JPH1132068A - FC_AL system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a logical connection for a port even when a port cannot receive a bypass control signal or cannot control a port bypass circuit from the port due to a poor connection between the port and the port bias circuit. Disconnection / connection. SOLUTION: A master node 1-1 is a slave node 1
Port bypass circuit 10 connected to ports 1-2 to 1-n
A global port bypass control information generation unit 6 capable of generating global port bypass control information for the -2 to 10-n. The port bypass circuit 10 includes a decoding circuit 12 for receiving global port bypass control information for itself via a transmission path G independent of the loop transmission path L. The port corresponding to itself is disconnected / connected from the loop-shaped transmission path L based on the port bypass control information. [Effect] Disconnection control of a faulty port becomes possible without physically disconnecting / connecting (connecting and disconnecting connectors).
Maintainability and availability can be improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an FC_AL system and relates to a case in which a port cannot receive a bypass control signal or a port cannot control a port bypass circuit due to a poor connection between a port and a port bias circuit. However, the FC_AL system in which the logical disconnection / connection of the port can be performed and the logical disconnection / connection of the port in the failed loop can be performed through another loop in which no failure has occurred. Done F
Regarding the C_AL system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a conventional FC_AL system. This FC_AL system 900
Are connected via a loop-shaped transmission line L formed on the platter board 20 and the port bypass circuits 10-1 to 10-n.
In this configuration, n nodes 1-1 to 1-n are connected in a loop. Each node 1 (a subscript is omitted when a plurality of nodes are not distinguished) includes a receiver unit 3 that receives a signal from a preceding node, a transceiver unit 4 that transmits a signal to a next node, and another node. And a local port bypass control information generation unit 7 for generating local port bypass control information for a port bypass circuit 10 connected to the own port based on a port bypass control signal transmitted to the own port from the local port. doing. The signal from the preceding node is input to the receiver unit 3 of the node 1 and the first input terminal of the selection circuit 11 of the port bypass circuit 10. The signal transmitted by the node 1 is input to a second input terminal of the selection circuit 11. The selection circuit 11 selects one of the signals input to the first input terminal or the second input terminal based on the local port bypass control information generated by the local port bypass control information generation unit 7 of the corresponding port 2. To the next node. That is, normally, the local port bypass control information generation unit 7
Controls the selection circuit 11 so as to select the signal from the own port 2 input to the second input terminal and transmit the signal to the next node, but the instruction from the other node that has detected the node failure Based on the local bus bypass control information, the signal from the preceding node input to the first input terminal is selected and transmitted to the next node based on the local bus bypass control information. The selection circuit 11 is controlled to transmit. The bypass control signal is a Fiber Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC_AL) X3T11 / P
roject 960D / Rev. 4.5, Primitive Sequences (LPE, L
PB).

Further, as another example of the conventional FC_AL system, there is known a system in which one node is provided with two ports, each port is connected to a separate loop-shaped transmission line, and the loop is duplicated. I have.

[0004]

In the FC_AL system, when one of the nodes fails to transmit a signal from the preceding node to the next node, communication between all nodes connected to the loop occurs. Becomes impossible. In such a case, in the FC_AL system 900, the port of the failed node is logically separated from the loop by the port bypass circuit 10, thereby preventing the failure of one node from becoming the entire failure. . However, in general, port 2 and port bias circuit 1
0 is often connected by a connector, so that a connection failure between the port 2 and the port bias circuit 10 easily occurs. However, if the connection failure occurs, the port 2 cannot receive the bypass control signal from another node. , The port bypass circuit 10 cannot be controlled from the port 2, and the failed port cannot be logically separated from the loop. Therefore, in such a case, it is necessary to physically disconnect / connect the node (that is, by inserting / removing the connector), and the port bypass circuit 10 provided to enable only necessary ports to be logically disconnected / connected. Is not effectively utilized.

[0005] On the other hand, in the FC_AL system in which loops are duplicated, even if a failure occurs in one loop, communication can be continued by using another loop. However, for the failed loop, the FC_AL
There are the same problems as the system 900.

[0006] Therefore, a first object of the present invention is to provide a method for controlling a port bypass circuit even when a port cannot receive a bypass control signal or a port cannot control a port bypass circuit due to a poor connection between a port and a port bias circuit. FC_A that enables logical disconnection / connection of the port
L system. Further, the second aspect of the present invention
An object of the present invention is to provide an FC_AL system in which in a FC_AL system in which a loop is duplicated, logical disconnection / connection of a port in a failed loop can be performed via a loop in which no failure has occurred. .

[0007]

According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a loop-like transmission line and a corresponding port based on local port bypass control information generated at the corresponding port. A port bypass circuit for logically disconnecting / connecting the transmission line, a receiver unit for receiving a signal transferred through the loop transmission line, a transceiver unit for sending a signal to the loop transmission line, and Local port bypass control information generation for generating local port bypass control information for a port bypass circuit connected to the own port based on a port bypass control signal transmitted from another node to the own port via a loop transmission path FC_AL (Fibre) comprising at least two nodes each having a port having a
In a Channel Arbitrated Loop system, one or more of the nodes include a global port bypass control information generation unit that can generate global port bypass control information for a port bypass circuit connected to a port of any other node; The port bypass circuit further includes global port bypass control information receiving means for receiving the global port bypass control information for itself via a transmission path independent of the loop-shaped transmission path. The present invention provides an FC_AL system characterized in that a port corresponding to itself is disconnected / connected from the loop-shaped transmission path based on control information and the local port bypass control information. In the FC_AL system according to the first aspect, even if the port cannot receive the bypass control signal or cannot control the port bypass circuit from the port due to a poor connection between the port of the node and the port bias circuit, Can be logically disconnected / connected using the global port bypass control information.

According to a second aspect, the present invention provides an F
In the C_AL system, one or more nodes including the global port bypass control information generation unit are assigned priorities, and a node having no failure and having the highest priority among the nodes is a master. A global port bypass control information generating section that operates as a node and suspends the global port bypass control information generating sections of the remaining nodes.
Provide AL system. FC_ according to the above second aspect
In the AL system, even when a failure occurs in the master node that generates the global port bypass control information, the node having the next priority becomes the master node, so that the bypass control can be continued without any trouble.

According to a third aspect, the present invention provides an F
In the C_AL system, the master node detects a failed node from a port bypass control signal transferred through the loop transmission path, and generates global port bypass control information for the failed node. provide. In the FC_AL system according to the third aspect, the data is transferred on a loop.
A primitive sequence for port bypass control defined by FC_AL is monitored, and when a port bypass control signal is detected, a port of a failed node is detected therefrom.
The bypass control is performed by the global port bypass control information generation unit. Therefore, it is possible to quickly find a port to be controlled by bypass.

According to a fourth aspect, the present invention provides an F
In the C_AL system, an FC_AL system is provided, wherein the master node has a loop configuration information control (management) function. In the FC_AL system according to the fourth aspect, the loop initialization process after disconnecting the port of the failed node can be made unnecessary, and the overhead of the loop initialization process can be reduced.

In a fifth aspect, the present invention provides an F
In the C_AL system, the loop-shaped transmission path;
The port bypass circuit, a transmission line independent of the loop-shaped transmission line, and a connector unit for connecting the port to the port bypass circuit are mounted on the same substrate. Provide FC_AL system. In the FC_AL system according to the fifth aspect,
When a loop failure cannot be recovered by disconnecting the port, there is a possibility that the loop failure can be quickly recovered by replacing the board.

According to a sixth aspect, the present invention provides an F
In the C_AL system, there is provided an FC_AL system, wherein a signal line of a signal transferred through the loop transmission path and a signal line of the global port bypass control information are mounted on the same connector unit. I do. In the FC_AL system according to the sixth aspect, since only one connector is required, the configuration can be simplified.

[0013] In a seventh aspect, the present invention provides a method for logically linking a corresponding transmission port to a transmission path based on local port bypass control information generated at the corresponding port. A port bypass circuit for disconnecting / connecting to the receiver, a receiver for receiving a signal transferred via the loop transmission path, a transceiver for transmitting a signal to the loop transmission path, and the loop transmission path. A local port bypass control information generating unit for generating local port bypass control information for a port bypass circuit connected to the own port based on a port bypass control signal transmitted to the own port from another node via the local port bypass control signal In an FC_AL system comprising two or more nodes having Providing FC_AL system characterized by comprising an operation switch for disconnecting the port corresponding to forcibly self regardless local port bypass control information from the loop transmission path. In the FC_AL system according to the seventh aspect, even if the port cannot receive the bypass control signal or the port cannot control the port bypass circuit due to a poor connection between the port of the node and the port bias circuit, Can be logically disconnected / connected by using the operation switch.

According to an eighth aspect, the present invention provides a method for transmitting a plurality of loop-shaped transmission paths and a corresponding port to one of the loop-shaped transmission paths based on local port bypass control information generated at the corresponding port. A port bypass circuit for logically disconnecting / connecting one of them, a receiver unit for receiving a signal transferred through one of the loop-shaped transmission lines, and sending a signal to one of the loop-shaped transmission lines. The local port bypass control information for the port bypass circuit connected to the own port based on the transceiver unit and the port bypass control signal transmitted from the other node to the own port via one of the loop transmission paths. FC_AL system comprising at least two nodes each having a plurality of ports each having a local port bypass control information generating unit for generating the same. Wherein the node performs a cross-port bypass on a port bypass circuit connected to another port based on a cross-port bypass control signal transmitted from another node to the own port via one of the loop-shaped transmission paths. A cross-port bypass control information generating unit that generates control information; and the port bypass circuit includes a cross-port bypass control information receiving unit that receives the cross-port bypass control information for itself from a port other than the corresponding port. Disconnecting / connecting a port corresponding to itself from the loop-shaped transmission path corresponding to itself based on the received cross port bypass control information and local port bypass control information for the received FC_AL system. provide. In the FC_AL system according to the eighth aspect, a connection failure occurs between one port of a node having two or more ports and a corresponding port bias circuit,
The port cannot receive the bypass control signal,
Even when the port bypass circuit cannot be controlled from the port, the logical disconnection / connection of the port from the loop to which the port is connected can be performed using the other port, and the physical The disconnection control of the faulty port can be performed without performing disconnection / connection.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited by this.

[First Embodiment] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3,
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a master node 1-m, a slave node 1-s, and a port bypass circuit 10 used in the FC_AL system 100 (FIG. 2) of the first embodiment of the present invention. Master node 1
-m is the receiver unit 3 that receives the signal from the preceding node.
And a transceiver unit 4 for transmitting a signal to the next node.
And a port 2-m including a global port bypass control information generator 6 and a local port bypass control information generator 7. The global port bypass control information generating unit 6 generates global port bypass control information for controlling logical disconnection / connection of a port of an arbitrary node. The local port bypass control information generation unit 7 generates local port bypass control information for controlling logical disconnection / connection of only its own port by a primitive sequence for loop port bypass control defined by FC_AL.

The slave node 1-s includes a receiver unit 3 for receiving a signal from a preceding node, a transceiver unit 4 for transmitting a signal to a next node, and a local port bypass control information generating unit 7. Has port 2-s.

The port bypass circuit 10 includes a selection circuit 11
, A decoding circuit 12 and a selection condition generating unit 13. The selection circuit 11 includes the selection condition generation unit 1
3 selects one of the signals input to the first input terminal or the second input terminal and transmits the selected signal to the next node. The decoding circuit 12 is connected to the master node 1-m
The global port bypass control information output from the global port bypass control information generating unit 6 is decoded to detect whether or not a disconnection / connection instruction to the own port bypass circuit 10 is received. , And generates port bypass control information for the selection circuit 11 of the own port bypass circuit 10.
The selection condition generation unit 13 controls the selection circuit 11 based on the port bypass control information generated by the decoding circuit 12 and the local port bypass control information generated by the local port bypass control information generation unit 7, One of the signals input to the first input terminal or the second input terminal of the selection circuit 11 is selected and transmitted to the next node.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing FC_ according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an AL system 100. The FC_AL system 100 includes a loop-shaped transmission line L formed on a platter board 20 and port bypass circuits 10-1 to 10-n.
, One master node 1-1 and (n-1) slave nodes 1-2 to 1-n are connected in a loop. The global port bypass control information generated by the global port bypass control information generation unit 6 of the master node 1-1 is transmitted to the respective port bypass circuits 10-1 to 10-n via the transmission path G on the platter board 20. Each is input to the decode circuit 12. Also, the local port bypass control information generation unit 7 of each of the nodes 1-1 to 1-n
Are input to the selection condition generator 13 of the corresponding port bypass circuits 10-1 to 10-n.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a bypass control procedure by the master node 1-1. -Detection of loop failure (100): The master node 1-1
A loop failure is detected by a timeout or the like. -Bypass of all slave nodes (101): The master node 1-1 receives, from the global port bypass control information generating unit 6, port bypass circuits 10-2 to 10 corresponding to all the slave nodes 1-2 to 1-n. For -n, generate and output global port bypass control information for instructing port disconnection. Port bypass circuit 10 receiving this
-2 to 10-n logically disconnect the ports 2-2 to 2-n of the corresponding slave nodes 1-2 to 1-n from the loop. Loop loop recovery check (102): The master node 1-1 has ports 2-2 of all the slave nodes 1-2 to 1-n.
Issue an arbitrary signal to the loop separated from ~ 2-n
Upon receipt, it is checked whether the loop failure has been recovered. If recovered, the process proceeds to step (103). If not recovered, the process proceeds to step (108).

Release of bypass by node (103):
The master node 1-1 sequentially connects the ports from the global port bypass control information generation unit 6 to the port bypass circuits 10-2 to 10-n corresponding to the individual slave nodes 1-2 to 1-n. Generates and outputs the designated global port bypass control information. Each of the port bypass circuits 10-2 to 10 -n receiving this receives the corresponding port 2-2 to 2-2.
Logically connect -n to the loop. Failure node detection (104): If a failure occurs when a port of a certain slave node is connected to a loop, the master node 1-1 determines that the slave node is a failure node, and proceeds to step (105). On the other hand, if no failure occurs even if a port of a certain slave node is connected to the loop, it is determined that the slave node is not a failed node, and the process proceeds to step (106). Failure node bypass (105): master node 1-1
From the global port bypass control information generation unit 6
Port bypass circuit 10 corresponding to the detected failed node
Generates and outputs global port bypass control information instructing port disconnection. The port bypass circuit 10 receiving this logically disconnects the port of the corresponding slave node from the loop. It is desirable to report to the maintenance personnel that the port of the failed node has been logically disconnected from the loop. Complete all node check (106): If all slave nodes 1-2 to 1-n have been checked to determine if they are faulty nodes, proceed to step (107); otherwise, proceed to step (103). Return. -Loop initialization start (107): The master node 1-1
Start the loop initialization process. Unrecoverable loop failure detection (108): Executes processing when an unrecoverable loop failure is detected. For example, the maintenance person is notified of an unrecoverable loop failure detection, and the maintenance person replaces the platter board 20.

According to the first embodiment, the connection failure between the ports 2-2 to 2-n of the slave nodes 1-2 to 1-n and the port bias circuits 10-2 to 10-n occurs. Even if the ports 2-2 to 2-n cannot receive the bypass control signal or if the ports 2-2 to 2-n cannot control the port bypass circuits 10-2 to 10-n, each port 2-2 -N can be logically disconnected / connected by the master node 1-m using the global port bypass control information,
Only the port of the failed slave node is logically separated from the loop, and the loop function can be restored. Therefore, maintainability can be improved.

When the slave node has a plurality of ports, and these ports are connected to the port bypass circuit by one connector (the connector specification [SFF-8045 rev3.1, etc., currently being standardized] 40 pins-SCA
(Single Connector Attach) specification], signals for two ports are realized by one connector.) Even if a loop failure occurs in one port, the port can be disconnected / connected without inserting or removing the connector. The other ports need not be affected (when a connector is inserted or removed, a normal port and a loop are disconnected). Therefore, the availability can be improved.

