System and method for automatically and dynamically changing an address associated with a device disposed in a fire channel environment
First Claim
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1. A method for dynamically altering the loop address of a device on a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) in a computer system, comprising the steps of:
- determining an information structure related to said device upon a loop reset;
keeping track of said information structure as said device moves around said Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop;
associating said information structure with a unique logical link element, said unique logical link element being operable with an Operating System for said computer system, said associating step being performed by association means; and
updating said association means responsive to a change in said information structure.
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Abstract
A computer system with a plurality of devices compatible with the Fibre Channel Protocol, which computer system is provided with the capability to dynamically alter the configuration of the plurality of devices without a system reset, or without additional software overhead. This capability is realized by providing unique mapping relationships between low-level Fibre Channel information structures related to the devices and upper-level link elements compatible with an Operating System associated with the computer system.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A method for dynamically altering the loop address of a device on a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) in a computer system, comprising the steps of:
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determining an information structure related to said device upon a loop reset; keeping track of said information structure as said device moves around said Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop; associating said information structure with a unique logical link element, said unique logical link element being operable with an Operating System for said computer system, said associating step being performed by association means; and updating said association means responsive to a change in said information structure. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. In a computer system operable with an Operating System (OS), the computer system having a Fibre Channel (FC) communication environment, which environment includes a plurality of FC devices, at least one of said FC devices being an initiator, a method for dynamically controlling the configuration of said plurality of FC devices, comprising the steps of:
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determining an FC-specific information structure related to each of said plurality of FC devices; associating said FC-specific information structure for each of said plurality of FC devices with a logical link element compatible with said Operating System, said associating step being effectuated by association means; and updating said association means responsive to a reconfiguration of said FC environment. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. In a computer system operable with an Operating System (OS), the computer system having a Fibre Channel (FC) communication environment, which environment includes a plurality of FC devices, at least one of said FC devices being an initiator, a system for dynamically controlling channel communication comprising:
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means for determining FC-specific information related to each of said plurality of FC devices; means for associating said FC-specific information for each of said plurality of FC devices with a logical link compatible with said Operating System; and means for updating said associating means responsive to a reconfiguration of said FC environment.
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Specification