Abstract: For use in a system where a plurality of servers are connected to an external disk device, a method is provided for a server to boot an operating system from the external disk device. The method includes the steps of searching for the port of a network switch to which the server is connected; establishing a network to which only the server and a management server belong; sending a server information acquisition program from the management server to the server via a network boot operation; acquiring, by the server information acquisition program, unique information owned by the storage interface of the server for transfer to the management server; and setting, by the management server, a disk within the external disk device accessible from the server based on the unique information.

Abstract: There is disclosed a high speed switching method for a disk image delivery system fail-over. A management server sends a disk image of an active server in advance to a standby server. When receiving a report that the active server has failed, the management server judges whether or not it is possible for the standby server to perform the service of the failed active server based on service provision management server information held by the management server and if possible, instructs the standby server to perform the service of the active server. Even if the disk image delivered in advance is different from the disk image of the failed active server, switching of is the service to the standby server can be performed more quickly through resetting the setting values of unique information and installing the additional pieces of software on the standby server by the management server than redelivering an appropriate disk image.

Abstract: A deployment method and system in the OS deployment software are disclosed in which the deployment is possible to server units having various hardware configurations. In a computer system, a disk image of a deployer server unit is managed by a management server and a deployee server unit is connected to the management server through a network. The hardware configuration information of the deployer server unit and a hardware configuration tolerance list obtained from a driver information file in the disk image are held in the disk image. In response to a deployment instruction from the user, the management server compares the hardware configuration of the deployer server unit with that of the deployee server unit, and by detecting the difference therebetween, changes the deployment method in accordance with the detected difference.

Abstract: There is provided a method of controlling power consumption of a memory, which is executed in a computer system including operation server and a management server. The operation server includes one or more memory chips which are units to control the power consumption of the memory, a power control module for controlling power consumption of the memory chips, and a virtualization module for operating one or more virtual servers. The management server manages the mapping between the one or more virtual servers and the one or more memory chips. The method comprises the steps of instructing the operation server to change the power consumption of the one or more memory chips based on whether the obtained access information is capable of achieving predetermined target performance and the mapping information, and changing the power consumption of the one or more memory chips based on the instruction from the management server.

Abstract: A resource distribution method capable of lending surplus resources among a plurality of services and reducing the maintenance cost of the surplus resources is provided. Computer resources in the standby system have a dead standby state in which at least an application is not installed. A plurality of services or a plurality of users share the computer resources in the standby system. As a result, improvement of the utilization factor of idle computer resources and server integration are implemented, and the cost required to maintain the computer resources is reduced. Furthermore, load prediction is conducted as regards individual services by using past operation history. Idle computer resources secured from services having surplus and maintained are thrown in according to a result of the prediction.

Abstract: In a virtual computer system controlling a disk volume and a virtual server which is connected to the disk volume, to which the area of the disk volume is allocated as a virtual disk and which executes a process using the allocated virtual disk, the virtual computer system erases information stored in the virtual disk allocated to the virtual server to be deleted correspondingly with the deletion of the virtual server. According to another embodiment of the present invention, an administrative server is provided to select a server system which is low in load from among plural server systems controlling virtual servers as a server system for erasing information stored in the virtual disk allocated to the virtual server to be deleted.

Abstract: A switch control system including a storage unit, a switch which logically sets a network topology between the storage unit and a plurality of computers, and a management server which communicates with the switch and the storage unit, wherein the storage unit includes at least one disk; wherein the management server comprises a memory and a processor, wherein the memory holds the network topology which is set by the switch, wherein when a failure is detected in one of the computers currently being used, the processor of the management server refers to the memory to change the network topology for the computer where the failure is detected and another computer which substitutes the computer where the failure is detected, and instructs the switch with the changed network topology so as to cause the switch to logically set the changed network topology, and wherein the management server controls the disk of the computer where the failure is detected to be accessible.

Abstract: For use in a system where a plurality of servers are connected to an external disk device, a method is provided for a server to boot an operating system from the external disk device. The method includes the steps of searching for the port of a network switch to which the server is connected; establishing a network to which only the server and a management server belong; sending a server information acquisition program from the management server to the server via a network boot operation; acquiring, by the server information acquisition program, unique information owned by the storage interface of the server for transfer to the management server; and setting, by the management server, a disk within the external disk device accessible from the server based on the unique information.

Abstract: A resource distribution method capable of lending surplus resources among a plurality of services and reducing the maintenance cost of the surplus resources is provided. Computer resources in the standby system have a dead standby state in which at least an application is not installed. A plurality of services or a plurality of users share the computer resources in the standby system. As a result, improvement of the utilization factor of idle computer resources and server integration are implemented, and the cost required to maintain the computer resources is reduced. Furthermore, load prediction is conducted as regards individual services by using past operation history. Idle computer resources secured from services having surplus and maintained are thrown in according to a result of the prediction.

Abstract: When a failure is detected in a server currently being used, a management server changes the network topology for the server currently being used and another server which substitutes the server. Then, the management server instructs the network SW with the changed network topology so as to cause the network SW to set the network topology logically. In addition, the management server instructs a disk array unit to control accesses from the other server to the disk in accordance with the server where the failure is detected.