Since the master node 1-1 has a loop configuration information control (management) function, the loop initialization processing at the time of transmitting and receiving the LPB / LPE which is the bypass control signal defined by FC_AL, ie, the step (107)
Can be eliminated, and the overhead of the loop initialization processing can be reduced. Further, the processing interrupted by the loop recovery processing can be continued. In other words, when the loop initialization process is executed, AL_PA may be changed, so that a retry is required in units of exchanges, and it becomes impossible to continue the process interrupted by the loop recovery process. Can be avoided. Here, the loop configuration information control (management) function is, for example, a function of setting a unique AL_PA for each node forming a loop. This function can be realized, for example, by the master node providing a unique hard address to each node. In addition, when AL_PA is uniquely determined by the location to which the device is connected, this function can be realized by the master node having a function of detecting the location to which the device is connected. For example, in a disk array system, FC_AL is used to connect the disks constituting the array, and AL_PA is uniquely determined by the location (slot) where the disk is stored. In this case, the array controller serving as the master node can easily detect the storage position information of the disks and the AL_PA set for each disk.

In the above description, global port bypass control information is transmitted to each port bypass circuit 10 via a common signal line. However, global port bypass control information is transmitted to each port bypass circuit 10 via a separate signal line.
It may be transmitted to In this case, the decoding circuit 12 becomes unnecessary.

In the above description, one master node is assumed. However, considering that a failure may also occur in the master node, a node (global port bypass control information generation A plurality of nodes having the same section, and prioritize the nodes. The node having no failure and the highest priority among the nodes becomes the master node (the global port bypass of the node). Preferably, the control information generator operates and the global port bypass control information generators of the remaining nodes are suspended. In this case, the node that can be the master node has means for managing the priority of the own node and means for operating / suspending the global port bypass control information of the own node based on the priority of the own node. Good. Here, the setting of the priority order and the determination of the master node are performed by commands of the upper interface protocol (for example, SCSI
Mode Select). Further, it can be realized as a loop initialization process. Further, it can be realized by a hardware switch or the like.

If a fault occurs in one of the slave nodes during execution of an exchange between the slave nodes and the fault is detected as a loop fault in the other slave node, the other slave node outputs a port bypass control signal to one of the slave nodes. Issue to slave nodes of Therefore, the master node 1-1 monitors a port bypass control primitive sequence and the like defined by FC_AL transferred on the loop and detects a port bypass control signal. The bypass control may be performed on the slave node to be subjected to the bypass control. In this case, the master node
Means for managing address information for each port connected to the loop-shaped transmission path; means for detecting a port to be bypass-controlled based on a port bypass control signal transferred via the loop-shaped transmission path; Means for generating global port bypass control information for a port bypass circuit to which a port to be bypass-controlled is connected.

[Second Embodiment] A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of the node 1 and the port bypass circuit 10 used in the FC_AL system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Node 1
A receiver unit 3 for receiving a signal from a preceding node, a transceiver unit 4 for transmitting a signal to a next node, and a local unit for generating local port bypass control information for controlling logical disconnection / connection of only its own port And a port 2 having a port bypass control information generation unit 7.

The port bypass circuit 10 includes a selection circuit 11
And a switching control unit 14. The selection circuit 1
1 is controlled by the switching control unit 14, selects one of the signals input to the first input terminal or the second input terminal, and transmits the selected signal to the next node. The switching control unit 14 selects the port bypass control information from the port bypass control information generation unit 7 of the node 1 or the signal input to the first input terminal of the selection circuit 11 and forces the signal to be transmitted to the next node. One of the bypass signals is selected by the operation switch 15 and input to the selection circuit 11.

The bypass control is performed as follows using a maintenance tool which enables recovery detection of a loop failure. Detection of loop failure: The maintenance tool detects a loop failure due to a timeout or the like and notifies maintenance personnel. -Bypass of all nodes: The maintenance staff forcibly logically disconnects all ports from the loop by the operation switch 15 of the switching control unit 14 of the port bypass circuit 10 corresponding to each port. -Loop failure recovery check: The maintenance staff checks whether the loop failure has been recovered by issuing and receiving an arbitrary signal using a maintenance tool for the loop from which all ports have been disconnected. . In this case, it is assumed that a poor connection between the port 2 and the port bias circuit 10 occurs and the port 2 cannot receive the bypass control signal or cannot control the port bypass circuit 10 from the port 2. The loop that disconnects recovers from the loop failure.

