Method for controlling data throughput in a storage area network
First Claim
1. A method for controlling data throughput in a network including a source site and a destination site interconnectable via a network link using an inter-site communication protocol different than an intra-site communication protocol used within the source site;
- wherein the source site includes a switch, a source storage device, and an intra-site link which shares data transmitted between the switch and the source storage device; and
wherein the destination site includes a destination storage device for receiving data from the source storage device via the network link, the method comprising;
determining round trip PING times for each of a series of PING messages received from the destination storage device in response to corresponding PING messages sent by the source storage device, via the network link;
sorting the round trip PING times to separate idle PING timing data sampled when the network link was idle, from busy PING timing data sampled when the network link was in use;
calculating the difference between the sampled idle PING timing data and the sampled busy PING timing data to obtain a delta PING time; and
adjusting a number of transmission resources associated with the source storage device as a function of the value of the delta PING time and of a current inter-site transmission retry rate;
thereby reducing contention for said resources on the intra-site link.
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Abstract
A method and system for controlling data throughput in a network connecting two sites in which mixed communication protocols are employed, and in which the inter-site communication protocol is different than the intra-site communication protocol. A series of PING source messages are sent from a source storage device to a destination storage device via a network link. PING response messages, from the destination storage device via the network link, indicating receipt of each of the PING source messages are received and sampled. Round trip PING times for each of the PING source messages and corresponding PING response messages are determined and then sorted to separate PING timing data sampled when the network link was idle from PING timing data sampled when the network link was in use. The difference between the sampled idle PING timing data and the sampled busy PING timing data is calculated to obtain a delta PING time. The number of transmission resources associated with the source storage device is then adjusted as a function of the value of the delta PING time and of a current inter-site transmission retry rate to reduce contention for transmission resources on the intra-site link.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method for controlling data throughput in a network including a source site and a destination site interconnectable via a network link using an inter-site communication protocol different than an intra-site communication protocol used within the source site;
- wherein the source site includes a switch, a source storage device, and an intra-site link which shares data transmitted between the switch and the source storage device; and
wherein the destination site includes a destination storage device for receiving data from the source storage device via the network link, the method comprising;
determining round trip PING times for each of a series of PING messages received from the destination storage device in response to corresponding PING messages sent by the source storage device, via the network link;
sorting the round trip PING times to separate idle PING timing data sampled when the network link was idle, from busy PING timing data sampled when the network link was in use;
calculating the difference between the sampled idle PING timing data and the sampled busy PING timing data to obtain a delta PING time; and
adjusting a number of transmission resources associated with the source storage device as a function of the value of the delta PING time and of a current inter-site transmission retry rate;
thereby reducing contention for said resources on the intra-site link. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
- wherein the source site includes a switch, a source storage device, and an intra-site link which shares data transmitted between the switch and the source storage device; and
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13. A method for controlling data throughput in a network including a source site and a destination site interconnectable via a network link using an inter-site communication protocol;
- wherein the source site uses an intra-site communication protocol different than the inter-site communication protocol, and includes a server connected to a source storage device via a first intra-site link, a switch, and a second intra-site link which shares data transmitted between the switch and the source storage device;
wherein the destination site includes a destination storage device for receiving data from the source storage device via the network link, the method comprising;
determining round trip PING times for each of a series of PING messages received from the destination storage device in response to corresponding PING messages sent by the source storage device, via the network link;
sorting the round trip PING times to separate idle PING timing data sampled when the network link was idle, from busy PING timing data sampled when the network link was in use; and
calculating the difference between the sampled idle PING timing data and the sampled busy PING timing data to obtain a delta PING time;
wherein a number of transmission resources associated with the source storage device is increased when the delta PING time and inter-site transmission message retry rate are below a first pair of respective threshold values, and the number of resources are decreased when either the delta PING time or the retry rate is above a second pair of respective threshold values. - View Dependent Claims (14)
- wherein the source site uses an intra-site communication protocol different than the inter-site communication protocol, and includes a server connected to a source storage device via a first intra-site link, a switch, and a second intra-site link which shares data transmitted between the switch and the source storage device;
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15. A system for controlling data throughput in a network including a source site and a destination site interconnectable via a network link using an inter-site communication protocol different than an intra-site communication protocol used within the source site;
- wherein the source site includes a switch, a source storage device, and a intra-site link which shares data transmitted between the switch and the source storage device; and
wherein the destination site includes a destination storage device for receiving data from the source storage device via the network link, the system comprising;
a timer that samples and records the round-trip time of a PING message sent from the source storage device to the destination storage device;
a digital filter, coupled to the timer, that sorts idle PING timing data sampled when the network link was idle from busy PING timing data sampled when the network link was in use;
first and second buffers, coupled to the digital filter, for respectively storing idle PING timing data and busy PING timing data;
a comparator, coupled to the first and second buffers, that calculates the difference between the sampled idle PING timing data and the sampled busy PING timing data to obtain a delta PING time; and
a resource adjustment module, coupled to the comparator;
wherein the resource adjustment module;
increases the number of transmission resources associated with the source storage device when the delta PING time and inter-site transmission retry rate are below a first pair of respective threshold values, and decreases the number of said resources when either the delta PING time or the retry rate is above a second pair of respective threshold values. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
- wherein the source site includes a switch, a source storage device, and a intra-site link which shares data transmitted between the switch and the source storage device; and
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24. A system for controlling data throughput in a network including a source site and a destination site interconnectable via two gateways, each at opposite ends of a network link, using an inter-site communication protocol;
- wherein the source site uses an intra-site communication protocol different than the inter-site communication protocol, and includes a switch, a source storage device, and a intra-site link which shares data transmitted between the switch, the source storage device and one of the network gateways;
wherein the destination site includes a destination storage device for receiving data from the source storage device via the network link, the system comprising;
means for determining round trip PING times for each of a series of PING messages received from the destination storage device in response to corresponding PING messages sent by the source storage device, via the network link;
means for sorting the round trip PING times to separate idle PING timing data sampled when the network link was idle from busy PING timing data sampled when the network link was in use;
means for calculating the difference between the sampled idle PING timing data and the sampled busy PING timing data to obtain a delta PING time; and
means for adjusting the number of resources associated with the resource computation module as a function of the value of the delta PING time and of the inter-site transmission error rate.
- wherein the source site uses an intra-site communication protocol different than the inter-site communication protocol, and includes a switch, a source storage device, and a intra-site link which shares data transmitted between the switch, the source storage device and one of the network gateways;
Specification