CN1421783A - Disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays - Google Patents

Abstract

A disk management system for multiple disk arrays comprises: a computer, the computer includes an interface card; and a plurality of disk drives connected to the interface card respectively; wherein, the plurality of disk drives comprises at least one disk array, and in the disk array, the last zone of each disk drive is an array configuration zone; the computer can identify and manage the access of each disk drive and the disk array according to the data of the last zone of the disk drives through the interface card; the invention stores the configuration data of the disk array in the last sector of each disk drive, and utilizes a computer to connect and manage each disk drive and the access of each disk array through an interface card, which is applicable to multiple disk arrays and does not destroy the original data of each disk drive; after each disk drive is taken out, the disk drive can also be used as an independent disk drive, and the data stored in the disk drive can be normally accessed.

Description

Disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays

technical field

The present invention relates to disk management technology, especially a disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays, which mainly stores the configuration data of disk arrays in the last magnetic area of each disk drive, and uses a computer An interface card connects and manages the access of each disk drive and each disk array, and is applicable to multiple disk arrays without destroying the original data of each disk drive.

Background technique

In recent years, due to the high development of information-related industries and people's increasing requirements for information product transmission speed and data security, the industry has been driven to continuously develop and improve, and develop various new product specifications. As far as computer storage systems are concerned, the industry has developed various disk arrays to meet the needs of use, such as the RAID 0 (Redundant Arrays of Independent Drives levels 0) array, which provides the function of data striping (data striping), which can improve data storage. Access rate; RAID1 array, which provides disk mirroring (disk mirroring) function, so as to improve the security of data storage and system stability; there is also a composite RAID 0+1 array, which is the combination of RAID 0 and RAID 1 A composite array that combines the benefits of speed and security.

The structure of general disk array system is as shown in Figure 1, and its disk array 14 mainly comprises a disk array controller 141 and a plurality of magnetic disk drives, as the first magnetic disk drive 161, the second magnetic disk drive 163, the first magnetic disk drive The three disk drives 165 and the fourth disk drive 167 are connected to the disk array controller 14 respectively, and the disk array controller 14 is connected to a host computer 12 . When the host computer 12 wants to access the data of the disk array 141, the disk array controller 14 accesses the data from each disk drive according to the type of the array.

In a conventional disk array, the magnetic sector planning of each magnetic disk drive is shown in FIG. configuration) data are all stored therein, followed by the Master Boot Record (MBR) 333 . After the main boot sector 223 , the sequence is the first data sector 225 for storing data to the last data sector 229 of the disk drive.

The above-mentioned conventional disk array architecture and the partition planning of each disk drive can only be applied to a single disk array, and cannot allow multiple disk arrays to coexist in one system. And, because the configuration data of its array is stored in the first magnetic area of each disk drive, often can destroy the original data structure in this disk drive. After the disk drive in the disk array is taken out, the data stored in it cannot be normally accessed by a general computer.

Contents of the invention

Therefore, how to propose a novel solution to the shortcomings of the above-mentioned conventional disk array architecture and the problems that occur during use, and design a good disk system management architecture, which can not only effectively manage multiple disk arrays and Independent disk drive, and after the disk drive is added to or taken out of a disk array, it can still maintain the original data structure and operate independently. It has been a difficult point that users have longed for and the inventor wants to solve for a long time. And the present inventor is based on many years of relevant research, development, and sales experience in the information industry, thinking and improving ideas, after many designs, discussions, trial samples and improvements, finally develops a kind of applicable multiple The disk management system of the disk array is used to solve the above-mentioned problems.

The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays, which mainly uses a computer to connect and manage and identify each disk array and independent disk drives through an interface card, and is applicable to Multiple disk arrays and independent disk drives.

The secondary purpose of the present invention is to provide a disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays, which mainly stores the configuration data of the disk arrays in the last sector of each disk drive, without destroying the original The state of the data is used to identify and manage each disk array.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays. The array configuration data includes an array flag field, which can be used to quickly identify whether the disk is an array disk.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays. The array configuration data includes an array integrity flag, which can be used to identify whether the disk array is complete.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays, which includes: a computer, the computer includes an interface card; and a plurality of disk drives, respectively connected to the interface card ; Wherein, the plurality of disk drives includes at least one disk array, and in the disk array, the last sector of each disk drive is an array configuration sector; It identifies and manages the access of each disk drive and disk array based on the data in the last sector of the drive.

The invention stores the configuration data of the disk array in the last magnetic area of each disk drive, and uses a computer to connect and manage the access of each disk drive and each disk array through an interface card, and is applicable to multiple disks array without destroying the original data of each disk drive; after each disk drive is taken out, it can also be used as an independent disk drive, and the data stored in the drive can be accessed normally.