Release of the bypass one node at a time:
By operating the operation switch 15 of the switching control unit 14 of the port bypass circuit 10, the port bypass control information from the port bypass control information generation unit 7 is given to the selection circuit 11, and
Reconnect port 2 to the loop node by node. Failure node detection: The maintenance staff issues an arbitrary signal using a maintenance tool every time the port of any one node is reconnected to the loop, and determines whether or not the signal can be received. Is detected. Failure node bypass: The maintenance staff leaves the node connected to the loop if the reconnected node is not the failed node, and switches the port bypass circuit 10 corresponding to the port if the reconnected node is the failed node. By operating the operation switch 15 of the control unit 14, the port is forcibly logically disconnected from the loop. It is preferable that the port bypass circuit 10 has a bypass state display mechanism for displaying whether or not the port is bypassed.

Start of loop initialization: After executing the above-described processing for all the nodes, the maintenance staff starts the initialization of the loop using the maintenance tool. If the loop configuration information (AL_PA or the like) of each node has not been changed, the loop initialization processing is not essential.

According to the second embodiment, the node 1
Even if the port 2 cannot receive the bypass control signal due to a poor connection between the port 2 and the port bias circuit 10 or the port bypass circuit 10 cannot be controlled from the port 2, the logical disconnection of each port 2 is performed. The connection / connection can be performed by the operation switch 15, and the maintenance node can manually detect the faulty node and control the disconnection without physically disconnecting / connecting the node 1 (that is, by inserting and removing the connector). Therefore,
Maintainability can be improved.

When a node has a plurality of ports and these ports are connected to a port bypass circuit by one connector, even if a loop on one port causes a loop failure, the connector is not inserted or removed. Since the port can be disconnected / connected, no influence is exerted on other ports. Therefore, the availability can be improved.

The first embodiment and the second embodiment may be combined. That is, the switching control unit 14 may be provided in each port bypass circuit of the first embodiment, and an output signal of the switching control unit 14 may be input to the selection condition generation unit 13. Thus, bypass control can be performed by using any of the global port bypass control information, the local port bypass control information, and the operation switch 15.

Third Embodiment A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of the node 1 and the port bypass circuits 10-a and 10-b used in the FC_AL system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. Node 1 has two ports 2-a and 2-b. Each port 2 includes a receiver unit 3 for receiving a signal from a preceding node, a transceiver unit 4 for transmitting a signal to a next node, and logical disconnection of the own port from a loop to which the own port is connected. / Local port bypass control information generating unit 7 for generating local port bypass control information for controlling connection / connection, and cross port bypass control information for controlling logical disconnection / connection of another port from a loop to which the other port is connected And a cross-port bypass control information generating unit 8 for generating the same.

The port bypass circuit 10 includes a selection circuit 11
And a selection condition generating unit 13. The selection circuit 11 is controlled by the selection condition generation unit 13, selects one of the signals input to the first input terminal or the second input terminal, and transmits the selected signal to the next node. The selection condition generating unit 13 is connected to the cross-port bypass control information generated by the cross-port bypass control information generating unit 8 of the port not connected to the loop of the own port bypass circuit and the loop of the own port bypass circuit. The selection circuit 11 is controlled based on the local port bypass control information generated by the port local port bypass control information generation unit 7, and the signal input to the first input terminal or the second input terminal of the selection circuit 11 is One is selected and transmitted to the next node.

The bypass control is performed, for example, as follows. If a failure occurs in one node during exchange between nodes and is detected as a loop failure in the other node, the other node switches the primitive sequence for port bypass control defined by FC_AL to one of the nodes. Issue to node port. If the loop failure still does not recover, the other node
A cross primitive sequence similar to the port bypass control primitive sequence defined by L is issued to one node from a port of a loop having no loop failure. The node 1 that receives a cross primitive sequence or the like at a port of a loop having no loop failure generates cross port bypass control information from the cross port bypass control information generation unit 8 of the port. As a result, the port is disconnected from the loop to which a different port is connected.

According to the third embodiment, the node 1
Port and the corresponding port bias circuit 1
Even if the port cannot receive the bypass control signal or cannot control the port bypass circuit 10 from the port due to a connection failure of 0, the logical connection of the port from the loop to which the port is connected is not possible. Disconnect /
The connection can be performed using the other port, and the disconnection control of the faulty port can be performed without physically disconnecting / connecting the node 1 (that is, by inserting and removing the connector). Therefore, maintainability can be improved. Further, when each port is connected to each port bypass circuit by one connector, even if a loop failure occurs in one port, the port can be disconnected / connected without inserting / removing the connector. No impact on ports. Therefore, the availability can be improved. In addition,
The third embodiment can also be applied to a case where a node has three or more ports.

