Abstract: A storage apparatus includes a plurality of first storage mediums in which data is redundantly stored and a controller. The controller includes a formatting section which performs formatting in each of the plurality of first storage mediums, a detection section which detects a failure that has occurred in the plurality of first storage mediums, a control section which makes the formatting section stop the formatting at the time of the detection of the failure by the detection section and which rebuilds the data stored in the plurality of first storage mediums in which the failure has occurred in a second storage medium other than the plurality of first storage mediums, and a rebuild processing section which rebuilds the data stored in the plurality of first storage mediums in the second storage medium in accordance with instructions from the control section.

Abstract: A control apparatus, coupled to a storage medium via communication links, controls data write operations to the storage medium. A cache memory is configured to store a temporary copy of first data written in the storage medium. A processor receives second data with which the first data in the storage medium is to be updated, and determines whether the received second data coincides with the first data, based on comparison data read out of the storage medium, when no copy of the first data is found in the cache memory. When the second data is determined to coincide with the first data, the processor determines not to write the second data into the storage medium.

Abstract: A storage system includes data storage devices, spare storage devices used when a failure occurs in a data storage devices, a group management unit that divides the data storage devices into groups and implements a redundancy, a data storage device restoration unit that assigns the spare storage device as a replacement when a failure occurs, and a configuration change unit changing configuration of the group to which the data storage devices belong. The configuration change unit includes, a spare storage device securing unit that secures the spare storage device, a change processor that writes data concerning the group into the spare storage device, and a change restoration unit that performs continuation of the configuration change, or restoration of the group to a state in a start, using the data written into the spare storage device when the configuration change of the group is interrupted.

Abstract: When executing a sequential process on a volume of disks constituting RAID, a disk array apparatus determines whether a process other than the sequential process is executed in a predetermined period. The disk array apparatus specifies a disk type when the execution determining unit determines that no process other than the sequential process is executed in the predetermined period. The disk array apparatus then determines a multiplicity according to the disk type and executes the sequential process with the determined multiplicity.

Abstract: A disk array apparatus has a plurality of the same type of disk array units. Each of the disk array units has a plurality of storage areas in each of which firmware for allowing the disk array unit to operate is stored. When the disk array apparatus recognizes that a first disk array unit has been disposed therein, it compares a version number of firmware stored in each storage area included in the first disk array unit with a version number of firmware stored in each storage area included in a second disk array unit that currently operates in the disk array apparatus. If these version numbers are the same, the disk array apparatus makes a storage area in which firmware executed by the first disk array unit is stored conform to a storage area in which firmware executed by the second disk array unit is stored.

Abstract: According to an embodiment, a storage apparatus including: a plurality of storage media of which a first RAID is composed, a logical storage area of the first RAID for storing data being set over; a plurality of expansion storage media of which a second RAID is composed; a spare storage medium that is different from in any of the storage media or the expansion storage media; and a configuration control unit that when the spare storage medium is set in the first RAID, sets the logical storage area in the storage media, and when the expansion storage media are set in the storage apparatus, sets the expansion storage media in the second RAID, excludes the spare storage medium that is set in the first RAID, and moves the logical storage area that is set in the first RAID to the second RAID.

Abstract: A disk array device includes, a cache memory, a plurality of types of disk drives of which data transfer capacity are different, redundant transmission paths that are data transfer paths between the cache memory and the disk drives, and a controller to divide the disk drives into two groups based on the data transfer capacity and allocate each of the two groups to each of the redundant transmission paths when the disk drives have three types.

Abstract: A disk array provided with a RAID group in a Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID) configuration with redundancy of two, the disk array includes, a data recovery technique selecting unit to select a technique for recovering data from a first failed disk to be recovered first, the technique being selected from among a plurality of techniques based on the type of storage apparatus included in the RAID group, and I/O conditions with respect to the RAID group, when failures occur in two storage apparatus in the RAID group, a data recovering unit to split recovered data from the first failed storage apparatus and writing the recovered data to two recovery storage apparatus in accordance with the data recovery technique selected by the data recovery technique selecting unit, and an aggregating unit to aggregate the recovered data onto one of the two recovery storage apparatus.

Abstract: A storage apparatus has a plurality of storage media including each storage area in which a stripe is set extending over the storage area of the plurality of storage media. An access unit that writes a format data into the storage area, wherein when the plurality of storage media are formatted, the access unit writes an unformatted-state identifier indicating incompletion of formatting into at least a portion of storage area to be included in the stripe, or when the storage area to be included in the stripe is accessed for writing new data, the access unit reads out existing data stored in the storage area included in the stripe to be accessed. And when the unformatted-state identifier is detected from the existing data that has been read out, the access unit writes the new data or the format data to be written by formatting into the storage area.

Abstract: A storage apparatus for storing data includes a plurality of physical media provided with storage areas to store data, a storage group determining unit configured to determine, upon detecting a request to write new data to a virtual volume to be accessed, a storage group from which to allocate storage area by selecting a storage group from among a plurality of storage groups made up of the plurality of physical media, wherein the selected storage group is other than any storage groups that include a physical medium where a failure has occurred, and a storage area allocator configured to allocate storage area on the physical media existing within the storage group that was determined by the storage group determining unit to the virtual volume, the size of the storage area corresponds to the data size of the new data.

