Method for storage controllers with different data formats to access common storage configuration information

摘要

A method, system and computer program for text-based controller configuration is disclosed.Storage is divided into a reserved disk area and a customer data area. Each reserved disk area contains two copies of the configuration and a directory. The reserved disk area also contains an identifier/locator that identifies the configuration in use by computer system. The identifier/locator is stored in either the first block or last block of each disk. Configuration information is transferred between the disk and controller or between the controller and host computer in text form, i.e. strings, to avoid big-endian/little-endian problems that may exist between controllers made by different manufacturers. The text-based configuration information is expressed in strictly defined keywords and attributes associated with the keywords. The transmission of configuration in text rather than numerical format also eliminates the problems of atomic storage and structure member packing, as the controller and host computer utilize a parser-generator to convert the received text information into native data structures.