Abstract: 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.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: Various embodiments for managing data in a computing storage environment by a processor device are provided. In one such embodiment, by way of example only, an extender storage pool system is configured for at least one of a source and a target storage pool to expand an available storage capacity for the at least one of the source and the target storage pool. A most recent snapshot of the data is sent to the extender storage pool system. The most recent snapshot of the data is stored on the extender storage pool system as a last replicated snapshot of the data.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: A method can include identifying a storage area in the storage system for access control, assigning a switching criterion to modify allowable access to the identified storage area, where the identified storage area supports pre-staging of provisioned data, and blocking a select access attempt to the identified storage area as a function of the switching criterion.

Abstract: A method for identifying the cause of degraded I/O performance between a host system and a storage controller includes initially monitoring I/O performance between the host system and the storage controller. The method further detects degraded I/O performance between the host system and the storage controller using any suitable technique. Once degraded I/O performance is detected, the method determines the cause of the degraded I/O performance by analyzing historical configuration records in the storage controller. These historical configuration records enable the storage controller to correlate the degraded I/O performance with configuration changes in the storage controller and/or the connected host systems. The method then notifies one or more host systems of the cause of the degraded I/O performance. A corresponding apparatus and computer program product are also disclosed herein.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: A method of automatic recovery from a boot device failure and an initial program load (IPL) failure of an operating system (OS) comprises: receiving and complying with a user selected option of an action upon an event of a boot device failure and an IPL failure. The user selected option may consist of taking the action of attempting an auto reboot of the server with the selected boot device and continuing the reboot attempts using the reduced priority boot devices from the bootlist until detection of a boot success, or taking no action allowing for manual user intervention.

Abstract: A method, apparatus, and computer program product for handling a failure condition in a storage controller is disclosed. In certain embodiments, a method may include initially detecting a failure condition in a storage controller. The failure condition may be associated with a specific host and a specific storage device connected to the storage controller. The method may further include determining a failure ID associated with the failure condition. Using the failure ID, en entry may be located in a data collection and recovery table. This entry may indicate one or more data collection and/or recovery processes to execute in response to the failure condition. The method may then execute the data collection and/or recovery processes indicated in the entry. While executing the data collection and/or recovery processes, connectivity may be maintained between hosts and storage devices not associated with the failure condition.

Abstract: A method of automatic recovery from a boot device failure and an initial program load (IPL) failure of an operating system (OS) comprises: receiving and complying with a user selected option of an action upon an event of a boot device failure and an IPL failure. The user selected option may consist of taking the action of attempting an auto reboot of the server with the selected boot device and continuing the reboot attempts using the reduced priority boot devices from the bootlist until detection of a boot success, or taking no action allowing for manual user intervention.

Abstract: A method, apparatus, and computer program product for protecting pre-staged provisioned data in a storage system are provided. The method includes identifying a storage area in the storage system for access control. The method also includes assigning a switching criterion to modify allowable access to the identified storage area, where the identified storage area supports pre-staging of provisioned data. The method further includes blocking a select access attempt to the identified storage area as a function of the switching criterion.