JPH05265661A - Disk processor - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] To provide a disk processing device having a relatively simple configuration and a relatively short data writing / reading time. [Structure] The disk controller 2 divides the write data input from the CPU 1 into a plurality of data blocks,
The common bus SB is enabled for the disk device 56 (1) to send out one of the data blocks, and the data block is the buffer 7 of the disk device 56 (1).
(1) Disk device 56 (2) immediately after being received by b
, The common bus SB is enabled to send the next one of the data blocks, and this is repeated to write the write data in a distributed manner in the disk devices 56 (1), 56 (2).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disk processing apparatus for distributing and storing data in a plurality of disk devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an example of a conventional disk processing apparatus.

The disk processing device 501 comprises a disk controller 52 and one disk device 56, and is connected to the CPU 1.

The disk device 56 includes one real drive 7
have.

Writing will be described as an example.

The CPU 1 sends write data to the disk controller 52 via the host bus HB. Processing from the disk controller 52 to the real drive 7 in the disk device 56 is processed by the processing method in the SCSI interface.

When reading data, the above process is repeated in reverse, and the read data is sent from the disk device 56 to the CPU 1.

In the disk processing device 501, since data is written / read many times in units of the capacity of the local buffer 7b of the real drive 7, it takes a very long time. Therefore, conventionally, a disk processing device 601 as shown in FIG. 14 has been proposed. D.Patterson, G.Gibson, and
RHKartz; A Case for Redundant Arrays of Inexpens
ive Disks (RAID), in ACM SIGMOD Conference, Chicago, I
In L, (June1988), the performance and reliability of the disk array (Level3) that divides the data and processes in parallel and the disk array (Level5) that handles the data separately are reported. There is.

The disk processing device 601 has a disk array configuration and includes a disk controller 62.
And two disk devices 56 (1) and 56 (2), which are connected to the CPU 1.

The disk devices 56 (1) and 56 (2) are
SCSI bus SB for each disk controller 62
Are connected in parallel via. In addition, the disk device 5
6 (1) and 56 (2) are each one real drive 7
It has (1) and 7 (2).

The CPU 1 sends write data to the disk controller 62 via the host bus HB.

The disk controller 62 holds the received write data in the buffer Cb. Then, the data in the buffer Cb is transferred to the local buffers 7 (1) b, 7
(2) b divided into local buffers 7 (1) b
The divided data having the capacity of 1 is sent to the disk device 56 (1), and the divided data having the capacity of the local buffer 7 (2) b is sent to the disk device 56 (2). The process of sending each data to each disk device 56 (1), 56 (2) is described in FIG.
This is the same as the processing in the disk processing device 501.

When reading data, the above process is reversed. That is, each disk device 56 (1), 56 (2)
The data is read out from each disk, and the disk controller 17 combines the data into read data, which is sent to the CPU 1.

In the disk processing device 601, the data is divided into a plurality of data blocks having the capacity of the local buffer 7 (1) b or 7 (2) b, and the disk devices 56 (1), 56 ( Since the writing / reading is performed in 2), the time required for the disk processing device 501 of FIG.

As another known technique, the same data is written in a plurality of drives in parallel. There is a so-called multiple disk device. For example, during normal data reading, data is read from one that has become readable sooner than both drives, so reading can be performed faster than when reading from a single drive.

[0016]

The disk processing device 501 of FIG. 13 has a simple structure, but if the amount of data to be processed is large as described above, the data is stored in the size of the local buffer 7b. Since it is divided into blocks and processed sequentially, there is a problem that it takes time to write / read data.

On the other hand, the disk processing device 601 shown in FIG.
Requires less time to write / read data,
As many SCSI buses SB as the number of disk devices in parallel are required, and there is a problem that the configuration becomes complicated.

Further, in the above-mentioned multi-processing apparatus, since the plurality of drives are rotated asynchronously, the rotation code times of the two drives may be almost the same,
In this case, even if two drives are used, the time until the data reading is started does not become too short.

Therefore, a first object of the present invention is to provide a disk processing device having a relatively simple structure and a relatively short data writing / reading time.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a multi-processing disk device which can shorten the data read time.

[0021]

In a first disk processing device according to the present invention, a plurality of disk devices are connected to a disk control device by a single common bus, and the disk control device is an externally input document. A plurality of data blocks obtained by dividing the embedded data are sequentially sent to the plurality of disk devices using the common bus, and each disk device has a buffer for holding the data blocks sent to the disk device. And a real drive and means for writing the held data block to the real drive in parallel with the data block next to the data block being transferred to another disk device via the common bus. ..

In the second disk processing device according to the present invention, the plurality of disk devices are grouped into a plurality of groups, and the disk devices of each group are connected to the disk control device by one common bus, and the disk control is performed. The device performs the aforementioned data transfer in parallel for each group.

In the third disk processing apparatus according to the present invention, the first disk and the second disk which rotate in synchronization with each other, the data writing position for the first disk and the data writing position for the second disk are set to 1 It is provided with means for shifting by 1/2 rotation, and means for searching the first disk and the second disk for data and reading the data from the disk from which the data can be read first.

In the fourth disk processing apparatus according to the present invention, the first disk and the second disk rotated in synchronization with each other, and means for writing data in the same data writing position of the first disk and the second disk. , And a read control means for reading data from a disk where data can be read first by shifting the data read position for the second disk by 1/2 turn from the data read position for the first disk.

[0025]

In the first or second disk processing device according to the present invention, a plurality of disk devices are connected to one common bus, so that the structure is simple. Also, since each disk device has a buffer and access to the disk is overlapped with one disk device and data is transferred to the buffers of other disk devices via the common bus, useless waiting time is required. As a result, the data writing / reading time as a whole can be shortened.

In the third or fourth disk processing apparatus according to the present invention, when viewed from the head used for reading, the writing positions of the same data on the first disk and the second disk are shifted by 1/2 rotation. Therefore, if the maximum half rotation time is waited, the head of the data can be detected on either the first disk or the second disk. Therefore, the average read time can be shortened to 1/4 rotation time.

