Information processing apparatus and command multiplicity control method wherein commands are sent from a host to a target using iSCSI control protocol

1. An information processing apparatus connected to plural hosts, for executing processing in accordance with a command sent from each host, the information processing apparatus comprising a multiplicity control unit that dynamically determines command multiplicity for the command to be assigned to the host in accordance with command issue frequency of the host and sets the determined multiplicity for the host,

wherein the multiplicity control unit comprises:

a multiplicity determination processing unit for determining the command multiplicity assigned to the host in accordance with the command issue frequency of the host; and

an interface unit for communicating with each host and setting the command multiplicity determined by the multiplicity determination processing unit for the corresponding host; and

wherein the interface unit sets the command multiplicity determined by the multiplicity determination processing unit for the corresponding host using the iSCSI (internet Small Computer System Interface) standard control protocol according to which a target controls the maximum number of commands that can be sent by an initiator,

wherein the multiplicity control unit includes a command processing unit for processing the command sent from the host; and

wherein every time the command processing unit processes the command sent from the host, the multiplicity determination processing unit compares the command multiplicity assigned to the host with the number of commands for which no response has been made from among the commands sent from the host; and if the command multiplicity is larger than the number of commands for which no response has been made, the multiplicity determination processing unit decreases the command multiplicity assigned to the host by a predetermined number; and if the command multiplicity is equal to or less than the number of commands for which no response has been made, the multiplicity determination processing unit increases the command multiplicity assigned to the host by the predetermined number, thereby determining new command multiplicity to be assigned to the host.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the information processing apparatus is a storage apparatus that provides a data storage area to each host.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined number is 1.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined number is a numerical value set by a user.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein: the multiplicity control unit has a receive command queue for temporarily storing the commands from each host;

the command processing unit processes the commands stored in the receive command queue in the order stored; and

the multiplicity determination processing unit, when determining the new command multiplicity to be assigned to the host, increases the command multiplicity assigned to the corresponding host by the predetermined number only when the command multiplicity is equal to or less than the number of commands for which no response has been made and when the free capacity of the receive command queue is larger than the predetermined number.

6. A command multiplicity control method for controlling command multiplicity for each of plural hosts with respect to an information processing apparatus for executing processing in accordance with a command sent from each host, comprising:

a first step in which the information processing apparatus dynamically determines the command multiplicity to be assigned to the host in accordance with the command issue frequency of the host; and

a second step in which the information processing apparatus sets the determined multiplicity for the host,

wherein, in the first step, every time the command sent from the host is processed, the command multiplicity assigned to the host is compared with the number of commands, for which no response has been made from among the commands sent from the host; and if the command multiplicity is larger than the number of commands for which no response has been made, the command multiplicity assigned to the host is decreased by a predetermined number; and if the command multiplicity is equal to or less than the number of commands for which no response has been made, the command multiplicity assigned to the host is increased by the predetermined number, thereby determining new command multiplicity to be assigned to the host.

7. The command multiplicity control method according to claim 6 , wherein the information processing apparatus is a storage apparatus that provides a data storage area to each host.

8. The command multiplicity control method according to claim 6 , wherein, in the second step, the command multiplicity determined in the first step is set for the corresponding host using the iSCSI (internet Small Computer System Interface) standard control protocol according to which a target controls the maximum number of commands that can be sent by an initiator.

9. The command multiplicity control method according to claim 6 , wherein the predetermined number is 1.

10. The command multiplicity control method according to claim 6 , wherein the predetermined number is a numerical value set by an user.

11. The command multiplicity control method according to claim 6 , wherein:

the information processing apparatus has a receive command queue for temporarily storing the commands from each host, and processes the commands stored in the receive command queue in the order stored; and

in the first step, when determining the new command multiplicity assigned to the host, the command multiplicity assigned to the corresponding host is increased by the predetermined number only when the command multiplicity is equal to or less than the number of commands for which no response has been made and when the free capacity of the receive command queue is larger than the predetermined number.