Granted Patent B2

US 12,724,554 · App. 18/610,422 · Granted Sep 1, 2026

Inventors: Timothy Andrew Moran (Southampton, GB); Mark Keith Elliott (Hampshire, GB); David Holman (Medstead, GB); Miles Mulholland (Eastleigh, GB)

Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation

G06F3/0634G06F3/0604G06F3/067

Abstract

Claims (40)

1 . A computer-implemented method for configuring asymmetric logical unit access (ALUA) states for paths in a multipath storage system, said method comprising:

providing storage feature indications for paths between a host and a volume, wherein the storage feature indications refer to storage features provided by the storage system at the end of the path;

configuring ALUA states for available paths between a host and a volume based at least partially on the storage feature indications to direct host operations to one or more paths based on available storage features at the storage system to prioritize paths with selected storage features;

monitoring use of the available paths between the host and the volume; and

in response to detecting non-optimal use of the available paths based on accesses of paths without one or more of the selected storage features, adapting an ALUA state to encourage or discourage use of a path.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein configuring ALUA states for available paths comprises:

configuring ALUA states for paths for a given host based on parameters of the host and storage feature of the path required for the host parameters.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein adapting the ALUA state comprises changing the ALUA state of a non-preferred path from Active/Non-Optimized to Standby.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the storage features include software features and hardware features of one or more selected from the group consisting of volumes, storage controllers, nodes, and physical storage.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

obtaining storage feature information from internal knowledge of the storage system of a storage controller.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein configuring the ALUA states for paths comprises:

setting priorities of available paths between a host and a volume based on defined feature capabilities of the paths, with higher priority for paths with the feature capability and lower priority for paths without the feature capability.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein configuring the ALUA states for paths comprises:

setting initial priority for paths based on I/O performance metrics of the paths; and

adjusting the initial priority based feature indication requirements.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein configuring the ALUA states for paths comprises:

providing heterogenous feature support for dissimilar systems where a first storage feature is prioritized for a first host behavior and a second storage feature is prioritized for a second host behavior.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein configuring the ALUA states for paths comprises:

prioritizing paths with newly enabled storage features.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein configuring ALUA states for available paths between a host and a volume is further based on I/O performance of the paths.

11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

defining different storage controllers for a volume as running on different software levels having different storage features,

wherein configuring the ALUA states comprises prioritizing certain sets of host commands to the storage software level that supports required features of the host commands.

12 . A system for configuring asymmetric logical unit access (ALUA) states for paths in a multipath storage system, comprising:

one or more processors and one or more memories configured to provide computer program instructions to the one or more processors to execute the function of components, the components comprising:

a feature indication providing component for providing storage feature indications for paths between a host and a volume, wherein the storage feature indications refer to storage features provided by the storage system at the end of the path;

a state configuring component for configuring ALUA states for available paths between a host and a volume based at least partially on the storage feature indications to direct host operations to one or more paths based on available storage features at the storage system to prioritize paths with selected storage features;

a monitoring component for monitoring use of the available paths between the host and the volume; and

a state adapting component for, in response to detecting non-optimal use of the available paths based on accesses of paths without one or more of the selected storage features, adapting an ALUA state to encourage or discourage use of a path.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the state configuring component includes a host configuring component for configuring ALUA states for paths for a given host based on parameters of the host and storage feature of the path required for the host parameters.

14 . The system of claim 12 , wherein adapting the ALUA state comprises changing the ALUA state of a non-preferred path from Active/Non-Optimized to Standby.

15 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the components further comprise a feature obtaining component for obtaining storage feature information from internal knowledge of the storage system of a storage controller.

16 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the components are configured to be applied in a single storage cluster to promote use of selected features and mitigate use of other selected features of the single storage cluster.

17 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the components are configured to be applied in a multi-system high availability storage system to promote use of selected features and mitigate use of other selected features of the multi-system storage system.

18 . A computer program product for configuring asymmetric logical unit access (ALUA) states for paths in a multipath storage system, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to:

provide storage feature indications for paths between a host and a volume, wherein the storage feature indications refer to storage features provided by the storage system at the end of the path;

configure ALUA states for available paths between a host and a volume based at least partially on the storage feature indications to direct host operations to one or more paths based on available storage features at the storage system to prioritize paths with selected storage features;

monitoring use of the available paths between the host and the volume; and

in response to detecting non-optimal use of the available paths based on accesses of paths without one or more of the selected storage features, adapting an ALUA state to encourage or discourage use of a path.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (20)