JPH0448320A - Disk device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To copy a disk at a high speed by providing a means to copy the contents of a 1st disk to a 2nd disk through a data processor in an off-line state and carrying out a disk copying operation with no intervention of the data processor. CONSTITUTION:A floppy disk device 4 usually performs the data reading/writing operations to a floppy disk based on the instructions of a data processor 2 and can also copies a disk in a state where the device 4 is independent of the processor 2. That is, a means is provided to copy the contents of a 1st disk to a 2nd disk through the processor 2 in an off-line state. Thus, a disk copying operation is carried out at a high speed with no intervention of the processor 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a so-called disk device used in a multi-drop connection as an external storage device of a computer system.

(Prior Art) In a so-called distributed processing system, a data processing device that processes data is the primary station, and a secondary station such as a floppy disk device that stores data processed by the primary station is a trunk. Multi-drop connected to.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the configuration of a distributed processing system in which secondary stations are multi-drop connected to trunks.

In the figure, 2 is a data processing device that performs various data processing.

In addition, 3 is a workstation used as the master of the distributed processing system 1 and [7], 4 is a floppy disk device that reads and writes data to the floppy disk, and 5 is a workstation used for the data processing device 2, the workstation 3, and the floppy disk device 4. The H trunk 6 transfers data, and 6 is an HTC branching off from the H trunk to connect the workstation 3 and floppy disk device 4.

By the way, in the distributed processing system configured as described above, the contents of the floppy disk are copied as follows.

That is, the data processing device 2 transfers the original floppy disk from the floppy disk device 4 (as shown).
data is read out to the data processing device 2. Then,
The read data is again sent to the floppy disk device 4 and written to the copy destination floppy disk. By performing this operation on all sectors, for example, sector by sector, all data recorded in the original is written to the copy destination floppy disk.

However, the processing takes time due to the data transfer speed of the H trunk, overhead due to software processing of the data processing device 2, and limitations on data length during data transfer.

Furthermore, the formats that can be processed are limited.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As mentioned above, conventional disk devices are intended only for online use, and when copying the contents of a disk, it is necessary to copy the contents of the disk through a host such as the data processing device 2.
It must be done by software processing on the host,
There was a problem that processing took a long time.

Additionally, the formats that can be copied are often limited by the software used on the host, which is inconvenient.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to address this problem, and provides a disk device that can perform copy processing even offline.

[Configuration of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention comprises at least two disk drives,
In a disk device that performs online data transfer with a predetermined external device, there is an input means for performing a predetermined input, and when a predetermined input is made by the input means, after suspending online processing with the external device, and copying means for copying the contents of the disk from one of the disks loaded in one of the disk drives to another.

(Function) The present invention has means for copying the contents of the first disk to the second disk in an offline state from the data processing device, and the disk can be copied without going through the data processing device. can be copied at high speed.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of a distributed processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 2 is a data processing device that performs various data processing.

Further, 3 is a workstation used as a mask for the distributed processing system 1, 4 is a floppy disk device for reading and writing data on a floppy disk, and 5 is a data transfer unit between the data processing device 2, workstation 3, and floppy disk device 4. H trunk, 6 is H
This is a branching device called HTC that branches off from the trunk and connects the workstation 3 and floppy disk device 4.

The configuration of this floppy disk device 4 is shown in FIG. 1, and the external appearance is shown in FIG.

In the figure, lla and llb are disk drives that read and write data from a floppy disk (at the time of illustration) installed in a floppy disk device 4, 12 is a control unit that controls the disk drives lla and llb, and 13 is a control unit that controls the disk drives lla and llb. This is a power supply section that supplies a predetermined voltage to the disk drives lla, llb and the control section 12.

Furthermore, 14 is a fan that promotes heat dissipation inside the floppy disk device, 15 is an interface cable connected to the HTC, 16 is a power cable connected to the power supply, 17 is a power switch for performing important operations on the power supply, and 18 is a disk copy An internally illuminated operation switch 19 is a fuse for handling abnormalities. In addition, disk drive 1
1a.

11b are logically drive #0 and drive #1, respectively.
is being neglected.

The floppy disk device 4 connected to the above-described distributed processing system in a multi-drop manner usually reads data stored on the floppy disk from the floppy disk and sends it to the data processing device 2 based on instructions from the data processing device 2. Further, data sent from the data processing device 2 is stored in a floppy disk based on instructions from the data processing device 2.

In this way, the floppy disk device 4 normally reads and writes data to and from the floppy disk based on instructions from the data processing device 2. Copying is also possible.