[0027]

The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. The present invention is not limited to this.

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a disk processing apparatus 101 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

The disk processing device 101 includes a disk controller 2 and two disk devices 56 (1), 5
6 (2) and is connected to the CPU 1.

The disk controller 2 contains an upper interface controller 3, a microprocessor MP for controlling the entire system, a cache memory 4, and a lower interface controller 5.

The channel interface circuit (CHIF) 9 in the host interface controller 3 is a CPU
1 controls the interface of the channel path 8 between the disk controller 1 and the disk controller 2. Data control circuit (DCC) 10
Controls the data transfer in the disk controller 2, and the cache adapter circuit (C Ad on the channel side
p) 11 controls the input / output of data between the cache memory 4 and the CPU 1.

The cache memory 4 comprises a buffer Cb for temporarily storing data and a control circuit (not shown) for managing the data in the cache memory 4. Buffer C
A table 20 for address conversion is stored in an appropriate area inside b.
(FIG. 2) is stored.

The lower interface controller 5 is a cache adapter circuit (C Adp) 1 on the disk device side.
2, disk controller 2 and disk device 56
The disk device interface circuit (Drive IF) 13 controls the interface of the SCSI bus SB between (1) and 56 (2).

The disk devices 56 (1) and 56 (2) are
It is connected to the disk controller 2 by one SCSI bus SB. Further, in this embodiment, the disk device 5
6 (1) and 56 (2) are each one real drive 7
(1), 7 (2) and drive control 8 (1), 8
It has (2).

Each drive control 8 (1) or 8
(2) is a buffer 7 (1) b or 7 (2) b and a drive interface 7 (1) c or 7 (2) C, and a microprocessor 7 (1) a or 7 for controlling them.
(2) consists of a. The present embodiment is characterized in that the Skazzy bus SB is switched in time division and used.

Next, the procedure of the data writing process will be described. The processing procedure is basically the same as the SCSI processing procedure described above. For details of the processing method in the SCSI interface, refer to ANSI, X3.131-
1986 Small Computer System
m Interface (SCSI) (ANSI, 19
86).

The CPU 1 sends a write request, a volume No as a write destination address, and an in-volume address to the disk controller 2 via the host bus HB, and sends write data together with the write request. Since the disk device with one volume number currently designated by the CPU 1 is realized by the two disk devices 56 (1) and (2) in this embodiment, the volume number and the in-volume address designated by the CPU are logical volumes. Treated as numbers and logical addresses. The address conversion table 20 is for converting the address information designated by the CPU 1 into the real volume number and the real volume address. In this embodiment, for the sake of simplicity, it is assumed that the data written or read by the CPU 1 has a constant length. Of course, the present invention can also be applied to the case of processing data of a fixed length, an arbitrary integral multiple of the length, or arbitrary variable-length data.

In accordance with the instruction of MP100, the channel interface circuit 9 performs protocol conversion of the information transferred from the CPU 1 and adjusts the speed from the transfer speed on the host bus HB to the processing speed in the disk controller 2 for data conversion. It is sent to the control circuit (DCC) 10. The data control circuit 10 sends a request and an address among these pieces of information to the MP 100. The MP 100 decodes whether the request issued by the CPU 1 is a read request or a write request. The MP100 further uses the address (logical volume N specified by the CPU 1 by the address conversion table 20).
o. , Logical address) to a real address. That is, the logical volume No. sent from the CPU 1 is sent. And the logical address are the real volume No. which is the device address of the disk device in which the data is actually stored. Then, it is converted into an in-drive address indicating the actual in-drive position where the data is actually stored.

More specifically, the address conversion table 2
As shown in FIG. 2, 0 consists of a main table 20a and a sub table 20b. The main table 20a is
Logical volume No. It is a table for converting a combination of a logical address and a logical address into an address table pointer.
Each address table pointer is a real volume number. And sub logical address. The sub table 20a is
It is a table for converting an address table pointer into an in-drive address.

In this embodiment, the write data designated by the CPU is divided into four data blocks a, b, c, d and written into the two drives 56 (1), 56 (2). ..

Therefore, the logical volume No. designated by the CPU 1 is set. The four address table pointers are stored in the main table 20a for one set of logical drive and logical address, and the respective address table pointers are different from each other in the real drive No. Is included. The sub-logical address in each address table pointer is a logical address used to identify an address in the drive, and the size of the four blocks a, b, c, d sequentially changes, for example, an address that sequentially increases. And their values are uniquely defined within the same real drive.

The sub-table 20b stores, for each address table pointer (that is, a set of logical addresses),
The address in the drive is held, and when the data is held in the cache memory 4, the address in the cache is held.

The storage of the information in the address conversion table 20 described above is performed when the CPU 1 first requests to write the data of the same name. That is, at that time, the MP 100 drives the drive 7 to store four areas each having a size ¼ of the capacity requested by the request.
Two pieces are selected from each of the free areas (1) and 7 (2), and various information shown in FIG. 2 is registered in the table 20 for the four free areas.

In the following description, the write request currently being processed is not the first write request, and the areas targeted by this write request have already been written to the drives 7 (1) and 7 (2).
It is assumed that it is secured in.

In this embodiment, the sub logical address is converted into the drive internal address in the disk controller 2, but this conversion can also be performed in the disk device.

On the other hand, the write data from the CPU 1 is
It is transferred to the cache adapter 11 and stored in the buffer Cb in the cache memory 4 by the circuit. At this time, the cache address is registered in the address translation table 20. As a result, when an update request is subsequently issued to the data stored in the cache memory 4, the data in the cache memory 4 can be rewritten according to the in-cache address of the address conversion table 20.

When the MP 100 confirms that the data is stored in the cache memory 4 in this way, the MP 100 reports the completion of the writing process to the CPU 1.

