Cache queue entry linking for DASD record updates

A data storage system provides disaster recovery capability by asynchronously transmitting record updates to a secondary site in sequence consistent order. Such record updates are stored at a primary site in a cache memo

What it covers

A data storage system provides disaster recovery capability by asynchronously transmitting record updates to a secondary site in sequence consistent order. Such record updates are stored at a primary site in a cache memory of a storage controller. A circular queue is created having a head pointer for locating a first (or oldest) record update with subsequent record updates of a track being linked therefrom in sequence consistent order. A tail pointer of the circular queue points to the last record update. A counter field is provided in a track slot header for counting a number of updated records in the track and hence the circular queue. When a data mover in the host processor at the primary site reads record updates for transmission to the secondary site, the data mover starts with the record update pointed to by the head pointer such that the data mover moves through the circular queue (and hence the record updates) in a backward chain fashion. The counter is decremented as each record update in the track is read by the data mover such that when the counter reaches zero the data mover knows that no other record updates exist for that track.