[Fourth Embodiment] Referring to FIGS. 6 to 8,
A fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 6 is a block diagram in which the FC_AL system 100 of the first embodiment is applied to a disk array system.

In the disk array system 100 ', the array controller 1-1 is a master node, and the hard disk drives 1-2 to 1-4 are slave nodes. Although not shown, the array controller 1
-1 is connected to the host computer. The platter board 20 includes a loop-shaped transmission line L, a transmission line G for global port bypass control information, port bypass control units 10-1 to 10-4, and a connector unit 30- for the array controller 1-1. 1 and the hard disk drive 1-2 to 1
-4 connector sections 30-2 to 30-4 are mounted on the same substrate. The array controller 1-1 is connected to the connector section 30-1 of the platter board 20 by the connector section 31-1. Further, the hard disk devices 1-2 to 1-4 have their connector portions 31-2 to 31-3.
-4, the connector portion 30-2 of the platter board 20
30-4.

FIG. 7 shows an SFF (Small Form Factor).
-8047 SCA (Single Con
FIG. 4 is a pin assignment diagram of a (nector Attach) connector. The SFF-8047 is a specification of a connector specification relating to fiber channel device connection, and includes transfer of serial information of fiber channel device data, physical interface of fiber channel, transfer of signal specified by FC_AL, power supply, ESI (Enclosure). Service
(Interface) Information transfer and the like are realized via one connector. FIG. 8 shows a format of the ESI information. The ESI information includes SER_RST, SER_RSP, SE
It is transferred as serial information via the SER_DATA signal based on the control signals R_OUT and SER_CLK.

The array controller 1-1 transmits the global port bypass control information to the VSI of the ESI information.
Set in the endor Unique field or Request Code field and send out as the SER_DATA signal. Thereby, it is possible to notify the global port bypass control information without providing a new connector.

When using the SCA connector,
The global port bypass control information may be notified using a reserve pin (pin numbers 9, 10, and 38 in FIG. 7). The same applies to SFF-8045 and SFF-8067, which are other specifications that define the SCA connector.

According to the above fourth embodiment, the hard disk devices 1-2 to 1-4 and the port bias circuits 10-2 to 10-1
The hard disk devices 1-2 to 1-4 cannot receive the bypass control signal due to a connection failure of 0-n, or the hard disk devices 1-2 to 1-4 are not connected to the port bypass circuits 10-2 to 10-1.
Even if 0-n cannot be controlled, the logical disconnection / connection of each of the hard disk devices 1-2 to 1-4 can be performed by the array controller 1-1, and only the failed hard disk device is removed from the loop. It becomes possible to restore the loop function by logically disconnecting. Therefore,
Maintainability can be improved.

When the hard disk drive has a plurality of ports and these ports are connected to the port bypass circuit by one connector, even if a loop failure occurs in one port, the hard disk drive is not inserted / removed without connecting / disconnecting the connector. Since the device can be disconnected / connected, no influence is exerted on other ports (when the connector is inserted / removed, the hard disk device is disconnected from the normal loop). Therefore, the availability can be improved.

[0047]

According to the FC_AL system of the present invention,
Even if the port cannot receive the bypass control signal due to a poor connection between the port and the port bias circuit, or if the port cannot control the port bypass circuit,
The port can be logically disconnected / connected using the global port bypass control information, using an operation switch, or using other ports and loops. Therefore, disconnection control of a faulty port becomes possible without physically disconnecting / connecting (that is, by inserting / removing a connector), and maintainability and availability can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a master node, a slave node, and a port bypass circuit used in an FC_AL system according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an FC_AL system according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a bypass circuit control procedure in the FC_AL system according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a node and a port bypass circuit used in the FC_AL system according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a node and a port bypass circuit used in the FC_AL system according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a disk array system that is an FC_AL system according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a table showing pin assignments of the SCA connector.