Next, the MP100 takes out the first data block a to be written to the disk device 56 (1) from the buffer Cb out of the four blocks obtained by dividing the data designated by the CPU1, and places it on the SCSI bus SB. Connect the disk device 56 (1) to the data block a
And an address table pointer (PVol # 1 and PADL1.1 in this example) assigned thereto, a write request, and an in-drive address from the drive interface circuit 13 of the lower interface controller 5 to the disk device 56 (1). Send to. The drive interface circuit 13 disconnects the disk device 56 (1) from the SCSI bus SB after the transfer of the data block a to the disk device 56 (1) is completed.

Next, the MP100 similarly takes out the first data block b to be written to the disk device 56 (2) from the buffer Cb, connects the disk device 56 (2) to the SCSI bus SB, and outputs the next identifier. (Pol # 2, PADL1.2 in the present example), the data block b, the in-drive address, and the write request are sent from the drive interface circuit 13 of the lower interface controller 5 to the disk device 56 (2). The drive interface circuit 13 disconnects the disk device 56 (2) from the SCSI bus SB after the transfer of the data block b to the disk device 56 (2) is completed.

In the meantime, in the disk device 56 (1), the drive interface 7 (1) c receives the already transmitted data block a, the identifier and the in-drive address, and the MP7 (1) a sends the local buffer 7 to the local buffer 7.
(1) Hold at b. Then, the MP7 (1) a writes the data block and the identifier from the local buffer 7 (1) b to the position in the drive 7 (1) indicated by the in-drive address. Thus, the data block a is written in the drive 7 (1) in parallel with the transfer of the data block b. When the local buffer 7 (1) b becomes empty, the drive controller 7 (1) c notifies the disk controller 2 to that effect and requests the transfer of the next data block. On the other hand, the disk device 56 (2) sends the data block b sent in parallel with the writing of the data block a to the drive in the same manner as the case of the data block a.
Is stored in the local buffer 7 (2) b and then written to the disk. Thereafter, similarly, the next data blocks c and d are respectively in the disk devices 56 (1) and (2).
Written in.

As described above, in this embodiment, the data blocks are alternately transferred to the two disk devices 56 (1) and 56 (2) via the bus SB.

FIG. 3 shows the above writing process. In this embodiment, the scuzzy bus SB is switched and used, but the time required to transfer one data block is shorter than the time required to write the data block to the drive. Therefore, in effect, the two disk devices 56
It becomes close to the state where (1) and (2) are operating in parallel.
As a result, the time required for writing in this embodiment is
This is slightly longer than the case of the disk processing device 601 of FIG. 14, which is a relatively short time.

Next, the procedure of the data reading process will be described with reference to FIGS.

The CPU 1 sends the read request and the read-destination logical volume No. to the disk controller 2 via the channel path 8. And the logical address.

When the MP 100 recognizes the read request command, the MP 100 refers to the address conversion table 20 stored in the buffer Cb in the cache memory 4 to perform the address conversion of the data, and further the address cache memory 4 The address in the cache is checked to determine whether it exists in the cache.

When there is a cache hit, the MP 100 converts the address (the relevant volume No. and logical address) designated by the CPU 1 using the address conversion table 20 into the in-cache address of the cache memory 4, and configures the relevant data in the cache memory 4. Go to read four data blocks. Specifically, under the instruction of the MP100, the cache adapter circuit (C Adp) 11
Thus, these data blocks are read from the cache memory 4. The data read by the cache adapter circuit 11 is controlled by the data control circuit (DCC) 10 to be a channel interface circuit (CH IF).
9 is transferred. C in the channel interface circuit 9
It is converted to the protocol of the channel interface in PU1, and the speed is adjusted to the speed corresponding to the channel interface. After the protocol conversion and speed adjustment in the channel interface circuit 9, data is transferred to the CPU 1 through the channel path 8.

On the other hand, when there is a cache miss, the MP 100 instructs the drive interface circuit 13 to issue a read request to the disk device. The drive interface circuit 13 issues a read command via SB in accordance with the SCSI read processing procedure.

The disk controller 2 determines the logical volume No. designated by the CPU 1 from the address conversion table 20 in the cache memory 4 by the MP 100 as in the writing. The address pointers for the four data blocks forming the requested data are determined from the logical address and the drive address in the Drive corresponding to the determined four address pointers. In this way, the real volume No. is set to the four data blocks for the requested data. And determine the drive address.
These four data blocks are read as follows in the reverse order of the size of the sub logical address included in the address table pointer.

Next, in response to the instruction from MP100, the drive interface circuit 13 causes the SCSI bus SB to store the real volume No. for the first data block a. Is connected to the disk device, for example, 56 (1), and the read command and the in-drive address are connected to the disk device 5
6 (1), from the SCSI bus SB to the disk device 5
Disconnect 6 (1).

In the disk device 56 (1) to which the read command is issued from the drive interface circuit 13, the seek and rotation waiting access processing to the in-drive address sent under the control of the MP7 (1) a is performed. ..

In parallel with this access processing, the MP100
Instructs reading of the next data block b in the same procedure.

On the other hand, in the disk device 56 (1), MP7
(1) Under the control of a, the data block a with the same identifier as the sent identifier is read from the position of the address in the sent drive, and the local buffer 7 is read.
(1) Hold at b. And the real drive 7 (1) is S
Connected to the CSI bus SB, the data block a together with the identifier is sent via the SB to the drive interface circuit 13
Transfer to. The drive interface circuit 13 transfers only the data block a among the transferred data blocks a having the identifiers to the drive side cache adapter circuit (C Adp) 12, and the cache adapter circuit 12 transfers it to Cb in the cache memory 4. The data block a is stored, the identifier is transferred to the MP100, and the SCSI bus SB is disconnected. In parallel with reading and transferring the data block a, the disk device 56 (2)
The data block b is read in the same manner, and after the data block a is transferred, the data block b is transferred using the bus S. Thereafter, similarly, the data blocks c and d are read from the disk devices 56 (1) and (2), respectively.

The MP100 has data blocks a, b,
The read data is formed by connecting c and d in the reverse order of the size of the sub logical address in the assigned identifier, and the read data is sent to the CPU 1 by the host interface controller 3.