Abstract: An I/O device management table that manages the types of I/O devices connected to an I/O switch is provided, and one or plural unallocated I/O devices are defined and registered as standby I/O devices. When a failure occurs in any of I/O devices, the I/O device management table is used to select an I/O device of the same type as the failed I/O device from the standby I/O devices, and the selected I/O device is allocated to a computer to which the failed I/O device is connected. I/O device management can be eased at failure in a computer including an I/O switch device.

Abstract: To reduce the electric power consumption of the computer system, the computer system includes at least one server and at least one data processing apparatus, the data processing apparatus includes an electric power consumption state control module by which electric power consumption of the data processing apparatus can be changed, obtains a use relationship between each server and each processing apparatus included in the computer system, monitors a change in a state of the server, searches for a related data processing apparatus in the use relationship with the server, obtains a state of at least one related server in the use relationship with the related data processing apparatus, and determines whether an electric power consumption state of the related data processing apparatus is to be changed or not based on the state of the related server, and changes the electric power consumption state of the related data processing apparatus.

Abstract: A management server obtains configuration information of an active server and creates a logical partition in a backup server so as to correspond to the active server. The backup server starts up the created logical partition. And when the created logical partition reaches a predetermined state, the backup server releases allocation of the first processor resource to the logical partition, thereby the logical partition stands by. The management server, when detecting an error occurred in the active server, stops the active server and searches the logical partition having same configuration as the active server in which error is detected, and enables allocation of the first processor resource to the searched logical partition, thereby completing the start-up of the logical partition.

Abstract: In a computer system to which a plurality of I/O devices are connected and a pool I/O device is included therein, a periodical operation confirmation is performed on a pool I/O device to be used when a fault occurs. A pool I/O device operation confirmation section obtains pool I/O device status information from a pool I/O device status information storage section (provided inside or outside the computer system). The status information includes a pool I/O device ID for identifying the pool I/O device, a type of the pool I/O device, a status value indicating an operation confirmation result, and an update time indicating the most recent operation confirmation time. Then, the pool I/O device operation confirmation section activates the pool I/O device and performs an operation confirmation thereon; terminates the operation of the pool I/O device after the operation confirmation; and updates the pool I/O device status information using the operation confirmation result obtained by the operation confirmation.

Abstract: A technology capable of achieving the LU migration in terms of a file system and a logical volume and the effective migration in a host computer which provides a file system function and a logical volume function is provided. A computer system has I/O access unification and management means that obtains RAID configuration information and RAID statistical information in a disk array system and manages an I/O access unified management table in which file system configuration information and logical volume configuration information managed by an OS are unified. Also, the computer system has migration volume deciding means that determines a migration method based on the I/O access unified management table, migration influence predicting means that obtains migration influence prediction information, and RAID linkage migration performing means.

Abstract: In a system including a plurality of multi-core processors, a table for managing the processors and cores owned by the processors is provided and a single virtual server is formed by using cores owned by different processors when generating the virtual server. According to the number owned by processors, the number of processors is varied. If a fault preecho in a processor is detected, control is exercised so as not to deliver an execution schedule of a virtualization mechanism to the processor in which the fault preecho has been detected. In a system including a plurality of multi-core processors, arithmetic cores owned by a plurality of different processors are assigned to processing of a process or thread in an operating system. In a system including a plurality of multi-core processors, arithmetic cores owned by a plurality of different processors are assigned to the operating system.

Abstract: A method is provided for efficiently managing the connection of processor modules and input/output interface modules at a drastically reduced cost. A management server searches IFT and ST tables after receiving an instruction from the system management server to connect an input/output interface module to a processor, creates a condition list requested by the input/output interface module, and selects an input/output interface matching the condition list JL from an unassigned input/output interface module management table UNT. The management server next instructs the input/output interface switch to connect the processor with the selected input/output interface. The management server instructs the input/output device management server and the network management server to setup a connection utilizing the selected input/output interface, and rewrites the tables UNT and SPT.

Abstract: A computer system including: a plurality of computers having at least one first computer and at least one second computer; a management computer adapted to manage the plurality of computers; and a storage system; the management computer including: a portion adapted to receive network identification information which is set to a network adapter of the first computer; and a portion adapted to transmit the network identification information of the first computer, to the second computer if the management computer receive a request to move a process executing on the first computer; the second computer including: a portion adapted to set the network identification information of the first computer to a network adapter of the second computer; a portion adapted to receive at least one program from a storage area of the storage system corresponding to the network identification information; and a portion adapted to boot the program.

Abstract: In a computer system wherein plural servers are connected with an external disk device via a network, each server incorporates therein a logic partition module for configuring at least one logic partition in the server, and the operating system stored in the logic partition is booted by the boot disk of an external disk device, the failover operation is performed only for the logic partition affected by a failure when the task being executed by a working server is taken over by another server at the time of the failure occurring in the working server.

Abstract: A proposed fail over method for taking over task that is preformed on an active server to a backup server, even when the active server and the backup server have different hardware configuration. The method for making a backup server take over task when a fault occurs on a active server, comprises steps of acquiring configuration information on the hardware in the active server and the backup server, acquiring information relating the hardware in the backup server with the hardware in the active server, selecting a backup server to take over the task that is executed on the active server where the fault occurred, creating logical partitions on the selected backup server, and taking over the task executed on the active server logical partitions, in the logical partitions created on the selected backup server.