Abstract: A virtual volume control unit allocates, upon detection of a write request for new data in a virtual volume to be accessed, an actual storage space of a physical medium existing in the same storage group to the virtual volume in accordance with volume capacity of the new data. A storage control unit stores the new data as actual data in the actual storage space of the physical medium allocated to the virtual volume. And a restoration control unit causes, upon detection of a fallback in data redundancy in the storage group, the actual data in a stored space among the actual storage spaces in the physical medium that caused the fallback to be preferentially restored in an actual storage space in a destination physical medium with reference to the physical media other than the physical medium that caused the fallback in the storage group.

Abstract: A disk management method for managing a disk management device for writing and reading data to and from a disk drive in which a recording medium is managed in a first control unit. The disk management method includes an error checking operation for checking an error on the recording medium in the first control unit, an error correction operation for correcting the error detected in the error, an error correcting operation for correcting the error detected in the error checking operation after converting data including the error to the second control unit, a data loss registration operation for registering a region in which data are lost due to an inconsistency between the first control unit and second control unit in a data loss region table, and a data loss recovery operation for recovering the loss of data with reference to the data loss region table.

Abstract: A disk controller for controlling disk devices for storing redundant data distributed thereacross, the disk devices providing a logical volume, the disk devices including pool volumes allocatable to one of the logical volume. The disk controller includes a memory for storing information indicating a relationship between the pool volumes and the logical volume; and a processor for performing data reconstruction in accordance with a failure of the disk devices, a process of the data reconstruction, the processor being configured to detect an error in a part of the pool volumes included in the other disk devices when reading data from the pool volumes included in the other disk devices, determine whether the detected pool volume is allocated to the logical volume in reference to the information, and initialize the part of the detected pool volume when the detected pool volume is unallocated to the logical volume.

Abstract: A device management apparatus that executes an initialization processing to a device that stores user data includes a first initialization processing section for executing a first initialization processing in which a progress status of an initialization is notified to another device management apparatus every time when the initialization equivalent to a processing unit of the initialization processing is executed to the device, a second initialization processing section for executing a second initialization processing in which a progress status of an initialization is notified to the another device management apparatus every time when the initialization for the predetermined number of processing units is executed to the device, a monitoring unit for monitoring a status of access to the device and an operation state of the device, and a changeover section for changing over the first initialization processing and the second initialization processing based on a monitoring result.

Abstract: A storage system includes data storage devices, spare storage devices used when a failure occurs in a data storage devices, a group management unit that divides the data storage devices into groups and implements a redundancy, a data storage device restoration unit that assigns the spare storage device as a replacement when a failure occurs, and a configuration change unit changing configuration of the group to which the data storage devices belong. The configuration change unit includes, a spare storage device securing unit that secures the spare storage device, a change processor that writes data concerning the group into the spare storage device, and a change restoration unit that performs continuation of the configuration change, or restoration of the group to a state in a start, using the data written into the spare storage device when the configuration change of the group is interrupted.

Abstract: A storage control device for managing data in a storage while maintaining redundancy of the data includes a formatting management table, a formatting processing section, a recovery management table and a recovery processing section. The formatting management table manages a formatted region and an unformatted region in a management target volume. The formatting processing section executes formatting of the unformatted region in the management target volume on the basis of the formatting management table. The recovery management table retains a content of the formatting management table at a point of occurrence of a redundancy restoration event when a redundancy restoration event has occurred during formatting. The recovery processing section executes recovery of a formatted region, which had been formatted at the point of occurrence of the redundancy restoration event, on the basis of the recovery management table in parallel with the formatting.

Abstract: A disk array control apparatus controls a disk array having a redundant configuration with two or more disk devices and a spare disk provided for lack of redundancy in the disk array. And the disk array control apparatus includes a failure detecting unit for detecting the lack of redundancy in the disk array, and a rebuilding control unit for performing rebuilding processing on a dedicated spare disk device assigned to the disk array with the lack of redundancy, the dedicated spare disk being the spare disk dedicatedly assigned to the two or more disk arrays including the disk devices having a same characteristic as that of the spare disk.

Abstract: In a disk array system, when a failure occurs in a disk unit under control, a disk controller performs a rebuild process for rebuilding data stored on the faulty disk unit on a spare disk unit (HS). When a rebuild control section accepts an I/O request from a host before completing the rebuild process in all target areas, the rebuild control section specifies a management unit area including a target area of the I/O request and determines whether the rebuild process is completed in the management unit area. If the rebuild process is not completed in the management unit area, the rebuild control section performs the rebuild process in the management unit area by a rebuild process section and rebuilds data on the HS. After that, an I/O request handling section handles the I/O request.

Abstract: A disk array apparatus includes a first converting unit that performs first conversion on storing object data received in a first control unit from a controller to convert the storing object data into data in a second control unit, the controller including a selecting section that selects, on the basis of the access state monitored by a monitoring section, one from the controller and said first converting unit, and a second converting unit that performs, if the controller is selected by the selecting section, a second conversion, different from the first conversion, on the object data to convert the object data managed in the first control unit into the data in the second control unit. With this configuration, the disk array apparatus accomplishes the object to improve the accessibility to different types of storage units that manage data storing in different control units.

Abstract: A storage control device includes a first rebuilding unit rebuilding information stored in one of a plurality of storages that fails by using information stored in the plurality of storages excluding said failed storage and storing rebuilt information in a spare storage replaced with the failed storage, a second rebuilding unit rebuilding information stored in two of said plurality of storages that fail by using information stored in said plurality of storages excluding the two failed storages and storing rebuilt information in two spare storages replaced with the two failed storages, and a rebuilding control unit for controlling said first rebuilding unit and second rebuilding unit where one of said spare storages fails during rebuilding the data stored in said two failed storages to replace the failed spare storage with other spare storage whereby said second rebuilding unit continues rebuilding the data.