With the above, the data reading process is completed.
The operation at that time is as shown in FIG. Also in this case, the time required as in the case of writing data is as shown in FIG.
It is slightly longer than the case of the disk processing device 601 of No. 4 and a relatively short time.

Thus, according to the disk processing device 101, the data writing / reading time is relatively short, and the SCSI bus SB is common, so that the structure is simple.

Since the CPU 1 only writes / reads data to / from the logical disk device, the CPU 1 may have a general configuration (OS).

Although two disk devices 56 (1) and 56 (2) are used in the first embodiment, the same applies to three or more disk devices.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 5 is an overall configuration diagram of a disk processing apparatus 201 according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

This disk processing device 201 comprises parallel disk devices 66 (1) and 66 (2) instead of the disk devices 56 (1) and 56 (2) in the first embodiment.

The parallel disk device 66 (1) includes a shared buffer 7 drive controller 8 (1) and two disk devices 56 (1,1), 56 (1 ,,) connected in parallel to the shared buffer 7 drive controller SB1 and SB2. Have 2). Each disk unit is a drive 7 (1,1) or 7 (1,2) and a buffered drive controller 8 (1,1) or 8 (1,2)
Consists of.

The same applies to the parallel disk device 66 (2).

Shared buffer drive controller 8
(1) is a parallel disk device 66 as shown in FIG.
It is composed of a microprocessor 16 for controlling (1), a shared buffer memory 14, and a sub-drive interface 15. This sub-drive interface 15
Is data transfer control between the drive interface 13 (FIG. 1) in the disk controller 2 and the shared buffer memory 14, and the shared buffer memory 14 and the parallel disk device 6
Disk device 56 (1, 1) 56 (1, 2) in 6 performs data control during this period. Each disk device 56 (1, 1) or 56
The structure of (1,2) is the same as that of FIG. 1, and is composed of a drive controller 8 (1,1) or 8 (1,2) and a drive 7 (1,1) or 7 (1,2). The structure of the drive controller 8 (1,1) or 8 (1,2) is the drive controller 8 of FIG.
It is the same as (1) and has a buffer memory inside. The structure of the parallel disk device 66 (2) is similar.

In the disk processing device 201, the parallel disk devices 66 (1) and 66 (2) work as virtual drives for the disk controller 2.

The disk controller 2 has the same structure as that of the first embodiment.

In this embodiment, the address conversion table 2
As shown in FIG. 7, the main table 20a included in 0 is assigned to four data blocks a to d that constitute data to be accessed with respect to a set of a logical volume number and a logical address designated by the CPU 1. Determining the four address table pointers is the same as in the first embodiment, except that a set of two data blocks a and b,
For the combination of c and d, as the virtual volume number,
The difference from the first embodiment is that the numbers of the parallel disk devices 66 (1) and 66 (7) are determined. The sub table 20b includes the main table 20a and the sub table 20.
b is the same as that of the first embodiment in that it is held in the cache memory (not shown) in the disk controller 2, but the sub-table 20b is further copied by the drive controllers 8 (1), 8 ( It is different from the first embodiment in that it is held in the buffer 14 in 2).

In this embodiment, the driver controller 8
The shared buffer 14 in (1) and 8 (2) has twice the capacity of the local buffers 7 (1) b and 7 (2) b in FIG. 1, and stores two data blocks in the first embodiment. It is designed to hold. Therefore, the data block A including the data blocks a and b and the data block B including the data blocks c and d are respectively connected via the common SCSI bus SB to the disk controller and the parallel disk devices 66 (1) and 66 ( It will be transferred between 2).

Now, the write operation in this embodiment will be described focusing on the points different from the first embodiment. When the disk controller 2 receives a write request from the CPU 1, it uses the main table 20a to send the four logical blocks a, b, c, and d that constitute the data to be written, to the logical volume No. ． And two virtual volume numbers from the logical address. (Actually, the numbers of the parallel disk devices 66 (1) and 66 (2)) are determined. After that, the first virtual volume number VV0 # 1
Is used to transfer the data block A consisting of the data blocks a and b to the parallel disk device 66 (1), and subsequently, using the second virtual volume number VV0 # 2, the data block b consisting of the data blocks c and d. Is transferred to the parallel disk device 66 (2) via the scuzzy bus SB. When transferring the data block A, the address table pointers assigned to the data blocks a and b are also transferred as an identifier.

In the parallel disk device 66 (1), the data block A transferred by the drive controller 8 (1)
16 for holding the data in the shared buffer 14
By the sub-table 20b in the shared buffer 14,
Address table pointer for the data blocks a and b sent together with the data block A. This is the address in the real drive where the data blocks a and b are actually stored from (consisting of the real volume No. and the sub logical address). Determine a drive address.

After that, the MP 16 sends the actual drives 7 (1, 1), 7 (1,
2) Instruct to write the data blocks a and b. At this time, the identifier assigned to the data block A and the in-drive address determined for the data block a or b are assigned to the data block a or b and transferred. As a result, the interface 15 transfers the data blocks a and b to the scangie buses SB1 and SB, respectively.
Drive controllers 8 (1, 1) in parallel via 2
8 (1, 2). These controllers hold the data blocks a and b respectively in their internal buffers (not shown), and then drive 7 (1,1) 7 (1,
Write in 2). Thus, the drive controller 8
The data blocks a and b transferred to (1) are written in parallel to the real drives 7 (1,1) and 7 (1,2). In the parallel disk device 66 (2), the data block B is processed in the same manner as the parallel disk device 66 (1). The real drives 7 (2,1), 7 (2,
For 2), the data blocks c and d are simultaneously written in parallel.

When writing these data blocks a to d, the address table pointer assigned to each data block is written together with each data block as an identifier.

