the previous time. The data for the determined tracks is copied from the second storage to free locations in the first storage. For each determined track, the entry for the determined track in the extent object is updated to indicate the free location to which the data for the track was copied as an active address for the track. | 10-25-2012 |
| 20120278567 | ONLINE VOLUME MIGRATION USING MULTI-PATH INPUT / OUTPUT MASQUERADING - An apparatus for configuring data migration comprises a host computer, a first volume, a second volume, a storage area network (SAN) configured to couple the host computer, the first volume, and the second volume, a memory coupled to the second volume, and a processor configured to map the first volume to the host computer; to copy a volume identifier associated with the mapped first volume to the memory, to retrieve, by the host computer, the copied volume identifier from the memory, to set a state of the second volume to inactive, to map the inactive second volume to the host computer, to set a state of the mapped first volume to inactive, to synchronize status data between the inactive first volume and the inactive second volume, after the copying, to start data migration from the inactive first volume to the inactive second volume, and after the starting, to set the state of the second volume to active. | 11-01-2012 |
| 20120278568 | TRANSPARENT INPUT / OUTPUT SWITCHING BETWEEN SYNCHRONOUSLY MIRRORED STORAGE VOLUMES - An apparatus for configuring transparent synchronous mirroring volume switching comprises a first volume, a second volume, a storage area network (SAN) configured to couple the host computer, the first volume and the second volume, a memory coupled to the second volume, and a processor configured to map the first volume to the host computer, to initiate synchronization of status data between the mapped first volume and the second volume, to set the mapped first volume to an active state and the second volume to an inactive state, to copy an identifier associated with the active first volume to a memory coupled to the inactive second volume, to retrieve, by the host computer, the copied identifier from the memory, and after the retrieving, to map the inactive second volume to the host computer. | 11-01-2012 |
| 20120278569 | STORAGE APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR - A storage apparatus providing a logical storage area for storing data to an external apparatus, includes a plurality of storage devices each providing a physical storage area for storing the data, the storage devices being different from each other in device property including data input/output performance, a capacity virtualization part managing the physical storage areas of the storage devices as unit physical storage areas each having a predetermined storage capacity and managing the unit physical storage areas in association with a plurality of unit logical storage areas forming the logical storage area, a tier controller managing the plurality of unit physical storage areas by classifying into a plurality of tiers the unit physical storage areas provided by the storage devices having the different device properties, and a redundant data management part managing redundant unit storage areas which are a plurality of the unit physical storage areas storing the same data. The data migration between the tiers is controlled according to, for example, an access frequency to the data from the external apparatus. | 11-01-2012 |
| 20120278570 | METHODS FOR SYNCHRONIZING STORAGE SYSTEM DATA - In accordance with one example, a method for comparing data units is disclosed comprising generating a first digest representing a first data unit stored in a first memory. A first encoded value is generated based, at least in part, on the first digest and a predetermined value. A second digest representing a second data unit stored in a second memory different from the first memory, is generated. A second encoded value is derived based, at least in part, on the second digest and the predetermined value. It is determined whether the first data unit and the second data unit are the same based, at least in part, on the first digest, the first predetermined value, the first encoded value, and the second digest, by first processor. If the second data unit is not the same as the first data unit, the first data unit is stored in the second memory. | 11-01-2012 |
| 20120278571 | MIGRATING VIRTUAL MACHINES ACROSS SITES - The invention relates to apparatus and methods for managing data swap in a migration of virtual memory data of a virtual machine. In one embodiment, an apparatus comprises a receiving unit configured to receive a migration instruction and the second site information; a copying unit configured to copy memory data to a sub-logical unit in the first storage device; and a notifying unit configured to send a notification to instruct the second host to read the memory data from a mirror logical unit of a sub-logical unit in the second storage device. The apparatus modifies a mirror direction between the first and second storage devices and modifies a path table related to the first and second storage devices. Data of the virtual machine can be migrated and swapped in a metro mirror manner, thereby the virtual machine data can be migrated across sites without affecting system operation. | 11-01-2012 |
| 20120278572 | ONLINE VOLUME MIGRATION USING MULTI-PATH INPUT / OUTPUT MASQUERADING - A method, including configuring data migration from a first volume to a second volume, which are coupled via a storage area network (SAN) to a host computer, with the first volume mapped to the host computer. A volume identifier associated with the first volume is copied to a memory coupled to the second volume, and the copied volume identifier is retrieved from the memory by the host computer. A state of the second volume is to inactive, and the inactive second volume is mapped to the host computer. A state of the first volume is set to inactive, and the status is data from the inactive first volume to the inactive second volume. After the copying, data migration is started from the inactive first volume to the inactive second volume, and after the starting, the state of the second volume is set to active. | 11-01-2012 |
| 20120278573 | ONLINE VIRTUAL MACHINE DISK MIGRATION - A method for migrating a virtual machine disk (VM disk) from first physical storage to second physical storage while the virtual machine (VM) is running, the method comprising: (a) taking a snapshot of the VM disk as represented by a first parent VM disk stored on the first physical storage, whereby a first child VM disk is created on one of the first or second physical storage; (b) copying the first parent VM disk to the second physical storage as a second parent VM disk; (c) re-parenting the first VM child disk to the second parent VM disk; and (d) consolidating the first child VM disk and the second parent VM disk. | 11-01-2012 |
| 20120278574 | METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING REPLICATION ENVIRONMENT AND STORAGE SYSTEM - A management computer collects a usage condition of a volume from a host computer and a storage apparatus at each site, consolidates management thereof, and prevents a volume from duplicating among applications as a copy source. This makes it possible to select a used volume in an application as a copy source without excess or deficiency and to create a copy pair configuration definition without duplication or incompatibility. If a replication environment is constructed in a large-scale storage system, the consolidated management of a usage condition of a volume collected from the host computer and the storage apparatus at each site makes it possible to create a copy pair configuration definition by a task constituted by a plurality of applications. | 11-01-2012 |
| 20120278575 | Method and Computer Program Product For Exchanging Message Data In A Distributed Computer System - A method for exchanging message data in a distributed computer system between a sending and a receiving hardware system. The sending hardware system includes a first memory system and a receiving hardware system which includes a second memory system with a second data buffer and a second memory region. The sending hardware system and the receiving hardware system are coupled via a non-transparent bridge unit. The method includes allocating empty memory, writing information about the empty memory, copying payload data directly from the sending hardware system to the empty memory locations, and writing information about the copied payload data to the second data buffer of the second memory system inside the receiving hardware system. A computer program product for carrying out the method is also provided. | 11-01-2012 |
| 20120284471 | VIRTUAL MACHINE DISK MIGRATION - A method and an apparatus may be provided for migrating a source virtual machine disk of a virtual machine from a first storage device to a second storage device while the virtual machine is running. The method may include creating a target virtual machine disk in the second storage device, replicating the source virtual machine disk of the first storage device to the target virtual machine disk in the second storage device, detecting variation of the source virtual machine disk, reflecting the detected variation on the replication stored in the target virtual machine disk in the second storage device, and assigning the target virtual machine disk of the second storage device as a designated virtual machine disk for the virtual machine. | 11-08-2012 |
| 20120284472 | SNAPSHOT BASED REPLICATION - Embodiments of the invention relate to data replication and block allocation in a file system to support write transactions. Regions in a cluster file system are defined to support a block allocation. Blocks in the defined regions are allocated to support the data replication. A pipeline manager is provided to schedule population of the blocks in the allocated region(s) based upon network characteristics. | 11-08-2012 |
| 20120290802 | SNAPSHOT CREATION FROM BLOCK LISTS - A method of operating a data management system includes establishing a base state for a data storage volume, generating a list of blocks associated with the data storage volume that have changed, and creating a snapshot from the list of blocks. | 11-15-2012 |
| 20120290803 | VARIABLE DATA PRESERVATION PREWRITE - In one aspect of the present description, a data preservation function is provided for preserving a set of data on a source storage device at a point in time, and includes identifying as a function of prior update usage, such as input/output usage, of the data to be preserved, a portion of the data which is more likely to be the subject of updates during at least a portion of the data preservation operation as compared to the remaining portion of the data to be preserved, and copies the identified portion of the data to be preserved to a target storage device. In another aspect, the size of the portion of data to be identified is variable. Other features and aspects may be realized, depending upon the particular application. | 11-15-2012 |
| 20120290804 | STORAGE SYSTEM FOR A STORAGE POOL AND VIRTUAL VOLUMES - This invention provides a storage system to store data used by computers. A storage system coupled to a computer and a management apparatus, includes storage devices accessed by the computer and a control unit that controls the storage devices, in which the control unit performs the following operations: setting, in the storage devices, a first virtual device including a first logical device; setting a second virtual device which including a second logical device, which is a virtual volume accessed by the computer; allocating an address of the first logical device to the second logical device; and changing the allocation to change storage areas of the virtual volume. | 11-15-2012 |
| 20120290805 | CLUSTER FAMILIES FOR CLUSTER SELECTION AND COOPERATIVE REPLICATION - An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for cooperative replication of multiple clusters. A copy request to copy a volume into a first cluster is received. A determination is made whether the first cluster is a family member of a cluster family. If the first cluster is a family member of the cluster family, a determination is made whether another family member already completed copying the volume. If another family member has not already copied the volume, the first cluster is designated to inherit the copy request. The copy request is executed and the volume is cooperative replicated into the cluster family. Cumulative consistency is achieved within the cluster family. The volume is shared within the cluster family so that all copies of the volume within the cluster family are consistent. | 11-15-2012 |
| 20120297156 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND CONTROLLING METHOD OF THE SAME - A storage system comprising a first storage apparatus, a second storage apparatus, each storing data processed by an external apparatus, each of the first and second apparatuses including a pool of a plurality of unit physical storage areas for storing the data, the unit physical storage areas being classified into a plurality of storage tiers, a logical storage area in the first storage apparatus and the logical storage area in the second storage apparatus respectively including one or more of the storage tiers that are assigned to the respective logical storage areas, the storage system holding storage tier construction information of the first storage apparatus, and a data migration controller, when the data stored in the first storage apparatus are migrated to the second storage apparatus, transferring the storage tier construction information of the first storage apparatus to the second storage apparatus. | 11-22-2012 |
| 20120297157 | INFORMATION SYSTEM AND DATA TRANSFER METHOD OF INFORMATION SYSTEM - Availability of an information system including a storage apparatus and a host computer is improved. A host system includes a first storage apparatus provided with a first volume for storing data, and a second storage apparatus for storing the data sent from the first storage apparatus. In case of a failure occurring in the first storage apparatus, the host sends the data to be sent to the first storage apparatus to the second storage apparatus. | 11-22-2012 |
| 20120303912 | STORAGE ACCOUNT MIGRATION BETWEEN STORAGE STAMPS - Embodiments of the present invention relate to invoking and managing migration operations applied to partitions within a distributed computing environment, where each partition represents a key range of data for a storage account. The partitions affected by the migration operations are source partitions hosted on a primary storage stamp and/or destination partitions hosted on a secondary storage stamp, where the primary and secondary storage stamps are equipped to replicate the storage account's data therebetween upon initiating a migration. Upon substantial completion of a bootstrapping phase of replication, one migration operation includes designating the secondary storage stamp as a new primary storage stamp such that the destination partitions commence processing client requests, sending resultant transactions to the source partitions, and providing read and write access thereto. Another migration operation includes designating the primary storage stamp as a new secondary storage stamp such that the source partitions commence replaying the transactions. | 11-29-2012 |
| 20120303913 | TRANSPARENT FILE SYSTEM MIGRATION TO A NEW PHYSICAL LOCATION - Transparent file system migration including a method that identifies a source physical storage location in a file system that supports simultaneous access by multiple independent processes. A target physical storage location in the file system is identified and its contents are migrated to the target physical storage location. The migrating includes disallowing new allocations to the source physical storage location and copying contents from the source physical storage location to the target physical storage location. A write request to write data to the source physical storage location is received prior to or during the migrating. The write request is serviced contemporaneously with the migrating. Read and write requests directed to the source physical storage location are redirected to the target physical storage location. The redirecting is responsive to the migrating completing. The requests are from the multiple independent processes and include both logical and physical input/outputs. | 11-29-2012 |
| 20120303914 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BACKUP AND RECOVERY USING STORAGE BASED JOURNALING - A storage system maintains a journal of journal entries and at least one snapshot of one or more data volumes. By assigning a unique sequence number to journal and snapshot, it is easy to find a journal which can be applied to the snapshot. A technique is described for detecting an overflow condition of running out of journal space and recovering the journal space. | 11-29-2012 |
| 20120303915 | TRANSMISSION CONTROL DEVICE, MEMORY CONTROL DEVICE, AND PLC INCLUDING THE TRANSMISSION CONTROL DEVICE - A transmission control device in the present invention includes: a data storage memory in which data are written; a plurality of data copy memories into which the data written in the data storage memory are copied; an unread copy-memory selection unit that selects one of the data copy memories for which reading of data is not performed from among the data copy memories; a memory copy unit that copies the data written in the data storage memory into a data copy memory selected by the unread copy-memory selection unit; a read copy-memory selection unit that selects a data copy memory into which the memory copy unit copies data from among the data copy memories; and a data output unit that reads data from a data copy memory selected by the read copy-memory selection unit and outputs the read data to a transmission unit. | 11-29-2012 |
| 20120311279 | DATA RECOVERY AND BACKUP SYSTEM AND PROCESS - Certain embodiments relate to an information processing apparatus and a data rescue method that makes it possible to restore an operating system while preserving certain user data on the same partition as the operating system. The system may identify a directory, prior to booting to an operating system located on a first partition, the directory comprising user files. The directory may be located on the first partition. The system may rename the user directory to a unique identifier to ensure its preservation during the recovery process. | 12-06-2012 |
| 20120311280 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR MULTI-SOURCE RESTORE - Methods and apparatus that restore a resource from a first source and a second source to a device are described. Availability of the resource from a second source may be dynamically determined after a portion of the resource has been restored to the device from the first source. If the second source is determined to be more efficiently connected with the device than the first source, a remaining portion of the resource may be restored from the second source to the device after the portion of the resource has been restored to the device. | 12-06-2012 |
| 20120311281 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR OPTICALLY BACKING UP DATA - An apparatus optical backup apparatus is provided and includes an optical storage device, an interface module to connect with at least one type of external storage medium, and a control unit to back up data from the external storage medium to the optical storage device in response to an external remote control operation. | 12-06-2012 |
| 20120311282 | MIGRATION OF METADATA AND STORAGE MANAGEMENT OF DATA IN A FIRST STORAGE ENVIRONMENT TO A SECOND STORAGE ENVIRONMENT - Provided are a computer program product, method, and system for migration of metadata and storage management of data in a first storage environment to a second storage environment. A migration request is processed to migrate metadata and storage management of data in a first storage environment to a second storage environment. First metadata for the first storage environment is copied to the second storage environment to incorporate with second metadata. The first metadata incorporated into the second metadata is modified to indicate first server information used by a second server to communicate with a first server to access the migrated data from the first storage media. The migration request is completed in response to incorporating the first metadata into the second metadata, wherein the first data objects remain in the first storage media after completing the migration request. | 12-06-2012 |
| 20120311283 | ASYNCHRONOUS REMOTE COPY SYSTEM AND STORAGE CONTROL METHOD - Before starting asynchronous remote copy in the multihop method (asynchronous remote copy from the first to the second storage apparatus, and from the second to the third storage apparatus), the first initial copy which is the copy for making the contents of the first data volume in the first storage apparatus and the contents of the second data volume in the second storage apparatus consistent and the second initial copy which is the copy for making the contents of the second data volume and the contents of the third data volume in the third storage apparatus consistent are performed. In the second initial copy, the second storage apparatus creates a journal including the update number and the data in the second data volume, and the journal is transferred from the second storage apparatus to the third storage apparatus. The created update number is acquired from the first storage apparatus. | 12-06-2012 |
| 20120311284 | STORAGE CONTROLLER AND STORAGE CONTROL METHOD - Difference information between two snapshots from a first point-in-time snapshot, which has been copied, to an N.sup.th point-in-time snapshot, which constitutes the latest point-in-time snapshot, is acquired to a memory module. The memory module stores two or more pieces of difference information. The two or more pieces of difference information comprise difference information that shows the difference between a first point-in-time snapshot and any snapshot other than the first point-in-time snapshot of N snapshots. Copy difference information, which is information that shows the difference between the first point-in-time snapshot and a specified snapshot from among N snapshots, and which is used in copying the specified snapshot, is created on the basis of the two or more pieces of difference information. | 12-06-2012 |
| 20120317382 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR IMPROVED DATA RESTORE IN A MEMORY SYSTEM - A memory module interfaces with a host system as a Dual Inline Memory Module (DIMM). The memory module includes a volatile memory and a nonvolatile memory, and provides a DIMM module interface to the volatile memory. A peripheral I/O bus interfaces to the nonvolatile memory, the peripheral I/O bus interface also interfaces to control logic of the memory module to initiate data backup from the volatile to the nonvolatile memory. | 12-13-2012 |
| 20120317383 | FAST COPY USING FILE SYSTEM BLOCK MAPPINGS - Multiple target blocks are allocated on a first storage device to store a target object. The target blocks are arranged to be in a one-to-one correspondence with multiple source blocks of a source object. The target blocks are set to a non-populated state, and target blocks in the non-populated state are populated with data from corresponding source blocks. While the target blocks are being populated, if a request is received to retrieve data from one of the target blocks that is in the non-populated state, then the one of the target blocks is populated with the data from the corresponding source block and set to a populated state. | 12-13-2012 |
| 20120317384 | DATA STORAGE METHOD - There is provided a method for storing data in a database comprising a first and a second memory. The method comprises reading a first page of data from the second memory, modifying at least part of the data read from said first page with the data to be stored in said database, writing the modified data to a second page of data in the first memory, and copying the second page from the first memory to the second memory. The data in the second page are sequentially ordered based upon the order in which the data were modified. | 12-13-2012 |
| 20120324183 | MANAGING REPLICATED VIRTUAL STORAGE AT RECOVERY SITES - Techniques involving replication of storage are described. A representative technique includes apparatuses and methods for receiving replicated virtual storage of a replicated virtual machine, including at least a replicated base virtual disk that substantially corresponds to a primary base virtual disk to be replicated. Copies of differencing disks or other forms of virtual storage updates are received at a recovery site, each of the differencing disks being associated with the primary base virtual disk as descendents thereof. The received copies of the differencing disks are arranged relative to the replicated base virtual disk corresponding to the manner in which the differencing disks were arranged relative to the primary base virtual disk, thereby maintaining the data view of the replicated virtual machine in synchronization with the virtual machine at the primary site. | 12-20-2012 |
| 20120324184 | ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PREVENTING DATA LOSS - The electronic device and a preventing data loss method adapted for an electronic device are disclosed. The electronic device includes a storage unit to store an application. The method includes the steps: running an application in response to user input. Detecting the user input in real time and starting to time when the user input is not detected, and evaluating whether the period timed reaches a predetermined time period. If the predetermined time period is elapsed, suspending the application and detecting an electric energy of a battery providing power to the electronic device; evaluating whether the electric energy of the battery reaches a preset value. If the electric energy of the battery reaches the preset value, making a backup of process data associated with the suspended application in the storage unit. | 12-20-2012 |
| 20120324185 | Storage system and control method for the same - When updating the data in each generation's logical units, the snapshot processing unit writes the update data in accordance with the update as forward differential data | 12-20-2012 |
| 20120324186 | METHOD, APPARATUS AND COMPUTER FOR DATA OPERATION - A method, an apparatus and a computer for data operation are provided. The method includes: determining, when writing data to a sector of a storage device, whether the sector belongs to an old block for a restore point of the storage device. If so, the method further includes: allocating a new block and writing the data into the new block; creating a table including an address of the old block, an address of the new block and a first identifier, wherein the first identifier has first identification elements corresponding to the sector in the old block and in the new block, respectively, and wherein each of the first identification elements has a first state indicating to read data from the old block during data restoration in the sector and a second state indicating to read data from the new block during data restoration in the sector; and pointing the address of the old block in an address index table for the restore point to the created table. Otherwise, the method further includes: allocating a new block and writing the data into the new block; and modifying the address of the old block in an address index table for the restore point into the address of the new block. With the present invention, the time required for operation on the sector for the restore point of the storage device can be saved, and the performance of the computer can be improved. | 12-20-2012 |
| 20120324187 | MEMORY-MIRRORING CONTROL APPARATUS AND MEMORY-MIRRORING CONTROL METHOD - When an update instruction for updating task data stored in a memory is transmitted through a transaction process performed by an application server, an active node apparatus generates, based on the update instruction, an update log indicating update contents of the task data stored in the memory, and then distributes, in a multicast manner, the generated update log to other standby node apparatuses each with a memory. With this, mirroring among the plurality of memories is controlled. | 12-20-2012 |
| 20120324188 | VIRTUAL USB KEY FOR BLADE SERVER - A method for sharing data contained on a peripheral device amongst a pluratlity of blade servers is disclosed. The method includes storing a copy of data from a peripheral device to a memory device. The memory device is partitioned into at least ‘n’ memory areas, each memory area storing one copy of the data. The method also includes assigning one of the at least ‘n’ memory areas to each of a plurality ‘n’ of servers. The method also includes establishing communication between the plurality of servers and the plurality of assigned memory areas via a switch controller. The switch controller is configured to access the plurality of assigned memory areas via a processor. | 12-20-2012 |
| 20120331247 | INTERFACING WITH A POINT-IN-TIME COPY SERVICE ARCHITECTURE - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for interfacing with point-in-time copy service architecture to create a point-in-time copy of a volume in a storage used by an application. A point-in-time copy request is processed to perform a point-in-time copy with respect to the volume in the storage, wherein the request indicates at least one exit, wherein the exit indicates when the exit is to be invoked with respect to an operation of the point-in-time copy and indicates a location of an executable object to execute when the exit is invoked. Communicating with the point-in-time copy service to prepare for the point-in-time copy. For each exit, determining from the exit when to invoke the exit and executing the executable object for the exit to invoke to perform operations related to the point-in-time copy. The point-in-time copy service is called to perform the point-in-time copy operation of the volume. | 12-27-2012 |
| 20120331248 | STORAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND STORAGE MANAGEMENT METHOD - An embodiment of this invention is a storage management system including a processor and a storage device to manage a storage system having one or more copy functions. The processor locates data designated to determine a backup method. The storage device stores copy function management information on the one or more copy functions of the storage system. The processor refers to the copy function management information to ascertain the unit of copy operation of each of the one or more copy functions. The processor determines a candidate for a copy function of the storage system to be used to back up the designated data depending on the data configuration in a volume holding the designated data and the unit of copy operation of the candidate for the copy function. | 12-27-2012 |
| 20120331249 | DYNAMIC DATA PLACEMENT FOR DISTRIBUTED STORAGE - A command is received to alter data storage in a cluster, along with parameters for executing the command. Information is obtained relating to one or more volumes in the cluster and information relating to devices in the cluster. A formal description of a placement function is generated that maps one or more object identifiers to a storage device set. Placement function code is generated by compiling the formal description of the placement function to computer-executable code. | 12-27-2012 |
| 20120331250 | HIGH-PERFORMANCE VIRTUAL MACHINE NETWORKING - A method for conveying a data packet received from a network to a virtual machine instantiated on a computer system coupled to the network, and a medium and system for carrying out the method, is described. In the method, a guest receive pointer queue of a component executing in the virtual machine is inspected in order to identify a location in a guest receive packet data buffer that is available to receive packet data. Data from the data packet received from the network is copied into the guest receive packet data buffer at the identified location. A standard receive interrupt is raised in the virtual machine. Thus, the kernel places the data packet received from the network into a memory space accessible to the virtual machine without any intervention by a virtual machine monitor component of the virtualization software. | 12-27-2012 |
| 20120331251 | POOL SPARES FOR DATA STORAGE VIRTUALIZATION SUBSYSTEM - A data storage virtualization subsystem (SVS) for providing storage to a host entity is disclosed. The SVS comprises a storage virtualization controller for connecting to the host entity, at least one physical storage device (PSD) pool, and at least one PSD is designated to be a pool spare PSD to the at least one PSD pool. The at least one PSD pool comprises at least one enclosure for receiving the PSD, and at least one ID-storing device to store a pool ID for identifying the at least one physical storage device pool. | 12-27-2012 |
| 20120331252 | PORTABLE STORAGE DEVICE SUPPORTING FILE SEGMENTATION AND MULTIPLE TRANSFER RATES - A host device includes a first file system, and a storage device includes a plurality of memory units and a plurality of controllers. While the host device is operative coupled to the storage device, the host device creates a second file system corresponding to the storage device and copies host content from the first file system to the second file system. The second file system is segmented into a plurality of segments, each of the plurality of segments being uniquely associated with a particular one of the plurality of controllers. The host device selects a data transfer rate to write the host content from the second file system to the storage device. | 12-27-2012 |
| 20120331253 | STRIPE-BASED MEMORY OPERATION - The present disclosure includes methods and devices for stripe-based memory operation. One method embodiment includes writing data in a first stripe across a storage volume of a plurality of memory devices. A portion of the first stripe is updated by writing updated data in a portion of a second stripe across the storage volume of the plurality of memory devices. The portion of the first stripe is invalidated. The invalid portion of the first stripe and a remainder of the first stripe are maintained until the first stripe is reclaimed. Other methods and devices are also disclosed. | 12-27-2012 |
| 20120331254 | STORAGE CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD - A storage system having a plurality of storage devices including a first type storage device and a second type storage device, a reliability attribute and/or a performance attribute of the first type storage device being different from a reliability attribute and/or a performance attribute of the second type storage device. The storage system also has a control unit and managing a plurality of virtual volumes. If necessary, a storage area allocated to a first portion of a virtual volume of the plurality of virtual volumes is changed from a first type storage area of the plurality of first type storage areas to a second type storage area of the plurality of second type storage areas while another first type storage area of the plurality of first type storage areas is allocated to a second portion of the virtual volume. | 12-27-2012 |
| 20130007388 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND CONTROLLING METHOD OF THE SAME - A storage system comprises a storage device from which a physical storage area is created for storing data processed in an external apparatus, a thin provisioning controller creating a physical storage area pool with a plurality of unit physical storage areas from the physical storage area, and creating a logical volume from the physical storage area pool, and a snapshot controller designating the logical volume as a primary volume, defining a secondary volume which is a partner of the primary volume as a combination of the primary volume and difference data, assigning unused one of the unit physical storage areas to the area into which the difference data is to be stored, and setting a volume pair created with the primary volume and the secondary volume into a synchronizing state and a non-synchronizing state. | 01-03-2013 |
| 20130007389 | System and Method for Making Snapshots of Storage Devices - A system and method for making snapshots of storage devices are provided. A method for making a snapshot of a volume includes setting the volume to a read-only mode, receiving an access attempt for the volume, and if the access attempt is a write access attempt, buffering information associated with the write access attempt in a buffer, and updating a snapshot indicator based on the information associated with the write access attempt, where the snapshot indicator includes block information regarding a block in the volume that is a target of the write access attempt. The method also includes if the access attempt is a read access attempt, providing read information requested in the read access attempt, where the read information is based on the volume, or a combination of the snapshot indicator, the buffer, and a buffer indicator. | 01-03-2013 |
| 20130007390 | CONCURRENT DATA PROCESSING USING SNAPSHOT TECHNOLOGY - A method for processing data using snapshots is provided. The method comprises generating a primary snapshot of data stored in a first storage medium, wherein the primary snapshot is a copy of the data stored in the first storage medium at a point in time; generating one or more secondary snapshots of the primary snapshot, wherein the secondary snapshots are copies of the data stored on the first storage medium at the point in time; and extracting the data stored in the first storage medium at the point in time by accessing the data included in the secondary snapshots, wherein multiple processing units concurrently transform the extracted data and load the transformed data onto a second storage medium. | 01-03-2013 |
