WO2016195634A1

WO2016195634A1 - Storage area network zone set

Info

Publication number: WO2016195634A1
Application number: PCT/US2015/033285
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bharath Bhushan Sirinivas PINGALI; Kumar Rahul
Original assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development Lp
Priority date: 2015-05-29
Filing date: 2015-05-29
Publication date: 2016-12-08

Abstract

According to an example, to zone a storage area network, a host list file is parsed and a world wide port name for each online host bus adapter is determined. The world wide port names for each online host bus adapter are grouped by fabric type and a logical storage area network per fabric type. In an example, an array list is parsed and a world wide port name for each online array is determined. The world wide port names for each array are grouped by fabric type and a logical storage area network per fabric type. A storage area network zone is created for an online host bus adapter with a corresponding online array, and a zone set with the storage area network zone is updated.

Description

STORAGE AREA NETWORK ZONE SET

BACKGROUND

[0001] Computer networks may allow networked devices, such as personal computers, servers, data storage devices, disk drives or arrays, switches, and other components to communicate and share resources. One type of network implementation is a storage area network that can, for example, interconnect data storage devices with associated host devices. Storage area networks may include network switches to route data traffic along routing paths between networked storage devices and host devices, and may include host bus adapters to provide physical connectivity between networked devices and input and output processing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0002] FIG. 1 illustrates a system to create a storage area network zone set according to an example of the present disclosure.

[0003] FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of creating a storage area network zone set, according to an example of the present disclosure

[0004] FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic representation of a computing device that may be used as a platform for creating a storage area network zone set and activating the zone set, according to an example of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0005] Various examples described below provide for the creation and management of zone sets in a storage area network ("SAN") or, generally, within a storage infrastructure. More specifically, host lists and array lists may be parsed to determine world wide names for each online host bus adapter and each online array in a SAN, with the host bus adapters and arrays separately sorted and/or grouped, e.g., by a fabric type, a logical SAN per fabric type, or other grouping. A SAN zone may then automatically be created for an online host bus adapter with a corresponding online array, and a zone set with the new or updated SAN zone or zones may updated. In some examples, the new SAN zone may also be activated, such that host devices may access the zone.

[0006] Generally, computing systems, devices, and electronic components such as desktop computers, laptop computers, servers, thin clients, tablets, smartphones, digital video recorders, retail point of sale devices, and other computing equipment (hereinafter "device" or "devices") may store data locally, such as on a storage device or disk drive including hard disks, solid state disks, flash memory or flash disks, or other storage devices capable of storing data for use by the device.

[0007] In addition to storage accessible locally by a device, a storage infrastructure or SAN may be used to provide devices with networked access to data storage devices such as disk arrays, tape libraries, and/or optical storage devices. A SAN may employ interconnected switches that form SAN fabrics to route data between host devices and data storage devices. SANs may also use smaller subsets or "zones" to allow for the management of the SAN and to provide other benefits.

[0008] In an environment or storage infrastructure comprising a SAN or SANs, testing of the SANs may be required, especially in larger and more complex environments. In one example, testing may be required upon driver or firmware changes, e.g., to SAN components such as a host bus adapter ("HBA") connected to a device, switches, or storage components such as disks or arrays. In another example, testing may be required upon the introduction or desired introduction of a new product or component into a SAN. In another example, testing for co-existence between components or SANs may be required.

[0009] Creating zones with a host and corresponding storage or disk arrays may be time consuming, and may be prone to errors caused by human administrators, especially in environments where multiple SANs may need to be tested. For example, zone creation may require an administrator to determine hosts or "initiators" and arrays or "targets" in a SAN, determine vendors or fabric types, determine world wide names ("WWNs" or "WWPNs" for word wide port names) for hosts and arrays, and/or determine logical fabrics for connectivity of hosts and arrays.

[0010] Such an approach may require accessing multiple vendor tools including switch management tools that may each have their own unique interface, especially in the case of larger and more complex SANs. Moreover, such an approach may introduce user error into the creation of SAN zones, and may require extended periods of setup or configuration time, especially in cases where various management tools are involved.