The method of writing the data block to the real drive at this time is the same as the writing to the disk device of the disk controller 2 in the first embodiment. In the present embodiment, the data blocks A and B are sequentially transferred via the common bus SB, but the data blocks a, b, and
c and d are written in parallel in the real drive.
Moreover, since the transfer time of the data blocks A and B is faster than the write time of any one of the data blocks a, b, c or d to the drive, in the end, in the present embodiment, the data blocks a to d are written to the drive. The time required for this is about half that of the first embodiment.

Incidentally, in the reading process of the data blocks a to d thus written, in contrast to the writing, in the parallel disk device 66 (1), the drive controller 8 is used.
(1) reads the data blocks a and b in parallel from the real drives 7 (1,1) and 7 (1,2), and based on the identifiers attached to the respective data blocks a and b, the drive controller 8
In (1), these are combined to form a data block A, and a buffer C of the cache memory 4 of the disk controller 2
Transfer to b. At this time, the identifiers given to the respective data blocks a and b are used as the identifiers of this data block A.

Similarly, the parallel disk device 66 (2) stores the data block B in the buffer Cb of the cache memory 4 of the disk controller 2.

The disk controller 2 concatenates the data blocks A and B from the sent ones based on the respective identifiers attached, forms read data, and the read data is CP-processed by the host interface controller 3.
Send to U1.

Thus, according to the disk processing device 201, the data writing / reading time is relatively short and the SCSI bus SB is common, so that the structure is simple. Also, since a virtual drive with a large buffer capacity is connected to the SCSI bus SB, the SCS
The number of times of connecting / disconnecting the virtual drive to the I bus can be reduced.

In the second embodiment, the parallel disk device has two real drives, but the same applies to the case where there are three or more real drives.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 8 is an overall configuration diagram of a disk processing device 301 according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
In the figure, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 or 5 refer to the same elements.

The disk processing device 301 includes a disk controller 32, four disk devices 56 (1,1),
56 (1,2), 56 (2,1), 56 (2,2) and CPU
It is connected to 1.

In this embodiment, the device controller 32
Has two skagy buses SB (1), SB (2),
The two disk devices 56 (1,1), 56 (1,2) are connected to the disk controller 32 by one SCSI bus SB (1), and the other two disk devices 56 (2,
1) and 56 (2,2) are connected to the disk controller 32 by bus S
They are connected by B (2).

Address conversion table 2 used in this embodiment
0 is shown in FIG. 9 and is substantially the same as that in FIG.

Next, the procedure of the data writing process will be described with reference to FIG.

The disk controller 32 receives the logical volume No. sent from the CPU 1. Similarly to the case of the first embodiment, the address table pointer drive address is determined for each of the four data blocks forming the write data from the logical address. In this embodiment, the data blocks a, c, b and d are stored in the disk device 56.
It differs from the first embodiment in that it is assigned to (1,1), 56 (1,2), 56 (2,1), 56 (2,2).

The data blocks a and c are sequentially transferred to the disk devices 56 (1, 1) and 56 (1, 2) via the scuzzy bus SB (1) by the same procedure as in the first embodiment, and the respective data are transferred. Drive block 7 (1,
1) and 7 (1, 2). In parallel with these processes, the data blocks b and d are transferred in parallel to the disk devices 56 (2, 1) and 56 (2, 2) via the bus SB (2), and the respective data blocks are actually driven. 7 (2,1) and 7 (2,2).

Contrary to writing, when reading, Embodiment 1
Real drive 7 (1,1), 7 (1,2)
Data blocks a and c from the disk controller 32
To the real drive 7 (2,
Data blocks b and d are read from 1) and 7 (2, 2) to the disk controller 32, and data blocks a and a
Read data is formed by connecting b, c, and d in the order of the sub-logical addresses included in the assigned identifiers, and the read data is sent to the CPU 1 by the host interface controller 3.

The data write process is completed as described above, but the required time is four disk devices and four SCSI devices.
It takes a little longer than when they are connected in parallel by a bus, which is a relatively short time.

The data reading process is the reverse of the data writing process.

According to the third embodiment, the data write / read speed can be further improved.

(Fourth Embodiment) FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a disk processing apparatus for multiple recording according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Here, the two disks 88A and 88B are
It is a disk for writing the same data multiple times and rotates in synchronization.

A read / write head 21A for writing and reading data is installed on the disk 88A.

A read / write head 21B for writing and reading data is installed on the disk 88B.

When writing data, the head 21A is supplied with write data without delay, but the head 21B
Further, the disk is further 1 / th through the half rotation delay circuit 28.
The same write data is supplied after two rotations. Therefore, the writing positions of the same data are disc 88A and disc 88A.
Shifted by 1/2 with B.

When reading this data, the disk 88
The head of this data in A is searched by the read / write head 21A, and at the same time, the head of the same data on the disk 88B is searched by the read / write head 21B. However, as described above, since the writing positions of the same data are deviated by 1/2 rotation between the disk 88A and the disk 88B, either the read / write head 21A or the read / write head 21B quickly accesses the beginning of the data. Therefore, the first-come-first-served circuit 29 reads the data from the disk that has accessed the head of the data earlier.

In a normal duplex disk processing apparatus, the half-rotation delay circuit 28 is not provided and the two disks are rotated asynchronously, so the writing position of the same data is not constant between the disks 88A and 88B. Therefore, when reading this data from these disks, the average read time of the data is 1/2 rotation time.

However, in the disk processing apparatus of FIG. 11, the average data read time is shortened to 1/4 rotation time.

The disks 88A and 88B may be the same disk device or separate disk devices.

(Fifth Embodiment) FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing another disk recording apparatus for multiple recording according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 11 refer to the same elements.

In the present embodiment, a read / write head 21A for writing and reading data is installed on the disk 88A.

On the disk 88B, a write-only head 22B for only writing data and a read-only head 23B for only reading are arranged with a shift of 1/2 rotation.

When writing data, the read / write head 21A writes the data to the disk 88A and the write-only head 22B simultaneously writes the data to the disk 88B. Therefore, the same data is written at the same position on the disks 88A and 88B.

