Method and apparatus for enabling consistent ancillary disk array storage device operations with respect to a main application

摘要

A method and apparatus for enhancing data recovery in data processing systems in which applications span multiple logical devices. A data processing system includes multiple standard devices for storing data and corresponding BCV devices for, in one mode, operating as mirrors of those standard devices. If certain of those BCV devices are associated with the same data set, a CONSISTENT SPLIT operation controls the way in which each of these BCV devices is detached from its corresponding standard device and made available to another application. Each command to an application for controlling the BCV devices is translated into one or more request data structures that identify the BCV devices as being involved in a consistent split operation and that establishes a system lock out for those particular devices during which those devices are split from their respective devices in a consistent manner.