| 20130007391 | MODULAR BACKUP AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH A STORAGE AREA NETWORK - A modular computer storage system and method is provided for managing and directing data archiving functions, which is scalable and comprehends various storage media as well as diverse operating systems on a plurality of client devices. A client component is associated with one or more client devices for generating archival request. A file processor directs one or more storage devices, through one or more media components, which control the actual physical level backup on various storage devices. Each media component creates a library indexing system for locating stored data. A management component coordinates the archival functions between the various client components and the file processor, including setting scheduling policies, aging policies, index pruning policies, drive cleaning policies, configuration information, and keeping track of running and waiting jobs. | 01-03-2013 |
| 20130007392 | INCREMENTAL BACKUP OF SOURCE TO TARGET STORAGE VOLUME - Various method, system, and computer program product embodiments for performing a backup of a source storage volume to a target storage volume are provided. In one exemplary embodiment, a flashcopy of the source storage volume to the target storage volume is initiated. The content of the source storage volume is stored on the target storage volume in a space efficient manner. The space requirement of the stored content on the target storage volume is monitored. The flashcopy is terminated when the space requirement reaches a predetermined level. The stored content on the target storage volume is copied to a backup storage medium. A new flashcopy of the source storage volume is initiated. | 01-03-2013 |
| 20130013874 | DATA STORE PAGE RECOVERY - In one implementation, a data store page recovery process includes selecting a page reference and an update record reference at a page recovery mapping based on a page identifier, accessing a backup page via the page reference, accessing an update record via the update record reference, and modifying the backup page according to the update record. The page reference is associated with the update record reference at the page recovery mapping. | 01-10-2013 |
| 20130013875 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATICALLY SAVING A FILE - Described herein are a method, system, and computer readable medium for automatically saving a file. A save score for the file is determined and compared against a save threshold. The save score is determined from a combination of autosave indicators indicative of whether to immediately autosave the file. Each of the autosave indicators that adjust the save score increases or decreases the likelihood that the file will be automatically saved. If the comparison indicates that the file should be automatically saved, the file is automatically saved; otherwise, the file is not automatically saved. The save score can take into consideration factors such as the number of dirty characters in the file and the time at which the file was last saved. Utilizing the save score reduces the number of saves performed when only immaterial changes have been made to the file, which helps preserve system resources such as battery life. | 01-10-2013 |
| 20130019073 | DISTRIBUTED IMAGE ACQUISITION, STORAGE, AND BACKUP SYSTEMAANM Cok; Ronald StevenAACI RochesterAAST NYAACO USAAGP Cok; Ronald Steven Rochester NY US - A distributed image acquisition, storage, and backup system includes a digital camera and a plurality of functionally identical independent storage devices storing digital images. Each digital image is stored as a working copy and a corresponding backup copy on a storage device different from the storage device storing the working copy. One or more storage devices store both a working copy of a first digital image and a backup copy of a second digital image different from the first digital image. Each storage device automatically sends a working copy or backup copy to another of the plurality of storage devices, automatically receives a working copy or backup copy from another of the plurality of storage devices, and automatically stores a received working copy or backup copy. | 01-17-2013 |
| 20130019074 | DATA PROTECTION SYSTEMS WITH MULTIPLE SITE REPLICATION - Systems and methods for replicating data from a first site to a second site remote from said first site are described. An embodiment includes storing compressed data on a hard disk appliance, reading said data without decompressing said data, sending said data over a wide-area-network (WAN) in a compressed state, and storing said data on a second hard disk appliance remote from said first hard disk appliance in its compressed state without performing an additional compression operation. | 01-17-2013 |
| 20130019075 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND REMOTE COPY RECOVERY METHOD - Data written in the primary logical volume of the first storage device are transmitted to the third storage device via the second storage device, the data being written in the same location as the primary logical volume within the secondary logical volume in the third storage device; when transmission of the data stops among the first to the third storage devices, the respective second storage device and the third storage device manage locations in the secondary logical volume where the data held thereby are to be written; and, when transmission of the data resumes among the first to the third storage devices, the locations in the secondary logical volume managed by the respective second and the third storage devices are aggregated, the data to be written in the respective aggregated location in the secondary logical volume being transmitted from the first storage device to the third storage device via the second storage device. | 01-17-2013 |
| 20130019076 | REDUNDANT BACKUP USING NON-VOLATILE MEMORY - Data stored in a volatile memory subsystem is backed up redundantly into first and second channels of a non-volatile memory subsystem. The data is retrieved from the volatile memory subsystem upon detection of a trigger condition indicative of real or imminent power loss or reduction and multiple copies are stored in dedicated non-volatile memory channels. The stored copies may be error checked and corrected, and re-written if necessary. The redundantly backed up data can be subsequently retrieved from the non-volatile memory subsystem, error-corrected, and an error-free copy communicated to the volatile memory subsystem. | 01-17-2013 |
| 20130019077 | STORAGE SYSTEMAANM Nagano; HiroakiAACI TokyoAACO JPAAGP Nagano; Hiroaki Tokyo JP - A storage system includes a replication source storage device equipped with a replication source storage unit storing replication target data, and a replication destination storage unit which is provided to a replication destination storage device and is a replication destination of the replication target data, which are connected with each other over a network. The replication destination storage unit is equipped with a host bus adapter which is an interface for connecting the replication destination storage unit with the network. Each of the replication source storage device and the host bus adapter provided to the replication destination storage unit is equipped with a connection device which uses the network, located between them, as an extension of a bus of the replication source storage device, and connects the replication source storage device and the host bus adapter provided to the replication destination storage unit with each other. | 01-17-2013 |
| 20130024634 | INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME - The present invention concerns one of the plurality of first storage apparatuses, prior to a file migration to the second storage apparatus, notifies to the second storage apparatus of file migration information being information relating to the file migration, the second storage apparatus calculates an increment of a load on the second storage apparatus that is generated by the file migration based on information written in the file migration information, the second storage apparatus determines whether the file migration is allowable based on a current load on the second storage apparatus itself and the increment, the second storage apparatus notifies the determination result to the one of the plurality of first storage apparatuses that has notified the file migration information, and the one of the plurality of first storage apparatuses determines whether to migrate the file to the second storage apparatus based on the determination result. | 01-24-2013 |
| 20130024635 | First Storage Apparatus and First Storage Apparatus Control Method - The object is to achieve a disaster recovery configuration in a short period of time. In a first storage apparatus | 01-24-2013 |
| 20130024636 | METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A LIMITED USE DATA STORING DEVICE - Embodiments of methods and systems for controlling access to information stored on memory or data storage devices are disclosed. In various embodiments, methods of retrieving information from a data storage device previously deactivated by modification or degradation of at least a portion of the data storage device are disclosed. | 01-24-2013 |
| 20130031320 | CONTROL DEVICE, CONTROL METHOD AND STORAGE APPARATUS - A control device includes a receiver that receives an instruction to update first data stored in a first volume to second data, and a copy processor that starts copying the first data into a second volume in response to the reception of the update instruction by the receiver and limits the start of copying of the first data from the second volume into a third volume until data that is stored in the first volume is completely copied into the second volume. | 01-31-2013 |
| 20130031321 | CONTROL APPARATUS, CONTROL METHOD, AND STORAGE APPARATUS - A control apparatus includes a processor. The processor determines, upon detecting a read error on a first volume of a storage under a non-equivalent state, a first storage area in which the read error has occurred. The first storage area is included in the first volume. The processor determines whether a write process has been conducted on the first storage area under the non-equivalent state. The processor determines whether a write process has been conducted on a second storage area under the non-equivalent state. The second storage area is included in a second volume of a storage and corresponds to the first storage area. The processor copies data stored in the second storage area to the first storage area when no write process has been conducted on the first storage area and the second storage area under the non-equivalent state. | 01-31-2013 |
| 20130031322 | Performing Redundant Memory Hopping - In one embodiment, the present invention includes a method for receiving an indication of a loss of redundancy with respect to a pair of mirrored memory regions of a partially redundant memory system, determining new mirrored memory regions, and dynamically migrating information stored in the original mirrored memory regions to the new mirrored memory regions. Other embodiments are described and claimed. | 01-31-2013 |
| 20130036279 | STORAGE SYSTEM USING REAL DATA STORAGE AREA DYNAMIC ALLOCATION METHOD - The present invention aims at preventing the access performance of a distributed memory system by accessing via cross-over ownership a track mapping information formed as a hierarchical memory. In the process of assigning a real data storage area to a virtual volume, at first, a page from a pool is assigned, and thereafter, a track is assigned from said page. The page is composed of multiple tracks into which track data assigned at host write operation timings are stored sequentially from the top. A mapping information of the virtual volume and the page is stored in a control information page that differs from the track data, and the mapping information is stored in the control information page which could only be accessed by a microprocessor having the ownership of the virtual volume. | 02-07-2013 |
| 20130036280 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AND DATA MANAGEMENT METHOD - A first storage system copies data of a virtual area of a first virtual volume to a virtual area of a second virtual volume of a second storage system, monitors accesses with respect to multiple virtual areas of the first virtual volume, updates access information related to the accesses of the multiple virtual areas, and, based on the access information, reallocates data inside an actual area of a first pool allocated to the virtual area of the first virtual volume. The first storage system sends the access information to the second storage system. The second storage system receives the access information, and, based on the access information, reallocates data inside the actual area allocated to a virtual area of the second virtual volume. | 02-07-2013 |
| 20130036281 | MANAGING SNAPSHOT STORAGE POOLS - Various embodiments of the invention relate to an apparatus and a method of managing a snapshot storage pool (SSP) associated with a storage unit of a distributed data storage system. One apparatus includes a logic module and a processor. The logic module is adapted to provide a threshold corresponding to a ratio between a current amount of storage resources used for storing snapshots in the SSP and a total storage capacity defined for the SSP. The processor is adapted to trigger an action that may be effective for managing the SSP in response to the amount of storage resources used for storing snapshots in the SSP crossing the threshold. | 02-07-2013 |
| 20130042083 | Data Replication System - Systems and methods are provided for an asynchronous data replication system in which the remote replication reduces bandwidth requirements by copying deduplicated differences in business data from a local storage site to a remote, backup storage site, the system comprising: a local performance storage pool for storing data; a local deduplicating storage pool for storing deduplicated data, said local deduplicating storage pool further storing metadata about data objects in the system and which has metadata analysis logic for identifying and specifying differences in a data object over time; a remote performance storage pool for storing a copy of said data, available for immediate use as a backup copy of said data to provide business continuity to said data; a remote deduplicating storage pool for storing deduplicated data; and a controller for synchronizing the remote performance storage pool to have the second version of the data object using deduplicated data. | 02-14-2013 |
| 20130042084 | LOOSE SYNCHRONIZATION OF VIRTUAL DISKS - In order to synchronize copies of a virtual disk, a virtualization layer maintains a first record of file system blocks of a first copy of the virtual disk that are modified during an access session by a virtual machine using the first copy of the virtual disk. The file system blocks correspond to a file system of the virtual disk. During an attempt to synchronize the first copy with a second copy of the virtual disk, (i) a second record of file system blocks that are currently used by the file system is obtained from the guest operating system, and (ii) file system blocks in the first copy of the virtual disk that are present in both the first record and the second record are copied into the second copy of the virtual disk. | 02-14-2013 |
| 20130046944 | STORAGE APPARATUS AND ADDITIONAL DATA WRITING METHOD - Deduplicated backup data of a plurality of generations are aggregated and stored. | 02-21-2013 |
| 20130046945 | STORAGE APPARATUS AND STORAGE APPARATUS CONTROL METHOD - A selector calculates a difference between the number of write operations of a first storage medium and that of a second storage medium and takes the difference as a first difference. Further, the selector calculates a difference between the number of write operations of the first storage medium and that of a third storage medium after copying the data within the second storage medium to the third storage medium and takes the difference as a second difference. Then, the selector selects the second storage medium as a target of replacement with which the second difference is larger than the first difference. A setting changer copies the data stored in the second storage medium selected as a target of replacement to the third storage medium, and changes the setting of the second storage medium to a spare and the setting of the third storage medium to a data write destination. | 02-21-2013 |
| 20130046946 | STORAGE APPARATUS, CONTROL APPARATUS, AND DATA COPYING METHOD - A determining unit selects one storage device each from storage devices of an external storage apparatus and storage devices of a storage apparatus to which the determining unit belongs. At this point, based on a copy request, the determining unit preferentially selects, within each of the external storage apparatus and the storage apparatus, a storage device including a larger number of logical volumes (LVs) which belong to copy unexecuted LV pairs compared to other storage devices therein. Further, the determining unit determines, as a copy execution target, a copy unexecuted LV pair in which a LV provided in one of the selected two storage devices is a copy source and a LV provided in the other storage device is a copy destination. A copy unit copies data stored in the copy source LV, which belongs to the determined LV pair, to the copy destination LV of the LV pair. | 02-21-2013 |
| 20130046947 | Mechanisms To Accelerate Transactions Using Buffered Stores - In one embodiment, the present invention includes a method for executing a transactional memory (TM) transaction in a first thread, buffering a block of data in a first buffer of a cache memory of a processor, and acquiring a write monitor on the block to obtain ownership of the block at an encounter time in which data at a location of the block in the first buffer is updated. Other embodiments are described and claimed. | 02-21-2013 |
| 20130046948 | METHOD FOR REPLICATING A LOGICAL DATA STORAGE VOLUME - Replicated data storage units are autonomously identified and assembled into generationally related data storage volumes. A data storage manager, implementing a re-signaturing process executed at defined intervals or manually initiated on a server or client system connected to the storage area network, scans the collection of visible data storage units to identify those related as a data storage volume. Each replicated data storage unit includes metadata that embeds an identification of the replicated data storage unit and volume accessible to the data storage manager. To assemble a set of replicated data storage units into a generational volume, the data storage unit metadata is rewritten to establish a unique data storage volume identity including information to associate the data storage volume in a lineage with the source data storage volume. | 02-21-2013 |
| 20130054909 | System and Method for Backing Up Data - In accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure, a method includes receiving second information about second data stored on a second device. The method also includes determining that the second data is associated with first data stored on a first device. The method further includes, based on the determination about the second data, associating the second data with a policy for backing up a particular type of data. The method further includes initiating a transfer of one or more copies of the second data to a second one or more storage medias defined by the policy. | 02-28-2013 |
| 20130054910 | VIRTUAL MACHINE SNAPSHOTTING IN OBJECT STORAGE SYSTEM - The storage system exports logical storage volumes that are provisioned as storage objects within logical storage containers. These storage objects are accessed on demand by connected computer systems using standard protocols, such as SCSI and NFS, through logical endpoints for the protocol traffic that are configured in the storage system. A snapshot profile can be separately defined for each of these logical storage volumes, even for those that are within the same storage container. The snapshot profile for a logical storage volume defines whether or not snapshot is enabled for that logical storage volume, the frequency of the snapshot, and the number of snapshots to be retained. | 02-28-2013 |
| 20130054911 | FAST SNAPSHOTS - Exemplary method, system, and computer program product embodiments for performing a snapshot for monitoring usage of one or more data units are provided. In one embodiment, by way of example only, a fast snapshot is configured to store a state of a computing environment at a point in time. The fast snapshot operation is performed by avoiding reference counts of one or more data units associated with the snapshot from being updated at a creation and a deletion time. Additional system and computer program product embodiments are disclosed and provide related advantages. | 02-28-2013 |
| 20130054912 | METHODS AND PHYSICAL COMPUTER STORAGE MEDIA FOR TRANSFERRING DE-DUPLICATED DATA ORGANIZED IN VIRTUAL VOLUMES TO A TARGET SET OF PHYSICAL MEDIA - A method include forming an initial bitmap from the de-duplicated data on virtual volumes, sorting discrete blocks according to frequency of occurrence to form a revised bitmap to first include a plurality of most common discrete blocks, creating a physical volume map from the revised bitmap, reviewing, from the physical volume map, an initial virtual volume of the virtual volumes contained on a corresponding original physical volume, to determine whether moving the initial virtual volume to a different physical volume reduces the total number of data blocks in the physical volume map, deleting the initial virtual volume from its corresponding original physical volume and adding the initial virtual volume to the different original physical volume to create a revised physical volume map including revised physical volumes, and writing the revised physical volumes to the target set of physical media using the revised physical volume map. | 02-28-2013 |
| 20130054913 | STORAGE SYSTEM, AND APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING STORAGE - A rebuild control unit splits a rebuild process into partial processes and instructs an access processing unit to execute the partial processes. In the rebuild process, data identical to data recorded in a first storage device that constitutes RLU #1 is generated based on data read from, among storage devices constituting RLU #1, storage devices other than the first storage device and written to a spare storage device included in a storage system. Each partial process includes a combination of an operation of reading data from a split range created by splitting a data readout target range into fixed-size intervals and an operation of writing data in another storage device based on the data read from the split range. In response to the instruction from the rebuild control unit to execute the multiple partial processes, the access processing unit executes the instructed partial processes in parallel. | 02-28-2013 |
| 20130054914 | DATA COPY PROCESSING SYSTEM, STORAGE DEVICE, AND DATA COPY PROCESSING METHOD - A data copy processing system includes a first storage device that is a copy source and includes a first storage drive in which the data is recorded and a first controller that controls the first storage drive, and a second storage device that is a copy destination and includes a second storage drive in which a copy of the data of the first storage device is written and a second controller that controls the second storage drive. The first controller performs control of instructing the first storage drive to read out all data in an order of addresses, in accordance with a read command that is issued from the second controller, and outputting the read-out data to the second storage device, and the second controller performs control of writing the read-out data in the second storage drive in a read-out order of addresses. | 02-28-2013 |
| 20130061013 | STORAGE SYSTEM, AND APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING STORAGE - A write control unit executes, for example, asynchronously a process of writing data to a first volume and a process of generating a code corresponding to the written data with respect to each partial area in the first volume and registering the generated codes in a code storing unit. The replication control unit replicates data of a replication target area in the first volume to a second volume, and determines partial areas of the replication target area, in which partial areas identical data is stored, based on the codes registered in the code storing unit and allocates the same physical storage area to partial areas of the second volume, which partial areas correspond to the determined partial areas. | 03-07-2013 |
| 20130061014 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MANAGEMENT OF VIRTUALIZATION DATA - Described in detail herein is a method of copying data of one or more virtual machines being hosted by one or more non-virtual machines. The method includes receiving an indication that specifies how to perform a copy of data of one or more virtual machines hosted by one or more virtual machine hosts. The method may include determining whether the one or more virtual machines are managed by a virtual machine manager that manages or facilitates management of the virtual machines. If so, the virtual machine manager is dynamically queried to automatically determine the virtual machines that it manages or that it facilitates management of. If not, a virtual machine host is dynamically queried to automatically determine the virtual machines that it hosts. The data of each virtual machine is then copied according to the specifications of the received indication. | 03-07-2013 |
| 20130067181 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING CRITICALITY BASED DATA BACKUP - An approach is provided for providing criticality based data backup. A data backup platform determines one or more state trajectories associated with one or more information management processes operating on at least one information space. The data backup platform further processes and/or facilitates a processing of the one or more state trajectories to determine criticality information associated with one or more data items of the at least one information space. The data backup platform also determines (a) one or more data backup processes, (b) one or more data restoration processes, (c) one or more parameters for the one or more data backup processes, the data restoration processes, or a combination thereof, or (d) a combination thereof based, at least in part, on the criticality information. | 03-14-2013 |
| 20130067182 | DATA PROCESSING METHOD AND SYSTEM - A data processing method includes storing data as segments. Data requiring processing is identified. Related data segments are identified and copied to storage in an analysis module. The module reviews the data, identifies required analysis tasks and stores the identified tasks in task storage in the module. The module reviews the tasks to identify required data. The module identifies any required data not stored in the module, and required data is copied to the module. The analysis module executes required task. The module removes executed tasks and updates the data in module storage based on the analysis output. The module reviews data in module storage to identify what analysis must be carried out on the identified data. When an analysis tasks stops, the data store is updated based on the updated module data. The data store comprises storage media and the analysis modules are executed in random access memory. | 03-14-2013 |
| 20130067183 | Logical Volume Transfer Method and Storage Network System - The present invention transfers replication logical volumes between and among storage control units in a storage system comprising a plurality of storage control units. To transfer replication logical volumes from a storage control unit to a storage control unit, a virtualization device sets a path to the storage control unit. The storage control unit then prepares a differential bitmap in order to receive access requests. When the preparation is completed, the virtualization device makes access requests to the storage control unit. The storage control unit then hands over the access requests to the storage control unit. Subsequently, the storage control unit performs a process so that the access requests are reflected in a disk device and performs an emergency destage of storing data in a cache memory into disk device. When the emergency destage is ended, the storage control unit connects to an external storage control unit and hands over access requests to the external storage control unit. | 03-14-2013 |
| 20130073819 | EFFICIENT FILE SYSTEM METADATA SCANNING USING SCOPED SNAPSHOTS - Volumes of a file system remain online, and thus available for use, while being proactively error scanned for corruptions thereon. A snapshot of each volume being proactively error scanned is maintained for the volume during the proactive error scanner processing of the volume. Proactive error scanner processing only requires access to tile system metadata to correctly process a volume for an identification of the corruptions thereon, and thus, a snapshot of the entire volume nerd not be generated nor maintained. The clusters of a volume that store file system metadata are identified and only these clusters are maintained in a scoped snapshot for the volume during proactive error scanning of the volume. | 03-21-2013 |
| 20130073820 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND DATA MIGRATION PROCESSING CONTROL METHOD - The present invention appropriately processes a write command issued during data migration processing, and completes the data migration processing promptly. A copy control part | 03-21-2013 |
| 20130073821 | LOGICAL INTERFACE FOR CONTEXTUAL STORAGE - A virtual storage layer (VSL) presents logical address space of a non-volatile storage device. The VSL maintains logical interfaces to the non-volatile storage device, which may include arbitrary, any-to-any mappings between logical identifiers and storage resources. Data may be stored on the non-volatile storage device in a contextual format, which includes persistent metadata that defines the logical interface of the data. The VSL may modify the logical interface of data that is stored in the contextual format. The modified logical interface may be inconsistent with the existing contextual format of the data on the non-volatile storage media. The VSL may provide access to the data in the inconsistent contextual format through the modified logical interface. The contextual format of the data may be updated to be consistent with the modified logical interface in a write out-of-place storage operation. | 03-21-2013 |
| 20130073822 | ADAPTIVE MAPPING OF LOGICAL ADDRESSES TO MEMORY DEVICES IN SOLID STATE DRIVES - A method for data storage includes receiving data items associated with respective logical addresses for storage in a memory that includes multiple memory units. Respective estimates of a performance characteristic are obtained for the multiple memory units. A mapping, which maps the logical addresses to respective physical storage locations in the multiple memory units, is adapted based on the estimates so as to balance the performance characteristic across the memory units. The data items are stored in the physical storage locations in accordance with the adapted mapping. | 03-21-2013 |
| 20130073823 | Mirroring Virtual Machines from a Primary Host to a Secondary Host - A method for mirroring virtual machines from a primary host to a secondary host. The method includes tracking changes for each of a plurality of memory pages and processor states for one or more primary host virtual machines. Responsive to an occurrence of a checkpoint, the primary host virtual machines are stopped. A determination is made if each of the memory pages is frequently changed. In response to the memory page being frequently changed, the frequently changed memory page is marked as being writeable and copied to a buffer. In response to the memory page being infrequently changed, the infrequently changed memory page is marked as being read only. The one or more primary host virtual machines are resumed. A copy of the memory pages, the buffer and changes to the processor states are transmitted to the secondary host. | 03-21-2013 |
| 20130073824 | COPYING SEGMENTS OF A VIRTUAL RESOURCE DEFINITION - Segments of a virtual resource definition are copied from an existing virtual resource to create a new virtual resource definition or modifying an existing one to simplify virtualization management. The virtualization manager divides a virtual resource definition into a number of reusable segments. A user may then select one or more segments and place them into a new or existing virtual resource definition. The user can choose to mix and match segments to quickly create or modify a virtual resource definition such as a virtual server, virtual printer or virtual data storage. Any default information in the new virtual resource or old information in the existing resource is replaced by the information in the copied segment. Any dependencies in the existing virtual resource are resolved with user input to break the dependencies or copy dependent data. | 03-21-2013 |
| 20130080722 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND VOLUME PAIR SYNCHRONIZATION METHOD - To inhibit the occurrence of communication failures in the system in which a secondary storage control apparatus acquires journal data from a primary storage control apparatus and writes the data to a secondary volume. | 03-28-2013 |
| 20130080723 | MANAGEMENT SERVER AND DATA MIGRATION METHOD - A management server and a data migration method enabling a storage apparatus to be replaced while retaining data consistency and without halting access by a host apparatus are proposed. | 03-28-2013 |
| 20130080724 | STORAGE APPARATUS, CONTROL METHOD FOR STORAGE APPARATUS, AND STORAGE SYSTEM - A storage apparatus includes a memory that stores data groups, a rearranging unit that rearranges a transmission group order of the data groups based on each of storage positions in a storage device provided in a copy destination storage apparatus in which the each of data groups is to be stored, and a transmitting unit that transmits the data groups rearranged by the rearranging unit to the copy destination storage apparatus. | 03-28-2013 |
| 20130080725 | CONTROL APPARATUS, CONTROL METHOD, AND STORAGE APPARATUS - A control apparatus includes an identifying unit for detecting, upon receiving a request for creating a second bitmap during copying of data from a first storage area to a second storage area, a bit group in which bit values “1” and “0” are present among bit groups of a first bitmap that correspond to respective bits of the second bitmap and identifying a bit having the bit value “1” in the detected bit group, a copy processing unit for copying data managed by the identified bit to the second storage area and changing the bit value of the identified bit from “1” to “0”, and a setting unit for setting the bit value of the bit of the second bitmap that corresponds to the bit group of the first bitmap when the bit value of the identified bit is changed to “0”. | 03-28-2013 |
| 20130086341 | BACKUP STORAGE MANAGEMENT - Methods, systems, and computer-readable media with executable instructions stored thereon for backup storage management are provided. A utilization threshold can be defined for each of a number of virtual tape Libraries (VTLs). A number of slipped backup jobs can be identified, wherein each of the number of slipped backup jobs is associated with one of the number of VTLs. A number of storage statistics for each of the number of VTLs can be collected and storage can be allocated for each of the number of slipped backup jobs via a VTL backup storage manager that analyzes the utilization threshold, the number of slipped backup jobs, and the number of storage statistics for each of the number of VTLs. | 04-04-2013 |
| 20130086342 | MAINTAINING MULTIPLE TARGET COPIES - Provided are techniques for maintaining instant virtual copies. A request to perform an instant virtual copy operation to create an instant virtual copy from a first volume to a new volume is received. It is determined that the first volume has not been modified since a last instant virtual copy operation has been performed. It is determined whether an intermediate volume and an intermediate map have already been created. In response to determining that the intermediate volume and the intermediate map have not already been created, the intermediate volume and the intermediate map are created, the intermediate volume is made dependent on the first volume in a dependency chain based on the intermediate map, and the new volume is made dependent on the intermediate volume in the dependency chain. | 04-04-2013 |
| 20130086343 | MAINTAINING MULTIPLE TARGET COPIES - Provided are techniques for maintaining instant virtual copies. A request to perform an instant virtual copy operation to create an instant virtual copy from a first volume to a new volume is received. It is determined that the first volume has not been modified since a last instant virtual copy operation has been performed. It is determined whether an intermediate volume and an intermediate map have already been created. In response to determining that the intermediate volume and the intermediate map have not already been created, the intermediate volume and the intermediate map are created, the intermediate volume is made dependent on the first volume in a dependency chain based on the intermediate map, and the new volume is made dependent on the intermediate volume in the dependency chain. | 04-04-2013 |
| 20130086344 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND STORAGE SYSTEM NETWORK - A storage system includes a first storage unit, a second storage unit and a controller to receive a write request for updated data to a first storage unit from the host and write the updated data into the first storage area, when the controller determines that there is not a free area in a storage area to be processed in the second storage unit, the controller changes the storage area to be processed to another storage area to be processed and instructs change of a storage area to be processed to another storage system to be connected to the host, and the controller reads the updated data from the first storage unit and transmits the updated data and writing destination information relating to the updated data to another storage system for backup. | 04-04-2013 |
| 20130086345 | STORAGE APPARATUS, CONTROL APPARATUS, AND STORAGE APPARATUS CONTROL METHOD - In a storage apparatus, when a received backup instruction is a backup start instruction, a control unit performs a backup process from a position indicated by an available area start pointer. When the received backup instruction is a backup end instruction, the control unit releases an allocated backup area. In addition, the control unit determines whether the released backup area is adjacent to a position indicated by an available area end pointer. If determining that the released backup are is adjacent to the position indicated by the available area end pointer, the control unit moves the available area end pointer indicating the end of an available area to the end of the released backup area. | 04-04-2013 |
| 20130086346 | DATA STORAGE APPARATUS - A method for controlling a storage apparatus connectable to a server, the storage apparatus including a first storage area and a second storage area for storing data, the method comprises: copying the data stored in the first storage area into the second storage area; copying data stored in the location of the first storage area addressed by the command to be accessed by the server into the location of the second storage area before execution of the command when the storage apparatus receives a command for accessing data stored in a location of either of the first storage area and second storage area from the server; and executing the command for accessing at least one of the location in the first storage area and the corresponding location in the second storage area. | 04-04-2013 |
| 20130086347 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VIRTUALIZING BACKUP IMAGES - Facility for using images created by backup software to recreate an entire machine as it was at the point in time in the past when the backup was taken. The facility can be extended so as to bring up a set of machines which together serve some logical business function as in a cluster or federated servers, and further extended so that an entire data center may be virtualized from backup images. The virtualized servers provided may serve as an alternate data center standing in case of disaster or to meet maintenance windows achieving low cost Instant Disaster Recovery. A set of virtual machines may stand in for physical machines for a period of time and then resynchronized or re-seeded to physical machines via a combination of bare metal recovery and re-synchronizing from live LUNs that form the virtual machine disks. | 04-04-2013 |
| 20130091333 | BACKUP OPTIMIZATION - A device includes a data collector module, a policy module, and an optimizer module. The data collector module is to collect values for a plurality of device parameters. The policy module is to receive the values for the plurality of device parameters and update a policy table. The optimizer module is to receive the policy table from the policy module, determine, based on the policy table, whether to proceed with buffered input/output or un-buffered input/output for a read call, and instruct a read module of a backup application to proceed with either buffered input/output or un-buffered input/output for the read call. | 04-11-2013 |
| 20130091334 | METHOD FOR DATA BACKUP, DEVICE AND SYSTEM - A method for backing up data in a data center, device and system are provided. The data in all the VMs of one data center can be backed up simultaneously, and the associations between the VMs are also backed up during the backup, so it is unnecessary to concern the recovery orders of the VMs when the data of the data center is recovered. Meanwhile, when the stored data is exported from the hypervisor node, it is unnecessary to notify the upper layer OS for a backup, thereby improving the data backup efficiency and reducing the system logical complexity. | 04-11-2013 |
| 20130097397 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR AUTOMATED BACKUPS AND RECOVERY ON MULTI-OS PLATFORMS USING CONTROLLER BASED SNAPSHOTS - A method for backing up and restoring data across multiple operating systems executed by a computing product executing computer implemented instructions, wherein each operating system includes a daemon. Embodiments may include receiving a backup initiation trigger from an initial, daemon on an initial operating system. This method may include relaying the backup initiation trigger to other daemons on other operating systems. This method may also include receiving snapshot requests from the other daemons, wherein each of the snapshot requests are requests for snapshots of storage associated with an operating system of one of the other operating systems. This method may further include sending received snapshot requests from the other daemons to a storage controller. | 04-18-2013 |
| 20130097398 | GENERATING AND USING CHECKPOINTS IN A VIRTUAL COMPUTER SYSTEM - To generate a checkpoint for a virtual machine (VM), first, while the VM is still running, a copy-on-write (COW) disk file is created pointing to a parent disk file that the VM is using. Next, the VM is stopped, the VM's memory is marked COW, the device state of the VM is saved to memory, the VM is switched to use the COW disk file, and the VM begins running again for substantially the remainder of the checkpoint generation. Next, the device state that was stored in memory and the unmodified VM memory pages are saved to a checkpoint file. Also, a copy may be made of the parent disk file for retention as part of the checkpoint, or the original parent disk file may be retained as part of the checkpoint. If a copy of the parent disk file was made, then the COW disk file may be committed to the original parent disk file. | 04-18-2013 |
| 20130111163 | Multiple Computing Environments On A Computer System | 05-02-2013 |
| 20130111164 | HARDWARE COMPRESSION USING COMMON PORTIONS OF DATA | 05-02-2013 |
| 20130111165 | COMPUTER PRODUCT, WRITING CONTROL METHOD, WRITING CONTROL APPARATUS, AND SYSTEM | 05-02-2013 |
| 20130111166 | Copying data in a dispersed storage network without replication | 05-02-2013 |
| 20130111167 | Uncached Static Short Address Translation Table in the Cache Coherent Computer System | 05-02-2013 |
| 20130117514 | Addressing Cross-Allocated Blocks in a File System - A mechanism is provided for cross-allocated block repair in a mounted file system. A set of cross-allocated blocks are identified from a plurality of blocks within an inode of the mounted file system, based on a corresponding bit associated with each cross-allocated block in a duplicated block information bitmap being in a first identified state. The set of cross-allocated blocks are repaired using a user-defined repair process. Then one or more of the set of cross-allocated blocks are deallocated based on results of the user-defined repair process. | 05-09-2013 |
| 20130117515 | Primary Data Storage System with Data Tiering - The invention is directed to a primary data storage system for use in a computer network in which a network allows user computers to transfer data to/from the primary data storage system. In one embodiment, the primary data storage system implements a tiering strategy to move data between stores with different characteristics so as to match the characteristics of the data to the characteristics of one of the stores. | 05-09-2013 |
| 20130117516 | Primary Data Storage System with Staged Deduplication - The invention is directed to a primary data storage system for use in a computer network in which a network allows user computers to transfer data to and/or from the primary data storage system. In one embodiment of the invention, the storage processor operates to analyze the data associated with write block commands that relate to different storage locations in a data store system that is associated with the primary data storage system so as to identify the potential writing of the block(s) of the same data to the data store system and prevent the writing of such blocks of data. | 05-09-2013 |
| 20130117517 | DATA ALLOCATION SYSTEM - A data control system facilitates transfer of a virtual disk from a primary storage system to a secondary storage system. The data control system, responsive to an instruction to transfer the virtual disk, wherein the virtual disk comprises a plurality of data blocks, determines whether each of the plurality of data blocks is allocated or unallocated; for each data block of the plurality of data blocks determined to be allocated, the data control system reads the data block from memory in the primary storage system and transfers the data block for storage in the secondary storage system; and for each data block of the plurality of data blocks determined to be unallocated, the data control system refrains from reading the data block from memory in the primary storage system. | 05-09-2013 |
| 20130117518 | SYSTEM CONTROLLER, INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM AND METHOD OF SAVING AND RESTORING DATA IN THE INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM - A system controller ( | 05-09-2013 |
| 20130124807 | Enhanced Software Application Platform - A system includes information for generating a first appliance based on first appliance information, information for generating a second appliance based on second appliance information, and information for configuring communication between the first appliance and the second appliance. The system further includes at least one processor configured to generate a first volume by copying the first appliance information using a first set of parameters associated with an environment in which the first volume is situated, and generate a second volume by copying the second appliance information using a second set of parameters associated with an environment in which the second volume is situated. The system also includes at least one processor configured to initiate a first appliance instance by executing code from the first volume using information in the third volume, and initiate a second appliance instance by executing code in the second volume using information in a fourth volume. | 05-16-2013 |
| 20130124808 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND STORAGE SUBSYSTEM - Storage system arrangements having status information including both copy group summary status information providing a status of a group of the plurality of copy pairs, and detailed status information detailing a status of a copy pair included in the group; and wherein said status management unit monitors the status information of said plurality of copy pairs, wherein the management computer acquires, from the storage apparatus, the copy group summary status information as summary information for a group of the plurality of copy pairs having a failure status for the group, and displays said summary information on said display, if the summary information indicates a normal status, the management computer displays the summary information only; and if the summary information indicates a failure status, the management computer displays, upon receiving selection of said summary information, detailed status information of a copy pair that belongs to the group. | 05-16-2013 |
| 20130132691 | APPROACHES FOR EFFICIENT PHYSICAL TO VIRTUAL DISK CONVERSION - Approaches for providing a guest operating system to a virtual machine. A read-only copy of one or more disk volumes, including a boot volume, is created. A copy of a master boot record (MBR) for the one or more disk volumes is also stored. The read-only copy may be, but need not be, made using a Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS). A virtual disk, for use by the virtual machine, is created based on the read-only copy of the one or more disk volumes and the copy of the master boot record (MBR), wherein the virtual disk comprises the guest operating system used by the virtual machine. In this way, a single installed operating system may provide both the host operating system and the guest operating system. | 05-23-2013 |
| 20130132692 | STORAGE DEVICES AND STORAGE SYSTEMS - A storage device is one of a plurality of storage devices storing replicas of data. The storage device includes a memory and a processor coupled to the memory. The processor executes a process includes transmitting an update request to at least one destination storage device through a plurality of paths when the storage device is requested to update the data by a client. The process includes notifying the client that the updating of the data has been completed when having received a response through one of the paths, the response being issued by the destination storage device serving as the terminal point of the path when the destination storage device receives the update request through all the paths having the destination storage device as the terminal point. | 05-23-2013 |
| 20130132693 | ASYNCHRONOUS REMOTE COPY SYSTEM AND STORAGE CONTROL METHOD - In a previous storage apparatus, differential JNLs are reflected in order of the sequential numbers, to the data volumes thereof. If a first storage apparatus is suspended, it is determined which is newer: the sequential number which the journal recently reflected in a second storage apparatus or the sequential number reflected in a third storage apparatus. In the newer storage apparatus having the newer sequential number, it is determined whether one or more JNLs from the journal having the sequential number next to the sequential number which is not determined to be the newer to the journal having the sequential number determined to be the newer exist, or not. If the result of the determination is positive, from the newer storage apparatus to the previous storage apparatus which is not the newer of the second and the third storage apparatuses, one or more differential JNLs are copied. | 05-23-2013 |
| 20130138901 | IIMPLEMENTING MEMORY PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND ENHANCED MEMORY RELIABILITY ACCOUNTING FOR THERMAL CONDITIONS - A method, system and computer program product implement memory performance management and enhanced memory reliability of a computer system accounting for system thermal conditions. When a primary memory temperature reaches an initial temperature threshold, reads are suspended to the primary memory and reads are provided to a mirrored memory in a mirrored memory pair, and writes are provided to both the primary memory and the mirrored memory. If the primary memory temperature reaches a second temperature threshold, write operations to the primary memory are also stopped and the primary memory is turned off with DRAM power saving modes such as self timed refresh (STR), and the reads and writes are limited to the mirrored memory in the mirrored memory pair. When the primary memory temperature decreases to below the initial temperature threshold, coherency is recovered by writing a coherent copy from the mirrored memory to the primary memory. | 05-30-2013 |
| 20130138902 | Optimizing Migration/Copy of De-Duplicated Data - A mechanism is provided for optimizing migration/copying of de-duplicated data from an internal storage system to a removable storage system. A preliminary number of clusters to be generated are determined for sets of data objects stored on the internal storage system based on a number of the sets of data objects. The preliminary number of clusters is generated based on shortest distances between the sets of data objects, each cluster comprising one or more sets of data objects and each set of data objects comprising one or more chunks of data. A chosen cluster is identified from a set of clusters by identifying a cluster having a greatest number of common chunks within as few sets of data objects. Responsive to an export-size of the chosen cluster failing to exceed the available storage capacity of the removable storage system, the chosen cluster is exported to the removable storage system. | 05-30-2013 |
| 20130138903 | COMPUTER SYSTEM - In an aspect of the invention, a primary storage system (P system) manages write times of write data of one or more primary volumes (P volumes). The P system sequentially sends journals including write data of the P volumes and values indicating order of writing the write data of the P volumes to the secondary storage system (S system). The S system sequentially stores the write data in the journals from the P system to one or more secondary volumes (S volumes) according to the values. The S system sends identification information on the latest write data of the S volumes to the P system. The P system sends a management system information to indicate the latency between the write time of the data identified with the identification information and the write time of the latest data of the P volumes at the time of receipt of the identification information. | 05-30-2013 |
| 20130138904 | STORAGE DEVICE, CONTROLLER, AND COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM HAVING STORED THEREIN PROGRAM - A storage device including a copy processor that carries out a copying process of storing the copy of the data stored in the copy-source volume into the copy-destination volume; a copying manager that prepares copying related to the copying process and sets the copying process to a stand-by state; an activation manager that sets activation target data representing a target to be activated for the copying process in response to an activation instruction from a superior device; and a copy controller that cancels the stand-by state of the copying process, being set the activation target data for, and causes the copy processor to carry out the copying process. This configuration makes it possible to back up data of multiple copy sessions, ensuring integrity in timing of data to be backed up without lowering the capability of an I/O process. | 05-30-2013 |
| 20130138905 | MANAGING MEMORY DATA RECOVERY UPON POWER LOSS - A single segment data structure and method for storing data objects employing a single segment data object having a header and a data record. The header includes a segment length field describing the length of memory reserved for the data record and the data record contains at least one data instance object. Each of the data instance objects has a data instance header and data field. The header includes a data instance state field and a data instance length field. The data instance length field contains data representing the length of the data instance data field allowing for variable length “in place” updating. The data instance state field contains data representing an object state of the instance data. Only one of the data instance objects of the data record of the single segment data object has a valid object state. The state field facilitates a power loss recovery process. | 05-30-2013 |
| 20130145108 | ADVANCING AND REWINDING A REPLAYED PROGRAM EXECUTION - In an embodiment, a data processing system comprises a storage system coupled to a unit under test comprising a heap memory, a static memory and a stack; second logic operable to perform: detecting one or more changes in a first state of the heap memory and the static memory; storing, in the storage system, as a state point of the unit under test, the one or more changes in the first state of the heap memory and the static memory; third logic operable to perform: receiving a request to change the memory under test to a particular state point; in response to the request, loading the particular state point from the storage system and applying the particular state point to the heap memory and the static memory to result in changing the heap memory and the static memory to a second state that is substantially equivalent to the first state. | 06-06-2013 |
| 20130145109 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR AND STORAGE MEDIUM - The invention relates to an information processing apparatus which performs mirroring for synchronizing storage contents of a first storage unit and a second storage unit. If mirroring is valid when the information processing apparatus is started, the information processing apparatus detects a storage unit attached to itself. If a detection result indicates that no storage unit has been detected or one storage unit has been detected, the information processing apparatus displays, on a display unit, a connection acknowledgement screen for the storage unit which has not been detected. If the detection result indicates that two storage units have been detected, activation processing is executed for the information processing apparatus. | 06-06-2013 |
| 20130145110 | STORAGE CONTROLLER AND DATA MANAGEMENT METHOD - This storage controller providing a volume for storing data transmitted from a host system includes a management unit for managing the data written in the volume with a first block area, or a second block area in the first block area which is smaller than the first block area; a snapshot acquisition unit for acquiring a snapshot of the volume at a prescribed timing; and a transfer unit for transferring the data of the volume acquired with the snapshot of the snapshot acquisition unit to an external device with the first block area or the second block area. | 06-06-2013 |
| 20130145111 | MEMORY CONTROL DEVICE, INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE, AND CONTROL METHOD FOR MEMORY CONTROL DEVICE - When the number of memories in memory clusters ( | 06-06-2013 |
| 20130151802 | FORMAT-PRESERVING DEDUPLICATION OF DATA - Data blocks are copied from a source (e.g., a source virtual disk) to a target (e.g., a target virtual disk). The source virtual disk format is preserved on the target virtual disk. Offsets for extents stored in the target virtual disk are converted to offsets for corresponding extents in the source virtual disk. A map of the extents for the source virtual disk can therefore be used to create, for deduplication, segments of data that are aligned to boundaries of the extents in the target virtual disk. | 06-13-2013 |
| 20130159644 | DATA STORAGE DEVICE GENERATING REDUNDANCY FOR DATA PATH PROTECTION OF A PARITY SECTOR - A data storage device is disclosed comprising a non-volatile memory. A write command is received comprising a first logical block address (LBA) and first user data, and a second LBA and second user data. The first LBA is mapped to a first physical block address (PBA) for addressing a first memory segment. The second LBA is mapped to a second PBA for addressing a second memory segment. First redundancy is generated in response to the first user data, second redundancy in generated in response to the second user data, and parity data is generated in response to the first and second user data. Third redundancy is generated in response to the parity data and in response to at least one of the first LBA and the first PBA and at least one of the second LBA and the second PBA. | 06-20-2013 |
| 20130159645 | DATA SELECTION FOR MOVEMENT FROM A SOURCE TO A TARGET - In one aspect of the present description, in connection with storing a first deduplicated data object in a primary storage pool, described operations include determining the duration of time that the first data object has resided in the primary storage pool, and comparing the determined duration of time to a predetermined time interval. In addition, described operations include, after the determined duration of time meets or exceeds the predetermined time interval, determining if the first data object has an extent referenced by another data object, and determining whether to move the first data object from the primary storage pool to a secondary storage pool as a function of whether the first data object has an extent referenced by another data object after the determined duration of time meets or exceeds the predetermined time interval. Other features and aspects may be realized, depending upon the particular application. | 06-20-2013 |
| 20130159646 | SELECTING FILES TO BACKUP IN A BLOCK LEVEL BACKUP - Provided are a computer program product, method, and system for backing-up a volume of blocks of data in a storage system. Selection is received of selected files in a volume indicating files to backup. A determination is made from the selected files blocks in the files to backup. A volume backup map is generated indicating the determined blocks to backup. A file list of the selected files to backup and the volume backup map are stored in backup information for the backup. The blocks indicated to backup in the volume backup map are copied to a backup file on a block-by-block basis. | 06-20-2013 |
| 20130159647 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AND RECLAMATION CONTROL METHOD - A computer system and reclamation control method capable of effectively utilizing storage resources of a storage system even under the circumstance where the storage system is operated according to thin provisioning and a file server can obtain snapshots. | 06-20-2013 |
| 20130159648 | DATA SELECTION FOR MOVEMENT FROM A SOURCE TO A TARGET - In one aspect of the present description, in connection with storing a first deduplicated data object in a primary storage pool, described operations include determining the duration of time that the first data object has resided in the primary storage pool, and comparing the determined duration of time to a predetermined time interval. In addition, described operations include, after the determined duration of time meets or exceeds the predetermined time interval, determining if the first data object has an extent referenced by another data object, and determining whether to move the first data object from the primary storage pool to a secondary storage pool as a function of whether the first data object has an extent referenced by another data object after the determined duration of time meets or exceeds the predetermined time interval. Other features and aspects may be realized, depending upon the particular application. | 06-20-2013 |
| 20130159649 | Selecting a Primary-Secondary Host Pair for Mirroring Virtual Machines - A method for mirroring virtual machines from a primary host to a secondary host. The method includes tracking changes for each of a plurality of memory pages and processor states for one or more primary host virtual machines. Responsive to an occurrence of a checkpoint, the primary host virtual machines are stopped. A determination is made if each of the memory pages is frequently changed. In response to the memory page being frequently changed, the frequently changed memory page is marked as being writeable and copied to a buffer. In response to the memory page being infrequently changed, the infrequently changed memory page is marked as being read only. The one or more primary host virtual machines are resumed. A copy of the memory pages, the buffer and changes to the processor states are transmitted to the secondary host. | 06-20-2013 |
| 20130159650 | BACKUP METHOD AND INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS - A backup method may include discontinuing a process of a working system virtual machine (VM) operating within a physical machine (PM) of a processing apparatus, first duplicating data of a state of the working system VM in a memory of the PM, as a duplicating system VM, second duplicating data of contents of a working system virtual recording medium used to realize the working system VM, in a duplicating system virtual recording medium forming the duplicating system VM, within a storage apparatus of the processing apparatus, and resuming the process of the working system VM, The discontinuing and the first resuming may maintain consistency between the data in the memory and the storage apparatus. | 06-20-2013 |
| 20130159651 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND STORAGE MIGRATION METHOD - A storage system and storage migration method where migration may be carried out to an access destination of a host apparatus without stopping the exchange of data between the host apparatus and the storage apparatus. This system is provided with a host apparatus inputting and outputting requests for data, a migration source storage apparatus having logical unit(s) correlated to storage regions of physical devices for storing the data, a migration destination storage apparatus having logical unit(s). The system also has an editing unit for editing configuration control information relating to the logical unit(s) for the migration source so as to match with settings for the migration destination storage apparatus, an importing unit for importing edited configuration control information to the migration destination storage apparatus, and a mapping unit for mapping the logical unit(s) of the migration source to the logical unit(s) of the migration destination. | 06-20-2013 |
| 20130159652 | CONTINUOUS DATA PROTECTION OVER INTERMITTENT CONNECTIONS, SUCH AS CONTINUOUS DATA BACKUP FOR LAPTOPS OR WIRELESS DEVICES - A portable data protection system is described for protecting, transferring or copying data using continuous data protection (CDP) over intermittent or occasional connections between a computer system or mobile device containing the data to be protected, transferred or copied, called a data source, and one or more computer systems that receive the data, called a data target. CDP can be broken down logically into two phases: 1) detecting changes to data on a data source and 2) replicating the changes to a data target. The portable data protection system uses a method that performs the first phase continuously or near continuously on the data source, and the second phase when a connection is available between the data source and the data target. | 06-20-2013 |
| 20130166862 | EFFICIENT BACKUP REPLICATION - A system for backup replication comprises a processor and a memory. The processor is configured to determine data present in a most recent backup not present in a previous backup; transmit an extent specification; and transmit data segment fingerprints of the one or more data segments. The memory is coupled to the processor and is configured to provide the processor with instructions. | 06-27-2013 |
| 20130166863 | APPLICATION CONSISTENT SNAPSHOTS OF A SHARED VOLUME - The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for creating a snapshot of a shared volume that is application consistent across various nodes of a cluster. The invention enables a snapshot of a volume to be initiated on one node which causes all applications in the cluster that use the volume to persist their data to the volume prior to the snapshot being created. Accordingly, the snapshot is application consistent to all applications in the cluster that use the volume. The invention also enables applications on various nodes to perform post snapshot processing on the created snapshot. The invention can be used in an existing backup system that is not cluster aware to enable the existing backup system to create application consistent snapshots of a volume shared by applications across multiple nodes of a cluster. | 06-27-2013 |
| 20130166864 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF PERFORMING A DATA SAVE OPERATION - A method includes determining, based on an indication from a host device operatively coupled to a data storage device that includes a controller, a non-volatile memory including a hibernate area, a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory interface, and a volatile memory interface, that the data storage device is to enter a low-power state. The method includes, in response to determining that the data storage device is to enter a low-power state, performing a data save operation. The data save operation bypasses the non-volatile memory interface and the volatile memory interface and copies data from the volatile memory of the data storage device to the hibernate area of the non-volatile memory of the data storage device. | 06-27-2013 |
| 20130166865 | Systems and Methods for Managing Parallel Access to Multiple Storage Systems - Systems and methods for managing parallel access to multiple storage systems are disclosed. In one implementation, a host system operatively coupled to at least a first memory system and a second memory system separates a file into a plurality of data chunks. The host system stores a first copy of the plurality of data chunks in the first memory and stores a second copy of the plurality of data chunks in the second memory. The host reads a data chunk of the plurality of data chunks of the file from the first memory system or the second memory system based on a determination of whether the first memory system or the second memory system is able to provide the data chunk to the host system more quickly. The host system may then assemble the data of the file based on the data chunk. | 06-27-2013 |
| 20130166866 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF PERFORMING A DATA SAVE OPERATION - A method includes entering a hibernation mode in a data storage device with a controller, a non-volatile memory, and a volatile memory having a first portion and a second portion. The hibernation mode is entered by copying, to the second portion, data that is in the first portion and that is flagged to remain available at the volatile memory during the hibernation mode, and powering off the first portion while maintaining power to the second portion. | 06-27-2013 |
| 20130166867 | PREVENTION OF OVERLAY OF PRODUCTION DATA BY POINT IN TIME COPY OPERATIONS IN A HOST BASED ASYNCHRONOUS MIRRORING ENVIRONMENT - A primary storage controller is configured to communicate with a secondary storage controller via a system data mover. In response to receiving a command to perform a point in time copy of a source volume of the primary storage controller to a target volume of the primary storage controller, a determination is made as to whether the target volume of the primary storage controller is a source for an asynchronous data replication operation, initiated by the system data mover, between the primary storage controller and the secondary storage controller. In response to determining that the target volume of the primary storage controller is the source for the asynchronous data replication operation, initiated by the system data mover, the point in time copy of the source volume of the primary storage controller to the target volume of the primary storage controller is performed. | 06-27-2013 |
| 20130166868 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING CONTENT TO A RECIPIENT DEVICE - The invention relates to a computer-implemented method for providing content to a particular recipient device of a plurality of recipient devices. Copies of one or more content elements of the content are generated and one or more of the copies are modified to obtain modified copies of the content elements. The content elements, including the one or more modified copies of the content elements, are stored in a storage. Selection information is transmitted to the particular recipient device in response to a request for providing the content. The selection information prescribes to the recipient device the modified copy to be retrieved by the recipient device for substantially each content element for which a modified copy is available. | 06-27-2013 |
| 20130173876 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SYNCHRONIZATION IN PRIMARY-BACKUP REPLICATION SCHEMES - A primary-backup replication capability is disclosed. A primary process and a backup process participate in a synchronization process configured to synchronize state information of the primary and backup processes. The synchronization process operates in periods of time referred to as epochs. During the current epoch, the primary process computes state update information representing changes to the state information of the primary process since a previous epoch, and also buffers output messages generated during the current epoch in an associated output buffer dedicated for use in the current epoch. The primary process initiates a new epoch independent of receiving, from the backup process, a state update acknowledgement for the previous epoch. The output messages buffered for the current epoch are released from the associated output buffer after the primary process receives a state update acknowledgment for the current epoch and all output buffers of all previous epochs are empty. | 07-04-2013 |
| 20130173877 | INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE, DATA MANAGEMENT METHOD, AND STORAGE DEVICE - According to an aspect of the present invention, provided is an information processing device including a first storage unit and a processor. The processor sets, in an external device, device identification information of the information processing device. The processor stores a duplicate copy of data stored in the first storage unit in a second storage unit included in the external device. The processor invalidates, in response to an instruction for invalidating data, the data stored in the first storage unit. The processor restores the duplicate copy stored in the second storage unit on the first storage unit at a time of start-up of the information processing device after the invalidation when the external device is connected to the information processing device and the device identification information is set in the external device. | 07-04-2013 |
| 20130173878 | SOURCE-TARGET RELATIONS MAPPING - A data preservation function is provided which, in one embodiment, includes indicating by a map, usage of a particular map extent range by a relationship between a source extent range of storage locations on a source storage device containing data to be preserved in the source extent range, and a target extent range mapped to the map particular extent range. In another aspect, in response to receipt of a data preservation command, a data preservation operation is performed including determining whether a map indicates availability of a map extent range mapped to the identified target extent range. Upon determining that a particular map indicates availability of a map extent range mapped to the identified target extent range, a relationship between the identified source extent range and the identified target extent range is established. Other features and aspects may be realized, depending upon the particular application. | 07-04-2013 |
