Patent Application
20120272097
1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to testing devices, and particularly to an automatic testing device for a Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID).
2. Description of the Related Art
RAID, an acronym for Redundant Array of Independent Disks, is a technology that provides increased storage functions and reliability through redundancy. This is achieved by combining multiple disk drives into a logical unit, and having data distributed across the disk drives in one of several ways called “RAID levels.”
RAID is now used as an umbrella term for computer data storage schemes that can divide and replicate data among multiple disk drives. The disk drives are said to be in a RAID array, which is addressed by the associated operating system as one single disk. The different schemes or architectures are named by the word RAID followed by a number (e.g., RAID0, RAID1). Each scheme provides a different balance between two key goals: increase data reliability, and increase input/output performance.
During a reliability test of the RAID, one of the disk drives in the RAID is manually removed, to see if a change of an indicator light of the RAID is normal or abnormal. Then, a new disk drive is manually inserted into the RAID, to see if the RAID can rebuild the lost data and if a change of the indicator light is normal or abnormal. However, this testing method is rather laborious and inconvenient, and does not meet the current demand for highly automated testing of a RAID.
What is desired, therefore, is a testing device which can overcome the above-described shortcomings.
Reference will now be made to the figures to describe various embodiments of the present testing device in detail.
Referring to
The RAID unit 11 includes a plurality of RAID members 111 arranged parallel to each other in a line. The RAID unit 11 can be RAID0, RAID1 or RAID5. Referring also to
The replacing unit 12 includes a reserve slot 22 at the front surface of the testing device 10, a reserve disk drive 32 received in the reserve slot 22, and a data interface 27 aligned with the reserve slot 22 at the back surface of the testing device 10. The reserve slot 22 is located adjacent to the RAID unit 11. The reserve disk drive 32 is used as a replacement of one of the under test disk drives 31 of the RAID unit 11, under control of the control unit 15 during a reliability test of the RAID unit 11. In alternative embodiments, there can be two or more reserve slots 22 and two or more reserve disk drives 32, according to different requirements.
The state recognition unit 13 includes a detecting circuit received in an interior of the testing device 10, and a plurality of indicator lights 24 adjacent to the main slots 21 and the reserve slot 22, respectively. The indicator lights 24 correspond to the under test disk drives 31 and the reserve disk drive 32, respectively. The state recognition unit 13 can detect current working states of the under test disk drives 31 and the reserve disk drive 32, respectively, and output a plurality of first status signals corresponding to the current working states of the under test disk drives 31 and a second status signal corresponding to the current working state of the reserve disk drive 32 to the control unit 15.
Simultaneously, the state recognition unit 13 outputs in real time first and second status signals to a driving circuit (not shown) of the indicator lights 24, for separately controlling the indicator lights 24 to emit light with different colors. The different colors show different current working states of the under test disk drives 31 and the reserve disk drive 32.
The switching unit 14 includes a plurality of control buttons 23 corresponding to the under test disk drives 31, respectively, and a power button 25 for controlling an on/off status of the testing device 10. Each of the control buttons 23 can be pressed to switch between a first position in which a corresponding under test disk drive 31 is in connection with the main board, and a second position in which the corresponding under test disk drive 31 is disconnected from the main board. When all of the under test disk drives 31 are in connection with the main board, the RAID unit 11 is fully built. When any one of the under test disk drives 31 is disconnected from the main board, the RAID unit 11 is degraded.
The control unit 15 receives the first status signals and the second status signal from the state recognition unit 13, records the first status signals and the second status signal therein, and controls the reliability test of the RAID unit 11 to halt or continue according to the first status signals and the second status signal. More specifically, if the under test disk drives 31 and the reserve disk drive 32 are all ready for rebuilding the RAID unit 11, the control unit 15 outputs a start signal to continue the reliability test. If any one of the under test disk drives 31 and the reserve disk drive 32 is not fit for rebuilding the RAID unit 11, the control unit 15 outputs an interrupt signal to halt the reliability test, and subsequently receives new first and second status signals from the state recognition unit 13 until the reliability test can be continued. In this embodiment, the RAID unit 11 starts to rebuild only when any one of the under test disk drives 31 is disconnected from the main board, and the reserve disk drive 32 successfully begins to work as a replacement of the disconnected under test disk drive 31 under control of the control unit 15.
The control unit 15 also converts the first and second status signals received from the state recognition unit 13 to alphabetic characters which can be read directly by a user, and then outputs the alphabetic characters to the display unit 16. The display unit 16 includes an LED display screen. The display unit 16 is electrically connected with the control unit 15 for displaying the alphabetic characters, thereby showing the user the working states of the under test disk drives 31 and the reserve disk drive 32. Therefore, the working states of the under test disk drives 31 and the reserve disk drive 32 during the whole reliability test are easily viewed by the user. Furthermore, the control unit 15 records a period of time taken by the reliability test and a period of time taken rebuilding the RAID unit 11, and outputs the results to the display unit 16 for displaying to the user.
An electric power port 29 is provided at a corner of the back surface of the testing device 10. The electric power port 29 electrically connects to an external power source for obtaining electric power from the power source.
During the reliability test of the RAID unit 11, one of the control buttons 23 is pressed to the second position, such that the corresponding under test disk drive 31 is disconnected from the main board. That is, the corresponding under test disk drive 31 is removed from operation in the RAID unit 11. Thus, the RAID unit 11 is degraded. The state recognition unit 13 detects the working state of the disconnected under test disk drive 31, and sends a corresponding first status signal to the control unit 15. The control unit 15 receives the first status signal, and then controls the reserve disk drive 32 to begin to work as a replacement for the disconnected under test disk drive 31. The state recognition unit 13 detects the working state of the reserve disk drive 32 to determine if the reserve disk drive 32 successfully begins to works as a replacement for the disconnected under test disk drive 31, and if the determination is yes, the state recognition unit 13 then controls the RAID unit 11 to start to rebuild the lost data automatically.
In summary, the state recognition unit 13 can automatically identify the working states of the under test disk drives 31. The status information of the under test disk drives 31 is transmitted by the state recognition unit 13 to the control unit 15 when one of the under test disk drives 31 is disconnected. Thereupon the control unit 15 controls the reserve disk drive 32 to begin to work as a replacement for the disconnected under test disk drive 31 automatically. When the reserve disk drive 32 successfully works as a replacement of the disconnected under test disk drive 31, the status information of the reserve disk drive 32 is transmitted by the state recognition unit 13 to the control unit 15 automatically, which greatly simplifies the RAID reliability testing. Furthermore, the display unit 16 displays the test results in real time during the reliability testing. Therefore the reliability test provides easy visual monitoring by a user, who can readily and accurately determine whether the reliability test has succeeded or failed.
It is to be further understood that even though numerous characteristics and advantages have been set forth in the foregoing description of embodiments, together with details of the structures and functions of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only; and that changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the disclosure to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201110103698.6 | Apr 2011 | CN | national |