Description of drawings

Figure 1: is a schematic block diagram of a conventional disk array;

Figure 2: It is a schematic diagram of the conventional disk array partition planning;

Fig. 3: is the system block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4: is the schematic diagram of the magnetic zone planning of each array disk drive of the present invention;

Fig. 5: is the array configuration data schematic diagram of each disk array of the present invention;

FIG. 6: is a schematic diagram of the array information of each disk array of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of disk information of each array disk drive of the present invention.

Detailed ways

First, please refer to FIG. 3 , which is a system block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, it mainly includes a computer 32 and a plurality of disk drives. Wherein, the computer 32 can use an interface card 34 to connect the disk drives; the plurality of disk drives can include at least one disk array. In this embodiment, as shown in the figure, a first disk array is included. disk array 36 , second disk array 37 , third disk array 38 and other non-array disk drives 39 . Each disk array and each disk drive are connected to the interface card 34 respectively. When the computer 32 wants to access data, it can first identify which disk array or disk drive the address of the data belongs to, and then pass through the interface. Card 34 provides access to the disk array or drive.

The plurality of above-mentioned disk arrays can be all kinds of disk arrays of the same type or different types. In this embodiment, the first disk array 36 is a RAID 0 array, including a first disk drive 361 and a first disk drive 361. Two disk drives 363; the second disk array 37 is a RAID 0+1 array, including a first strip disk drive (stripe disk) 371, a second strip disk drive 373, and a first mirror image disk machine (mirror disk) 375 and a second image disk drive 377; the third disk array 38 is a RAID 1 array, including a source disk drive (source disk) 381, a mirror disk drive 383 and a backup disk A spare disk 385; the non-array disk 39 includes a first disk 391 and a second disk 393.

Next, please refer to FIG. 4 , which is a schematic diagram of the magnetic zone planning of the array disk drive of the present invention, and compare it with FIG. 2 at the same time. In the disk management system of the present invention, the storage location of configuration data of each disk array is different from that of conventional disk arrays. The first magnetic area in a general disk drive is the array configuration magnetic area. The last magnetic area of the machine is used as the array configuration magnetic area 429, and the first magnetic area is planned as the main boot magnetic area (MBR) 421, followed by the first data magnetic area 423 and the second data magnetic area 425, until the last magnetic area is configured as an array Magnetic zone 429 .

Since the general disk drives give priority to the previous sector when writing data, and the last sector is rarely used, so storing the configuration data of the array in the last sector can prevent damage to the original data in the drive structure, and after the disk drive in the array (such as RAID array) is removed, it can also be used as a general disk drive, and there will be no data unreadable; If the disk drive is added to a RAID 1 array as a source disk drive, its data will not be damaged and can be directly retained for use, which can greatly improve the flexibility of each disk drive.

Furthermore, please refer to FIG. 5 , which is a schematic diagram of array configuration data of each disk array of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the array configuration data mainly includes an array signature 501, a version identification 503, an array information 505, a disk information 507, an array disk serial number checksum (serial checksum) 509 and An array configuration checksum 511.

Wherein, the array flag 501 is located at the array configuration data offset (offset) 0 to 1, and a special value (such as AA55h) can be used as the basis for array disk identification. That is, as long as a value of AA55h can be read at the position of the offset 0 to 1 of the last sector of the disk drive, it means that the disk drive is an array disk drive, which can speed up the identification and management of the disk system. The version identification 503 is used to record the firmware or software version of the array management system. The array information 505 and the disk information 507 respectively record the relevant data and status of the disk array and the array disk drive. Array disk serial number checksum 509 is the checksum of each disk drive obtained by calculating the model number, serial number, and firmware revision number of each disk drive , according to their order in the disk array, the computer 32 can identify the disk array to which each disk drive belongs, and accurately know the sequence, function and relative relationship of each disk drive in the disk array. The array configuration checksum 511 is obtained by calculating the entire array configuration data, placed at the end of the entire array configuration data, and can be used to check whether there is an error in the array configuration data.

Finally, please refer to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 , which are schematic diagrams of array information of each disk array and disk information of each array disk drive in the present invention, respectively. The array information is used to record the relevant data and status of the disk array, including the number of disk drives in the array 601, the array broken flag (array broken flag) 603, the array type 605, the array serial number 607, and the data stripe size (stripesize) 609 and array available capacity 611 . The disk information records relevant data of each disk drive, including fields such as bootable 701 , enhanced 703 , serial number checksum 705 , and disk sequence and function 707 .