| 20130179649 | Offload Read and Write Offload Provider - Aspects of the subject matter described herein relate to an offload provider. In aspects, an offload provider may provide a token that represents data. The offload provider may be expected to ensure that the data the token represents will not change while the token is valid. The offload provider may take actions to ensure the immutability of the data. The actions may be taken, for example, in conjunction with receiving an offload read and/or offload write, and/or in conjunction with receiving another write that, if allowed to proceed, would otherwise change the data represented by the token. | 07-11-2013 |
| 20130179650 | DATA SHARING USING DIFFERENCE-ON-WRITE - When a virtual machine writes to a page that is being shared across VMs, a share value is calculated to determine how different the page would be if the write command were implemented. If the share value is below a predefined threshold (meaning that the page would not be “too different”), then the page is not copied (as it would be in a standard copy-on-write operation). Instead, the difference between the contents of the pages is stored as a self-contained delta. The physical to machine memory map is updated to point to the delta, and the delta contains a pointer to the original page. When the VM needs to access the page that was stored as a delta, the delta and the page are then fetched from memory and the page is reconstructed. | 07-11-2013 |
| 20130179651 | TECHNIQUES FOR HANDLING MEMORY ACCESSES BY PROCESSOR-INDEPENDENT EXECUTABLE CODE IN A MULTI-PROCESSOR ENVIRONMENT - In a computing system where a plurality of processing units may execute a shared code independently, it is necessary to address data issues related to execution of the shared code and separate data. According to various embodiments disclosed herein, the per-processing unit data can be efficiently addressed in a program counter relative mode where data is accessed using a data offset value for each processing unit when the data blocks are positioned at spaces of a predetermined offset value. Further, the per-processing unit of common code in different virtual addresses is mapped to a common physical address. As a result, while each of the processing units access the exact same instruction code in physical memory it accesses a different area in memory for manipulation of data. | 07-11-2013 |
| 20130179652 | SUPPORT FOR SYNCHRONIZATION OF DATA EDITED IN PARALLEL - Fundamental methods, memory systems and processors systems to synchronize replicas of data by exchanging editing plans to replicas are first explained in Section 1. Other sections show derived methods and systems. Each derived method and system is expressed as an independent claim. Section 2 shows synchronization supported by server providing relay function. Updating of replica is performed, using editing plans arranged in a sequence determined by the server. Section 3 shows synchronization supported by server providing ordinal numbers. Updating of replica is performed, using editing plans arranged in a sequence of ordinal numbers provided by the server. Section 4 shows synchronization keeping reference consistency. Section 5 shows synchronization of edited data and edited definition of data. Section 6 shows synchronization by version control, which removes editing plans to a replica with old version before updating of replicas. | 07-11-2013 |
| 20130179653 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PARTITIONING MEMORY AREA FOR APPLICATION PRELOADING IN A WIRELESS TERMINAL - An apparatus and method for partitioning a memory area for application preloading in a wireless terminal so as to efficiently utilize the customer areas of a memory includes a memory including a customer area, which is partitioned into two areas in which different types of applications are respectively stored and is variably adjustable according to an amount of the applications stored in the two areas; and a controller for installing the applications stored in the two areas partitioning the customer area in a user area of the memory in a booting mode of the wireless terminal. | 07-11-2013 |
| 20130179654 | METHOD FOR AUTOMATICALLY BACKING UP DIGITAL DATA PRESERVED IN MEMORY IN A COMPUTER INSTALLATION AND DATA MEDIUM READABLE BY A COMPUTER HAVING THE ASSOCIATED INSTRUCTIONS STORED IN THE MEMORY THEREOF - The invention relates to a method for automatically backing up digital data preserved in memory in a computer installation to a remote backup system accessible through the computer installation via a data transmission network. This method comprises extracting and analyzing information regarding the operation of the computer installation and determining parameters of a data backup application for saving data to the backup system. Based on the result of this analysis, the digital data preserved in memory is analyzed and the digital data analyzed is classified into a plurality of classes of different priorities. The backup application is also executed on at least part of the digital data based on the parameters and classes of priorities determined. | 07-11-2013 |
| 20130179655 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OPTIMIZING LIVE MIGRATION OF PERSISTENT DATA OF VIRTUAL MACHINE USING DISK I/O HEURISTICS - Techniques for migrating persistent data between and across data stores are implemented using monitoring methods. The method includes classifying frequently updated blocks of persistent data to distinguish those blocks from less frequently updated blocks of persistent data. The less frequently updated blocks are copied from the source data store to the destination data store, such that persistent data is copied to the destination data store in the absence of the persistent data of the frequently updated blocks. The method further includes identifying a modified set of the less frequently updated blocks that are modified during the copying. The modified set of less frequently updated blocks is copied from the source data store to the destination data store, without copying the frequently updated blocks. It is then determined whether to copy the frequently updated blocks of persistent data from the source data store to the destination data store. | 07-11-2013 |
| 20130185530 | Method And Apparatus For A Frugal Cloud File System - Various embodiments provide a method and apparatus of providing a frugal cloud file system that efficiently uses the blocks of different types of storage devices with different properties for different purposes. The efficient use of the different types of available storage devices reduces the storage and bandwidth overhead. Advantageously, the reduction in storage and bandwidth overhead achieved using the frugal cloud file system reduces the economic costs of running the file system while maintaining high performance. | 07-18-2013 |
| 20130185531 | METHOD AND APPARATUS TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCY IN THE USE OF HIGH PERFORMANCE STORAGE RESOURCES IN DATA CENTER - Systems and methods described herein are directed to determining a partial migration plan to execute based on a policy. In situations where the performance of the virtual volumes is insufficient, the virtual volume should be migrated to a different storage pool or have high-performance media added to its current storage pool. A management program creates several migration plans for execution, which may include more than one partial migration plans. The plans may indicate the original storage subsystem, the target storage subsystem and a number of pages. The management program selects one of the plans, and proceeds to execute the selected plan. | 07-18-2013 |
| 20130185532 | APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR LOG STORAGE - A storage controller is configured to append data to a sequential log. The data may be appended sequentially within erase regions of the non-volatile storage medium. An order of the sequential log may be defined by, inter alia, the order in which the erase regions are filled and/or the sequential order of physical storage locations and/or addresses within the erase regions. The erase regions may comprise sequence information which may be applied in response to recovering the erase regions, appending data to the erase regions, or the like. Data appended to the sequential log may be associated with source parameters, which may include a virtual identifier of the data. The physical storage location of the data on the non-volatile storage medium may be independent of the source parameters. The sequential log may, therefore, comprise a set of mappings between virtual identifiers and physical storage locations. | 07-18-2013 |
| 20130185533 | SYSTEM FOR BACKING UP AND RESTORING THE FUNCTIONALITIES OF AN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM - A system for backing up and restoring the functionalities of an information technology system which comprises an electronic computer, the electronic computer comprising elements for accessing the data communications network, a first hard disk, a removable slider which is adapted to contain the first hard disk, a first data bank; an operations center being adapted to retrieve instructions from the data bank which are adapted to be processed by the computer on the basis of a unique identifier associated with the electronic computer, the computer being further adapted to perform operations for backing up a restore point on elements for backing up data which are present on the first hard disk, on the basis of the instructions, and operations for restoring the data on the first hard disk on the basis of a choice made by a user. | 07-18-2013 |
| 20130185534 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR VIRTUALIZING STORAGE SYSTEMS AND MANAGING DATA INDEPENDENTLY - Method, data processing systems, and computer program products are provided for virtualizing and managing a storage virtualization system (SVS) in a storage management architecture. Source data is copied from the source storage media to target data in a target storage media based on a predefined copy policy in a copy mapping table. A relation between the source data and the target data is tracked in a copy mapping table. It is determined if a copy of the requested data exists using the copy mapping table. | 07-18-2013 |
| 20130191606 | OFFLINE INITIALIZATION FOR A REMOTE MIRROR STORAGE FACILITY - An initial remote region of a first remote storage device of a remote storage system not matching a corresponding local region of a local storage device of a remote local system is detected. A subsequent remote region on the remote storage system—matching the initial remote region is identified. Data in the initial remote region is replaced with data from the subsequent remote region. | 07-25-2013 |
| 20130191607 | Using the Short Stroked Portion of Hard Disk Drives for a Mirrored Copy of Solid State Drives - Mechanisms for storing data to a storage system comprising a set of one or more solid state storage devices and a set of non-solid state storage devices are provided. A request to write data to the storage system is received and the data is written to the set of one or more solid state storage devices in response to receiving the request. Moreover, a mirror copy of the data is written to the set of non-solid state storage devices in response to receiving the request. Thus, the non-solid state storage devices serve as a mirror backup copy of the data stored to the solid state storage devices. | 07-25-2013 |
| 20130198468 | REDUCING POWER CONSUMPTION IN STORAGE SYSTEMS USING DYNAMIC STORAGE POWER MANAGEMENT - In a shared storage system for supporting virtual machines, virtual machine images are opportunistically migrated between logical storage units to free up physical storage units and achieve better storage hardware resource utilization and reduced power consumption by powering down freed-up physical storage units. The destination for the opportunistic migration of a virtual machine is selected based on the extent to which the physical storage units are shared between the logical storage unit in which the virtual image is currently stored and the destination. In situations where the demand for storage hardware resources increases, the powered-down physical storage units may be opportunistically powered up to meet the increased demand. | 08-01-2013 |
| 20130198469 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND STORAGE CONTROL METHOD - A storage system is provided with a plurality of storage devices that are basis of a pool and a primary volume and a controller that is coupled to the plurality of storage devices and the host computer and that is provided with a cache region. (A) In the case in which the controller receives a write request that specifies a secondary volume that is a snapshot of a primary volume from the host computer, (a1) the controller stores the write data that is data that conforms to the write request into a first cache sub region of the cache region and (a2) the controller transmits a response to the write request to the host computer after the (a1), and (B), (b1) in the case in which a page in the pool is unallocated to a virtual region of a write destination of the write data, the controller allocates a page to the virtual region, and (b2) the controller stores the write data in the first cache sub region into the allocated page. | 08-01-2013 |
| 20130198470 | COMMUNICATION DEVICE WITH STORAGE FUNCTION - According to one embodiment, a communication device includes a data storage device and following units. The reception unit receives data and information indicating a size of the data. The data storage device includes a data area controlled by a file system and a temporary area beyond control of the file system. The determination unit determines whether the size is not larger than a predetermined threshold value. If it is determined that the size is not larger than the threshold value, the control unit writes the received data to the temporary area, copies the received data in the temporary area to the data area after completion of reception, and erases the received data in the temporary area after copying. | 08-01-2013 |
| 20130198471 | METHOD OF MANAGING STORAGE AND STORAGE MANAGEMENT DEVICE - A method of managing storage implemented in a storage management device that manages storage to which access for information is made by a requesting processing apparatus, including randomly obtaining a prescribed number of data units from among data units that constitute the information from the storage, calculating a sample unit duplication ratio, which is a ratio at which the obtained data units duplicate each other, estimating an overall data unit duplication ratio, which is a ratio at which all data units stored in the storage duplicate each other, by using a prescribed function that utilizes the calculated sample unit duplication ratio, and outputting the estimated overall data unit duplication ratio to an output device. | 08-01-2013 |
| 20130198472 | Performing volume expansion in storage management system - Volume expansion in a storage management system coupled to a storage system via a network is performed. A request for expanding an original volume of a first cluster located at the storage system to a target volume is received. A second cluster located at the storage system is obtained. A remaining storage space of the second cluster is larger than a storage space required by the target volume. The storage system is instructed to create the target volume at the second cluster, and the original volume is expanded to the target volume. | 08-01-2013 |
| 20130198473 | BACKUP COPY ENHANCEMENTS TO REDUCE PRIMARY VERSION ACCESS - A method, system, and computer program product for performing a backup operation in a computing environment is provided. A dataset corresponding to a backup copy is examined to determine if the dataset has changed from a previous backup operation. If the dataset has not changed, a backup inventory registry is consulted to determine a current version of a backup copy. The current version is one of a plurality of available versions. The backup operation is performed using the current version of the backup copy. | 08-01-2013 |
| 20130205108 | MANAGING RESERVATION-CONTROL IN A STORAGE SYSTEM - A method of managing reservation-control in a storage system that consists of a plurality of interfaces and a common storage resource, the method comprising responsive to receiving at an originator interface a reservation command related to the common storage resource, implementing a multi-phase reservation synchronization protocol including a lock phase consisting of locking the resource on a central controlling process, backing up respective lock phase data on a backup control process, and issuing a lock phase completion indication; an execution phase consisting of executing locally on each one of the plurality of interfaces a reservation operation, and issuing an execute phase completion indication; and an unlock phase consisting of unlocking the resource on the central controlling process; backing up respective unlock phase data on a backup control process, and issuing an unlock phase completion indication. | 08-08-2013 |
| 20130205109 | DATA ARCHIVING USING DATA COMPRESSION OF A FLASH COPY - Embodiments of the disclosure relate to archiving data in a storage system. An exemplary embodiment comprises making a flash copy of data in a source volume, compressing data in the flash copy wherein each track of data is compressed into a set of data pages, and storing the compressed data pages in a target volume. Data extents for the target volume may be allocated from a pool of compressed data extents. After each stride worth of data is compressed and stored in the target volume, data may be destaged to avoid destage penalties. Data from the target volume may be decompressed from a flash copy of the target volume in a reverse process to restore each data track, when the archived data is needed. Data may be compressed and uncompressed using a Lempel-Ziv-Welch process. | 08-08-2013 |
| 20130212347 | MULTI-TARGET, POINT-IN-TIME-COPY ARCHITECTURE WITH DATA DEDUPLICATION - A method for performing a write to a source volume in a multi-target architecture is described. The multi-target architecture includes a source volume and multiple target volumes mapped thereto. In one embodiment, such a method includes copying data in a track of the source volume to a corresponding track of a target volume (target x). The method enables one or more sibling target volumes (siblings) mapped to the source volume to inherit the data from the target x. When the data is successfully copied to the target x, the method performs a write to the track of the source volume. Other methods for reading and writing data to volumes in the multi-target architecture are also described. | 08-15-2013 |
| 20130219136 | STORAGE APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING STORAGE APPARATUS INVOLVING SNAPSHOTS - A drop in the access performance to a source volume is prevented by executing various control methods according to the snapshot usage method. A storage apparatus comprises one or more storage devices which provide storage areas; and a controller which creates a logical volume in the storage area provided by the one or more storage devices, and which reads and writes data from/to the logical volume according to a request from a host, wherein the controller acquires one or more snapshots which are data images at certain time points of the logical volume, wherein the controller determines whether the logical volume is subject to abrupt load fluctuations on the basis of performance information of the logical volume and the snapshots, and wherein, if the logical volume is subject to abrupt load fluctuations, the controller executes predetermined control processing according to usage cases of the snapshots. | 08-22-2013 |
| 20130219137 | REDUNDANCY LOADING EFFICIENCY - A system comprising a processor and a memory, wherein said memory comprises instructions that when executed by said processor implement a method. The method includes loading a first portion of a set of redundancy data into a register of the processor for each redundant sector of a plurality of redundant sectors. A second portion of a set of redundancy data is also loaded into the volatile memory for each redundant sector of the plurality of redundant sectors. Loading the second portions of the sets of redundancy data comprises loading a third portion of redundancy data comprising a plurality of second portions of redundancy data for the plurality of redundant sectors. | 08-22-2013 |
| 20130219138 | STORAGE SYSTEM, MANAGEMENT SERVER, STORAGE APPARATUS, AND DATA MANAGEMENT METHOD - A snapshot volume is migrated by using a primary volume of a migration destination storage apparatus. | 08-22-2013 |
| 20130219139 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MAINTAINING A STORAGE VOLUME WITH HOLES AND FILLING HOLES - In one embodiment, a method for managing access to a fast non-volatile storage device, such as a solid state device, and a slower non-volatile storage device, such as a magnetic hard drive, can include a method of managing a sparse logical volume in which unmapped blocks of the logical volume are not allocated until use. In one embodiment, a method of sparse hole filling operates in which range locks are dynamically adjusted to perform allocations for sparse hole filling, and then re-adjusted to perform standard operations using a byte range lock. In one embodiment, a high level data structure can be used in the range lock service in the form of an ordered search tree, which could use any search tree algorithm, such as red-black tree, AVL tree, splay tree, etc. | 08-22-2013 |
| 20130219140 | PERMISSIONS OF OBJECTS IN HOSTED STORAGE - A data object is stored in a hosted storage system and includes an access control list specifying access permissions for data object stored in the hosted storage system. The hosted storage system provides hosted storage to a plurality of clients that are coupled to the hosted storage system. A request to store a second data object is received. The request includes an indicator that the first data object stored in the hosted storage system should be used as an access control list for the second data object. The second data object is stored in the hosted storage system. The first data object is assigned as an access control list for the second data object stored in the hosted storage system. | 08-22-2013 |
| 20130219141 | CASCADED, POINT-IN-TIME-COPY ARCHITECTURE WITH DATA DEDUPLICATION - A method for performing a write to a volume x in a cascaded architecture is described. In one embodiment, such a method includes determining whether the volume x has a child volume, wherein each of the volume x and the child volume have a target bit map (TBM) associated therewith. The method then determines whether the TBMs of both the volume x and the child volume are set. If the TBMs are set, the method finds a higher source (HS) volume from which to copy the desired data to the child volume. Finding the HS volume includes travelling up the cascaded architecture until the source of the data is found. Once the HS volume is found, the method copies the data from the HS volume to the child volume and performs the write to the volume x. A method for performing a read is also disclosed herein. | 08-22-2013 |
| 20130219142 | DELETING RELATIONS IN MULTI-TARGET, POINT-IN-TIME-COPY ARCHITECTURES WITH DATA DEDUPLICATION - A method for deleting a relation between a source and a target in a multi-target architecture is described. The multi-target architecture includes a source and multiple targets mapped thereto. In one embodiment, such a method includes initially identifying a relation for deletion from the multi-target architecture. A target associated with the relation is then identified. The method then identifies a sibling target that inherits data from the target. Once the target and the sibling target are identified, the method copies the data from the target to the sibling target. The relation between the source and the target is then deleted. A corresponding computer program product is also disclosed and claimed herein. | 08-22-2013 |
| 20130227234 | TEMPORARY VTOC LOCKING DURING DEFRAGMENTATION - Various embodiments for defragmentation of a storage volume in a computing storage environment by a processor device are provided. A volume table of contents (VTOC) is serialized for a volume scan operation. At least one dummy data set in the storage volume is allocated, to be subsequently filled with actual data pursuant to a degragmentation operation. Input/output (I/O) operations are allowed to occur. | 08-29-2013 |
| 20130232310 | ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN A DISTRIBUTED STORAGE SYSTEM - A system for providing block layout in a distributed storage system. A request receiver receives requests to perform a read or write operation for a data block. A memory device stores ordered replica lists and a swap policy. Each list is for a respective stored data block and has one or more entries specifying prioritized replica location information associated with storage devices and priorities there for. A load balancer scores and selects an original location for the data block specified in a request responsive to the information and a policy favoring fully operational storage devices having higher priority locations. The swap policy evaluates the original location responsive to the information and estimated workload at storage device locations to decide upon at least one alternate location responsive to the write operation, and to decide to place the data block at the at least one alternate location responsive to the read operation. | 09-05-2013 |
| 20130232311 | DATA SHARING USING DIFFERENCE-ON-WRITE - When a virtual machine writes to a page that is being shared across VMs, a share value is calculated to determine how different the page would be if the write command were implemented. If the share value is below a predefined threshold (meaning that the page would not be “too different”), then the page is not copied (as it would be in a standard copy-on-write operation). Instead, the difference between the contents of the pages is stored as a self-contained delta. The physical to machine memory map is updated to point to the delta, and the delta contains a pointer to the original page. When the VM needs to access the page that was stored as a delta, the delta and the page are then fetched from memory and the page is reconstructed. | 09-05-2013 |
| 20130232312 | POLICY-BASED DATA MIGRATION CONTROL METHOD FOR STORAGE DEVICE - In recent years, data life cycle management, in which data is relocated from, for example, a new storage sub-system to an older storage sub-system in accordance with how new the data is or the frequency of use of the data, has become important. One technology for achieving data life cycle management is technology for migrating the contents of a storage area (“volume”) of a storage sub-system to another volume without affecting the host computer that uses the volume. In the present invention, when an associated source volume (for example, the source volume in a copy pair association) of a pair of associated volumes is migrated, migration of an associated destination volume (for example, the target volume in the copy pair association) is also controlled. In this way, it is possible to control the migration of a pair (or a group) of associated volumes in accordance with the user's requirements. | 09-05-2013 |
| 20130232313 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING REPLICATION IN AN OBJECT STORAGE SYSTEM - An object storage system, such as a content addressed storage system, manages replication of objects across network locations to balance storage space and data security. Network locations set a policy of replicating each object at the object's primary network location and a secondary network location. The secondary network location creates a first replica of the object and a virtual unique identifier representing a second replica of the object at the secondary network location. Creation of the second replica is suppressed unless the first replica becomes invalid so that storage space is conserved without substantially increasing the risk of loss of information represented by the object. | 09-05-2013 |
| 20130238867 | METHOD AND APPARATUS TO DEPLOY AND BACKUP VOLUMES - A storage system comprises storage devices providing logical volumes. The storage devices are divided into a plurality of types of tiers having different performance levels. A controller is operable to control to store data to a logical volume of the logical volumes. The controller is configured to receive a command commanding to copy data to deploy a template to a logical volume of the logical volumes or to back up data to a logical volume of the logical volumes. In response to the command, the controller is configured to allocate a storage area of a tier of the plurality of types of tiers to the logical volume. The tier of the storage area to allocate to the logical volume is determined based on whether the command received by the controller is to copy data to the template to the logical volume or to back up data to the logical volume. | 09-12-2013 |
| 20130238868 | USING TEMPORARY SYSTEM TO PROVIDE CONTINUOUS ACCESS DURING APPLICATION UPGRADE - A temporary system is described to provide, during an upgrade of an application implemented using an original system, a continuous access to the application. A copy of a first data-set characterizing a first version of the application is generated on the temporary system when the upgrade becomes available. A selective access to the copy on the temporary system is enabled while preventing access to the first data-set on an original system. The first data-set on the original system is upgraded to form a second data-set characterizing a second version of the application, and a testing of the second data-set is performed. When a result of the testing indicates that the second data-set should be implemented, an access to the second data-set on the original system is enabled while preventing access to the copy on the temporary system. Related methods, apparatus, systems, techniques and articles are also described. | 09-12-2013 |
| 20130238869 | ENHANCED COPY-ON-WRITE OPERATION FOR SOLID STATE DRIVES - A method for increasing the efficiency of a “copy-on-write” operation performed on an SSD to extend the life of the SSD is disclosed herein. In one embodiment, such a method includes receiving a first logical address specifying a logical location where new data should be written to an SSD. The first logical address maps to a first physical location, storing original data, on the SSD. The method further receives a second logical address specifying a logical location where the original data should be available on the SSD. The second logical address maps to a second physical location on the SSD. To efficiently perform the copy-on-write operation, the method writes the new data to a new physical location on the SSD, maps the first logical address to the new physical location, and maps the second logical address to the first physical location. A corresponding apparatus is also disclosed. | 09-12-2013 |
| 20130238870 | DISPOSITION INSTRUCTIONS FOR EXTENDED ACCESS COMMANDS - A computer system that generates a disposition instruction and an associated access command directed to a block of data at a logical address is described. The disposition instruction and the access command are communicated to a memory system in the computer system via a communication link. Note that the memory system includes different types of memory having different performance characteristics, and the disposition instruction is generated based on the different performance characteristics. In response to the access command, the memory system accesses the block of data at the logical address in a first type of memory in the different types of memory. Furthermore, based on the disposition instruction, the memory system moves the block of data to a second type of memory in the different types of memory to facilitate subsequent accesses to the block of data. | 09-12-2013 |
| 20130238871 | DATA PROCESSING METHOD AND APPARATUS, PCI-E BUS SYSTEM, AND SERVER - A data processing method and apparatus, a PCI-E bus system, and a server are provided. The method includes: configuring address information of a PCI-E memory of a PCI-E device, so that the PCI-E device stores data received by the PCI-E device in the PCI-E memory; and controlling a CPU to access the data stored in the PCI-E memory, so that the CPU processes the data. thus a problem that in the prior art, because the PCI-E device stores the data received by the PCI-E device in a memory of the CPU, when the data stored in the memory of the CPU is accessed by another CPU, a part of a bandwidth of a bus between the another CPU and the CPU is occupied and a bus through which the CPU accesses the memory that corresponds the CPU is occupied can be avoided, thereby improving a utilization rate of the CPU. | 09-12-2013 |
| 20130238872 | SNAPSHOT STORAGE AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM WITH INDEXING AND USER INTERFACE - A system and method of managing stored data in a storage management system. The storage management system includes a storage manager, a media agent connected to the storage manager, and a primary volume connected to the media agent. Multiple snapshots are taken of the primary volume. The snapshots are indexed by associating respective information with the snapshot. The indexed snapshots are copied to a recovery volume. In this way, browsing features are enabled for the user. The user may view the snapshots in a hierarchical format, and may even view snapshot data in association with the corresponding application. The resultant recovery volume may be used to replace a primary volume. | 09-12-2013 |
| 20130246722 | STORAGE SYSTEM HAVING NONVOLATILE SEMICONDUCTOR STORAGE DEVICE WITH NONVOLATILE SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY - A storage system coupled to a host has a nonvolatile semiconductor storage device that includes a nonvolatile semiconductor memory configured by a plurality of pages, and a storage controller coupled to the semiconductor storage device. In the case where data stored in the plurality of pages become unnecessary, with this plurality of pages being the basis of a region of a logical volume based on the nonvolatile semiconductor storage device, the storage controller transmits, to the nonvolatile semiconductor storage device, an unnecessary reduction request for reducing the number of pages that are the basis of the region having the unnecessary data stored therein. On the basis of the unnecessary reduction request, the nonvolatile semiconductor storage device invalidates the plurality of pages that are the basis of the region having the unnecessary data stored therein. | 09-19-2013 |
| 20130246723 | Efficient Loading of Data into Memory of a Computing System - The method comprises receiving mapping information from a data storage system. The mapping information associates a first data chunk stored in the data storage system with a unique identifier to support deployment of a first virtual machine on a host computing system. Once the mapping information is received, the mapping information is utilized to determine whether any copies of the first data chunk have already been loaded into a memory of the host computing system in association with deployment of the first virtual machine or a second virtual machine on the host computing system. If no copies of the first data chunk have already been loaded into the memory, the first data chunk is retrieved from the data storage system, loaded into the memory, and utilized to deploy the first virtual machine on the host computing system. | 09-19-2013 |
| 20130246724 | BACKUP DEVICE, METHOD OF BACKUP, AND COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM HAVING STORED THEREIN PROGRAM FOR BACKUP - A backup device that generates a backup volume of an object volume, the backup device includes: a first storage device that stores data of the backup volume; and a processor that generates, upon receipt of an instruction of generating the backup volume, the backup volume by copying data of the object volume into a first region of the first storage device, moves the data of the backup volume, the data being stored in the first region of the first storage device, to a second region of the first storage device, the second region being subordinate to the first region, and releases, upon receipt of an instruction of generating the backup volume under a state where the data of the backup volume is stored in the second region, the data of the backup volume from the second region. | 09-19-2013 |
| 20130246725 | RECORDING MEDIUM, BACKUP CONTROL METHOD, AND INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE - A program causes a computer to execute a control process that includes: issuing, in accordance with a module in an environment, an instruction for causing a process of another program operating on the environment and utilizing a first storage region to stop an updating operation; notifying, to a process of another module in another environment from which each real storage device is recognizable, first/second virtual identification information for identifying, in a virtual storage device(s) recognized in the former environment, the first/second storage regions; acquiring, in accordance with the latter module by using the above information and a relation between the real and virtual storage devices, first/second real identification information for identifying, in the real storage device(s), the first/second storage regions; and based on the first/second real identification information and in accordance with the latter module, issuing an instruction for backing up data from the first to the second storage region. | 09-19-2013 |