Next, the operation when copying a disk by making the floppy disk device 4 independent from the data processing device 2 will be explained in the third section.
This will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in the figure.

In this floppy disk device 4, the operation switch 18
When a is off, online processing of the data processing device ft2 is performed.

At this time, the control unit 12 checks the state of the operation switch 18m (step 301), and if the operation switch 18a is off, performs online processing (step 3o2).
.

Next, when the operator presses the operation switch 18a, in step 801 described above, the ON state of the operation switch 18g is detected, an offline request flag is set in the status register (not shown), and the status is sent to the data processing device 2. A request is made to send a read command (step 303). In response to this request, the data processing device 2 sends a status read command, checks the offline request flag of the read status register, and issues a define command to permit going offline. By receiving this day fine command, the floppy disk device 4 becomes offline from the data processing device 2 (step 3o4).
.

After this, the internal illumination of the operation switch 18b is blinked, and the operator is instructed to insert the floppy disk that will serve as a mask into the drive #.
0 to put it on (step 305).

The operator presses the operation switch 18b after loading a floppy disk serving as a mask into drive #0.

If it is detected that the operation switch 18b has been pressed (step 306), the internal light of the operation switch 18C is blinked to prompt the operator to insert the slave floppy disk into drive #1 (step 3o).
7).

After loading the slave floppy disk into drive #1, the operator presses the operation switch 18c.

If it is detected that the operation switch 18c has been pressed (step 30g), the format type of the floppy disk installed in each drive is checked (step 309).

If the mask and slave formats do not match, the slave disk is initialized according to the mask format (step 310).

If the formats of both match, the data for l tracks read from the mask floppy disk (step 311) is written to the slave floppy disk (step 312), thereby copying l tracks. .

Thereafter, it is checked whether or not all tracks have been copied (step 313), and the copy process (steps 311 and 312) is repeatedly executed until all tracks are completed. For example, in the case of a 3.5-inch double-sided disc, the above-described copying process will be repeated 160 times.

On the other hand, when all tracks are completed, the operation switch 18b
Then, the internal illumination of the operation switch 18a is blinked to inform the operator that the copying has been completed (step 314), and then the internal illumination of the operation switch 18a is blinked (step 315).

The operator confirms that the copying is completed and presses the operation switch 18a.

The control unit 12 checks the state of the operation switch 18a (step 31B), and if the operation switch 18a is turned off, resets the offline request flag and requests the data processing device 2 to send a status read command (step 31B). 317). In response to this request, the data processing device 2 sends a status read command, checks that the offline request flag of the read status register has been reset, and issues a define command to permit going online. By receiving this day fine command (step 318),
Thereafter, the floppy disk device 4 will be in an online state with the data processing device 2 (steps 301 and 302).
).

In this way, the contents of the floppy disk can be copied from the data processing device 2 in an offline state, and since the data processing device 2 and the H trunk 6 are not used, high-speed copy processing can be performed.

Note that commands sent from the data processing device 2 to the floppy disk device 4 in an offline state are either invalid and not executed, or are stored in a predetermined buffer and executed when the floppy disk device 4 returns to the online state after copying is completed. Do it like this.

Further, when a formatted floppy disk is used as the floppy disk serving as a mask, it is possible to initialize the floppy disk for the slave.

Furthermore, although copying is performed by operating the operation switch 18 provided on the floppy disk device 4, offline copying can be performed from now on by sending a predetermined command from the data processing device 2 to the floppy disk device 4. You can do it like this.

[Effects of the Invention] The present invention includes means for copying the contents of a first disk to a second disk in an offline state from a data processing device.

Therefore, since the disc can be copied without going through a data processing device, the disc can be copied at high speed and can be easily adapted to various formats.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a floppy disk device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of this floppy disk device, and Fig. 3 shows the operation when copying a floppy disk. Flowchart, 4th
The figure is a block diagram showing the configuration of a distributed processing system to which floppy disk devices are connected. 2... Data processing device, 4... Floppy disk device, 5... H trunk, lla, llb... Disk drive, 12... Control unit, 18... Operation switch. Applicant: Toshiba Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a disk device that includes at least two disk drives and performs online data transfer with a predetermined external device, an input means for performing a predetermined input, and when a predetermined input is made by this input means, the external After suspending online processing with the device, from the disk attached to one of the disk drives to the other,
What is claimed is: 1. A disk device comprising: copying means for copying the contents of a disk.