When reading this data, the disk 88
The head of the data of A is searched by the read / write head 21A, and at the same time, the head of the data of the disk 88B is searched by the read-only head 23B. However, since the write-only head 22B and the read-only head 23B are arranged so as to be offset by 1/2 rotation, the read / write head 21
Either A or the read-only head 23B accesses the head of data earlier. Therefore, first-come-first-served circuit 2
9 reads the data from the disk which has accessed the beginning of the data earlier.

Thus, also in the disk processing apparatus of FIG. 12, the average data read time is shortened to 1/4 rotation time as in the case of the apparatus of FIG.

[0114]

According to the disk processing apparatus of the present invention, the data writing / reading time can be shortened with a simple structure.

Further, according to another disk processing apparatus of the present invention, when data is read from a plurality of disks written in multiple, the average read time can be shortened to 1/4 rotation time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a disk processing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an address conversion table used in the first embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a timing chart of a data writing process in the disk processing device of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart of a data reading process in the disk processing device of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an overall configuration diagram of a device processing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a drive controller with a shared buffer according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an address conversion table used in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an overall configuration diagram of a disk processing device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an address conversion table used in the third embodiment of the present invention.

10 is a timing chart of a data writing process in the disk processing device of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a disk processing device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a disk processing device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an overall configuration diagram of a conventional disk processing device.

FIG. 14 is an overall configuration diagram of another conventional disk processing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

8 ... Channel path, 9 ... Channel interface circuit, 10 data control circuit, 11 ... Channel side cache adapter circuit, 12 ... Disk device side cache adapter circuit, 13 ... Disk device interface circuit, 2
1A ... reading / writing head, 21B ... reading / writing head, 22B ...
Write-only head, 23B ... Read-only head.

Claims (30)

