Methods and systems for managing corrupted meta-data in a computer system or network
View Patent ↗A method for managing data in a computer system comprises identifying a data-set that has data unit protection that is suspected of having been corrupted, suspending a data unit protection process for the data-set; deferring re-establishing the data unit protection process for the data-set until issuance of a request for an I/O operation for the data unit; and re-establishing the data unit protection process for the data-set in response to the request and before the I/O operation is conducted. The data has a data unit protection invalidity indicator for indicating that the data-set has data unit protection that is suspected of having been corrupted; and the data unit protection process is suspended in the presence of the data-set protection invalidity indicator. Meta-data protection that is suspected of having been corrupted may be used to identify a corrupted data-set.
1. A method for managing data in a computer system, comprising:
identifying a corrupted data-set, the corrupted data-set comprising a data-set that is subject to a data unit protection process that indicates the data-set as having been corrupted;
suspending the data unit protection process for the corrupted data-set;
deferring re-establishing the data unit protection process for the corrupted data-set; and
after deferring, re-establishing the data unit protection process for the corrupted data-set in response to a request for an I/O operation for the corrupted data-set and before the I/O operation is conducted.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data has a data unit protection invalidity indicator for indicating that a data-set has data unit protection that is suspected of having been corrupted, and wherein the method further comprises:
suspending the data unit protection process for the corrupted data-set in the presence of the data unit protection invalidity indicator.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein a data unit of the corrupted data-set has associated therewith a stored data unit protection value for use in verifying the validity of the data unit, and wherein re-establishing the data unit protection process for the corrupted data-set includes:
creating a recalculated data unit protection value and replacing the stored data unit protection value with the recalculated data unit protection value; and
removing a data unit protection invalidity indicator from association with the corrupted data-set.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data includes meta-data protection for use in verifying the validity of meta-data associated with the corrupted data-set, and wherein identifying the corrupted data-set includes identifying a data-set that has meta-data protection that is suspected of having been corrupted.
5. A method for managing I/O operations for data in a computer system, and comprising:
receiving a request for an I/O operation for a data-set having a data unit protection process associated therewith, the data-set being indicated as a corrupted data-set, and for which the data unit protection process has been suspended; and
re-establishing the data unit protection process for the data-set in response to the request and before the I/O operation is conducted.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein a data unit of the data-set has associated therewith a stored data unit protection value for use in verifying the validity of the data unit, and wherein re-establishing the data unit protection process for the data-set further comprises:
creating a recalculated data unit protection value and replacing the stored data unit protection value with the recalculated data unit protection value; and
removing the data unit protection invalidity indicator from association with the data-set.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the data unit data-set is stored in a cache memory.
8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the data unit data-set is stored on a logical volume.
9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the data-set is in transit between components of the computer system.
10. The method of claim 5 , wherein the data-set is in transit in a data communications network.
11. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
identifying the corrupted data-set;
suspending the data unit protection process for the corrupted data-set.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the data further comprises meta-data protection for use in verifying the validity of meta-data associated with the data-set, and wherein identifying the corrupted data-set comprises identifying a data-set that has meta-data protection that is suspected of having been corrupted.
13. A computer program product residing on a non-transitory computer readable medium for managing I/O operations for data in a computer system, comprising instructions for causing a computer to:
receive a request for an I/O operation for a data-set for which a data unit protection process associated therewith has been suspended, the data-set being indicated as a corrupted data-set; and
re-establish the data unit protection process for the data-set in response to the request and before the I/O operation is conducted.
14. The computer program product of claim 13 , further comprising instructions for causing a computer to:
identify the corrupted data-set; and
suspend the data-set protection process for the corrupted data-set.
15. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the data further comprises meta-data protection for use in verifying the validity of meta-data associated with the data-set; and wherein identifying the corrupted data-set comprises identifying a data-set that has meta-data protection that is suspected of having been corrupted.
16. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein a data unit of the data-set has associated therewith a stored data unit protection value for use in verifying the validity of the data unit; and further comprising instructions for causing a computer to:
create a recalculated data unit protection value and replace the stored data unit protection value with the recalculated data unit protection value; and
remove the data unit protection invalidity indicator from association with the data-set.
17. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the data-set has a data unit protection invalidity indicator for indicating that the data-set has data unit protection that is suspected of having been corrupted; and further comprising instructions for causing a computer to suspend the data unit protection process for the data-set in the presence of the data unit protection invalidity indicator.
18. A data storage system comprising:
a data storage device for storing a data unit;
meta-data associated with the data unit and having a data unit protection process associated therewith and having a data unit protection invalidity indicator for indicating suspension of the data unit protection process;
a processor coupled to the data storage device and operable to manage I/O operations for the data unit on the basis of the meta-data associated therewith, the processor further operable to:
receive a request for an I/O operation for the data unit, wherein the data unit is included in a data-set indicated as a corrupted data-set;
recognize the presence of the data unit protection invalidity indicator;
re-establish the data unit protection process for the data unit in response to the request and before the I/O operation is conducted; and
remove the data unit protection invalidity indicator from the meta-data.
19. The data storage system of claim 18 , wherein the data unit has associated therewith a stored data unit protection value for use in verifying the validity of the data unit; and wherein re-establishing the data unit protection process for the data unit includes creating a recalculated data unit protection value and replacing the stored data unit protection value with the recalculated data unit protection value.
20. The data storage system of claim 18 , wherein the data further includes meta-data protection for use in verifying the validity of the meta-data associated; and wherein the processor is further operable to:
identify the corrupted data-set by identifying that the data-set that has meta-data protection that is suspected of having been corrupted.