FIG. 8 is a table showing a format of ESI information.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a conventional FC_AL system.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 node, 1-m master node, 1-s slave node, 2, 2-m, 2-s port, 3 receiver section, 4 transceiver section, 6 global Port bypass control information generator, 7 local port bypass control information generator, 8 cross port bypass control information generator, 10 port bypass circuit, 11 selection circuit, 12 decode circuit, 13 A selection condition generation unit;

Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Osamu Kunizaki 2880 Kozu, Odawara-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Storage Systems Division, Hitachi, Ltd.

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A port bypass circuit for logically separating / connecting a corresponding port to / from the loop transmission path based on local port bypass control information generated at the corresponding port and a loop transmission path. A receiver unit for receiving a signal transferred through the loop-shaped transmission line, a transceiver unit for transmitting a signal to the loop-shaped transmission line, and a local port from another node via the loop-shaped transmission line. Two or more nodes each having a port having a local port bypass control information generating unit for generating local port bypass control information for a port bypass circuit connected to the own port based on the port bypass control signal transmitted to FC_AL comprising
In a (Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop) system, one or more of the nodes includes a global port bypass control information generation unit that can generate global port bypass control information for a port bypass circuit connected to a port of any other node. The port bypass circuit further includes global port bypass control information receiving means for receiving the global port bypass control information for itself via a transmission path independent of the loop-shaped transmission path. An FC_AL system characterized in that a port corresponding to itself is disconnected / connected from the loop-shaped transmission path based on port bypass control information and the local port bypass control information. 2. The FC_AL system according to claim 1, wherein one or more nodes including the global port bypass control information generation unit are assigned priorities, and a failure occurs in any of the nodes. The FC_AL system, wherein a node having no priority and the highest priority becomes a master node to operate its global port bypass control information generation unit and suspend the global port bypass control information generation units of the remaining nodes. 3. The FC_ according to claim 1 or 2,
In the AL system, the master node detects a failed node from a port bypass control signal transferred on the loop transmission path, and generates global port bypass control information for the failed node. 4. The FC_AL system according to claim 1, wherein the master node comprises:
An FC_AL system having a loop configuration information control (management) function. 5. The FC_AL system according to claim 1, wherein the loop-shaped transmission line, the port bypass circuit, the transmission line independent of the loop-shaped transmission line, An FC_AL system, wherein a connector for connecting the port to a port bypass circuit is mounted on the same board. 6. The FC_AL system according to claim 5, wherein a signal line of a signal transferred through the loop-shaped transmission path and a signal line of the global port bypass control information are mounted on the same connector unit. An FC_AL system characterized by: 7. A port bypass circuit for logically disconnecting / connecting a corresponding port to / from the loop transmission path based on local port bypass control information generated at the corresponding port and the loop transmission path. A receiver unit for receiving a signal transferred through the loop-shaped transmission line, a transceiver unit for transmitting a signal to the loop-shaped transmission line, and a local port from another node via the loop-shaped transmission line. And a local port bypass control information generation unit that generates local port bypass control information for a port bypass circuit connected to the own port based on the port bypass control signal transmitted to the plurality of nodes. In the FC_AL system provided, the port bypass circuit controls the local port bypass control. FC_AL system characterized by comprising an operation switch for disconnecting the port corresponding to forcibly self regardless broadcast from the loop transmission path. 8. A plurality of loop-shaped transmission paths, and logically disconnecting the corresponding port from one of the loop-shaped transmission paths based on local port bypass control information generated at the corresponding port. A port bypass circuit to be connected, a receiver unit for receiving a signal transferred through one of the loop-shaped transmission lines, a transceiver unit for sending a signal to one of the loop-shaped transmission lines, and the loop-shaped transmission line. Local port bypass control information for generating local port bypass control information for a port bypass circuit connected to the own port based on a port bypass control signal transmitted from another node to the own port via one of the transmission lines An FC_AL system comprising: two or more nodes each having a plurality of ports each including a generation unit; A cross for generating cross-port bypass control information for a port bypass circuit connected to another port based on a cross-port bypass control signal transmitted from another node to the own port via one of the loop transmission paths A port bypass control information generating unit, wherein the port bypass circuit includes cross port bypass control information receiving means for receiving the cross port bypass control information for itself from a port other than the corresponding port, and An FC_AL system characterized in that a port corresponding to itself is disconnected / connected from the loop transmission path corresponding to itself based on cross port bypass control information and the local port bypass control information.