| 20130246726 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR A MEMORY SYSTEM - A method for the writing and reading of semi-structured data objects into a memory system is disclosed. The writing method comprises transforming the semi-structured data object into a first data stream, allocating a first storage area for the semi-structured data object in the memory system, writing the first data stream to the allocated first storage area, and creating at least one data object locator indicative of the commencement of the allocated first storage area; and updating the inode to reflect the new storage area of the updated object locator. | 09-19-2013 |
| 20130254500 | STORAGE APPARATUS, COMPUTER SYSTEM, AND CONTROL METHOD FOR STORAGE APPARATUS - A storage apparatus of an embodiment of the invention including one or more storage drives for providing real storage resources and a controller for controlling the one or more storage drives and accesses from a host computer. The controller initializes real storage resources and manages the initialized real storage resources. The controller receives an instruction for allocating an initialized real storage resource to a first virtual storage resource accessed by the host computer. In response to the instruction, the controller allocates a first initialized real storage resource which has been initialized in advance prior to the instruction to the first virtual storage resource. | 09-26-2013 |
| 20130254501 | STORAGE APPARATUS AND DATA STORAGE METHOD - A storage apparatus executes a duplication determination, which is a determination as to whether or not a second data, which is identical to a first data stored in a first file system, exists in a second file system, in a case where a migration process for migrating the first data to the second file system is to be performed, executes the migration process in a case where the result of the duplication determination is negative, and does not execute the migration process in a case where the result of the duplication determination is affirmative. | 09-26-2013 |
| 20130254502 | INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM, INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM STORING INFORMATION PROCESSING PROGRAM - An information processing system includes a first information processing apparatus, a second information processing apparatus, and a third information processing apparatus, wherein the first information processing apparatus includes: a first reproducing unit reproducing a moving image, a first receiving unit receiving an operation related to the moving image, a first control unit controlling the reproduction of the moving image, a first recording unit recording a time elapsed and a reproduction position, and a first transmitting unit transmitting the recording result, the second information processing apparatus includes: a second receiving unit receiving the recording result, a second generating unit generating a variable for adjusting a reproduction speed, and a second transmitting unit transmitting the variable, and the third information processing apparatus includes: a third receiving unit receiving the variable, a third reproducing unit reproducing the moving image, and a third control unit controlling the reproduction of the moving image. | 09-26-2013 |
| 20130254503 | HIERARCHICAL SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PERFORMING STORAGE OPERATIONS IN A COMPUTER NETWORK - A system for performing storage operations using hierarchically configured storage operation cells. The system includes a first storage manager component and a first storage operation cell. The first storage operation cell has a second storage manager component directed to performing storage operations in the first storage operation cell. Moreover, the first storage manager component is programmed to instruct the second storage manager regarding performance of storage operations in the first storage operation cell. | 09-26-2013 |
| 20130254504 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AND DATA MIGRATION METHOD - A computer system and data migration method capable of replacing a storage apparatus with another storage apparatus and avoiding stopping data transmission or reception between a host computer and the storage apparatuses without depending on the configuration of existing storage apparatuses and other devices is suggested. | 09-26-2013 |
| 20130262800 | SNAPSHOT CONTENT METADATA FOR APPLICATION CONSISTENT BACKUPS - At least one of configuration information of a storage volume stored on a storage system and characteristics of a snapshot, including characteristics of one or more files stored in the snapshot, are identified. Snapshot content metadata, comprising the at least one of the identified characteristics and the configuration information, is created. The snapshot content metadata is associated with the snapshot. | 10-03-2013 |
| 20130262801 | INFORMATION MANAGEMENT OF VIRTUAL MACHINES HAVING MAPPED STORAGE DEVICES - Software, firmware, and systems are described herein that create and use a non-production copy of a virtual machine for reverting or restoring the virtual machine. The virtual machine is associated with an external storage device via a logical mapping. A snapshot is taken of a virtual disk associated with the virtual machine to create a snapshot copy of the virtual disk. A snapshot is taken of at least a portion of the mapped external storage device to create a snapshot copy of the mapped external storage device. The snapshot copy of the virtual disk is associated with the snapshot copy of the mapped external storage device. The snapshot copies can then be used to either revert or restore the virtual machine. | 10-03-2013 |
| 20130262802 | MANAGING DEFECTIVE AREAS OF MEMORY - Methods of operating a memory, and memories for performing such methods, include determining that a particular area of the memory is defective, locating a free area of the memory, programming data intended for the particular area of the memory to the free area of the memory, checking the particular area of the memory for data previously programmed to the particular area of the memory, and moving any previously-programmed data from the particular area of the memory to the free area of the memory. | 10-03-2013 |
| 20130262803 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AND ITS DATA CONTROL METHOD - Provided are a computer system and its data control method that enable safe backup of data and reduction in the capacity of data to be backed up. A control processor refers to a differential and, if a differential bit is “0,” encrypts data of an online VOL with an encryption circuit by using key information, and transfers the encrypted data to a second storage system. If the differential bit is “1,” the control processor performs redundancy elimination processing to journal data, thereafter compresses the journal data with a compression circuit, encrypts the compressed journal data with an encryption circuit according to the key information, and transfers the journal data that was encrypted after compression to the second storage system. | 10-03-2013 |
| 20130262804 | DATA DUPLICATION SYSTEM, DATA DUPLICATION METHOD, AND PROGRAM THEREOF - To directly and smoothly execute data update on a duplication volume while suppressing a load on a master volume, when performing backup by employing the snapshot system. The duplication system includes: duplication volumes for a master volume; a shared volume for storing duplication data of the duplication volumes; and a main control unit which manages data accesses made from a host computer to the duplication volumes and manages data storing places. The main control unit includes a data duplication control module having a function which duplicates data of the master volume to the duplication volumes when updating the master volume, and directly performs data update to each of the duplication volumes when updating the duplication volumes. | 10-03-2013 |
| 20130262805 | Method and Apparatus for Identifying and Eliminating Duplicate Data Blocks and Sharing Data Blocks in a Storage System - A method for sharing data blocks in a hierarchical file system in a storage server includes allocating a plurality of data blocks in the file system, and sharing data blocks in the file system, without using a persistent point-in-time image, to avoid duplication of data blocks. A method for identifying data blocks that can be shared includes computing a fingerprint for each of multiple data blocks to be written to a storage facility and storing the fingerprint with information identifying the data block in an entry in a set of metadata. The set of metadata is used to identify data blocks which are duplicates. | 10-03-2013 |
| 20130268738 | METHOD, APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING QUALITY OF SERVICE OF STORAGE SYSTEM - The present invention provides a method, an apparatus, and a system for controlling quality of service of a storage system. The method includes: identifying a target data object; acquiring a storage address of the target data object stored in a storage device by searching a file system of the host, wherein the file system contains data mapping the data object to the storage address of the target data object; and sending the storage address to the storage device to instruct the storage device to perform quality of service control on access to the target data object at the storage address. The present invention solves the problems of resource waste and lower quality of service in a QoS control manner, and can satisfy user requirements more accurately. | 10-10-2013 |
| 20130268739 | HARDWARE BASED MEMORY MIGRATION AND RESILVERING - Method, apparatus and systems for performing hardware-based memory migration and copy operations. Under the method, a first portion of memory in a computer system accessed via a first memory controller is migrated or copied to a second portion of memory accessed via a second memory controller using a hardware-based scheme that is implemented independent of and transparent to software running on a computer system. The memory migration and/or copy operations can be used to initialize a memory mirror configuration under which data in first and second portions of memory are mirrored, and to perform memory migration operations in which data in a first portion of memory is migrated to a second portion of memory under the control of hardware in a manner in which the memory migration can be performed during run-time without a significant reduction in performance. In addition, poison data indicating failed cache lines may be migrated or copied such that data corresponding to migrated or copied poisoned cache lines are not used. | 10-10-2013 |
| 20130275694 | MIGRATING THIN-PROVISIONED VOLUMES IN TIERED STORAGE ARCHITECTURES - A method for migrating volumes in a storage system includes identifying an extent of data (belonging to a volume) requiring migration from a source extent to a target extent. The method allocates a selected number of copiers to the extent of data to migrate the extent of data from the source extent to the target extent. Each copier is configured to copy a unit of data, which is a smaller division of the extent of data. The method monitors destages (i.e., writes) that occur to the source extent as the copiers migrate the extent of data from the source extent to the target extent. In the event the destages occur faster than the copiers can copy units to the target extent, the method allocates additional copiers to the extent of data to assist in migrating the extent of data. A corresponding apparatus and computer program product are also disclosed. | 10-17-2013 |
| 20130275695 | BACKUP AND STORAGE SYSTEM - A computer-implemented method of backing up data comprises selecting a local file stored on a client device to be backed-up, encoding the file into multiple fragments, transmitting the multiple fragments from the client device to a plurality of remote storage areas, storing the multiple fragments at the remote storage areas. | 10-17-2013 |
| 20130275696 | STORAGE DEVICE - Chunks that commonly occur in each content type are aggregated in a first container. To be more specific, a storage device used for content backup is configured with: (1) a memory device that provides a memory region for one or a plurality of first containers used to store first chunks that commonly occur in each content type among chunks extracted from the contents of writing targets, and for one or a plurality of second containers used to store other chunks than the first chunks; and (2) a backup unit that decides whether each of the chunks extracted from the contents of the writing targets is a first duplication chunk duplicating a chunk stored in the first container, and further decides, for only a chunk that is decided not to be the first duplication chunk, whether each of the chunks is a second duplication chunk duplicating a chunk stored in the second container, and then stores only a chunk that is decided not to be the second duplication chunk in the second container. | 10-17-2013 |
| 20130275697 | METHOD OF DATA STORING IN A DISTRIBUTED DATA STORAGE SYSTEM AND CORRESPONDING DEVICE - The present invention generally relates to distributed data storage systems. In particular, the present invention relates to a method of data placement in a distributed data storage system that combines high data availability with a low impact on network and data storage resources, in terms of bandwidth needed for exchange of data between network nodes and in terms of number of network nodes needed to store an item of data. | 10-17-2013 |
| 20130275698 | DATA STORAGE USING BITMAPS - A data storage system comprises a controller, a first lower performance storage medium and a second higher performance storage medium. The controller is connected to the storage mediums and is arranged to control I/O access to the storage mediums. The controller is further arranged to store an image on the first storage medium, initiate a copy function from the first storage medium to the second storage medium, direct all I/O access for the image to the second storage medium, periodically age data from the second storage medium to the first storage medium, create a new empty bitmap for each period, and in response to an I/O access for data in the image, update the latest bitmap to indicate that the data has been accessed and update the previous bitmaps to indicate that the data has not been accessed. | 10-17-2013 |
| 20130275699 | SPECIAL MEMORY ACCESS PATH WITH SEGMENT-OFFSET ADDRESSING - Memory access for accessing a memory subsystem is disclosed. An instruction is received to access a memory location through a register. A tag is detected in the register, the tag being configured to indicate which memory path to access. On the event that the tag is configured to indicate that a first memory path is used, the memory subsystem is accessed via the first memory path. In the event that the tag is configured to indicate that a second memory path is used, the memory subsystem is accessed via the second memory path. | 10-17-2013 |
| 20130275700 | BI-DIRECTIONAL COPYING OF REGISTER CONTENT INTO SHADOW REGISTERS - Embodiments of the present disclosure describe a processor, which may include copy circuitry coupled to a shadow register file and a control register. The copy circuitry may be configured to copy content from a range of a number of registers to a shadow range of the shadow register file in a forward or backward direction. The forward or backward direction may be based at least in part on a value stored in the control register. | 10-17-2013 |
| 20130282997 | COMPUTER SYSTEM, STORAGE APPARATUS AND DATA TRANSFER METHOD - Speed of processing of transferring data stored in a storage apparatus to an external apparatus is increased. | 10-24-2013 |
| 20130282998 | BACKUP SYSTEM AND BACKUP METHOD - A backup system and backup method with which the processing time can be shortened without increasing the overhead and burden on the system administrator in a two-stage backup. | 10-24-2013 |
| 20130282999 | SNAPSHOTS IN A FLASH MEMORY STORAGE SYSTEM - A system and method of managing the storage of data in flash memory performs snapshots of the data by maintaining the data at the epoch that the snapshot is performed in the same physical memory location. Data that is modified after the snapshot is then stored to a new physical memory location and referenced to the snapshot location. When a user read operation is performed, the data is read from the original location if the read operation is for the snapshot data. The read operation for dynamic data is performed from the original location if the data has not change since the snapshot epoch, or from the referenced data location if the data has changed since the snapshot epoch. Snapshots are released by dereferencing the original location if the data has been changed since the snapshot epoch. | 10-24-2013 |
| 20130283000 | Storage System Comprising Function for Changing Data Storage Mode Using Logical Volume Pair - A storage system writes a data element stored in a primary volume to a secondary volume constituting a volume pair with the primary volume in accordance with a selected storage mode, which is a data storage mode selected from a plurality of types of data storage modes. This storage system is provided with a function for switching the above-mentioned selected storage mode from a currently selected data storage mode to a different type of data storage mode. | 10-24-2013 |
| 20130290658 | Storage Control Device, Data Archive Storage System, and Data Access Method - Embodiments of the present invention provide a storage control device system and method. The system includes: a data storage device and a storage control device, where the storage control device controls the data storage device to write a first file into a first storage location, and then sends a first hard disk control instruction to the data storage device, so as to control an energy saving control performed on a storage medium where the first storage location is located, controls the data storage device to perform power on or dormancy recovery on a storage medium where a second location is located, and then reads a second file from the second storage location; and the data storage device executes corresponding operations under the control of the storage control device, thereby implementing an energy saving control on a storage hard disk, and reducing a storage cost. | 10-31-2013 |
| 20130290659 | MEMORY SYSTEM - A memory system includes a volatile first storing unit, a nonvolatile second storing unit, and a controller. The controller performs data transfer, stores management information including a storage position of data stored in the second storing unit into the first storing unit, and performs data management while updating the management information. The second storing unit stores management information in a latest state and a storage position of the management information. The storage position information is read by the controller during a startup operation of the memory system and includes a second pointer indicating a storage position of the management information in a latest state and a first pointer indicating a storage position of the second pointer. The first pointer is stored in a fixed area in the second storing unit and the second pointer is stored in an area excluding the fixed area in the second storing unit. | 10-31-2013 |
| 20130290660 | POST ACCESS DATA PRESERVATION - A method, article of manufacture, and apparatus for preserving changes made to data during a recovery process. In some embodiments, this includes recovering a backup data to a remote location, using an I/O intercept to access the recovered data, modifying the recovered data a first time, completing the modification of the recovered data, preserving the I/O intercept, and storing the modified data in the remote location. | 10-31-2013 |
| 20130290661 | COMBINED LIVE MIGRATION AND STORAGE MIGRATION USING FILE SHARES AND MIRRORING - Migration of a virtual machine and associated files to a destination host may be performed. A source host may initiate establishment of a temporary network file share at a destination location of the destination host to provide the source host and the destination host with access to the file share. While the virtual machine is running at the source host, a storage migration and a live migration may be initiated. Using the network file share, the source host may copy the associated files to the destination location. A runtime state of the virtual machine may be copied to the destination host. In a final phase of the migration, the virtual machine at the source host may be stopped, the storage migration may be completed, the copying of the runtime state may be completed, and the virtual machine may be started at the destination host. | 10-31-2013 |
| 20130297899 | TRAFFIC REDUCING ON DATA MIGRATION - Exemplary embodiments provide a technique to reduce the traffic between storage devices during data migration. In one embodiment, a system comprises a plurality of storage systems which are operable to migrate a set of primary and secondary volumes between the storage systems by managing and copying, between the storage systems, a plurality of same data and a plurality of difference data between the primary and secondary volumes and location information of each of the plurality of difference data, the location information identifying a location of the difference data in the primary or secondary volume associated with the difference data. Each secondary volume which corresponds to a primary volume, if said each source secondary volume contains data, has a same data as the primary volume and, if said each secondary volume is not synchronized with the primary volume, further has a difference data with respect to the primary volume. | 11-07-2013 |
| 20130297900 | CONTROLLER, DATA STORAGE DEVICE, AND PROGRAM PRODUCT - According to one embodiment, a write instructing unit instructs a data access unit to write, in a storage area of a data storage unit indicated by a first physical address, write object data, instructs a management information access unit to update address conversion information, and instructs a first access unit to update the first physical address. A compaction unit extracts a physical address of compaction object data, instructs the data access unit to read the compaction object data stored in a storage area of the data storage unit indicated by the physical address, instructs the data access unit to write the compaction object data in a storage area of the data storage unit indicated by a second physical address, instructs the management information access unit to update the address conversion information, and instructs a second access unit to update the second physical address. | 11-07-2013 |
| 20130305002 | SNAPSHOT MECHANISM - A memory management system for a thinly provisioned memory volume in which a relatively larger virtual address range of virtual address blocks is mapped to a relatively smaller physical memory comprising physical memory blocks via a mapping table containing entries only for addresses of the physical memory blocks containing data. The memory management system comprises a snapshot provision unit to take a given snapshot of the memory volume at a given time, the snapshot comprising a mapping table and memory values of the volume, the mapping table and memory values comprising entries only for addresses of the physical memory containing data. The snapshot is managed on the same thin provisioning basis as the volume itself, and the system is particularly suitable for RAM type memory disks. | 11-14-2013 |
| 20130305003 | STORAGE APPARATUS AND DATA MANAGEMENT METHOD - The present invention provides high-speed copying of a compressed data volume. | 11-14-2013 |
| 20130305004 | MIGRATION OF DATA IN A DISTRIBUTED ENVIRONMENT - Aspects migrate dynamically changing data sets in a distributed application environment. Writes to a source device are intercepted and it is determined whether data in the source device is being migrated to a target device. If data is being migrated, then the intercepted write is minor written synchronously to both the source and the target. Data being migrated is read from a region of the source and written to a region of the target and also to a mirror writing memory location. The source region data is re-read and compared to the originally read data that is written to the minor writing memory location. If the compared data does not match, the data migration from the source region to the target region (and to the minor writing memory location) is repeated until the originally read data and the re-read data match. | 11-14-2013 |
| 20130305005 | MANAGING CIRTUAL HARD DRIVES AS BLOBS - Cloud computing platforms having computer-readable media that perform methods for facilitating communications with storage. A request having a first-interface format to access storage is intercepted. The first interface format of the request supports access to a virtual hard drive (VHD). The request is translated to a blob request having a blob interface format. The blob interface format of the blob request supports access to a plurality of blobs of data in a blob store. The blob request is communicated to a blob interface such that the blob request is executed in managing the plurality of blobs. | 11-14-2013 |
| 20130311733 | CONSISTENCY WITHOUT ORDERING DEPENDENCY - Aspects of the subject matter described herein relate to maintaining consistency in a storage system. In aspects, one or more objects may be updated in the context of a transaction. In conjunction with updating the objects, logical copies of the objects may be obtained and modified. A request to write the updated logical copies is sent to a storage controller. The logical copies do not overwrite the original copies. In conjunction with sending the request, a data structure is provided for the storage controller to store on the disk. The data structure indicates the one or more objects that were supposed to be written to disk and may include verification data to indicate the content that was supposed to be written to disk. During recovery, this data structure may be used to determine whether all of the object(s) were correctly written to disk. | 11-21-2013 |
| 20130311734 | DATA COPY MANAGEMENT FOR FASTER READS - Multiple copy sets of data are maintained on one or more storage devices. Each copy set includes at least some of the same data units as other sets. Different sets optionally have data units stored in different orders on the storage device(s). A particular one of the sets of data is selected as the set to be accessed in response to detecting a particular scenario. | 11-21-2013 |
| 20130311735 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING SUBSTANTIALLY CONSTANT-TIME EXECUTION OF A COPY OPERATION - A system and method for providing a substantially constant-time copy operation for file system objects managed by a storage server begins by generating a snapshot of at least a portion of a data set managed by the storage server. The system then performs a copy operation in the storage server to generate a copy of the data set separate from the snapshot, on a set of block locations containing a predetermined reference value. During the copy operation to generate the copy of the data set separate from the snapshot, the system can receive from a requester a first read request directed to the copy of the data set that the copy operation is to generate. In response to the first data request, the system provides data from the snapshot to the requester by the storage server. | 11-21-2013 |
| 20130311736 | DISASTER-PROOF DATA RECOVERY - A recovery unit for recovering data includes an antenna and a first wireless transceiver. The first wireless transceiver is configured to communicate via the antenna only with a second wireless transceiver of a storage unit that holds records associated with the data. When an event damaging at least some of the data occurs and the recovery unit is brought into proximity with the storage unit, the recovery unit receives the records from the storage unit for recovery of the data. | 11-21-2013 |
| 20130318312 | Method for High Performance Dump Data Set Creation - A method, system and computer-usable medium which provides a format in which data is written to a dump data set to allow use of Fast Replication technology for both backing up and restoring of both datasets and volumes. Such a format allows any data that can be captured at a track level to be written to the dump data set via Fast Replication. When using this methodology of backing up and restoring, backups should be made to devices that support Fast Replication technology and restoration of the data should be to devices which are capable of being the target of a Fast Replication for that backup device. | 11-28-2013 |
| 20130318313 | BACKUP IMAGE DUPLICATION - Various systems and methods for configuring a duplication operation. For example, a method involves specifying a duplication window, a source storage device, and a target storage device. When a duplication operation is executed, data is copied from the source storage device to the target storage device during the duplication window. The method also involves calculating a predicted duplication rate, where the predicted duplication rate is an estimate of a rate at which data can be copied from the source storage device to the target storage device. | 11-28-2013 |
| 20130318314 | MANAGING COPIES OF DATA ON MULTIPLE NODES USING A DATA CONTROLLER NODE TO AVOID TRANSACTION DEADLOCK - A data controller node receives a request to update data stored at the data controller node for a transaction managed by a transaction originator node. The data controller node locks the data at the data controller node and identifies copies of the data residing at other nodes. The data controller node sends a message to the other nodes to update the copy at the other nodes without locking the copy of the data at the other nodes. The data controller node determines whether an acknowledgment is received from each of the other nodes that the copy of the data are updated for the transaction and updates the locked data at the data controller node for the transaction in response to receiving the acknowledgment from each of the other nodes. | 11-28-2013 |
| 20130318315 | Garbage Collection Implemented in Hardware - A method of garbage collection in a computing device is provided. The method includes providing a memory module having a memory implemented as at least one hardware circuit. The memory module uses a dual-ported memory configuration. The method includes triggering a garbage collection signal by a sweep engine of the computing device. The sweep engine is in communication with a memory module to reclaim memory. The method includes receiving the garbage collection signal by a root snapshot engine of the computing device. The method includes taking a snapshot of roots from at least one mutator by the root snapshot engine if the garbage collection signal is received. The method includes receiving roots from the root snapshot engine by a trace engine of the computing device. The trace engine is in communication with the memory module to receive data. | 11-28-2013 |
| 20130318316 | STORAGE DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING STORAGE DEVICE - A storage device includes a memory and a control device. The control device allocates a first storage region out of a plurality of storage regions to a first logical address specified by an external device. The control device stores, in the memory, first information associating the first logical address with a first physical address indicating the first storage region. The control device deletes, upon accepting a request for release of a second storage region indicated by a second physical address associated with a second logical address specified by the external device, second information associating the second logical address with the second physical address from the memory. The control device releases, when copy process of copying first data stored in the second storage region is unexecuted, the second storage region after finishing the copy process. | 11-28-2013 |
| 20130318317 | Volume Swapping of Point-In-Time Read-Only Target Volumes - A mechanism is provided for adding point-in-time copy relationships to a data processing system. A request is received to establish a first point-in-time copy relationship. Responsive to determining that a first target of the first point-in-time copy relationship is target write inhibited, that a source of the first point-in-time copy relationship is a source of a first continuous synchronous copy relationship, that a target of the first continuous synchronous copy relationship is part of a second point-in-time copy relationship, and that the source of the first point-in-time copy relationship is part of a volume swap configuration, a volume swap relationship is added between the first point-in-time target volume and the second point-in-time target volume to the volume swap configuration. Both point-in-time copy relationships are established and any continuous synchronous copy requirements of the volume swap relationship between the first point-in-time target volume and the second point-in-time target volume are disabled. | 11-28-2013 |
| 20130318318 | STORAGE CONTROLLER AND STORAGE CONTROL METHOD - Difference information between two snapshots from a first point-in-time snapshot, which has been copied, to an N.sup.th point-in-time snapshot, which constitutes the latest point-in-time snapshot, is acquired to a memory module. The memory module stores two or more pieces of difference information. The two or more pieces of difference information comprise difference information that shows the difference between a first point-in-time snapshot and any snapshot other than the first point-in-time snapshot of N snapshots. Copy difference information, which is information that shows the difference between the first point-in-time snapshot and a specified snapshot from among N snapshots, and which is used in copying the specified snapshot, is created on the basis of the two or more pieces of difference information. | 11-28-2013 |
| 20130326171 | VIRTUAL SNAPSHOT SYSTEM AND METHOD - The present disclosure relates generally to a method and system for creating, replicating, and providing access to virtual snapshots of a disk storage block of a disk storage system or subsystem. In one embodiment, the present disclosure relates to a virtual snapshot accessible to local users of a local data storage device. The virtual snapshot may direct local users to a snapshot stored on computer-readable storage medium at a remote data storage site, but give the appearance as if data of the corresponding snapshot is stored locally. The virtual snapshot is replaced by replication of the snapshot from the remote data storage site to the local data storage device. Each snapshot may relate to data of a logical data volume, the logical data volume being an abstraction of data blocks from one or more physical storage devices. | 12-05-2013 |
| 20130326172 | PROTECTION OF DATA FROM VIRTUAL MACHINE CLONES VIA PARAVIRTUALIZATION - A system and method for protecting secure data from virtual machine clones are disclosed. In accordance with one embodiment, a hypervisor receives a message from a guest operating system hosted by a first virtual machine, where the message identifies a memory location (e.g., of main memory, of a storage device, etc.) for a secure datum. After the hypervisor receives a direct-copy command to clone the first virtual machine, the hypervisor creates a second virtual machine via direct copy, where the second virtual machine is not provided access to the secure memory location during its creation. | 12-05-2013 |
| 20130326173 | MULTIPLE DESTINATION LIVE MIGRATION - A method for fast migrating of a source virtual machine located on a source host to one or more destination hosts is provided. The source migration manager receives a command to migrate a source virtual machine to a plurality of destination hosts. The source migration manager copies a state of the source virtual machine to the plurality of destination hosts. When the source migration manager receives an indication of successful booting of a destination virtual machine, the source migration manager terminates transmission of the state of the source virtual machine to the remaining plurality of destination hosts. | 12-05-2013 |
| 20130326174 | PRE-WARMING DESTINATION FOR FAST LIVE MIGRATION - A method for fast migrating of a source virtual machine located on a source host to one or more destination hosts is provided. A source migration manager receives an identity of a destination host. The source migration manager copies at least one data segment corresponding to a portion of a state of a source virtual machine to the destination host. The source migration manager remains in a warm-up phase and continues copying data segments corresponding to the state of the source virtual machine to the destination host, even if the entire state of the source virtual machine has been copied to the destination host. The source migration manager receives a command to migrate the source virtual machine to the destination host after copying the at least one data segment to the destination host. If a warm-up exit condition has been attained, the source migration manager exits the warm-up migration phase. | 12-05-2013 |
| 20130326175 | PRE-WARMING OF MULTIPLE DESTINATIONS FOR FAST LIVE MIGRATION - A method for fast migrating of a source virtual machine located on a source host to one or more destination hosts is provided. A source migration manager of a hypervisor receives identities of a plurality of destination hosts. The source migration manager copies at least one data segment corresponding to a portion of a state of a source virtual machine to the pluralities of destination hosts. The source migration manager receives a command to migrate the source virtual machine to one or more selected destination hosts of the plurality of destination hosts after copying the at least one data segment to the destination hosts. When the source migration manager receives an indication of successful booting of at least one destination virtual machine, the source migration manager terminates transmission of the state of the source virtual machine to the remaining plurality of destination hosts. | 12-05-2013 |
