Apparatus system and method for distributing configuration parameter

• US 20070143480A1
• Filed: 12/15/2005
• Published: 06/21/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Brey, Thomas, Cors, Josep, Vojnovich, Theodore, Dunham, Scott, Holland, William, Bolan, Joseph, Arroyo, Jesse, Dake, Gregory
• Granted Patent: US 8,166,166 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5014 using dynamic host configuration protocol [DHCP] or bootstrap protocol [BOOTP]

Abstract

An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for distributing configuration parameters. The present invention includes one or more storage devices configured to store data, a first DHCP server configured to process DHCP messages and redirect communications regarding configuration parameters for the storage devices to a second DHCP server, and a configuration datastore configured to store configuration parameters for the storage devices. The second DHCP server may be configured to process DHCP messages and retrieve configuration parameters for the storage devices from the configuration datastore. In certain embodiments, each storage initiator communicates with the DHCP servers, receives the configuration parameters such as iSCSI parameters, and provides the configuration parameters to one or more storage devices.

Claims

1. A signal bearing medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital processing apparatus to perform operations for distributing configuration parameters to storage devices, the operations comprising:

communicating with a first DHCP server configured to process DHCP messages;

directing communications regarding configuration parameters to a second DHCP server as indicated by the first DHCP server;

receiving configuration parameters for a primary storage device from the second DHCP server; and

providing the configuration parameters to the primary storage device.

2. The signal bearing medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise retrieving configuration parameters for a secondary storage device and providing the configuration parameters to the secondary storage device in response to unsuccessful configuration of the primary storage device.

3. The signal bearing medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise accessing a configuration datastore to discover the primary and secondary storage devices.

4. The signal bearing medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise operating the digital processing apparatus as an iSCSI initiator.

5. The signal bearing medium of claim 1, wherein the configuration parameters comprise iSCSI parameters.

6. A system for distributing configuration parameters to storage devices, the system comprising:

a primary storage device configured to store data;

a first DHCP server configured to process DHCP messages and redirect communications regarding configuration parameters for the primary storage device to a second DHCP server;

a configuration datastore configured to store configuration parameters for a plurality of storage devices; and

the second DHCP server configured to process DHCP messages and retrieve configuration parameters for the plurality of storage devices from the configuration datastore.

7. The system of claim 6, further comprising a storage initiator configured to retrieve the configuration parameters for the primary storage device from the second DHCP server and provide the configuration parameters to the primary storage device.

8. The system of claim 7, further comprising a secondary storage device configured to store data.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the storage initiator is further configured to retrieve configuration parameters for the secondary storage device and provide the configuration parameters to the secondary storage device in response to unsuccessful configuration of the primary storage device.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the configuration datastore is further configured to indicate the primary and secondary storage devices for the storage initiator.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the storage initiator is further configured to operate as an iSCSI initiator.

12. The system of claim 6, wherein primary storage device is further configured to operate as an iSCSI target.

13. The system of claim 6, wherein the configuration parameters comprise iSCSI parameters.

14. The system of claim 6, wherein the configuration datastore comprises a configuration file.

15. The system of claim 6, wherein the configuration datastore comprises a configuration database.

16. An apparatus for distributing configuration parameters to storage devices, the apparatus comprising:

a DHCP communication module configured to communicate with a first DHCP server;

the DHCP communication module further configured to direct communications regarding configuration parameters to a second DHCP server as indicated by the first DHCP server;

a storage interface module configured to receive configuration parameters for a secondary storage device provided by the second DHCP server and provide the configuration parameters to the secondary storage device.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the DHCP communication module is further configured to retrieve configuration parameters for a secondary storage device from the second DHCP server and provide the configuration parameters to the secondary storage device in response to unsuccessful configuration of the primary storage device.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the configuration parameters comprise iSCSI parameters.

19. A method to distribute configuration parameters to storage devices, the method comprising:

configuring a first DHCP server to direct communications regarding configuration parameters to a second DHCP server;

configuring the second DHCP server to retrieve configuration parameters for a plurality of storage devices from a configuration datastore;

configuring a storage initiator to retrieve the configuration parameters for a primary storage device from the second DHCP server and provide the configuration parameters to a primary storage device.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising configuring the storage initiator to retrieve configuration parameters for a secondary storage device and provide the configuration parameters to the secondary storage device in response to unsuccessful configuration of the primary storage device.