AUTOMATIC SITE FAILOVER

A data storage system adapted to maintain redundant data storage sets at a destination location(s) is disclosed. The data storage system establishes a copy set comprising a source volume and a destination volume. Data written to a source volume is automatically copied to the destination volume. The data storage system maintains a data log that may be activated when the destination volume is inaccessible due to, for example, a malfunction in the destination storage system or in the communication link between the source system and the destination system. I/O commands and the data associated with those commands are written to the data log, and after a destination system becomes available the information in the data log is merged into the destination volume to conform the data in the destination volume to the data in the source volume. The data log competes for disk capacity with other volumes on the system, and log memory is allocated as needed. In operation, the array controllers monitor connection status between array controllers in a DRM group. When a connection failure is detected the controllers determine which of the remaining controllers determine whether the source controller remains online, and if not then which destination controller should assume the role of the source controller.