| 20130326176 | MANAGEMENT OF MULTIPLE CAPACITY TYPES IN STORAGE SYSTEMS - A management of capacity types with different consumption policies for an object in a computing storage system is performed by updating a reference type bitmap in a segment-fragment table containing segments that reference fragments upon the creation of a segment for an object. A reference is created in an object-segment reference table, between the object and the segment, in compliance with a consumption policy upon the creation of one of the segments for the object. The reference types that reference the segment are removed upon deletion of the segment. | 12-05-2013 |
| 20130326177 | COMPUTER SYSTEM, VIRTUALIZATION MECHANISM, AND CONTROL METHOD FOR COMPUTER SYSTEM - Computer system is provided with a first physical computer and a second physical computer. The first physical computer is provided with a control device and a storage device coupled to the control device. The control device of the first physical computer constructs a virtual computer and can execute a predetermined guest program on the virtual computer. A part of a region of the storage device is used as a virtual storage device that is a storage device for the virtual computer. In the case in which the control device executes a live migration which is to migrate the virtual computer of the first physical computer to the second physical computer while executing the guest program in a substantial way, the control device executes a control for reducing a data writing amount in a certain period of time to a virtual storage device that has been allocated to the virtual computer. | 12-05-2013 |
| 20130326178 | HIERARCHICAL SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PERFORMING DATA STORAGE OPERATIONS - The invention is a hierarchical backup system. The interconnected network computing devices are put into groups of backup cells. A backup cell has a manager software agent responsible maintaining and initiating a backup regime for the network computing devices in the backup cell. The backups are directed to backup devices within the backup cell. Several backup cells can be defined. A manager software agent for a particular cell may be placed into contact with the manager software agent of another cell, by which information about the cells may be passed back and forth. Additionally, one of the software agents may be given administrative control over another software agent with which it is in communication. | 12-05-2013 |
| 20130332685 | EXTERNAL STORAGE MANAGER FOR A DATA STORAGE CELL - A storage management solution according to certain embodiments is provided which decouples certain aspects of the storage manager from the data storage cell. The data storage system according to certain aspects can provide one or more external storage managers that manage data protection and administer the operation of data storage cells. According to certain aspects, usage of the decoupled storage manager can be allocated amongst multiple data storage cells, such as by data storage cells of multiple companies, sub-units of a company, or both. | 12-12-2013 |
| 20130332686 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD, AND PROGRAM - A computer-implemented information processing method, apparatus and computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, perform an information processing method. Configuration management information is rewritten base based on a status of a first apparatus designated to execute a process. The configuration management information defines one or more relationships between one or more virtual devices and one or more physical devices. The rewritten configuration management information is provided to the first apparatus. | 12-12-2013 |
| 20130332687 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING INFORMATION - An information processing apparatus copies data from a source to a target. The target includes target identifying information. The source includes a memory configured to store a source-side table that holds a plurality of records. One of the plurality of records contains target identifying information. A copying section is configured to delete the one of the plurality of records from the sour-side table, and copy the source-side table into the target after the one of the plurality of records containing target identifying information has been deleted from the source-side table. | 12-12-2013 |
| 20130332688 | FILE SYSTEM CAPABLE OF GENERATING SNAPSHOTS AND PROVIDING FAST SEQUENTIAL READ ACCESS - An on-disk structure of a file system has the capability to generate snapshots and provide fast sequential read access to data containers, such as files. The on-disk structure arranges sequential portions of files on disk within regions, wherein each region comprises a predetermined amount of disk space represented by blocks and wherein the data of the files stored within each region may or may not be stored sequentially within the region. In addition, the on-disk structure accommodates a plurality of types of regions, including (i) active regions that contain active file system data for large files, (ii) snapshot regions that contain “copy out” snapshot data for the large files and (iii) metadata regions that contain metadata, as well as directories and small files. | 12-12-2013 |
| 20130339642 | SAVING/RESTORING SELECTED REGISTERS IN TRANSACTIONAL PROCESSING - A TRANSACTION BEGIN instruction begins execution of a transaction and includes a general register save mask having bits, that when set, indicate registers to be saved in the event the transaction is aborted. At the beginning of the transaction, contents of the registers are saved in memory not accessible to the program, and if the transaction is aborted, the saved contents are copied to the registers. | 12-19-2013 |
| 20130339643 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING INTRA-PROCESS COMMUNICATION FOR AN APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACE - Systems and methods are provided for intra-process communication in a backup framework. A custom requester is registered with a framework configured to run and coordinate one or more requesters and one or more providers, wherein the framework provides an application programmer interface for the requesters and providers. A first requester from the one or more requesters starts a backup process for a first data set associated with a first application. The first requester determines that the data storage device associated with the first data set and the first application is exported by a data management system. The first requester selects a first provider to create a backup of the first data set for the backup process, wherein the first requester and first provider are separate threads in a same process space that can communicate directly with each other using one or more intra-process communication channels. | 12-19-2013 |
| 20130339644 | METHODS OF OPERATING MEMORY DEVICES WITHIN A COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL STANDARD TIMEOUT REQUIREMENT - The present disclosure includes methods and devices for logical memory blocks. One method for operating a memory device includes receiving a command to operate X pages of the memory device, X being greater than Y, and executing the command by executing multiple subcommands, each subcommand operating on a logical memory block portion of the X pages, each logical memory block including at most Y pages. T is a timeout limit, N is a number of pages comprising a block of memory, and Y is number of pages that can be operated within time T. | 12-19-2013 |
| 20130339645 | RAPID CLONING OF VIRTUAL MACHINES - A request is received to clone a source data object. A source block range of the source data object in a source logical storage unit is determined. An empty data object in the destination logical storage unit is created. A destination block range of the empty data object in the destination logical storage unit is determined. The source block range is mapped to the destination block range. The source data object is cloned based on the mapping. | 12-19-2013 |
| 20130346708 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME - For first write request to a virtual volume, the first storage apparatus performs processing by a method of either a first write processing method that stores write data in a first logical volume associated with the virtual volume as well as transfers a first write request, to the second storage apparatus, for storing the write data in a second logical volume associated with the virtual volume of the second storage apparatus or a second write processing method that transfers a first write request, to the second storage apparatus, then selects a processing method according to a first IO load on a first area of the virtual volume of the first storage apparatus and a second IO load on the first area of the virtual volume of the second storage apparatus to perform a processing for the first write request. | 12-26-2013 |
| 20130346709 | DATA RECOVERY USING CONVERSION OF BACKUP TO VIRTUAL DISK - A system includes a proxy processor configured to simulate a virtual disk, and a daemon processor in communication with the proxy processor and a backup repository. The proxy processor is configured to receive from an application a read request or a write request and to direct the read request or the write request to the daemon processor. The daemon processor is configured to receive the read request from the proxy processor and to access the backup repository or the simulated virtual disk, and to receive the write request from the proxy processor and to write data in the write request to the simulated virtual disk. | 12-26-2013 |
| 20130346710 | SOURCE CLEANING CASCADED VOLUMES - Various systems, processes, and products may be used to source clean cascaded volumes. In particular implementations, a system, process, and product for source cleaning cascaded volumes may include the ability to store a primary volume and a plurality of cascaded backup volumes. The system, process, and product may also include the ability to determine whether a write to one of the backup volumes is due to a background copy being made of another volume in the cascade and adjust a background copy indicator in a volume map for the backup volume if the write is due to a background copy and to determine whether a write to one of the backup volumes is due to a write to another volume in the cascade and adjust a write copy indicator in a volume map for the backup volume if the write is due to a write to another cascaded volume. | 12-26-2013 |
| 20130346711 | SOURCE CLEANING CASCADED VOLUMES - Various systems, processes, and products may be used to source clean cascaded volumes. In particular implementations, a system, process, and product may include the ability to store a number of cascaded backup volumes and prepare received writes for storage. The system, process, and product may also include the ability to examine a metadata set associated with a volume region for a write to determine whether another volume depends on the region and write the new data to the region if another volume is not dependent. The system, process, and product may further include the ability to determine whether a write is for a volume region that is a canonical source and, if so, decrement a reference count in a metadata set associated with the region and establish the volume of the region as a canonical source for a metadata set associated with a new metadata set location identifier. | 12-26-2013 |
| 20130346712 | SOURCE CLEANING CASCADED VOLUMES - Various systems, processes, and products may be used to source clean cascaded volumes. In particular implementations, a system, process, and product for source cleaning cascaded volumes may include the ability to store a primary volume and a plurality of cascaded backup volumes. The system, process, and product may also include the ability to determine whether a write to one of the backup volumes is due to a background copy being made of another volume in the cascade and adjust a background copy indicator in a volume map for the backup volume if the write is due to a background copy and to determine whether a write to one of the backup volumes is due to a write to another volume in the cascade and adjust a write copy indicator in a volume map for the backup volume if the write is due to a write to another cascaded volume. | 12-26-2013 |
| 20130346713 | SOURCE CLEANING CASCADED VOLUMES - Various systems, processes, and products may be used to source clean cascaded volumes. In particular implementations, a system, process, and product may include the ability to store a number of cascaded backup volumes and prepare received writes for storage. The system, process, and product may also include the ability to examine a metadata set associated with a volume region for a write to determine whether another volume depends on the region and write the new data to the region if another volume is not dependent. The system, process, and product may further include the ability to determine whether a write is for a volume region that is a canonical source and, if so, decrement a reference count in a metadata set associated with the region and establish the volume of the region as a canonical source for a metadata set associated with a new metadata set location identifier. | 12-26-2013 |
| 20130346714 | Hardware-Based Accelerator For Managing Copy-On-Write - Technologies are described herein for providing a hardware-based accelerator adapted to manage copy-on-write. Some example technologies may identify a read request adapted to read a block at an original memory address. The technologies may utilize the hardware-based accelerator to determine whether the block is located at the original memory address. When a determination is made that the block is located in at the original memory address, the technologies may utilize the hardware-based accelerator to pass the original memory address so that the read request can be performed utilizing the original memory address. When a determination is made that the block is not located in the memory at the original memory address, the technologies may utilize the hardware-based accelerator to generate a new memory address and to pass the new memory address so that the read request can be performed utilizing the new memory address. | 12-26-2013 |
| 20130346715 | DATA MANAGEMENT APPARATUS AND DATA MANAGEMENT METHOD - A data management apparatus includes a memory being accessible at a higher rate than a storage device, and a processor configured to control the memory to store a part of data stored in the storage device into a first storage area of the memory, the part of the data is cyclically selected from the data, and respond to a data request by using the cyclically selected part of the data stored in the first storage area. | 12-26-2013 |
| 20130346716 | VERIFYING ENCODED DATA SLICE INTEGRITY IN A DISPERSED STORAGE NETWORK - A method begins by a dispersed storage (DS) processing module of a storage device receiving an encoded data slice of a set of encoded data slices, where the set of encoded data slices has associated therewith a set of integrity values, and where integrity information is generated from the set of integrity values. The method continues with the DS processing module generating an integrity value for the encoded data slice and obtaining at least a portion of the integrity information from another storage device. The method continues with the DS processing module generating a comparative integrity value for the encoded data slice based on the at least a portion of the integrity information and facilitating storage of the encoded data slice in memory of the storage device when the integrity value compares favorably to the comparative integrity value. | 12-26-2013 |
| 20140006734 | METHOD OF CLONING DATA IN A MEMORY FOR A VIRTUAL MACHINE, PRODUCT OF COMPUTER PROGRAMS AND COMPUTER SYSTEM THEREWITH | 01-02-2014 |
| 20140006735 | SPACE RESERVATION IN A DEDUPLICATION SYSTEM | 01-02-2014 |
| 20140006736 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING STORAGE SYSTEM | 01-02-2014 |
| 20140013069 | MANAGEMENT APPARATUS AND MANAGEMENT METHOD - A management apparatus and management method capable of simplifying system management and constructing copy pairs with fault tolerance intended by a user are suggested. | 01-09-2014 |
| 20140019697 | CLIPBOARD FOR PROCESSING RECEIVED DATA CONTENT - An embodiment of the invention directed to a method is associated with data content, comprising discrete data portions including first data and second data portions separated from each other in the data content. A copy operation is implemented on data portions so that at least some of the data portions are each copied to a buffer, which include the first and second data portions. A paste operation is carried out to present each of the copied data portions as an input for an output data selection task. Prespecified criteria is used in the output data selection task to select a number of the copied data portions to be selected data for a given purpose, the selected number of copied data portions being less than data portions presented by the paste operation, and the selected copied data portions including the first and second data portions. | 01-16-2014 |
| 20140019698 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR REPLICATION OF DATA UTILIZING DELTA VOLUMES - A method of data replication from a first data storage device to a second data storage device. The method may include generating, at the first data storage device, at spaced time intervals, a plurality of snapshots for a logical data volume of the first data storage device, the logical data volume being an abstraction of data blocks from one or more physical storage devices, each snapshot identifying changes of data for at least a portion of the logical data volume since a most previous snapshot. Also at the first data storage device, the method includes generating a delta volume, the delta volume indicating changes in the data of at least a portion of the logical data volume between two non-consecutive snapshots. The method further involves replicating the delta volume to the second data storage device, and replicating the changes to the data indicated therein at the second data storage device. | 01-16-2014 |
| 20140025909 | LARGE SCALE STORAGE SYSTEM - One or more tangible computer readable media storing computer executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a computer node connected to an infrastructure layer of a distributed storage system, the infrastructure layer including interconnected computer nodes, at least one of the interconnected computer nodes comprising one or more storage-related resources, to perform administration of a distributed storage system by: generating at least one portion of a user interface for presentation to a user, each of the portions comprising a control for receiving a Service Level Specification (SLS) requirement; transforming a state of the distributed storage system from a first state to a second state based on the received SLS requirements. | 01-23-2014 |
| 20140025910 | STORAGE DEVICE, CONTROL DEVICE, AND CONTROL METHOD - A storage device includes a data division unit that divides data into data blocks, a duplicate storage determining unit that determines whether the same data block as that to be stored has been stored in a storage unit for discharge in an export process, and a data storage processing unit that stores the data block to be stored in the storage unit for discharge when the same data block has not been stored in the storage unit for discharge and prevents the data block to be stored from being stored in the storage unit for discharge when the same data block has been stored in the storage unit for discharge. According to the storage device, it is possible to reduce the amount of data stored in the storage unit for discharge. | 01-23-2014 |
| 20140025911 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR OPTIMIZATION OF TAPE PERFORMANCE USING DISTRIBUTED FILE COPIES - A tape performance optimization method may include accumulating data in a memory, monitoring the accumulation of data, determining whether a certain amount of data has been accumulated in the memory, causing the accumulated data to be migrated to a tape in a tape library, and tracking physical locations of files stored on tape. In one embodiment, the amount of data to be accumulated is set to be two wraps or a multiple thereof. In one embodiment, two copies of data are written to two tapes in an alternating fashion. When a file is to be read, a tape is accessed if it has a copy of the file whose physical location is determined to be closest to beginning of tape. Since file location on tape determines the time it takes to position the tape, this method can shorten the amount of time required to retrieve a file from tape. | 01-23-2014 |
| 20140025912 | Efficiency of Hardware Memory Access using Dynamically Replicated Memory - Dynamically replicated memory is usable to allocate new memory space from failed memory pages by pairing compatible failed memory pages to reuse otherwise unusable failed memory pages. Dynamically replicating memory involves detecting and recording memory faults, reclaiming failed memory pages for later use, recovering from detected memory faults, and scheduling access to replicated memory pages. | 01-23-2014 |
| 20140025913 | Storage Checkpointing in a Mirrored Virtual Machine System - A method and system are provided for storage checkpointing in a mirrored virtual machine system. The method includes a storage controller receiving a modifying operation to storage from a virtual machine and carrying out the modifying operation in a non-destructive manner by saving the modifying operation data to a checkpointing region of storage and preserving the stored previous data state. The method also includes receiving a checkpoint notification and committing modifying operation data from the checkpointing region and releasing the stored previous data state. If a failover notification is received, the storage controller rolls back the physical storage to match a checkpoint state. | 01-23-2014 |
| 20140025914 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PERFORMING STORAGE OPERATIONS USING NETWORK ATTACHED STORAGE - Systems and methods for performing hierarchical storage operations on electronic data in a computer network are provided. In one embodiment, the present invention may store electronic data from a network device to a network attached storage (NAS) device pursuant to certain storage criteria. The data stored on the NAS may be migrated to a secondary storage and a stub file having a pointer pointing to the secondary storage may be put at the location the data was previously stored on the NAS. The stub file may redirect the network device to the secondary storage if a read request for the data is received from the network device. | 01-23-2014 |
| 20140032861 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR EFFICIENTLY STORING DATA - One method includes assigning a pointer from multiple logical blocks to the same original physical block if the multiple logical blocks include the same data. The method further includes receiving a command to write data to the first logical block and determining if the first logical block is a frequently accessed logical block. If the first logical block is a frequently accessed logical block, ownership of the original physical block is assigned to the first logical block. If ownership is established, the method includes copying any data stored in the original physical block to a new physical block, assigning a pointer from a second logical block to the new physical block, and performing the write command on the original physical block. A system includes a processor for performing the above method. One computer program product includes computer code for performing the method described above. | 01-30-2014 |
| 20140032862 | Backing Up An Image In A Computing System - Methods, apparatus, and products for backing up an image in a computing system that includes computer memory, including: receiving, by a backup image manager, an image for one or more computing devices within the computing system; identifying, by the backup image manager, available protected computer memory within the computing system, wherein the available protected computer memory within the computing system is restricted from alteration by a user of the computing system; slicing, by the backup image manager, the image into a plurality of image slices; and storing, by the backup image manger, one or more of the image slices in the available protected computer memory. | 01-30-2014 |
| 20140032863 | Electronic Device Mirroring Device Setting - An electronic device includes a target selection unit, a priority determination unit, and a mirroring execution unit. The target selection unit is configured to select, as a mirroring target, a setting value of each of items of the electronic device if the setting value is different from an initial value. The priority determination unit is configured to determine a priority of mirroring, designated for a setting value serving as the mirroring target. The mirroring execution unit is configured to perform the mirroring so as to cause a setting value, whose determined priority is relatively high, to remain on a priority basis. | 01-30-2014 |
| 20140032864 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR RETAINING AND USING DATA BLOCK SIGNATURES IN DATA PROTECTION OPERATIONS - A system according to certain embodiments associates a signature value corresponding to a data block with one or more data blocks and a reference to the data block to form a signature/data word corresponding to the data block. The system further logically organizes the signature/data words into a plurality of files each comprising at least one signature/data word such that the signature values are embedded in the respective file. The system according to certain embodiments reads a previously stored signature value corresponding to a respective data block for sending from a backup storage system having at least one memory device to a secondary storage system. Based on an indication as to whether the data block is already stored on the secondary storage system, the system reads the data block from the at least one memory device for sending to the secondary storage system if the data block does not exist on the secondary storage system, wherein the signature value and not the data block is read from the at least one memory device if the data block exists on the secondary storage system. | 01-30-2014 |
| 20140040573 | DETERMINING A NUMBER OF STORAGE DEVICES TO BACKUP OBJECTS IN VIEW OF QUALITY OF SERVICE CONSIDERATIONS - Storage device libraries, machine readable media, and methods are provided for determining a number of storage devices to backup objects in view of quality of service considerations. An example of a storage device library that determines the number of storage devices to backup objects includes a plurality of storage devices and a controller to control backup of the objects to an assigned number of the storage devices. The controller determines the assigned number of the storage devices before the backup of the objects based upon assigned parameters for backup of the objects that include a time window and a number of concurrent disk agents per storage device. | 02-06-2014 |
| 20140040574 | RESILIENCY WITH A DESTINATION VOLUME IN A REPLICATION ENVIRONMENT - A method to provide resiliency with a destination volume in a replication environment is disclosed. Data from a source volume, such as a primary volume or a secondary volume in a replication relationship, is migrated to the destination volume. A snapshot representing data on a source volume is generated. The replication relationship between the source volumes is broken, and a new relationship between a source volume and the destination volume is established. A delta of data between the snapshot and one of the volumes in the new relationship is generated. The delta is sent to the other of the volumes in the new relationship. | 02-06-2014 |
| 20140040575 | MOBILE HADOOP CLUSTERS - Techniques for mobile clusters for collecting telemetry data and processing analytic tasks, are disclosed herein. The mobile cluster includes a processor, a plurality of data nodes and an analysis module. The data nodes receive and store a snapshot of at least a portion of data stored in a main Hadoop storage cluster and real-time acquired data received from a data capturing device. The analysis module is operatively coupled to the processor to process analytic tasks based on the snapshot and the real-time acquired data when the storage cluster is not connected to the main storage cluster. | 02-06-2014 |
| 20140040576 | REQUESTING A MEMORY SPACE BY A MEMORY CONTROLLER - Systems and methods are provided to process a request for a memory space from a memory controller. A particular method may include communicating, by a memory controller, a request for a memory space of a memory to a computer program. The memory controller is configured to initialize the memory, and the memory controller is configured to perform operations on the memory as instructed. The computer program is configured to make memory spaces of the memory available in response to requests for the memory spaces of the memory. The method may also include using, by the memory controller, the memory space in response to an indication from the computer program that the memory space is available. Also provided are systems and methods for copying a memory space by a memory controller to a memory space under exclusive control of the memory controller. | 02-06-2014 |
| 20140040577 | Automatic Use of Large Pages - A mechanism is provided for automatic use of large pages. An operating system loader performs aggressive contiguous allocation followed by demand paging of small pages into a best-effort contiguous and naturally aligned physical address range sized for a large page. The operating system detects when the large page is fully populated and switches the mapping to use large pages. If the operating system runs low on memory, the operating system can free portions and degrade gracefully. | 02-06-2014 |
| 20140040578 | MANAGING DATA SET VOLUME TABLE OF CONTENTS - For managing a data set volume table of contents, a management module creates a data set volume table of contents (DSVTOC) for a data set residing on a volume. The DSVTOC resides in a virtual storage access method (VSAM) system and includes a DSVTOC index, DSVTOC cluster data, and DSVTOC data for the data set. A copy module maintains a copy of the DSVTOC on the volume. | 02-06-2014 |
| 20140040579 | ADMINISTERING A SHARED, ON-LINE POOL OF DATA STORAGE RESOURCES FOR PERFORMING DATA STORAGE OPERATIONS - A data storage system according to certain aspects manages and administers the sharing of storage resources among clients in the shared storage pool. The shared storage pool according to certain aspects can provide readily available remote storage to clients in the pool. A share list for each client may be used to determine where data is stored within the storage pool. The share list may include clients that are known to each client, and therefore, a user may feel more at ease storing the data on the clients in the storage pool. Management and administration of the storage pool and backup and restore jobs can be performed by an entity other than the client, making backup and restore more streamlined and simple for the clients in the pool. | 02-06-2014 |
| 20140040580 | ADMINISTERING A SHARED, ON-LINE POOL OF DATA STORAGE RESOURCES FOR PERFORMING DATA STORAGE OPERATIONS - A data storage system according to certain aspects manages and administers the sharing of storage resources among clients in the shared storage pool. The shared storage pool according to certain aspects can provide readily available remote storage to clients in the pool. A share list for each client may be used to determine where data is stored within the storage pool. The share list may include clients that are known to each client, and therefore, a user may feel more at ease storing the data on the clients in the storage pool. Management and administration of the storage pool and backup and restore jobs can be performed by an entity other than the client, making backup and restore more streamlined and simple for the clients in the pool. | 02-06-2014 |
| 20140040581 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND DATA TRANSFER METHOD - A storage system includes: a storage device configured to copy data to another storage device, the storage device includes: a first storage region configured to store the data; a first receiving unit configured to receive a first instruction from a higher level device; a transferring unit configured to transfer the instruction from the higher level device to the another storage device; and a first storage region releasing unit configured to release the first storage region, wherein, when the first instruction is a releasing instruction instructing to release the first storage region, the transferring unit transfers the releasing instruction to the another storage device before releasing of the first storage region is completed by the first storage region releasing unit. | 02-06-2014 |
| 20140040582 | BLOCK-LEVEL SINGLE INSTANCING - Described in detail herein are systems and methods for single instancing blocks of data in a data storage system. For example, the data storage system may include multiple computing devices (e.g., client computing devices) that store primary data. The data storage system may also include a secondary storage computing device, a single instance database, and one or more storage devices that store copies of the primary data (e.g., secondary copies, tertiary copies, etc.). The secondary storage computing device receives blocks of data from the computing devices and accesses the single instance database to determine whether the blocks of data are unique (meaning that no instances of the blocks of data are stored on the storage devices). If a block of data is unique, the single instance database stores it on a storage device. If not, the secondary storage computing device can avoid storing the block of data on the storage devices. | 02-06-2014 |
| 20140040583 | STORAGE SYSTEM GROUP INCLUDING SCALE-OUT STORAGE SYSTEM AND MANAGEMENT METHOD THEREFOR - A management system is coupled to a storage system group including a scale-out storage system (a virtual storage system). The management system has storage management information, which includes information denoting, for each storage system, whether or not a storage system is a component of a virtual storage system. The management system, based on the storage management information, determines whether or not a first storage system is a component of a virtual storage system, and in a case where the result of this determination is affirmative, identifies, based on the storage management information, a second storage system, which is a storage system other than the virtual storage system that includes the first storage system, and allows a user to perform a specific operation only with respect to this second storage system. | 02-06-2014 |
| 20140047202 | Systems, Methods, and Computer Program Products Providing Change Logging In a Deduplication Process - A method performed in a network storage system, the method including receiving a plurality of data blocks at a secondary storage subsystem from a primary storage subsystem, generating a first log that includes a first plurality of entries, one entry for each of the data blocks, in which each entry of the first plurality of entries includes a name for a respective data block and a fingerprint of the respective data block, receiving metadata at the secondary storage subsystem from the primary storage subsystem, the metadata describing relationships between the plurality of blocks and a plurality of files, generating a second log that includes a second plurality of entries, and merging the first log with the second log to generate a change log. | 02-13-2014 |
| 20140047203 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PREDICTING BACKUP DATA VOLUMES - A method and system for predicting the managed backup occupancy of a backup system are disclosed. The method includes determining the variables m | 02-13-2014 |
| 20140047204 | PROVIDING SERVICE ADDRESS SPACE FOR DIAGNOSTICS COLLECTION - A method and system are provided for providing a service address space for diagnostics collection. The system includes: a service co-processor attached to a main processor, wherein the service co-processor maintains an independent copy of the main processor's address space in the form of a service address space; and a storage update receiving component for updating the service address space by receiving storage update packets from the main processor and applying these to the service address space. An instruction pipe may be provided between the main processor and the service co-processor. The main processor may include: a service delegation component for delegating collection of diagnostic data to the co-processor by sending a collection command from the main processor to the service co-processor for collection of data from the service address space. | 02-13-2014 |
| 20140052947 | DATA STORAGE DEVICE AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING DATA STORAGE DEVICE - A data storage device includes a processor or hardware circuit. The processor or hardware circuit copies data stored in regions of a copy source volume to a copy destination volume. The processor or hardware circuit sets up in a memory a management table for the regions. The management table includes first information and second information. The first information indicates whether a bitmap has been set up. The bitmap represents a state of progress of the copy. The second information specifies a bit value to be used when setting up the bitmap. The processor or hardware circuit sets up in the memory the bitmap corresponding to the regions on the basis of the second information. | 02-20-2014 |