[0011] FIG. 1 illustrates a system to create a storage area network zone set according to an example of the present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 1, zone creation may be initiated from a SAN management server 124. The storage infrastructure of FIG. 1 may include two SANs as SAN 100A and SAN 100B. [0012] More specifically, SANs 100A and 100B may include a host bus adapter 102. Host bus adapter 102 may include at least one host port which may be Ethernet, Fibre Channel, Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI), Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), or other networking protocol for providing connectivity. In an example, host bus adapter 102 may include a port for each of SANs 100A and 100B. It should be understood that the implementations described herein can be used or be adapted for use with SANs having greater or fewer components, different types of devices, and different network arrangements, without departing from a scope of the present disclosure.

[0013] In some implementations, a host comprising a host bus adapter 102 may include a multipathing module that manages which logical units the host bus adapter 102 may communicate with, and what routing paths are available for connecting the host bus adapter 102 with those logical units.

[0014] As used herein, the term "module" (e.g., as used in "multipathing module") may refer a set of instructions encoded on a machine-readable medium of a device and executable by a processor of the device. Additionally or alternatively, a module can include a hardware device comprising electronic circuitry for implementing the functionality described below. Additional functionality of the host bus adapter 102 is described further herein below with respect to at least the method 200 of FIG. 2.

[0015] In some examples, SAN 100A may also include switches, such as switches 108, 110, and 112, and SAN 100B may include switches such as switches 114, 116, and 118. Switches in SANs 100A and 100B may each include a communication or network port for connecting to other components, which may be of the same networking technology as ports of the other components, e.g., Ethernet, Fibre Channel, iSCSI, FCoE, or other networking protocol for providing connectivity between components, e.g., between switch 108, host bus adapter 102, and array 104. In some examples, each port may be identified by a corresponding port ID such as a hexadecimal number.

[0016] In some examples, SAN 100A may also include disks or disk arrays (hereinafter simply "arrays") such as arrays 104 andl06, and SAN 100B may include arrays such as arrays 120 and 122. As with the switches of SANs 100A and 100B, the arrays may each include a communication or network port for connecting to other components, e.g., Ethernet, Fibre Channel, iSCSI, FCoE, or other protocol, and each port may be identified by a corresponding port ID such as a hexadecimal number. Each array may comprise a disk or disks, e.g., hard disks or solid state disks, and may comprise various disk storage array technologies.

[0017] In some examples, SAN 100A and/or SAN 100B may represent a virtualized SAN or software-defined shared storage arrangement In such an implementation, a portion or all of the storage capacity of an array or group of arrays may be presented as a single virtual disk to, for example, host bus adapter 102 or to the device connected to host bus adapter 102. In other implementations, storage capacity of a single array may be presented as multiple virtual disks.

[0018] The storage infrastructure of FIG. 1 and/or SANs 100A and/or 100B may also represent or include a SAN fabric, which may refer to a network topology comprised of interconnected network switches that connect a host port of a host or host bus adapter to a storage device port of a storage device, e.g., an array. It should be appreciated that the term "switch" can include other devices for forming a SAN fabric, such as suitable routers, gateways, and other devices that can provide switchlike functionality for a SAN. As an example, in the SAN 100A of FIG. 1, data may be routed between the host bus adapter 102 and array 104 by way of a routing path through a SAN fabric comprising the interconnected switches 108, 110, and 112 connected to the host bus adapter 102 and array 104. In some examples, data may be routed through other routing paths to provide for redundant SAN fabrics.

[0019] SANs 100A and 100B may also represent or include SAN zones. Generally, zoning in a SAN, such as through the use of zoning rules, may simplify the management of the SAN and provide other benefits, such as increased security and permissioning capabilities. For example, a SAN may include multiple hosts and multiple storage devices, and may be zoned so as to restrict which hosts and storage devices are permitted to communicate with each other. For example, zoning may be achieved by restricting access to a host port, a storage device port, and/or a virtual disk.

