Non-disruptive upgrade of storage appliance nodes using host initiator login information to avoid data unavailability

1. A method of performing a non-disruptive upgrade of nodes of a storage appliance, the nodes including a first portion of the nodes and a second portion of the nodes, the method comprising:

recording an initial set of host initiator login information identifying which of a plurality of host initiators are logged into which nodes of the storage appliance prior to performing the non-disruptive upgrade to upgrade the nodes from a current software version to a target software version;

installing the target software version on the first portion of the nodes of the storage appliance;

restarting the first portion of the nodes of the storage appliance running the target software version while also running the current software version on the second portion of the nodes of the storage appliance, wherein the non-disruptive upgrade is performed to upgrade the nodes of the storage appliance from the current software version to the target software version;

subsequent to installing the target software version and said restarting, while the first portion of the nodes of the storage appliance are running the target software version and while the second portion of the nodes are running the current software version, performing I/O (input/output) operation forwarding so that I/O operations from the plurality of host initiators are serviced using the second portion of the nodes and not serviced using the first portion of the nodes, wherein, during said I/O operation forwarding, one or more of the plurality of host initiators are logged into at least one node of the first portion of the nodes and at least one node of the second portion of the nodes, and wherein said I/O operation forwarding includes the first portion of the nodes that receives the I/O operations internally forwarding the I/O operations within the storage appliance from the first portion of the nodes to the second portion of the nodes for servicing by the second portion of the nodes using the current software version, and wherein the I/O operations are serviced using the current software version running on the second portion of the nodes;

recording a second set of the host initiator login information while performing the I/O operation forwarding, said second set of the host initiator login information identifying which of the plurality of host initiators have re-logged into which nodes of the first portion;

comparing the initial set and the second set to determine whether there are any inconsistencies between the initial set and the second set; and

determining, in accordance with the host initiator login information and while said I/O operation forwarding is performed that internally forwards the I/O operations, whether to continue with the non-disruptive upgrade of the nodes by upgrading the second portion of the nodes to the target software version.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the host initiator login information includes the initial set and the second set, and said comparing determines that there are no inconsistencies between the initial set and second set if there are no differences between the initial set and the second set.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

responsive to determining that there are no inconsistencies between the initial set and second set, said determining determines to continue with the non-disruptive upgrade by upgrading the second portion of the nodes to the target software version.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

responsive to determining, in accordance with the host initiator login information, to continue with the non-disruptive upgrade of the nodes by upgrading the second portion of the nodes to the target software version, performing remaining upgrade processing including:

performing an I/O operation transfer from the second portion of the nodes to the first portion of the nodes, wherein the first portion of the nodes are running the target software version and servicing host I/O operations, and wherein the second portion of the nodes running the current software version stop servicing the host I/O operations;

restarting the second portion of the nodes running the target software version; and

subsequent to restarting the second portion of the nodes, servicing the host I/O operations using the first portion of the nodes running the target software version and the second portion of the nodes running the target software version.

5. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

while said I/O operation forwarding is in effect, waiting an initial amount of time for the plurality of host initiators to re-log into the first portion of the nodes; and

subsequent to said initial amount of time elapsing, starting an I/O forward timer denoting a timeout period.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein said determining, in accordance with the host initiator login information, whether to continue with the non-disruptive upgrade of the nodes by upgrading the second portion of the nodes to the target software version further includes:

determining whether there are any inconsistencies between the initial set and the second set; and

determining, in accordance with an automation setting and in accordance with whether there are any detected inconsistencies between the initial set and the second set, whether to automatically continue with the non-disruptive upgrade of the nodes bar upgrading the second portion of the nodes to the target software version.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the automation setting is one of a plurality of settings including:

a first setting that always requests confirmation to proceed with a first selected action;

a second setting that automatically continues with the non-disruptive upgrade if there are no inconsistencies between the initial set and the second set, and otherwise, if there are inconsistencies determined between the initial set and the second set, requests confirmation to proceed with a second selected action; and

a third setting that automatically continues with the non-disruptive upgrade if there are no inconsistencies between the initial set and the second set, and otherwise, if there are inconsistencies determined between the initial set and the second set after the timeout period has elapsed, automatically aborting the non-disruptive upgrade and rolling back the first portion of the nodes to run the current version of the software for servicing I/O operations.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein each of the first selected action and the second selected action is any of an action to continue with the non-disruptive upgrade, an action to rollback the non-disruptive upgrade by rolling back the first portion of the nodes to run the current version of the software for servicing I/O operations, and an action to perform refresh processing to obtain a revised set of the host initiator login information for repeated comparison to the initial set to detect any inconsistencies therebetween.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein upon determining inconsistencies between the initial set and the second set and wherein the automation setting is any of the first setting and the second setting, and wherein the method further includes:

displaying a list of host initiator logins that are included in the initial set and missing from the second set, wherein the list denotes the inconsistencies determined between the initial set and the second set.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the storage appliance provides virtualized storage to one or more hosts including the plurality of host initiators, wherein the storage appliance virtualizes storage of a plurality of data storage systems.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

establishing connectivity between the plurality of host initiators of the hosts and the nodes of the storage appliance, and wherein the plurality of host initiators are configured, prior to performing the non-disruptive upgrade, to issue I/O operations over a plurality of paths to the nodes of the storage appliance.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the target software version is installed irrespective of a connectivity between the nodes and a plurality of host initiators and on only the first portion of the nodes.

13. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a memory comprising code stored thereon that, when executed, performs a method of performing a non-disruptive upgrade of nodes of a storage appliance, the nodes including a first portion of the nodes and a second portion of the nodes, the method comprising:

recording an initial set of host initiator login information identifying which of a plurality of host initiators are logged into which nodes of the storage appliance prior to performing the non-disruptive upgrade to upgrade the nodes from a current software version to a target software version;

installing the target software version on the first portion of the nodes of the storage appliance;

restarting the first portion of the nodes of the storage appliance running the target software version while also running the current software version on the second portion of the nodes of the storage appliance, wherein the non-disruptive upgrade is performed to upgrade the nodes of the storage appliance from the current software version to the target software version;

subsequent to installing the target software version and said restarting, while the first portion of the nodes of the storage appliance are running the target software version and while the second portion of the nodes are running the current software version, performing I/O (input/output) operation forwarding so that I/O operations from the plurality of host initiators are serviced using the second portion of the nodes and not serviced using the first portion of the nodes, wherein, during said I/O operation, forwarding one or more of the plurality of host initiators are logged into at least one node of the first portion of the nodes and at least one node of the second portion of the nodes, and wherein said I/O operation forwarding includes the first portion of the nodes that receives the I/O internally forwarding the I/O operations within the storage appliance from the first portion of the nodes to the second portion of the nodes for servicing by the second portion of the nodes using the current software version, and wherein the I/O operations are serviced using the current software version running on the second portion of the nodes;

recording a second set of the host initiator login information while performing the I/O operation forwarding, said second set of the host initiator login information identifying which of the plurality of host initiators have re-logged into which nodes of the first portion;

comparing the initial set and the second set to determine whether there are any inconsistencies between the initial set and the second set; and

determining, in accordance with the host initiator login information and while said I/O operation forwarding is performed that internally forwards the I/O operations, whether to continue with the non-disruptive upgrade of the nodes by upgrading the second portion of the nodes to the target software version.

14. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising code stored thereon that, when executed, performs a method of a non-disruptive upgrade of nodes of a storage appliance, the nodes including a first portion of the nodes and a second portion of the nodes, the method comprising:

recording an initial set of host initiator login information identifying which of a plurality of host initiators are logged into which nodes of the storage appliance prior to performing the non-disruptive upgrade to upgrade the nodes from a current software version to a target software version;

installing the target software version on first portion of the nodes of the storage appliance;

restarting the first portion of the nodes of the storage appliance running the target software version while also running the current software version on the second portion of the nodes of the storage appliance, wherein the non-disruptive upgrade is performed to upgrade the nodes of the storage appliance from the current software version to the target software version;

subsequent to installing the target software version and said restarting, while the first portion of the nodes of the storage appliance are running the target software version and while the second portion of the nodes are running the current software version, performing I/O (input/output) operation forwarding so that I/O operations from the plurality of host initiators are serviced using the second portion of the nodes and not serviced using the first portion of the nodes, wherein, during said I/O operation forwarding, one or more of the plurality of host initiators are logged into at least one node of the first portion of the nodes and at least one node of the second portion of the nodes, and wherein said I/O operation forwarding includes the first portion of the nodes that receives the I/O operations internally forwarding the I/O operations within the storage appliance from the first portion of the nodes to the second portion of the nodes for servicing by the second portion of the nodes using the current software version, and wherein the I/O operations are serviced using the current software version running on the second portion of the nodes;

recording a second set of the host initiator login information while performing the I/O operation forwarding, said second set of the host initiator login information identifying which of the plurality of host initiators have re-logged into which nodes of the first portion;

comparing the initial set and the second set to determine whether there are any inconsistencies between the initial set and the second set; and

determining, in accordance with the host initiator login information and while said I/O operation forwarding is performed that internally forwards the I/O, whether to continue with the non-disruptive upgrade of the nodes by upgrading the second portion of the nodes to the target software version.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the host initiator login information includes the initial set and the second set, and said comparing determines that there are no inconsistencies between the initial set and second set if there are no differences between the initial set and the second set.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the method further comprises:

responsive to determining that there are no inconsistencies between the initial set and second set, said determining determines to continue with the non-disruptive upgrade of the nodes by upgrading the second portion of the nodes to the target software version.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein the method further comprises:

responsive to determining, in accordance with the host initiator login information, to continue with the non-disruptive upgrade of the nodes by upgrading the second portion of the nodes to the target software version, performing remaining upgrade processing including:

performing an I/O operation transfer from the second portion of the nodes to the first portion of the nodes, wherein the first portion of the nodes are running the target software version and servicing host I/O operations, and wherein the second portion of the nodes running the current software version stop servicing the host I/O operations;

restarting the second portion of the nodes running the target software version; and

subsequent to restarting the second portion of the nodes, servicing the host I/O operations using the first portion of the nodes running the target software version and the second portion of the nodes running the target software version.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the target software version is installed irrespective of a connectivity between the nodes and a plurality of host initiators and only on the first portion of the nodes.