[Claims] 1. A disk controller, comprising: a plurality of disk devices connected to the disk controller by a common bus; the disk controller stores data requested to be written by an external device into a plurality of data blocks. A method for determining a disk device to write each data block so that each data block is divided and stored in different disk devices in a distributed manner, and a data block to be written to different disk devices is sequentially transferred. Has a means for sequentially transferring the plurality of data blocks to the plurality of disk devices via the common bus, and each disk device has a disk drive for holding at least one data, a buffer, and , One data block transferred to the disk device via the common bus A disk processing device having means for holding the data block in the file and writing the held data block in the disk drive. 2. The transfer means transfers any preceding data block to any disk device, and subsequently transfers subsequent data blocks following the preceding data block to the preceding data block of the disk device. 1 has means for transferring to another disk drive in parallel with writing to the disk drive contained therein.
The described disk processing device. 3. The disk controller should write the data block to each of the plurality of data blocks in response to a logical address designated by the external device as a write position of the data. The apparatus further comprises means for determining a device and a physical address therein, the transfer means providing, for each data block, information relating to the physical address determined by the determining means, together with that data block. 2. The disk processing device according to claim 1, further comprising means for transferring the data block to the disk device determined by the determining means. 4. The disk control device, for each of a plurality of data blocks forming data requested to be read by the external device, means for determining a disk device holding the data block, A plurality of read commands for designating one of the plurality of data blocks are issued to the plurality of disk devices through the common bus so that the read commands are sequentially transferred to different disk devices. Each disk device further includes means for sequentially transferring the data blocks, in response to a read command supplied from the disk control device, from the disk drive in the disk device, the data block designated by the command. Means for reading and storing the read data block in the buffer in the disk device; and a means for reading the read data block. To the disk control device via the common bus, the disk control device connecting the plurality of data blocks transferred from the plurality of disk devices to the read request. The disk processing device according to claim 1, further comprising means for transferring the data as data to the external device. 5. A disk control device, a plurality of disk devices divided into a plurality of disk device groups, and a plurality of transfer control devices provided corresponding to one disk device group, respectively. A plurality of individual buses provided for each disk device and for connecting one of the plurality of transfer control devices provided for each corresponding disk device and the disk device group to which the disk device belongs And a shared bus for connecting the plurality of transfer control devices to the disk control device, the disk control device divides data requested to be written by an external device into a plurality of data blocks, and Disk device to write each data block so that each data block is written to different disk devices in a distributed manner. And a plurality of data blocks determined to be written to different disk devices belonging to the same disk device group as a data block group to the transfer control device provided corresponding to the disk device group. Means for transferring via a bus, sequentially transferring different data block groups to a plurality of transfer control devices via the common bus, each transfer control device comprising a buffer and a common bus A plurality of data blocks belonging to the data block group transferred via the buffer are written in the buffer, and the plurality of written data blocks are respectively transferred to a plurality of disk devices connected to the transfer control device. And means for transferring in parallel via the individual buses provided corresponding to The disk device has a disk drive, a buffer, and means for writing the data block transferred from the transfer control device to which the disk device is connected to the buffer and writing the written data block to the disk drive. Processing equipment. 6. The transfer means included in the disk control device is provided with one data block group to be written in any one of the disk device groups, corresponding to the disk device group. Other data block group to be written to another disk device group after being transferred to another transfer control device provided corresponding to the other disk device group,
6. A means for transferring a plurality of data blocks belonging to the one data block group from the transfer control device to a plurality of disk devices belonging to the disk device group, and transferring the data blocks in parallel when writing to them. Disk processing equipment. 7. The disk control device determines a plurality of data blocks constituting data requested to be read by the external device, and means for determining a disk device holding each of the determined data blocks, A plurality of read commands for a plurality of data block groups consisting of a plurality of data blocks determined to be held in the same disk device group are provided corresponding to the disk device group via the common bus. Further comprising means for transferring to the transfer control device, a plurality of read commands for different data block groups being sequentially transferred to different transfer control devices via the common bus, each transfer control device comprising: The data in response to the read command of the data block group supplied from the control device A read command for a plurality of data blocks forming a block group is issued to a plurality of disk devices connected to the transfer control device,
Each disk device further has means for transferring data in parallel via the individual bus provided correspondingly, and each disk device receives a data block read command from the transfer control device to which the disk device is connected. In response, a means for reading the data block specified by the read command from the disk drive included in the disk device and storing the read data block in the buffer in the disk device; Means for transferring a data block to the transfer control device via an individual bus connected to the disk device, each transfer control device comprising a plurality of transfer devices transferred from a plurality of disk devices connected to the transfer control device. A means for transferring a data block group consisting of data blocks to the disk controller via the common bus. 6. The disk processing according to claim 5, wherein the disk control device further comprises means for connecting a plurality of data block groups transferred from the plurality of transfer control devices and transferring the data block groups to the external device as read data. apparatus. 8. A disk controller, a plurality of disk devices, each of which is divided into a plurality of disk device groups consisting of a plurality of disk devices, and each disk device group is provided corresponding to one disk device group. It has a plurality of common buses for connecting a plurality of disk devices belonging to the corresponding disk device groups to the disk controller, and the disk controller has a plurality of data requested to be written from the external storage device. Data block, and a data block group consisting of multiple data blocks that are determined to be written to the same disk device group. Via the common bus provided for Means for sequentially transferring to a plurality of disk devices belonging to a disk device group, and transferring different data block groups in parallel via different common buses, and each disk device holds at least one data. A disk drive, a buffer, and one data block transferred to the disk device via a common bus provided for the disk device group to which the disk device belongs,
A disk processing device having a control means for transferring the written data block from the buffer to the disk drive. 9. The transfer means transfers one data block belonging to each data block group to one of the disk devices, and then writes the data block to a disk drive included in the data device in parallel. And a means for transferring a plurality of data blocks belonging to each data block group so that the next data block belonging to the data block group and following the data block is transferred to another disk device. The described disk processing device. 10. The disk control device comprises means for determining a plurality of disk devices holding a plurality of data blocks constituting data requested to be read from the external storage device, and a plurality of means for reading. Means for transferring a read command to the plurality of disk devices, the command for reading a plurality of data blocks determined to be held in the plurality of disk devices belonging to the same disk device group, Means for sequentially transferring to the plurality of disk devices via a common bus provided corresponding to the group, and transferring a plurality of other read commands to other disk device groups in parallel with the plurality of read commands Each disk device is responsive to a read command supplied from the disk controller, and Means for reading the data block specified in step 1 from the disk drive in the disk device and storing the read data block in a buffer in the disk device; and a means for reading the read data block in the disk controller. The disk control device is further connected to the device, but transfers the data via a common bus, and the disk controller connects the plurality of data blocks transferred from the plurality of disk devices to form read data. 9. The disk processing device according to claim 8, further comprising means. 11. A disk controller and a plurality of disk devices connected to the disk controller by a common bus, wherein the disk controller has a plurality of data blocks requested to be written by an external device. A means for determining a disk device to write each of the plurality of data blocks so that the data blocks are distributed to a plurality of disk devices; and a means for sequentially transferring the data blocks to be written to different disk devices. Each disk device has means for sequentially transferring a plurality of data blocks to the respective disk devices to which they are to be written, each disk device having a disk drive for holding at least one data, a buffer, and the common bus. Holds in the buffer one data block transferred to the disk device via Disc processing apparatus having a means for writing to the disc drive holds data blocks. 12. The transfer means transfers any preceding data block to any of the disk devices, and subsequently transfers subsequent data blocks following the preceding data block to the preceding data block of the disk device. 1 has means for transferring to another disk drive in parallel with writing to the disk drive contained therein.
1. The disk processing device according to 1. 13. The disk control device further comprises means for dividing write data designated by the external device to generate a plurality of data blocks, and the determining means for determining the plurality of data blocks of the generated data blocks. The disk processing device according to claim 11, further comprising means for determining a disk device to be written. 14. The disk control device includes means for determining a disk device holding a plurality of data blocks requested to be read by the external device, and a plurality of read commands for the plurality of data blocks. It further comprises means for sequentially transferring to the plurality of disk devices via a common bus so that read commands are sequentially transferred to data blocks held in different disk devices, and each disk device comprises: In response to the read command supplied from the disk control device, the data block designated by the command is read from the disk drive in the disk device, and the data block read in the buffer in the disk device is read. Means for storing and transferring the read data block to the disk controller via the common bus Disc processing apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising a that means. 15. The read request transfer means transfers a read request for any preceding data block to any disk device, and then reads for a subsequent data block following the preceding data block. 15. The disk processor of claim 14, further comprising means for transferring the request to another disk device in parallel with the disk device reading the preceding data block from the disk drive contained therein. 16. The disk control device further comprises means for discriminating a plurality of data blocks forming the data to be read based on the information specifying the data to be read specified by the external device, and reading the data. 15. The disk processing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the means for determining the disk device holding the data block to be stored comprises means for determining the disk device holding the plurality of data blocks discriminated by the discriminating means. 17. A disk control device, a plurality of disk devices divided into a plurality of disk device groups, and a plurality of transfer control devices provided corresponding to one disk device group, respectively. A plurality of individual buses provided for each disk device and for connecting one of the plurality of transfer control devices provided for each corresponding disk device and the disk device group to which the disk device belongs And a shared bus for connecting the plurality of transfer control devices to the disk control device. The disk control device distributes a plurality of data blocks requested to be written by an external device to the plurality of disk devices. So that each block of data is written, the same disk device is used. A data block group consisting of a plurality of data blocks determined to be written to different disk devices belonging to a disk group, to a transfer control device provided corresponding to the disk device group via the common bus. And sequentially transferring different data block groups to a plurality of transfer control devices via the common bus, and each transfer control device has a buffer and data transferred via the common bus. A plurality of data blocks belonging to a block group are written to the buffer, and the plurality of written data blocks are individually provided to a plurality of disk devices connected to the transfer control device in correspondence with each disk device. And a means for transferring data in parallel via the bus. File and writes the data blocks transferred from the transfer control unit in which the disk device is connected to the buffer, the disc processing apparatus having a means for writing the written data blocks on the disk drive. 18. The transfer means included in the disk control device is provided with one data block group to be written in any one of the disk device groups, corresponding to the disk device group. Other data block group to be written to another disk device group after being transferred to the other disk device group belongs to the one data block group to another transfer control device provided corresponding to the other disk device group. 18. The disk processing device according to claim 17, further comprising means for transferring a plurality of data blocks from the transfer control device to a plurality of disk devices belonging to the disk device group and transferring the data blocks in parallel when writing the data blocks. 19. The disk control device further comprises means for dividing the data designated by the write request from the external device to generate a plurality of data blocks, and the determining means being for the generated data blocks. 18. The disk processing device according to claim 17, further comprising means for determining a disk device holding the disk. 20. The disk controller determines a disk device holding a plurality of data blocks requested to be read by the external device, and determines that the disk controller is held in the same disk device group. Means for transferring a plurality of read commands for a plurality of data block groups consisting of a plurality of data blocks to a transfer control device provided corresponding to the disk device group via the common bus, and different data blocks A plurality of read commands for the group are sequentially transferred to different transfer control devices via the common bus, and each transfer control device receives a read command of a data block group supplied from the disk control device. Reads multiple data blocks that make up the data block group in response Sending a command to multiple disk drives connected to the transfer controller,
Each disk device further has means for transferring data in parallel via the individual bus provided correspondingly, and each disk device receives a data block read command from the transfer control device to which the disk device is connected. In response, a means for reading the data block specified by the read command from the disk drive included in the disk device and storing the read data block in the buffer in the disk device; Means for transferring a data block to the transfer control device via an individual bus connected to the disk device, each transfer control device comprising a plurality of transfer devices transferred from a plurality of disk devices connected to the transfer control device. A means for transferring a data block group consisting of data blocks to the disk controller via the common bus. 8. The disk processing according to claim 7, wherein the disk control device further comprises means for connecting a plurality of data block groups transferred from the plurality of transfer control devices and transferring the read data to the external device as read data. apparatus. 21. The disk control device further comprises means for discriminating a plurality of data blocks forming the data to be read, based on the information specifying the data to be read specified by the external device, and reading the data. 21. The disk according to claim 20, wherein the means for discriminating a disk device holding a data block to be stored comprises means for discriminating a disk device holding the plurality of data blocks discriminated by the discriminating means for the plurality of data blocks. Processing equipment. 22. A disk controller, a plurality of disk devices, each of which is divided into a plurality of disk device groups, each of which is provided with a plurality of disk devices, and each disk device group is provided corresponding to one disk device group. It has a plurality of common buses for connecting a plurality of disk devices belonging to the corresponding disk device groups to the disk controller, and the disk controller has a plurality of data requested to be written by the external storage device. A means for deciding a disk device to write a block to and a data block group consisting of a plurality of data blocks decided to be written in the same disk device group, and a common bus provided corresponding to the disk device group. Multiple disk devices that belong to the disk device group via Means for sequentially transferring different data block groups in parallel via different common buses, each disk device comprising a disk drive for holding at least one data, a buffer, and Writing one data block transferred to the disk device to the buffer via a common bus provided for the disk device group to which the disk device belongs,
A disk processing device having a control means for transferring the written data block from the buffer to the disk drive. 23. The transfer means transfers one data block belonging to each data block group to one of the disk devices, and then writes the data block to a disk drive included in the data device in parallel. 23. A means for transferring a plurality of data blocks belonging to each data block group so that the next data block belonging to the data block group and following the data block is transferred to another disk device. The described disk processing device. 24. The disk control device further comprises means for dividing the data specified by the write request from the external device to generate a plurality of data blocks, and the determining means is for the generated data block. 23. The disk processing device according to claim 22, further comprising means for deciding a disk device holding the. 25. The disk controller discriminates a plurality of disk devices holding a plurality of data blocks requested to be read from the external storage device, and a plurality of read commands for reading. A means for transferring to a plurality of disk devices, which corresponds to the disk device group a read command of a plurality of data blocks determined to be held in a plurality of disk devices belonging to the same disk device group. Means for sequentially transferring to the plurality of disk devices via a common bus provided in the device, for transferring a plurality of other read commands to another disk device group in parallel with the plurality of read commands. In addition, each disk device has a function of responding to a read command supplied from the disk control device and specifying the data specified by the command. Means for reading a data block from a disk drive in the disk device and storing the read data block in a buffer in the disk device; and a means for connecting the read data block to the disk controller in the disk device. 23. The disk processing device according to claim 22, further comprising means for transferring data via a common bus. 26. The disk control device further comprises means for discriminating a plurality of data blocks forming the data to be read based on the information specifying the data to be read specified by the external device, and reading the data. 26. The disk according to claim 25, wherein the means for discriminating a disk device holding a data block to be stored comprises means for discriminating a disk device holding the plurality of data blocks discriminated by the discriminating means for the plurality of data blocks. Processing equipment. 27. A first disk and a second disk are provided,
Writing control means for shifting the data writing position for the first disc and the data writing position for the second disc by 1/2 turn, and the data reading position for the first disc and the second
A disk processing apparatus comprising: a read control unit that matches a data read position with respect to a disk, simultaneously searches for data, and reads data from a disk in which data has been previously detected. 28. The disk processing apparatus according to claim 27, wherein the write control means causes the first disk and the second disk to rotate synchronously and the data write to the second disk from the data write timing to the first disk. A disk processing device, characterized in that the loading timing is delayed by 1/2 rotation. 29. A first disk and a second disk are provided,
A write control means for writing data at the same time by matching the data writing position for the first disc and the data writing position for the second disc, and the data reading position for the second disc from the data reading position for the first disc is 1 /
A disk processing apparatus, comprising: a read control means for shifting the data by two rotations and simultaneously searching for the data, and reading the data from the disk where the data is detected first. 30. The disk processing apparatus according to claim 29, wherein the read control means uses the first head when writing data to the second disk and reads data from the second disk. In this case, the second head provided at a position shifted by 1/2 rotation from the first head is used.