[0020] In some examples, zoning rules may be enforced by the switches of a SAN. In some implementations, the example SAN 100A depicted in FIG. 1 may be part of a larger SAN, and it may be understood that the SAN fabrics of the SAN 100A are zoned to permit the host bus adapter 102 to communicate with the arrays 104, 106, 120, and 122.

[0021] To transfer data, in some examples, the host bus adapter 102 may initiate a protocol session e.g., a session using a protocol such as Fibre Channel, iSCSI, FCoE, or another protocol to perform a data transfer operation with a storage device or array, which may be referred to as a "target," over a SAN fabric In some examples, the host initiator may address the storage device target via the SAN fabric using a four level hierarchy syntax such as Host:Bus:Target:LUN, which may identify or target a storage device port ID of the storage device target Once the storage device target receives data from the host, the storage device may determine an appropriate disk, array, or virtual disk to complete a particular data transfer operation.

[0022] FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of creating a storage area network zone set, according to an example of the present disclosure.

[0023] In block 202, a request to zone a SAN is received. The request may be received from a user, a management tool, a scheduler, a device, or another process, such as SAN management server 124. In some examples, a SAN that is already zoned maybe re-zoned, or existing zones maybe updated following, for example, hardware or driver changes in a SAN environment In the example of FIG. 2, two parallel threads may run on, e.g., SAN management server 124, although it will be appreciated that other processing routines may be employed and on different devices.

[0024] In block 204, a host list is parsed. A host list may include IP addresses, unique identifiers, or other information related to hosts or HBAs in a particular SAN, or accessible by a particular SAN. [0025] In block 206, a WWN for each online HBA in the host list is determined. Block 206 may include determining whether a particular HBA is online, such that only WWNs for online HBAs are determined. Determining whether an HBA is online may comprise pinging the HBA.

[0026] In block 208, in one example, the HBA WWNs are grouped by fabric connectivity or type, and by a logical SAN per fabric type. In an example, grouping comprises querying a name server database. In another example, grouping comprises determining a fabric type by interpreting an organizationally unique identifier.

[0027] In block 210, an array list is parsed. An array list may include IP addresses, unique identifiers, or other information related to arrays in a particular SAN, or accessible by a particular SAN.

[0028] In block 212, a WWN for each online array in the array list is determined. Block 212 may include determining whether a particular array is online, such that only WWNs for online arrays are determined. Determining whether an array is online may comprise pinging the array.

[0029] In block 214, in one example, the array WWNs are grouped by fabric connectivity or type, and by a logical SAN per fabric type. In an example, grouping comprises querying a name server database. In another example, grouping comprises determining a fabric type by interpreting an organizationally unique identifier. [0030] In block 216, a SAN zone for each online HBA is created with a corresponding online array. The flow of blocks 204-208 and 210-214 may loop until the host list and array list are empty, such that block 216 encompass all hosts and arrays in a storage infrastructure.

[0031] In block 218, the SAN zones created in block 216 are added to a zone set In some examples, the new SAN zones may also be activated, such that they are made accessible by users of the SAN.

[0032] FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic representation of a computing device that may be used as a platform for creating a storage area network zone set and activating the zone set, according to an example of the present disclosure

[0033] In an example, device 300 comprises a processing resource, processor, or CPU 302; a memory 304; a network interface 306; a power source 308; a disk controller 310 or other local storage; and/or machine readable instructions 312. Storage 310 may be a hard disk drive, a solid state drive, a flash memory, or other storage, and may include a file system and/or SAN management tools or modules as described herein. Network interface 306 may enable communication between processing resource 302 and host bus adapter 102 and/or other components of a SAN. The CPU 302, memory 304, network interface 306, and storage 310 may be coupled by a bus or other interconnect

[0034] In some examples, device 300 may also comprise a computer readable medium that may comprise an operating system, applications, and disk management tools. Disk management tools may include, for example, modules to create, manage, or modify SANs or SAN zones, such as SAN management module 128 of FIG. 1