Among them, the array integrity flag 603 is used to identify the integrity of the disk array. When all the disk drives to which the disk array belongs can operate normally, its value can be set to 0. If there is a certain When the disk drive fails or is taken out, its value is set to 1, which can be used to judge whether the disk array can operate normally. The array type 605 column uses different values to identify the disk array as RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 2, RAID 0+1 or other types of disk arrays for the identification of the interface card. The array serial number 607 is recorded by assigning a serial number to each disk array in the system, which can be used to identify disk arrays of the same type and different types in the system. The data striping size 609 can record that the data striping specification adopted by the array for striping the data is 4k, 8k, 16k, 32k or 64k. The available capacity of the array 611 indicates the capacity of the disk drive that can be used by the disk array. In a RAID array, it is usually the capacity of the disk drive with the smallest capacity in the disk array.

When a disk array has a bootable function (bootable), the boot 701 field of the first disk drive can be marked as 1, and the other disk drives can be marked as 0. If you want to make a disk drive perform an optimization action, you can fill its optimization field 703 with 1 to trigger its optimization function. The serial number checksum 705 records the serial number checksum of the disk drive itself, which can be easily compared with the serial number checksums of the disk drives in the same disk array. Disk sequence and function column 707 records the sequence and function of the disk drives in the disk array according to different disk array types. If the disk array is a RAID 0 array, it indicates the sequence of each disk drive ; If it is a RAID 1 array, record whether the disk drive is a source disk, a mirror disk or a backup disk, and whether synchronization is required, etc.

Through the structure and configuration planning of the above-mentioned disk management system, the disk system composed of multiple disk arrays and multiple independent disk drives can be effectively managed, and because the configuration data of each disk array is stored In the last sector of the drive to which it belongs, it will not destroy the original data in the drive. After each magnetic disk drive is taken out, it can also be used as an independent magnetic disk drive, and the data stored in the magnetic disk drive can be accessed normally.

In summary, it should be known that the present invention relates to a disk management system, especially a disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays, which mainly stores configuration data of disk arrays in each disk drive and use a computer to connect and manage the access of each disk drive and each disk array through an interface card, which can be applied to multiple disk arrays without destroying the original data of each disk drive. Therefore, the present invention is full of novelty, advancement, and utility for industrial use. It should undoubtedly meet the requirements for patent application. I submit an application for an invention patent according to the law. I sincerely hope that your review committee will grant the patent for this invention as soon as possible.

Although the present invention has been disclosed as above with preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone familiar with this art can make some changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, this The scope of protection of an invention shall be defined by the scope of the claims.

Claims (17)

1. A disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays, characterized in that: it includes: a computer comprising an interface card; and A plurality of disk drives are respectively connected to the interface card; Wherein, the plurality of disk drives includes at least one disk array, and in the disk array, the last sector of each disk drive is an array configuration sector; The data of the final sector is used to identify and manage the access of each disk drive and disk array. 2. The disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays as claimed in claim 1, wherein the array configuration sector stores an array configuration data. 3. The disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays as claimed in claim 2, wherein the array configuration data includes an array flag field, which can be used to identify whether the disk is an array disk . 4. The disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays as claimed in claim 2, wherein the array configuration data includes array information for recording the status and various settings of the disk array. 5. The disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays as claimed in claim 4, wherein the array information at least includes array type, number of disks in the array, data strip size and available capacity of the array. 6. The disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays as claimed in claim 5, wherein the array information further includes an array integrity flag for identifying whether the array is complete. 7. The disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays as claimed in claim 5, wherein the array information further includes an array serial number for identifying different arrays of the same type. 8. The disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays as claimed in claim 4, wherein the array configuration data further includes disk information for recording various information of the disk drive. 9. The disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays as claimed in claim 8, wherein the disk information includes at least a serial number checksum. 10. The disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays as claimed in claim 8, wherein the disk information includes at least one activation field. 11. The disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays as claimed in claim 8, wherein the disk information includes at least one disk order and function field. 12. The disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays as claimed in claim 8, wherein the disk information includes at least one optimization field. 13. The disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays as claimed in claim 2, wherein the array configuration data includes a serial number verification of each disk drive in the array. 14. The disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays as claimed in claim 13, wherein the serial number checksum is calculated based on the model, serial number and firmware version of each disk drive. 15. The disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays as claimed in claim 13, wherein the checksums of the serial numbers of the disk drives are arranged according to the order of the disk drives in the disk array . 16. The disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays as claimed in claim 13, wherein the array configuration data further includes an array configuration checksum. 17. The disk management system applicable to multiple disk arrays as claimed in claim 16, wherein the configuration checksum is obtained by computing various information of the array configuration.

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