| 20140052948 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR IMPLEMENTING MEMORY MIGRATION - Disclosed are a method and device for implementing memory migration, which relate to computer technology and are invented for solving the problem that the existing operating process for memory migration is relatively complicated. The technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application includes: the basic input-output system of a computer migrating the data in the memory to be migrated to a first unavailable memory in the operating system of the computer when migrating the memory to be migrated and the basic input-output system storing the mapping relationship between the memory to be migrated and the physical address of the first unavailable memory. The embodiments of the present application can be applied to ordinary computer systems and computer systems under the NUMA architecture. | 02-20-2014 |
| 20140052949 | Method, Related Apparatus, and System for Virtual Network Migration - A method, related apparatus, and system for virtual network migration are provided. A method provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: locating a source physical node in a regional physical network; obtaining information a virtual element corresponding to each virtual network on the source physical node and state information of each physical node in the regional physical network; determining, according to information the virtual elements and the state information, a physical node that can execute virtual network migration in the regional physical network; reconstructing a mapping relationship between each virtual network and the regional physical network on the physical node; comparing the mapping relationships of each virtual network; selecting a mapping relationship with minimum migration consumption as a mapping relationship for executing migration; and sending, according to the mapping relationship for executing migration, a migration instruction to a physical node that needs to execute virtual network migration. | 02-20-2014 |
| 20140059306 | STORAGE MANAGEMENT IN A VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT - A method, computer program product, and system for managing storage space in a virtualized computing environment. The method includes a computer determining, by one or more computer processors, that a virtual computer system has reached a threshold level of minimum available storage space. The storage space of the computer system is searched for an inactive snapshot file. When the inactive snapshot file is located, the inactive snapshot file is moved to a secondary storage. | 02-27-2014 |
| 20140059307 | AUTOMATED MIGRATION TO A NEW COPY SERVICES TARGET STORAGE SYSTEM TO MANAGE MULTIPLE RELATIONSHIPS SIMULTANEOUSLY WHILE MAINTAINING DISASTER RECOVERY CONSISTENCY - A system according to one embodiment, includes one or more source volumes on a source storage subsystem from which data is copied in first copy services relationships, the one or more source volumes being accessible to an application; one or more original target volumes on an original target storage subsystem to which data is copied in the first copy services relationships; logic configured for selecting a new target storage subsystem to replace the original target storage subsystem; logic configured for creating second copy services relationships between one or more new target volumes on the new target storage subsystem and the one or more source volumes on the source storage subsystem using multi-target functionality; and logic configured for terminating the first copy services relationships after all of the second copy services relationships are full duplex. | 02-27-2014 |
| 20140059308 | AUTOMATED MIGRATION TO A NEW TARGET VOLUME VIA MERGED BITMAPS TO MAINTAIN CONSISTENCY - Aspects of the present invention relate to data migration and/or disaster recovery. One embodiment enables merging of bitmaps to allow for automation of the process of switching to a different target volume on the same storage subsystem without major interruption of data recovery capability and limited interruption of host I/O to the source volumes during the migration. In one approach, the migration of data onto a new target volume within the same storage subsystem as the original target volume is automated, without requiring the user to manually create or remove any new copy relationships. | 02-27-2014 |
| 20140059309 | MULTI-VOLUME INSTANT VIRTUAL COPY FREEZE - Provided are a computer implemented method, computer program product, and system for creating a consistency group. For each source volume that has an instant virtual copy relationship with a target volume, an indicator for the source volume is set to true in a Fast Incremental with Freeze (FIF) map. The consistency group for each source volume whose indicator is set to true in the FIF map and each associated target volume is created by: performing a quick Instant Virtual Copy (IVC) freeze command to freeze each source volume whose indicator is set to true in the FIF map and performing a consistency group created command to thaw each source volume whose indicator is set to true in the FIF map. | 02-27-2014 |
| 20140059310 | Virtualization-Aware Data Locality in Distributed Data Processing - A virtualized computing system for executing a distributed computing application, such as Hadoop, is discussed. The virtualized computing system stores data in a distributed filesystem, such as Hadoop Distributed File System, and processes data using a topology awareness that takes into account the virtualization layer of the virtualized computing system. The virtualized computing system employs locality-related policies, including replica placement policies, replica choosing policies, balancer policies, and task scheduling policies that take advantage of the awareness of the virtualization topology. | 02-27-2014 |
| 20140059311 | Data Backup or Restore Using Main Memory and Non-Volatile Storage Media - The invention relates to a computer implemented method for creating a backup of data by a computer system. The creation of the backup comprises: assigning a first memory space in a main memory to data and loading the data into the first memory space; allocating a second memory space in the main memory for acting as container of one or more images of the data in the first memory space; creating the one or more images of the data in the first memory space; and storing the created one or more images in the second memory space and storing a respective copy of at least one of the one or more images in the one or more non-volatile storage media. | 02-27-2014 |
| 20140059312 | RECORDING MEDIUM, COMPUTER, AND INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM - A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program causing a processor to execute a process, the process includes identifying a second virtual machine in charge of storing data onto a storage in accordance with a hash value that is calculated from a key and a hash function, the key corresponding to the data that is to be stored on the storage and is placed on a first virtual machine from among a plurality of virtual machines running in a computer and the hash function commonly used by the plurality of virtual machine; storing the data on the storage using the first virtual machine when the second virtual machine matches the first virtual machine; and performing a control operation so that the first virtual machine does not store the data onto the storage when the second virtual machine fails to match the first virtual machine. | 02-27-2014 |
| 20140059313 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR RECOVERING PARTITION USING BACKUP BOOT RECORD INFORMATION - In a method for recovering a partition using backup boot record information, an unallocated area is separated from a disk or an evidence image. The unallocated area is searched for a location of a backup boot record. Whether is backup boot record of a file system to be detected is present in found sectors is analyzed. If the backup boot record is found to be the backup boot record of the file system desired to be detected as a result of the analysis, it is verified whether the backup boot record is a boot record of a valid partition. If it is verified that the backup boot record is the boot record of the valid partition, a file system of a deleted partition is parsed using the backup boot record and a deleted directory or file is recovered. | 02-27-2014 |
| 20140059314 | PREVENTING DATA LOSS DURING REBOOT AND LOGICAL STORAGE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT DEVICE - According to an example, in a method for preventing data loss during reboot, a logical storage resource management device may pre-allocate reserved memory for storing a storage resource mapping table, allocate logical storage resources to a data source device before a system is rebooted, record, in the storage resource mapping table, a physical location of the logical storage resources into which data has been written when the data source device writes the data into the logical storage resources, obtain the physical location of the logical storage resources into which the data has been written from the storage resource mapping table when the system is rebooted, set a state of a physical memory block corresponding to the logical storage resources into which the data has been written as used, and release all logical storage resources after the data source device reads the data. | 02-27-2014 |
| 20140059315 | COMPUTER SYSTEM, DATA MANAGEMENT METHOD AND DATA MANAGEMENT PROGRAM - A computer system is achieved which enables a high-speed response to a copy process between computers configuring a KVS and ensures data reliability. Disclosed is a computer system in which computers are connected via a network, and a task is executed using a database including storage areas belonging to the computers. The computer system includes a first computer that manages a data set containing pieces of data. The first computer stores replicated data of data contained in data sets managed by other computers. Upon receiving a request for storage (writing and/or overwriting) of new data, the first computer stores the data in memory, replicating the data to generate replicated data, transmits the replicated data to the other computers, determines whether the replicated data has been transmitted to the network, and uses the data to execute the task when determining the replicated data was transmitted to the network. | 02-27-2014 |
| 20140068208 | SEPARATELY STORED REDUNDANCY - A method or system stores a data block redundancy related to a data block of a storage medium together with the mapping metadata for the data block. In an alternative implementation, redundancy storage location is on a separate block of the storage medium, the separate block being in a storage region other than the storage region of the data block. | 03-06-2014 |
| 20140068209 | ACCESSING REMOTE MEMORY ON A MEMORY BLADE - A method of accessing remote memory comprising receiving a request for access to a page from a computing device, adding an address of the accessed page to a recent list memory on the remote memory, associating a recent list group identifier to a number of addresses of accessed pages, transferring the requested page to the computing device with the recent list group identifier and temporarily maintaining a copy of the transferred page on the remote memory. | 03-06-2014 |
| 20140068210 | MANAGEMENT METHOD OF VIRTUAL STORAGE SYSTEM AND REMOTE COPY SYSTEM - Exemplary embodiments provide techniques of managing storage systems including remote copy systems and improving the manageability by automating complicated operations. In one embodiment, a computer comprises a memory and a controller. The controller is operable to: manage a virtual volume to be provided for a server; manage a plurality of logical volumes provided from a plurality of storage systems; manage a condition to be required of the virtual volume, the condition relating to a location in which data to be sent to the virtual volume is stored; manage location information of each of the plurality of logical volumes, the location information of a logical volume being defined based on a location of the logical volume; and control to map the virtual volume to a logical volume of the plurality of logical volumes, based on the condition of the virtual volume and the location information of the logical volumes. | 03-06-2014 |
| 20140068211 | CONVERTING A FIRST ADDRESS MAPPING FUNCTION FOR MAPPING ADDRESSES TO STORAGE LOCATIONS TO A SECOND ADDRESS MAPPING FUNCTION - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for converting a first address mapping function for mapping addresses to storage locations to a second address mapping function. For each of a plurality of addresses allocated in the storage using the first address mapping function, a node is generated in the second address mapping function. Each node in the second address mapping function associates a logical address with a physical location for the logical address. A determination is made of addresses having unused space and storage space is freed for the determined addresses having the unused space. Indication is made in the second address mapping function that the storage space for the determined addresses has been freed. | 03-06-2014 |
| 20140068212 | DEVICE BACKUPS AND UPDATES IN VIEW OF DATA USAGE STATISTICS - Embodiments manage data transfer requests representing backup operations and update operations from a computing device using a centralized data transfer service. The data transfer service selects the data transfer requests for performance based at least on data usage statistics associated with a data usage plan and available network connections on the computing device. For the backup operations, the data transfer requests are also selected based on priority information associated with each of the backup operations. In some embodiments, the data transfer service selects and initiates the data transfer requests without incurring excess data transfer costs for the user. | 03-06-2014 |
| 20140068213 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND AREA RELEASE CONTROL METHOD - An information processing apparatus includes a controller. The controller performs a transfer source information generation process for generating transfer source information upon reception of an offload data transfer instruction from a host computer. The controller performs a reserved state setting process for setting, when an instruction to release a release area is received, an overlapping area to a reserved state so as to reserve release of the overlapping area, after issuing a completion response for the release instruction. The controller performs a pending state determination process for determining a pending state in which data transfer using the transfer information might be executed. The controller performs an area release process for releasing the overlapping area which is set to the reserved state and thus is reserved to be released, when the pending state is cancelled. | 03-06-2014 |
| 20140068214 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND COPY CONTROL METHOD - The information processing apparatus, which is a control apparatus which performs access control and copy control of a disk unit, forms a storage apparatus together with the disk unit. The copy controller manages copy sessions. A copy session is a unit of management of copying a copy source data area on a copy source disk to a copy destination data area on a copy destination disk. A copy session management unit, when there is a plurality of copy sessions, performs scheduling of the plurality of copy sessions with the disk unit being the copy destination disk, and notifies a copy controller controlling the copy source disk of the schedule. An execution unit which has been notified of the schedule executes a copy of a copy session according to the schedule. | 03-06-2014 |
| 20140068215 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACCESSING DATA IN A DATA STORAGE SYSTEM - A data storage system, and a method for accessing data in a data storage system, wherein the data storage system comprises at least a first volume and a second volume, and the first volume and the second volume remain consistent by a synchronous copy relationship, the method comprising: setting a virtual unique identifier of the second volume as a unique identifier of the first volume; creating a first path from a host to the first volume and a second path from the host to the second volume by using the unique identifier of the first volume; accessing data by using the first path from the host to the first volume; and setting the second path from the host to the second volume as unavailable. | 03-06-2014 |
| 20140068216 | STORAGE SYSTEM FOR SUPPORTING COPY COMMAND AND MOVE COMMAND AND OPERATION METHOD OF STORAGE SYSTEM - Provided are a storage system for supporting a copy command and a move command and an operation method of said storage system. The storage system performs a copy operation and a move operation without movement of data between a host and a storage device, by using a copy command and a move command which are distinguished from a read command and a write command. More specifically, the storage device updates a mapping table by responding to the reception of the copy command or the move command from the host. | 03-06-2014 |
| 20140075138 | LOGGING UPDATES TO MONITORED DATA SETS IN A STORAGE - Providing a computer program product, system, and method for logging updates to monitored data sets in a storage. A request is received to monitor changes to a monitored data set comprising one of the data sets in the storage. A determination is made of tracks in the storage in which the data set is stored. The determined tracks are indicated in monitored tracks. Updates to the storage are received and a determination is made as to whether the updates are for the monitored tracks. The updates are logged in response to determining that updates are for the monitored tracks. A determination is made of new tracks added to the monitored data set and the determined new tracks are indicated in the monitored tracks. | 03-13-2014 |
| 20140075139 | MODIFYING MEMORY SPACE ALLOCATION FOR INACTIVE TASKS - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for modifying memory space allocation for inactive tasks. Information is maintained on computational resources consumed by tasks running in the computer system allocated memory space in the memory. The information on the computational resources consumed by the tasks is used to determine inactive tasks of the tasks. The allocation of the memory space allocated to at least one of the determined inactive tasks is modified. | 03-13-2014 |
| 20140075140 | SELECTIVE CONTROL FOR COMMIT LINES FOR SHADOWING DATA IN STORAGE ELEMENTS - Systems and methods to selectively apply commit and rollback operations between a backup memory and a primary memory are implemented. For each entry in the primary memory, a monitor may be implemented to track the state of the entry. The state may indicate that the entry has changed upon execution of a write command for the entry. The state may be reset upon execution of a commit or rollback command. The primary memory may be a storage array coupled to a backup memory. The backup memory may be a shadow storage element. | 03-13-2014 |
| 20140075141 | CONCURRENT VIRTUAL MACHINE SNAPSHOTS AND RESTORE - Various mechanisms are disclosed herein for the saving and restoring of virtual machine environment state. For example, virtual machine state can be either be saved or (multiple) snapshots can be taken of the virtual machine state. In the latter case, virtual processors can be allowed to run while the memory of the virtual machine state is being saved. In either case, virtual devices associated with the virtual machine environment can be quiesced such that these devices can prepare themselves to be saved. Once such virtual devices and memory are saved, they can also be restored. For example, restoration of memory can occur while virtual processors are running at the same time. And, moreover, restoration can occur in batches of pages, thus optimizing the response time for restoring saved data. | 03-13-2014 |
| 20140082310 | METHOD AND APPARATUS OF STORAGE TIER AND CACHE MANAGEMENT - Storage systems and methods directed to tier management and tier movement. Tier management is conducted based on access frequency of data in a storage subsystem in comparison to the storage subsystem tier. The storage system may then manage cache pre-fetch or tier movement as file location granularity without a special management interface from the host to the storage system. | 03-20-2014 |
| 20140082311 | MAINTAINING CONSISTENCY OF STORAGE IN A MIRRORED VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT - A method achieves data consistency in a shared storage accessible by a first and second machine. The method includes, in response to receiving state information of the first machine, configuring the second machine to a mirrored operating state corresponding to an operating state of the first machine, receiving a notification that the first machine will overwrite existing data stored in the shared storage, and, in response to the notification, reading the existing data, storing a copy of existing data in a local storage of the second machine, and sending an acknowledgment to the first machine that the copy has been stored in the local storage, to enable the first machine to overwrite the existing data with newly written data. The method also includes, in response to receiving a failure notification, retrieving the copy of the existing data, overwriting the newly written data with the copy of the existing data. | 03-20-2014 |
| 20140082312 | OPERATOR PANEL WITH APPLICATIONS FOR OPERATING PRODUCTION SYSTEMS - The invention relates to an operator panel ( | 03-20-2014 |
| 20140089614 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AND DATA MANAGEMENT METHOD - A first storage system copies data of a virtual area of a first virtual volume to a virtual area of a second virtual volume of a second storage system, monitors accesses with respect to multiple virtual areas of the first virtual volume, updates access information related to the accesses of the multiple virtual areas, and, based on the access information, reallocates data inside an actual area of a first pool allocated to the virtual area of the first virtual volume. The first storage system sends the access information to the second storage system. The second storage system receives the access information, and, based on the access information, reallocates data inside the actual area allocated to a virtual area of the second virtual volume. | 03-27-2014 |
| 20140089615 | COMPUTER AND COMPUTER CONTROL METHOD - When a shutdown is detected, an MBR or a backup MBR are read. When the data of the MBR is not identical to the data of the backup MBR, the MBR is copied to the backup MBR. When the backup MBR cannot normally be read or is improper, the MBR is copied to the backup MBR. When the backup MBR cannot normally be read or is improper while the power of the computer is turned on, the MBR is copied to the backup MBR. | 03-27-2014 |
| 20140095816 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FULL VIRTUAL MACHINE BACKUP USING STORAGE SYSTEM FUNCTIONALITY - Techniques for virtual machine full backup are described herein. According to one embodiment, in response to a request to back up a virtual machine (VM) of a client, a request of VM backup is sent out. A consistent state of the VM is then identified via a VM application program interface (VM API). Subsequently a request is sent to a storage system associated with the client to ask for VM disk image associated with the consistent state of the VM to a target backup storage system. | 04-03-2014 |
| 20140095817 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INCREMENTAL VIRTUAL MACHINE BACKUP USING STORAGE SYSTEM FUNCTIONALITY - Techniques for virtual machine incremental backup are described herein. According to one embodiment, a request for an incremental backing up a virtual machine (VM) is received at a storage system, the request identifying a requested VM disk image associated with a consistent state of the VM. The storage system determines a difference between the requested VM disk image and a previous VM disk image representing a previous VM backup. The changes between the requested VM disk image and a previous VM disk image are then transmitted to a target backup storage system. | 04-03-2014 |
| 20140095818 | UPDATING SYSTEM AND METHOD - An updating system includes an input unit, a recording unit, and a processor. The input unit generates updating data for updating a to-be-updated file in response to users operations. The processor updates the to-be-updated file using the updating data generated in response to users operations. The recording unit creates a duplicate record for recording the updating data during the procedure of updating the to-be-updated file. If the updating system is powered off before the to-be-updated file has been updated, the processor can obtain the duplicate record to update the to-be-updated file when the updating system is again powered on. An updating method applied in the updating system is also provided. | 04-03-2014 |
| 20140095819 | INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE, METHOD FOR CONTROLLING INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE - An information processing device includes a plurality of arithmetic processing devices, a plurality of storage devices, a connection section that connects a first arithmetic processing device to a first storage device and a second storage device which are duplexed and a control section that causes, when the performance of the second storage device is reduced, the connection section to cut out the second storage device whose performance has been reduced from the first arithmetic processing device and the first storage device, causes to duplex a third storage device with the first storage device, causes the connection section to connect the first storage device and the third storage device which have been duplexed to the first arithmetic processing device and to connect a second arithmetic processing device to the second storage device that has been cut out, and causes the second arithmetic processing device to initialize the second storage device. | 04-03-2014 |
| 20140095820 | STORAGE CONTROL APPARATUS AND COPYING METHOD - A storage control apparatus includes: a copy processing unit to perform a first copy process of copying, when receiving a write request targeting on a write destination address with a copy of a copy source volume to a copy destination volume being not yet completed, write data of the write destination address to the copy destination volume, and to perform a second copy process, when executing a copy process of an overall storage area of the copy source volume, according to a copy sequence on a management area unit basis of management areas into which the overall storage area is segmented; and a copy sequence resetting unit to reset the copy sequences on the basis of a reception timing of the write request received during the second copy process by the copy processing unit and a write destination address. | 04-03-2014 |
| 20140095821 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SECURITY AND PRIVACY AWARE VIRTUAL MACHINE CHECKPOINTING - A checkpointing method for creating a file representing a restorable state of a virtual machine in a computing system, comprising identifying processes executing within the virtual machine that may store confidential data, and marking memory pages and files that potentially contain data stored by the identified processes; or providing an application programming interface for marking memory regions and files within the virtual machine that contain confidential data stored by processes; and creating a checkpoint file, by capturing memory pages and files representing a current state of the computing system, which excludes information from all of the marked memory pages and files. | 04-03-2014 |
| 20140101397 | REMOTE REDUNDANT ARRAY OF INEXPENSIVE MEMORY - A method for retrieving stored information from a storage node includes operating a computing device to generate a memory access request comprising a virtual memory address that identifies a first storage node and at least a second storage node based on the virtual memory address. The method further includes operating the computing device to transmit a retrieve request to both the first storage node and the second storage node to retrieve stored information. The first and the second storage nodes are each enabled to store a copy of the stored information, and are included in a plurality of storage nodes that constitute an extended memory. If a first response from the first storage node is received before a second response is received from the second storage node, then the method further includes operating the computing devices to receive the stored information from the first storage node. | 04-10-2014 |
| 20140101398 | REMOTE OFFICE DUPLICATION - Remote office deduplication comprises calculating one or more fingerprints of one or more data blocks, sending the one or more fingerprints to one or more backup servers via a network interface, receiving from the one or more backup servers an indication of which one or more data blocks corresponding to the one or more fingerprints should be sent to the one or more backup servers, and if the indication indicates one or more data blocks to be sent to the one or more backup servers, sending the one or more data blocks to the one or more backup servers via the network interface. | 04-10-2014 |
| 20140101399 | CONTINUOUS DATA PROTECTION OVER INTERMITTENT CONNECTIONS, SUCH AS CONTINUOUS DATA BACKUP FOR LAPTOPS OR WIRELESS DEVICES - A portable data protection system is described for protecting, transferring or copying data using continuous data protection (CDP) over intermittent or occasional connections between a computer system or mobile device containing the data to be protected, transferred or copied, called a data source, and one or more computer systems that receive the data, called a data target. CDP can be broken down logically into two phases: 1) detecting changes to data on a data source and 2) replicating the changes to a data target. The portable data protection system uses a method that performs the first phase continuously or near continuously on the data source, and the second phase when a connection is available between the data source and the data target. | 04-10-2014 |
| 20140101400 | STORE PERIPHERAL COMPONENT INTERCONNECT (PCI) FUNCTION CONTROLS INSTRUCTION - An instruction is provided that includes an opcode field to identify a store instruction to store in a designated location current values of operational parameters of an adapter function of an adapter; a first field to identify a location, the contents of which include a function handle identifying a handle of the adapter function for which the store instruction is being performed, and an indication of an address space associated with the adapter function identified by the function handle to which the store instruction applies; and a second field to identify the designated location of where a result of the store instruction is to be stored. Execution of the instruction includes obtaining information from a function information block associated with the adapter function; and copying the information from the function information block into the designated location, based on completion of one or more validity checks with one or more predefined results. | 04-10-2014 |
| 20140108750 | ESTABLISHING A POINT-IN-TIME COPY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOURCE LOGICAL ADDRESSES AND TARGET LOGICAL ADDRESSES - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for establishing a point-in-time copy relationship between source logical addresses and target logical addresses. A point-in-time (PiT) copy establish command specifies a source set comprising a subset of source logical addresses in at least one storage and a target set comprising a subset of target logical addresses in the at least one storage. The source set of source logical addresses are copied to the target set of target logical addresses. The source logical addresses map to source tracks and wherein the target logical addresses map to target tracks. Copy information is generated indicating whether the source logical addresses in the source set have been copied to the target set. Complete is returned to the PiT copy establish command after generating the copy information and before copying all the source logical addresses to the target logical addresses. | 04-17-2014 |
| 20140108751 | PROCESSING A COPY COMMAND DIRECTED TO A FIRST STORAGE ARCHITECTURE FOR DATA THAT IS STORED IN A SECOND STORAGE ARCHITECTURE - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for processing a copy command indicating a source set comprising a subset of source logical addresses to copy to an indicated target set comprising a subset of target logical addresses. Complete is expected to be returned to the copy command in response to completing the copying of the source set to the target set. A point-in-time (PiT) copy establish command is generated in response to receiving the copy command, indicating the source and target sets in the copy command, The generated PiT copy command is executed to generate copy information indicating the source and target sets of source logical addresses and whether they have been copied to the target set. Complete is returned to the copy command after generating the copy information and before copying all the source logical addresses to the target logical addresses. | 04-17-2014 |
| 20140108752 | MANAGING UPDATES AND COPYING DATA IN A POINT-IN-TIME COPY RELATIONSHIP EXPRESSED AS SOURCE LOGICAL ADDRESSES AND TARGET LOGICAL ADDRESSES - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for managing updates and copying data in a point-in-time copy relationship expressed as source logical addresses and target logical addresses. A copy relationship indicates a source set of a subset of source logical addresses to copy to a target set comprising a subset of target logical addresses. An update is received to a source logical address that has not been copied. Determinations are made of the target logical address corresponding to the source logical address to be updated according to the copy relationship, a target group of target logical addresses in the target set that include the determined target logical address, and the source logical addresses in the source set that correspond to the target logical addresses in the target group. The determined source logical addresses are copied to the target logical addresses in the determined target group. | 04-17-2014 |
| 20140108753 | MERGING AN OUT OF SYNCHRONIZATION INDICATOR AND A CHANGE RECORDING INDICATOR IN RESPONSE TO A FAILURE IN CONSISTENCY GROUP FORMATION - A first data structure stores indications of storage locations that need to be copied for forming a consistency group. A second data structure stores indications of new host writes subsequent to starting a point in time copy operation to form the consistency group. Read access is secured to a metadata storage area and a determination is made as to whether the second data structure indicates that there are any new host writes. In response to determining that the second data structure indicates that there are new host writes, write access is secured to the metadata storage area, the first data structure is updated with contents of the second data structure to determine which additional storage locations need to be copied for formation of a next consistency group, and the second data structure is updated to indicate that that the second data structure is in an initialized state. | 04-17-2014 |
| 20140108754 | STORAGE SYSTEM AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING STORAGE SYSTEM - An exemplary storage system according to the invention includes a first physical storage apparatus providing a first real volume and a second physical storage apparatus providing a second real volume to form a copy pair with the first real volume. The first physical storage apparatus provides a first host with a first storage identifier and a first volume identifier for the first host to access the first real volume. The second physical storage apparatus provides a second host with at least a part of a first virtual storage apparatus including a first virtual volume allocated the second real volume. The second physical storage apparatus assigns the first volume identifier to the first virtual volume and the first storage identifier to the first virtual storage apparatus. | 04-17-2014 |
| 20140108755 | MOBILE DATA LOSS PREVENTION SYSTEM AND METHOD USING FILE SYSTEM VIRTUALIZATION - Disclosed are a mobile DLP system and method. The mobile DLP system includes a general storage that allows an access in a normal mode and a security mode, an encrypted virtual storage that disallows an access in the normal mode and allows an access in the security mode, a management program that designates the general storage as a write/read area in the normal mode and designates the general storage and the virtual storage as the write/read area in the security mode, a fuse that intercepts a file input/output of an application program including the management program to again set a file input/output path as the virtual storage according to a command of the management program in the security mode, and a VFS engine that performs a bridge function between the application program of an application layer and the fuse of a kernel layer. | 04-17-2014 |
| 20140108756 | BITMAP SELECTION FOR REMOTE COPYING OF UPDATES - 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. | 04-17-2014 |
