SCSI-BASED STORAGE AREA NETWORK HAVING A SCSI ROUTER THAT ROUTES TRAFFIC BETWEEN SCSI AND IP NETWORKS
First Claim
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1. A storage router, comprising:
- a management module having a management interface, wherein the management interface receives commands and wherein the management module configures the storage router as a function of the received commands;
an IP network interface;
a SCSI network interface capable of transferring data on a network running a SCSI protocol; and
a SCSI router, wherein the SCSI router includes means for receiving encapsulated SCSI packets from the IP network interface, means for extracting the SCSI packet from the encapsulated SCSI packet and means for forwarding the SCSI packet to the SCSI network interface;
wherein the SCSI router maps physical storage devices to iSCSI targets.
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Abstract
A system and method for accessing Storage Area Networks over an IP network. A SCSI request is generated and encapsulated in one or more IP packets. The encapsulated SCSI request is routed over an IP network and received by a storage router. The storage router extracts the SCSI request from the one or more IP packets and routes the extracted SCSI request through a virtual SCSI router to the storage area network.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A storage router, comprising:
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a management module having a management interface, wherein the management interface receives commands and wherein the management module configures the storage router as a function of the received commands;
an IP network interface;
a SCSI network interface capable of transferring data on a network running a SCSI protocol; and
a SCSI router, wherein the SCSI router includes means for receiving encapsulated SCSI packets from the IP network interface, means for extracting the SCSI packet from the encapsulated SCSI packet and means for forwarding the SCSI packet to the SCSI network interface;
wherein the SCSI router maps physical storage devices to iSCSI targets. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A storage router, comprising:
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a management module having a management interface, wherein the management interface receives commands and wherein the management module configures the storage router as a function of the received commands;
an IP network interface;
a SCSI network interface capable of transferring data on a network running a SCSI protocol; and
a plurality of virtual SCSI routers, wherein each virtual SCSI router includes means for receiving encapsulated SCSI packets from the IP network interface, means for extracting the SCSI packet from the encapsulated SCSI packet and means for forwarding the SCSI packet to the SCSI network interface;
wherein each virtual SCSI router maps physical storage devices to iSCSI targets. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A computer system capable of communicating across an IP network, comprising:
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a computer, wherein the computer includes a network interface capable of transferring data across the IP network; and
a storage router, wherein the storage router includes;
a management module having a management interface, wherein the management interface receives commands and wherein the management module configures the storage router as a function of the received commands;
an IP network interface;
a SCSI network interface for connecting to a network running a SCSI protocol; and
a virtual SCSI router, wherein the virtual SCSI router receives encapsulated SCSI packets from the computer via the IP network interface, extracts the SCSI packet from the encapsulated SCSI packet and forwards the SCSI packet to the SCSI network interface;
wherein the virtual SCSI router maps physical storage devices to iSCSI targets. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of accessing data stored on a storage network, comprising:
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inserting an iSCSI driver in the protocol stack of a server;
generating a SCSI request within the server and passing the SCSI request to the iSCSI driver;
executing instructions in the iSCSI driver to encapsulate the SCSI request in one or more IP packets;
routing the encapsulated SCSI request over an IP network;
receiving the encapsulated SCSI request;
extracting the SCSI request from the one or more IP packets; and
routing the SCSI request through a virtual SCSI router to the storage network, wherein routing includes mapping physical storage devices to iSCSI targets. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. A storage router system having a plurality of storage routers, including two or more managed storage routers, wherein each of the managed storage routers comprises:
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a management module having a management interface, wherein the management interface includes a high availability interface, wherein the management module receives commands via the management interface and configures the storage router as a function of the received commands;
an IP network interface;
a SCSI network interface capable of transferring data on a network running a SCSI protocol; and
a SCSI router, wherein the SCSI router includes means for receiving encapsulated SCSI packets from the IP network interface, means for extracting the SCSI packet from the encapsulated SCSI packet and means for forwarding the SCSI packet to the SCSI network interface;
wherein the high availability interface of each managed storage router is communicatively connected to the high availability interface of each of the other managed storage routers; and
wherein the SCSI router maps physical storage devices to iSCSI targets. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification