Indicating tracks as erased without deleting data for the tracks

1. A computer program product for performing an erase of tracks in a storage, the computer program product comprises a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause operations, the operations comprising:

in response to receiving erase commands to erase tracks in the storage, indicating the tracks as erased without performing an erase operation on the tracks subject to the erase command, wherein data in the storage for the tracks indicated as erased remains in the storage while requests are directed to the tracks indicated as erased; and

in response to receiving read and write requests to target tracks in the storage, determining whether the target tracks are indicated as erased to prevent access to data in the target tracks indicated as erased.

2. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:

permitting the received read and write requests to the target tracks to proceed in response to determining that the target tracks are not indicated as erased; and

performing an alternate operation different from a read or write request in response to determining that a target track is indicated as erased.

3. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:

providing a bitmap including a cell for each of the tracks in the storage, wherein each cell for each track is set to a first value to indicate that the track is not erased and set to a second value to indicate that the track is erased, wherein the determining that the track is not erased comprises determining that the cell for the target track has the first value and wherein the determining that the track is erased comprises determining that the cell for the target track has the second value.

4. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to a read request to a target track indicated as erased, returning to the read request a predetermined string of values different from data for the target track in the storage.

5. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to a write request to update a target track indicated as erased, failing the write request to the target track.

6. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to a write request to format target tracks indicated as erased, performing:

indicating the target tracks as not erased; and

writing the data to the target tracks with formatting.

7. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the computer readable storage medium is implemented at a first storage controller, and wherein the storage comprises a first storage, wherein the first storage controller mirrors data to a second storage controller over a network to store in a second storage, wherein the operations further comprise:

transmitting indication of tracks indicated as erased to the second storage controller to cause the second storage controller to indicate the tracks, indicated as erased at the first storage controller, as indicated as erased at the second storage controller, wherein the second storage controller performs the determining whether target tracks in the second storage are indicated as erased in response to receiving read and write requests to the target tracks in the second storage to prevent access to data in the target tracks in the second storage indicated as erased.

8. A system for performing an erase of tracks in a storage, comprising:

a processor; and

a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by the processor to cause operations, the operations comprising:

in response to receiving erase commands to erase tracks in the storage, indicating the tracks as erased without performing an erase operation on the tracks subject to the erase command, wherein data in the storage for the tracks indicated as erased remains in the storage while requests are directed to the tracks indicated as erased; and

in response to receiving read and write requests to target tracks in the storage, determining whether the target tracks are indicated as erased to prevent access to data in the target tracks indicated as erased.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:

permitting the received read and write requests to the target tracks to proceed in response to determining that the target tracks are not indicated as erased; and

performing an alternate operation different from a read or write request in response to determining that a target track is indicated as erased.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:

providing a bitmap including a cell for each of the tracks in the storage, wherein each cell for each track is set to a first value to indicate that the track is not erased and set to a second value to indicate that the track is erased, wherein the determining that the track is not erased comprises determining that the cell for the target track has the first value and wherein the determining that the track is erased comprises determining that the cell for the target track has the second value.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to a read request to a target track indicated as erased, returning to the read request a predetermined string of values different from data for the target track in the storage.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to a write request to update a target track indicated as erased, failing the write request to the target track.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to a write request to format target tracks indicated as erased, performing:

indicating the target tracks as not erased; and

writing the data to the target tracks with formatting.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the computer readable storage medium is implemented at a first storage controller, and wherein the storage comprises a first storage, wherein the first storage controller mirrors data to a second storage controller over a network to store in a second storage, wherein the operations further comprise:

transmitting indication of tracks indicated as erased to the second storage controller to cause the second storage controller to indicate the tracks, indicated as erased at the first storage controller, as indicated as erased at the second storage controller, wherein the second storage controller performs the determining whether target tracks in the second storage are indicated as erased in response to receiving read and write requests to the target tracks in the second storage to prevent access to data in the target tracks in the second storage indicated as erased.

15. A method for performing an erase of tracks in a storage, comprising:

in response to receiving erase commands to erase tracks in the storage, indicating the tracks as erased without performing an erase operation on the tracks subject to the erase command, wherein data in the storage for the tracks indicated as erased remains in the storage while requests are directed to the tracks indicated as erased; and

in response to receiving read and write requests to target tracks in the storage, determining whether the target tracks are indicated as erased to prevent access to data in the target tracks indicated as erased.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

permitting the received read and write requests to the target tracks to proceed in response to determining that the target tracks are not indicated as erased; and

performing an alternate operation different from a read or write request in response to determining that a target track is indicated as erased.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

in response to a read request to a target track indicated as erased, returning to the read request a predetermined string of values different from data for the target track in the storage.

18. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

in response to a write request to update a target track indicated as erased, failing the write request to the target track.

19. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

in response to a write request to format target tracks indicated as erased, performing:

indicating the target tracks as not erased; and

writing the data to the target tracks with formatting.

20. The method of claim 15 , wherein the storage comprises a first storage, wherein a first storage controller mirrors data to a second storage controller over a network to store in a second storage, wherein the operations further comprise:

transmitting indication of tracks indicated as erased to the second storage controller to cause the second storage controller to indicate the tracks, indicated as erased at the first storage controller, as indicated as erased at the second storage controller, wherein the second storage controller performs the determining whether target tracks in the second storage are indicated as erased in response to receiving read and write requests to the target tracks in the second storage to prevent access to data in the target tracks in the second storage indicated as erased.