[0035] Some or all of the operations set forth in the figures may be contained as a utility, program, or subprogram in any desired computer readable storage medium, or embedded on hardware. In addition, the operations may be embodied by machine-readable instructions. For example, they may exist as machine-readable instructions in source code, object code, executable code, or other formats. The computer readable medium may also store other machine-readable instructions, including instructions downloaded from a network or the internet

[0036] The computer-readable medium 312 may store instructions to parse a host list and for each host bus adapter in the host list that is online, to determine a world wide name. The world wide names for each online host bus adapter may then be grouped. The computer-readable medium 312 may also store instructions to parse an array list, and for each array in the array list that is online, to determine a world wide name. The world wide names for each online array may then be grouped.

[0037] The computer-readable medium 312 may also store instructions to create a storage area network zone for each online host bus adapter with a corresponding array, and update a storage area network zone set with the storage area network. In some examples, the instructions may also activate the storage area network in the zone set, such that the SAN zone may be accessible. [0038] The computer-readable medium may also store instructions that may perform basic tasks such as recognizing input from input devices, such as a keyboard or a keypad; sending output to a display; keeping track of files and directories on a computer readable medium; controlling peripheral devices, such as drives, printers, or image capture devices; and managing traffic on a bus. The network applications may include various components for establishing and maintaining network connections, such as machine readable instructions for implementing communication protocols including but not limited to TCP/IP, HTTP, HTTPS, Ethernet, USB, FireWire, Fibre Channel, iSCSI, FCoE, or other networking protocols for providing connectivity between components.

[0039] The above discussion is meant to be illustrative of the principles and various embodiments of the present disclosure. Numerous variations and modifications will become apparent once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A method of zoning a storage area network, comprising: parsing a host list, determining a world wide port name for each online host bus adapter, and grouping the world wide port names for each online host bus adapter by fabric type and a logical storage area network per fabric type; parsing an array list, determining an array world wide port name for each online array, and grouping the world wide port names for each array by fabric type and a logical storage area network per fabric type; creating a storage area network zone for an online host bus adapter with a corresponding online array; and updating a zone set with the storage area network zone.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein grouping the world wide port names further comprises querying a name server database.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein grouping the world wide port names further comprises determining a fabric type by interpreting an organizationally unique identifier.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein a fabric type corresponds to a fabric vendor.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein a fabric type corresponds to a communications protocol.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising activating the storage area network zone.

7. A computing device comprising: a processor; a network interface coupled to a host bus adapter; and a storage area network management module to connect to the host bus adapter and group the host bus adapter, connect to an array through the host bus adapter and group the array, and create a storage area network zone in a zone set for the host bus adapter with a corresponding online array, wherein the storage area network management module is to parse a host list and loop through each host bus adapter accessible through the network interface.

8. The computing device according to claim 7, wherein the computing device further comprises a module to query a name server database to group a host bus adapter.

9. The computing device according to claim 7, wherein the computing device further comprises a module to query a name server database to group an array.

10. The computing device according to claim 7, wherein the computing device further comprises a module to determine a fabric type based on an organizationally unique identifier.

11. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium on which is stored a computer program, said computer program to manage a storage area network zone set, said computer program comprising instructions to: parse a host list; for each host bus adapter in the host list that is online, determine a world wide port name; group the world wide port names for each online host bus adapter; parse an array list, for each array in the array list that is online, determine a world wide port name; group the world wide port names for each online array; create a storage area network zone for each online host bus adapter with a corresponding online array; update a storage area network zone set with the storage area network zone; and activate the storage area network zone in the zone set

12. The computer readable storage medium according to claim 11, wherein activation of the storage area network zone comprises a trigger file.

13. The computer readable storage medium according to claim 11, wherein the world wide port names are grouped based on a name server database query result

14. The computer readable storage medium according to claim 11, wherein the world wide port names are grouped based on an organizationally unique identifier.

15. The computer readable storage medium according to claim 11, wherein the world wide port name groups are based on fabric types.