| 20140108757 | PROCESSING A COPY COMMAND DIRECTED TO A FIRST STORAGE ARCHITECTURE FOR DATA THAT IS STORED IN A SECOND STORAGE ARCHITECTURE - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for processing a copy command indicating a source set comprising a subset of source logical addresses to copy to an indicated target set comprising a subset of target logical addresses. Complete is expected to be returned to the copy command in response to completing the copying of the source set to the target set. A point-in-time (PiT) copy establish command is generated in response to receiving the copy command, indicating the source and target sets in the copy command, The generated PiT copy command is executed to generate copy information indicating the source and target sets of source logical addresses and whether they have been copied to the target set. Complete is returned to the copy command after generating the copy information and before copying all the source logical addresses to the target logical addresses. | 04-17-2014 |
| 20140108758 | DATA PROCESSING METHOD AND DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM - A data processing method that is executed by a first data processing apparatus included among plural data processing apparatuses, includes producing a copy of data, and restoration information that includes a first address of memory to which the copy of the data is stored; transmitting any one among the data and the copy of the data to a second data processing apparatus that is included among the data processing apparatuses; and storing the restoration information to shared memory that is memory of at least one data processing apparatus among the data processing apparatuses, and shared among the data processing apparatuses. | 04-17-2014 |
| 20140115282 | WRITING DATA FROM HADOOP TO OFF GRID STORAGE - In one embodiment, data generated via a map process and/or reduce process may be obtained. A request message may be sent to a server, where the request message indicates a request for a location in storage at which the data is to be stored. Upon receiving the location from the server, the data may be copied to the location in the storage. A commit message may be sent to the server, where the commit message indicates that the data has been copied to the location. In addition, the data may be deleted. | 04-24-2014 |
| 20140115283 | BLOCK MEMORY ENGINE WITH MEMORY CORRUPTION DETECTION - Techniques for handling version information using a copy engine. In one embodiment, an apparatus comprises a copy engine configured to perform one or more operations associated with a block memory operation in response to a command. Examples of block memory operations may include copy, clear, move, and/or compress operations. In one embodiment, the copy engine is configured to handle version information associated with the block memory operation based on the command. The one or more operations may include operating on data in a cache and/or modifying entries in a memory. In one embodiment, the copy engine is configured to compare version information in the command with stored version information. The copy engine may overwrite or preserve version information based on the command. The copy engine may be a coprocessing element. The copy engine may be configured to maintain coherency with other copy engines and/or processing elements. | 04-24-2014 |
| 20140115284 | PROGRESS RECORDING METHOD AND RECOVERING METHOD FOR ENCODING OPERATION ON STORAGE DEVICE - A progress recording method and a corresponding recovering method adapted to an encoding operation performed on a storage area of a storage device are provided. The progress recording method includes the following steps. A variable set is initialized and stored. The encoding operation includes a plurality of sub-operations, and each of the sub-operations is corresponding to at least one flag variable in the variable set. The flag variables are used for recording execution progresses of the sub-operations. When each of the sub-operations is executed, the corresponding flag variable in the variable set is updated according to the execution progress of the sub-operation. | 04-24-2014 |
| 20140115285 | RECONFIGURING A SNAPSHOT OF A VIRTUAL MACHINE - Techniques for reconfiguring a snapshot of a virtual machine (VM) may be provided. The VM may be deployed on a hypervisor running on a computer. Techniques comprise provisioning of a VM, installing and configuring an operating system and a base program. A snapshot of the virtual machine may be taken together with the operating system and the base program together with configuration data defining the configuration of the virtual machine, the operating system and base application in a metadata descriptor. All may be stored in a persistent storage. Then the content of the metadata descriptor may be modified, and it may be reverted back to the snapshot using the modified content of the metadata descriptor such that the snapshot of the virtual machine with the operating system and the base program is reconfigured upon deployment of the snapshot including the operating system and the base program. | 04-24-2014 |
| 20140115286 | System and Method of Digital Content Manipulation - A data storage apparatus includes a primary storage device and a secondary storage device. The primary storage device includes a first non-volatile memory to store a content item. The secondary storage device includes a second non-volatile memory to store a command received from a first content appliance. The command indicates an operation to be performed with respect to the content item stored at the primary storage device. The secondary storage device is configured to send the command to a second content appliance for execution. | 04-24-2014 |
| 20140115287 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING VOLUME REPLICATION USING UNIFIED ARCHITECTURE - Method and apparatus for performing volume replication using a unified architecture are provided. Each volume has an exclusive volume log table (VLT) and an exclusive volume block update table (VBUT). The VLT is mainly used for recording the relationship between two volumes of a mirroring pair, and the VBUT is used for tracking the state of each data block of the volume itself. By means of the cross operations and applications between the VLT and the VBUT, various volume replication processes such as volume copying and volume mirroring can be enabled under a unified architecture. For each volume, different replication relationships with other volumes can be handled merely by administering its two exclusive tables. The method and the apparatus provided by the present invention can simplify the architecture for synchronization replication and reduce the burdens of administrating tables, thereby making the operation of a storage system more efficient. | 04-24-2014 |
| 20140115288 | CREATION OF LOGICAL UNITS VIA BORROWING OF ALTERNATIVE STORAGE AND SUBSEQUENT MOVEMENT OF THE LOGICAL UNITS TO DESIRED STORAGE - A computational device receives a request to create a logical unit. Associated with the request is a first type of storage pool in which creation of the logical unit is desired. In response to determining that adequate space is not available to create the logical unit in the first type of storage pool, a determination is made as to whether a first indicator is configured to allow borrowing of storage space from a second type of storage pool. In response to determining that the first indicator is configured to allow borrowing of storage space from the second type of storage pool, the logical unit is created in the second type of storage pool and a listener application is initiated. The listener application determines that free space that is adequate to store the logical unit has become available in the first type of storage pool. The logical unit is moved from the second type of storage pool to the first type of storage pool, in response to determining, via the listener application, that free space that is adequate to store the logical unit has become available in the first type of storage pool. | 04-24-2014 |
| 20140115289 | DATA MIGRATION SYSTEM AND DATA MIGRATION METHOD - A second storage maps a migration source volume to a virtual volume of a migration destination volume according to storage virtualization technology. A host system including a host switches an access path from an access path to the migration source volume to an access path to the migration destination volume. The second storage executes copy processing of migrating, from the migration source volume to the migration destination volume, data in an assigned area of a virtual volume according to thin provisioning of the migration source volume based on the information contained in the first thin provisioning information in the first storage, and copying that data from the migration destination volume to a virtual volume according to thin provisioning of a copy destination volume in the second storage. The second storage associates the virtual volume of the copy destination volume with the migration destination volume in substitute for the original virtual volume. | 04-24-2014 |
| 20140122816 | SWITCHING BETWEEN MIRRORED VOLUMES - For switching between mirrored volumes, a copy relation identification (ID) is created between mirrored volumes for using the copy relation ID in conjunction with a multi-path device driver for switching input/output (I/O) for applications between a first path to a second path between the mirrored volumes. | 05-01-2014 |
| 20140122817 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AN OPTIMIZED DISTRIBUTED STORAGE SYSTEM - In accordance with the present disclosure, a system and method for providing an optimized distributed storage system is described. The method may comprise receiving a file at a processor of a first information handling system of the distributed storage system. A copy of the file may be stored in a second information handling system of the distributed storage system. A total accessibility value for the file may be determined. The method may further include storing a copy of the file in a third information handling system of the distributed storage system if the total accessibility value is less than a first threshold. Likewise, a copy of the file may be removed from the second information handling system if the total accessibility value is greater than or equal to a second threshold. | 05-01-2014 |
| 20140122818 | STORAGE APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING STORAGE APPARATUS - Upon receipt of an I/O request instructing storage of data in a storage device | 05-01-2014 |
| 20140122819 | VIRTUAL DISK MANIPULATION OPERATIONS - Described is a technology by which a virtual hard disk is able to continue servicing virtual disk I/O (reads and writes) while a meta-operation (e.g., copying, moving, deleting, merging, compressing, defragmenting, cryptographic signing, lifting, dropping, converting, or compacting virtual disk data) is performed on the virtual disk. The servicing of virtual disk I/Os may be coordinated with meta-operation performance, such as by throttling and/or prioritizing the virtual disk I/Os. Also described is performing a meta-operation by manipulating one or more de-duplication data structures. | 05-01-2014 |
| 20140129787 | DATA PLACEMENT FOR EXECUTION OF AN EXECUTABLE - According to one embodiment, a method for a compiler to produce an executable module to be executed by a computer system including a main processor and active memory devices includes dividing source code into code sections, identifying a first code section to be executed by the active memory devices, wherein the first code section is one of the code sections and identifying data structures that are used by the first code section. The method also includes classifying the data structures based on pre-defined attributes, formulating, by the compiler, a storage mapping plan for the data structures based on the classifying and generating, by the compiler, mapping code that implements the storage mapping plan, wherein the mapping code is part of the executable module and wherein the mapping code maps storing of the data structures to storage locations in the active memory devices. | 05-08-2014 |
| 20140129788 | HIGH-PERFORMANCE LARGE SCALE SEMICONDUCTOR STORAGE MODULE WITH HYBRID TECHNOLOGY - An open architecture is provided for enabling at least two memory types for a single memory disk unit. The memory disk unit includes an interface and a DMA controller. The DMA controller controls the transfer of data to/from memory of at least two memory types of the memory disk unit through a hybrid memory control module. A corresponding memory controller (and in some cases, an ECC controller) is provided for each memory of the at least two memory types. The hybrid memory control architecture can control existing memory controllers by matching protocols for the particular memory controller. Address/memory commands and signal timing can be matched up to the appropriate controller by the hybrid memory control architecture. | 05-08-2014 |
| 20140129789 | REDUCING MICROPROCESSOR PERFORMANCE LOSS DUE TO TRANSLATION TABLE COHERENCY IN A MULTI-PROCESSOR SYSTEM - A translation lookaside buffer coherency unit with Emulated Purge (TCUEP) fetches first instructions for execution in a multi-processor system. The TCUEP associates a first instruction timestamp with each of the first instructions. The TCUEP receives a multi-processor coherency operation and increments the first timestamp value in a master-tag register to form a second timestamp value after receiving the multi-processor coherency operation. The TCUEP fetches, by an instruction fetch unit in the first microprocessor, second instructions for execution in the multiprocessor system. The TCUEP associates a second instruction timestamp with each of the second instructions. The TCUEP enables an emulated purge mechanism to suppress hits in the translation lookaside buffers for the second instructions. The TCUEP after determining the first instructions are complete, purges entries in the translation lookaside buffers and disables the emulated purge mechanism. | 05-08-2014 |
| 20140129790 | EFFICIENT DATA STORAGE SYSTEM - A system and method are disclosed for providing efficient data storage. A plurality of data segments is received in a data stream. The system preliminarily checks in a memory having a relatively low latency whether one of the plurality of data segments may have been stored previously in a data segment repository. The memory having the relatively low latency stores data segment information. In the event that the preliminary check determines that one of the plurality of data segments may have been stored in the data segment repository, a memory having a relatively higher latency is checked to determine whether the data segment has been stored previously in the data segment repository. | 05-08-2014 |
| 20140129791 | Method of Application Memory Preservation for Dynamic Calibration of Memory Interfaces - A method for calibrating a memory interface circuit is described wherein prior to a calibration operation at least a portion of application information contained in a memory circuit is moved or copied to an alternate location to preserve that information. At the completion of the calibration operation, the information is restored to the same location of the memory circuit. Thus, the calibration operation can be performed from time to time during normal operation of a system containing the memory circuit. Non-limiting examples of calibration operations are described including operations where a capture clock for a memory read circuit is calibrated, and operations where CAS latency compensation is calibrated for a DDR memory interface. | 05-08-2014 |
| 20140136802 | ACCESSING DATA IN A STORAGE SYSTEM - Embodiments of the invention relate to accessing data that spans multiple storage devices in a storage system. A first index records identifiers of data blocks and their storage locations, and a second index records storage locations. An update request is processed by writing multiple copies of a received data block identifier and the updated data block to storage locations recorded in the second index. A read request is processed by performing a quorum read of the storage locations recorded in the second index to retrieve the updated data blocks. The processing of the read request also includes performing a quorum read of the first index to determine storage locations that contain data blocks to be read as part of processing the read request. The data blocks to be read exclude the updated data blocks. | 05-15-2014 |
| 20140136803 | Backing up Method, Device, and System for Virtual Machine - Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a backing up method, device, and system for a virtual machine. The backing up method for a virtual machine includes a backup server mounting a snapshot initial volume of a to-be-backed-up original volume of a virtual machine in a primary storage device to the backup server, creating an initialization backup volume on a backup storage device and mounting the initialization backup volume to the backup server, and backing up an original data block of the original volume to the initialization backup volume. | 05-15-2014 |
| 20140136804 | MANAGING BACKUP RELATIONSHIPS IN A DATA STORAGE SYSTEM - A method for re-establishing a backup relationship between first and second volumes associated with one or more storage media in a data storage system is provided. The method comprises storing first information for preserving the backup relationship, in response to or in advance of receiving a request to terminate the backup relationship; recording changes to the first or second volumes that occur subsequent to terminating the backup relationship; and re-establishing the backup relationship between the first and second volumes according to the first information such that the first and second volumes are synchronized by merging the recorded changes with the first or second volumes. | 05-15-2014 |
| 20140136805 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR HIJACKING INODES BASED ON REPLICATION OPERATIONS RECEIVED IN AN ARBITRARY ORDER - A system and method for hijacking inodes based on replication operations received in an arbitrary order is used to assist a data replication operation from a source storage system to a destination storage system. The source storage system generates a set of replication operations as part of a replication process and transmits the replication operations in an arbitrary order. After receiving a replication operation, the system determines whether the operation is inconsistent with a corresponding destination inode. If an inconsistency exists, the system hijacks the destination inode by replacing the destination inode's metadata with data determined based on the replication operation. The system may also delete metadata from the inode and/or initialize metadata to default values if the metadata was not replaced based on the replication operation. The system then waits for a second replication operation that contains the remaining metadata and replaces the metadata based on the second replication operation. In addition, data blocks associated with the previous version of the inode are freed. | 05-15-2014 |
| 20140143513 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EFFICIENT, LOW-LATENCY, STREAMING MEMORY COPIES - Systems, methods, and apparatus with improved techniques for copying data from a source memory location to a destination memory location are disclosed. An exemplary method includes receiving a source address that indicates the source memory location, a destination address that indicates the destination memory location, and receiving a size indicator that indicates the size of the data. When the size is less than a threshold size, a particular pointer in a jump table is accessed, based upon the size that points to particular load and store instructions. The jump table includes a plurality of pointers that point to a corresponding one of a plurality of load and store instructions. The particular load-store instructions are then executed with a processor of the computing device to copy the data from the source memory location to the destination memory location. Several other efficiency-improvement aspects are also disclosed that may be used in connection with these steps to further improve copy efficiencies. | 05-22-2014 |
| 20140143514 | FAST MIGRATION OF VIRTUAL STORAGE PARTITION DATA ACROSS STORAGE SYSTEMS - A method includes reading a superblock of a read-only replica of a source virtual volume in a source virtual storage partition associated with a source aggregate of a source storage system at the destination storage system, modifying the superblock of the read-only replica in a memory of the destination storage system, and associating the modified superblock with one or more virtual volume block number(s) configured to be previously associated with the superblock of the read-only replica of the source virtual volume without initiating a destination consistency point (DCP) at the destination storage system to render the destination virtual volume writable. The method also includes modifying a disk group label to reflect an association of the destination storage disk with the writable destination virtual volume, and initiating DCP to ensure that the modified superblock and the modified disk group label are flushed to the destination storage disk. | 05-22-2014 |
| 20140149695 | CREATING A VIRTUAL MACHINE FROM A SNAPSHOT - A computer system generates a clone of a virtual machine from a point-in-time snapshot backup by collapsing metadata snapshots and storage snapshots into a virtual machine image. The computer system identifies a clone request for a virtual machine, the clone request comprising a point-in-time reference, retrieves at least one metadata snapshot and at least one storage snapshot based on the point-in-time reference, combines the at least one metadata snapshot and the at least one storage snapshot into a virtual machine image, and provisions a new virtual machine based on the virtual machine image. | 05-29-2014 |
| 20140149696 | VIRTUAL MACHINE BACKUP USING SNAPSHOTS AND CURRENT CONFIGURATION - A computer system generates snapshot backups of a virtual machine by creating a metadata snapshot and a backup snapshot. The computer system identifies a backup request for a virtual machine operating on a host computing system, initiates a backup snapshot of storage devices in use by the virtual machine, generates a metadata snapshot of a configuration of the virtual machine, and maintains the metadata snapshot in a data store. | 05-29-2014 |
| 20140149697 | Memory Pre-Allocation For Cleanup and Rollback Operations - A plurality of operations are executed using first memory (e.g., heap memory, etc.) in a data storage application. During execution, it is determined that one of the operations cannot be executed due to a lack of available first memory. In response, an emergency allocator assigns pre-allocated emergency memory that is separate and distinct from the first memory to the determined operation. The operation can then be completed using this pre-allocated emergency memory. Related apparatus, systems, techniques and articles are also described. | 05-29-2014 |
| 20140149698 | Storage System Capable of Managing a Plurality of Snapshot Families and Method of Operating Thereof - There is provided a storage system and a method of identifying delta-data therein between two points-in-time. The method comprises: generating successive snapshots S | 05-29-2014 |
| 20140149699 | IDENTIFYING MODIFIED CHUNKS IN A DATA SET FOR STORAGE - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for identifying modified chunks in a data set for storage. Information is maintained on a data set of variable length chunks, including a digest of each chunk and information to locate the chunk in the data set. Modifications are received to at least one of the chunks in the data set. A determination is made of chunks including data affected by the modifications. The determined chunks including data affected by the modifications are processed to determine new chunks and for each determined new chunk and for each determined new chunk, new digest information of the new chunk. The new digest information on the at least one new chunk and information to locate the new chunk in the data set are added to the set information. | 05-29-2014 |
| 20140149700 | MANAGING WRITE OPERATIONS TO AN EXTENT OF TRACKS MIGRATED BETWEEN STORAGE DEVICES - Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for managing write operations to an extent of tracks migrated between storage device. An operation to migrate an extent of tracks from the second storage to the first storage is processed. A determination is made of the tracks in the extent having a write indicator indicating that the track was updated in the second storage since the previous time. The data for the determined tracks is copied from the second storage to free locations in the first storage. An extent object for the extent is updated to indicate the free locations to which the data for the tracks were copied as an active address for the track. | 05-29-2014 |
| 20140149701 | BACKUP METHOD AND COMPUTER PRODUCT - A backup method includes detecting a first OS that is to be backed up, among plural OSs running on a computer and exclusive of a second OS; extracting information concerning resources used by the first OS among resources of the computer, the information being extracted upon detecting the first OS and from a first memory area that the second OS is authorized to access and that the first OS is not authorized to access; copying the information from the first memory area to a second memory area that the second OS and the first OS are authorized to access; and backing up the information of resources after copying the information to the second memory area. The backup method is executed by the computer. | 05-29-2014 |
| 20140149702 | CLOUD SCALE DIRECTORY SERVICES - Embodiments described herein are directed to providing scalability to software applications. A computer system partitions a portion of data stored in a directory services system into multiple different data partitions. Each data partition includes a primary writable copy and at least one secondary read-only copy of the data. The computer system receives a client request for a portion of the data that is stored in the directory services system and accesses various stored partition mappings to determine which of the different data partitions includes the requested data. The computer system also accesses a dynamic copy locator to determine which of the read-only copies of the indicated partition to access and provide the accessed primary writeable copy of the indicated partition and the determined read-only copy to the client in a virtualized manner so that the client is not aware of the data partitions. | 05-29-2014 |
| 20140156955 | USAGE OF SNAPSHOTS PREPARED BY A DIFFERENT HOST - A system and method are disclosed for preparing and using snapshots in a virtualized environment. In accordance with one example, a first computer system prepares, in an area of a storage device, a snapshot of a virtual disk of a virtual machine that is hosted by a second computer system. The first computer system then provides to the second computer system a reference to the prepared snapshot. | 06-05-2014 |
| 20140156956 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND A NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM FOR CREATING A WARRANTED SNAPSHOT - A method for providing a warranted snapshot that may include: receiving a request to create a first warranted snapshot of a first logical volume at a first point in time and creating the first warranted snapshot if the first warranted snapshot is non-writable and if an amount of physical storage actually devoted by a storage system to the first logical volume at the first point of time does not exceed a size of a free physical storage space that is available for storing any future data delta associated with the first warranted snapshot. The creating of the first warranted snapshot may include allocating a first virtual portion of a physical storage space for storing any future data delta associated with the first warranted snapshot. A size of the first virtual portion equals the amount of physical storage actually devoted to the first logical volume at the first point of time. | 06-05-2014 |
| 20140156957 | LIVE SNAPSHOTS OF MULTIPLE VIRTUAL DISKS - A system and method are disclosed for servicing requests to create live snapshots of a plurality of virtual disks in a virtualized environment. In accordance with one example, a computer system issues one or more commands to create a first snapshot of a first virtual disk of a virtual machine and a second snapshot of a second virtual disk of the virtual machine while the virtual machine is running. The computer system determines that the creating of the second snapshot failed and, in response, destroys the first snapshot. | 06-05-2014 |
| 20140156958 | COMMON CONTIGUOUS MEMORY REGION OPTIMIZED VIRTUAL MACHINE MIGRATION WITHIN A WORKGROUP - Embodiments of the invention relate to scanning, by a first processor in a work group, a memory associated with the first processor for data. The first processor updates a first data structure to include at least a portion of the data based on the scanning. The first processor transmits a representation of the first data structure to one or more peer processors of the first processor included in the work group using a dedicated link. The first processor receives a representation of a second data structure associated with at least one of the one or more peer processors of the first processor. The first processor updates the first data structure based on the received representation of the second data structure. | 06-05-2014 |
| 20140164722 | METHOD FOR SAVING VIRTUAL MACHINE STATE TO A CHECKPOINT FILE - A process for lazy checkpointing a virtual machine is enhanced to reduce the number of read/write accesses to the checkpoint file and thereby speed up the checkpointing process. The process for saving a state of a virtual machine running in a physical machine to a checkpoint file maintained in persistent storage includes the steps of copying contents of a block of memory pages, which may be compressed, into a staging buffer, determining after the copying if the buffer is full, and upon determining that the buffer is full, saving the buffer contents in a storage block of the checkpoint file. | 06-12-2014 |
| 20140164723 | METHOD FOR RESTORING VIRTUAL MACHINE STATE FROM A CHECKPOINT FILE - A process for lazy checkpointing is enhanced to reduce the number of read/write accesses to the checkpoint file and thereby speed up the checkpointing process. The process for restoring a state of a virtual machine (VM) running in a physical machine from a checkpoint file that is maintained in persistent storage includes the steps of detecting access to a memory page of the virtual machine that has not been read into physical memory of the VM from the checkpoint file, determining a storage block of the checkpoint file to which the accessed memory page maps, writing contents of the storage block in a buffer, and copying contents of a block of memory pages that includes the accessed memory page from the buffer to corresponding locations of the memory pages in the physical memory of the VM. The storage block of the checkpoint file may be compressed or uncompressed. | 06-12-2014 |
| 20140164724 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING SYSTEM COMMAND DURING MEMORY BACKUP - A method and an apparatus for processing a system command during memory backup. The method includes: acquiring a write address corresponding to a write operation command; if data corresponding to the write address has been read from a raw memory area but is not written to a backup memory area, mapping the write operation command to the raw memory area, and writing data to the write address in the raw memory area according to the write operation command; and deducting a set value from the write address to obtain an initial address to subsequently read data from the raw memory area. According to the embodiments of the present invention, a problem of system command blocking is solved during a memory backup operation, so that a system command is processed in a timely manner. | 06-12-2014 |
| 20140173229 | Method and Apparatus for Automated Migration of Data Among Storage Centers - A method for controlling the storage of data among multiple regional storage centers coupled through a network in a global storage system is provided. The method includes steps of: defining at least one dataset comprising at least a subset of the data stored in the global storage system; defining at least one ruleset for determining where to store the dataset; obtaining information regarding a demand for the dataset through one or more data requesting entities operating in the global storage system; and determining, as a function of the ruleset, information regarding a location for storing the dataset among regional storage centers having available resources that reduces the total distance traversed by the dataset in serving at least a given one of the data requesting entities and/or reduces the latency of delivery of the dataset to the given one of the data requesting entities. | 06-19-2014 |
| 20140173230 | APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACES FOR DATA SYNCHRONIZATION WITH ONLINE STORAGE SYSTEMS - The disclosed embodiments provide a system that manages access to data associated with an online storage system. During operation, the system enables synchronization of the data between an electronic device and the online storage system through an application programming interface (API) with an application on the electronic device. Next, the system uses the API to provide a synchronization state of the data to the application, wherein the synchronization state comprises at least one of a download state, an upload state, an idle state, a transfer progress, a cached state, and an error state. | 06-19-2014 |
| 20140173231 | SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE AND SYSTEM OPERATING METHOD - Disclosed is a semiconductor memory device for controlling a memory block. The semiconductor memory device includes a plurality of memory blocks to store data, and controller. The memory controller requests a first memory block, of the plurality of memory blocks, to performing a copy operation to copy the first memory block to a second memory block of the plurality of memory blocks. The controller then requests the first memory block to perform an operation different than the copy operation. The controller then requests the memory block to stop the copy operation based on the to perform an operation different than the copy operation. Finally, the controller requests the memory block to resume the copy operation after the operation different than the copy operation is completed. | 06-19-2014 |
| 20140173232 | Method and Apparatus for Automated Migration of Data Among Storage Centers - A method for controlling the storage of data among multiple regional storage centers coupled through a network in a global storage system is provided. The method includes steps of: defining at least one dataset comprising at least a subset of the data stored in the global storage system; defining at least one ruleset for determining where to store the dataset; obtaining information regarding a demand for the dataset through one or more data requesting entities operating in the global storage system; and determining, as a function of the ruleset, information regarding a location for storing the dataset among regional storage centers having available resources that reduces the total distance traversed by the dataset in serving at least a given one of the data requesting entities and/or reduces the latency of delivery of the dataset to the given one of the data requesting entities. | 06-19-2014 |
| 20140173233 | INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE, STORAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND COMPUTER READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM HAVING PROGRAM STORED THEREIN - An information processing device includes: a calculator that calculates the number of pages used for storing management information in a first storage medium; a storage processor that sets pages corresponding to the calculated number of pages as free pages and stores the management information in the set free pages to thereby store the management information in the first storage medium; and an update processor that performs a process of updating position management information that indicates a storage position of the management information in the first storage medium. The information processing device can quickly write out logs on a memory. | 06-19-2014 |
| 20140173234 | SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE AND MEMORY SYSTEM - A semiconductor memory system or device includes a memory cell array and an address converter. The memory cell array includes a plurality of memory blocks, and there is at least one block that serves as a buffer. Each of the memory blocks includes at least one memory cell row. An address converting circuit along with a block copy circuit performs a block copy operation of copying data of a first memory block, which is a source block among the memory blocks, into a second block, which is a buffer or destination block, and maps a first logical address for accessing the first memory block onto a physical address designating the second block. The first memory block then can serve as a new destination block after the block copy operation of the first memory block is completed. | 06-19-2014 |
| 20140173235 | RESILIENT DISTRIBUTED REPLICATED DATA STORAGE SYSTEM - A resilient distributed replicated data storage system is described herein. The storage system includes zones that are independent, and autonomous from each other. The zones include nodes that are independent and autonomous. The nodes include storage devices. When a data item is stored, it is partitioned into a plurality of data objects and a plurality of parity objects are calculated. Reassembly instructions are created for the data item. The data objects, parity objects and reassembly instructions are spread across nodes and zones in the storage system according to a policy for the data item. When a zone is inaccessible |
