Storage router and method for providing virtual local storage
DCFirst Claim
1. A method for managing virtual storage for host devices on remote storage devices, wherein the host devices are connected to a first transport medium and the storage devices are connected to a second transport medium, the method comprising:
- maintaining a configuration for storage devices that maps between host devices connected to a first transport medium operable according to a first protocol and storage devices connected to a second medium operable according to a second protocol, including the step of interfacing with the configuration of storage devices to maintain the configuration via an interface;
implementing access controls for storage space on the storage devices; and
allowing access from the host devices to the storage devices using native low level, block protocol in accordance with the configuration.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A storage router (56) and storage network (50) provide virtual local storage on remote SCSI storage devices (60, 62, 64) to Fiber Channel devices. A plurality of Fiber Channel devices, such as workstations (58), are connected to a Fiber Channel transport medium (52), and a plurality of SCSI storage devices (60, 62, 64) are connected to a SCSI bus transport medium (54). The storage router (56) interfaces between the Fiber Channel transport medium (52) and the SCSI bus transport medium (54). The storage router (56) maps between the workstations (58) and the SCSI storage devices (60, 62, 64) and implements access controls for storage space on the SCSI storage devices (60, 62, 64). The storage router (56) then allows access from the workstations (58) to the SCSI storage devices (60, 62, 64) using native low level, block protocol in accordance with the mapping and the access controls.
75 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method for managing virtual storage for host devices on remote storage devices, wherein the host devices are connected to a first transport medium and the storage devices are connected to a second transport medium, the method comprising:
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maintaining a configuration for storage devices that maps between host devices connected to a first transport medium operable according to a first protocol and storage devices connected to a second medium operable according to a second protocol, including the step of interfacing with the configuration of storage devices to maintain the configuration via an interface;
implementing access controls for storage space on the storage devices; and
allowing access from the host devices to the storage devices using native low level, block protocol in accordance with the configuration. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A product for managing virtual local storage for host devices operatively connected to remote storage devices, wherein the host devices are connected to a first transport medium and the storage devices are connected to a second transport medium that utilizes a native low level block protocol, the product containing:
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routing tables and security controls that define the storage allocation for each workstation, including mapping tables that translate addresses between a first protocol and a second protocol;
a configuration interface to manage the routing tables and security controls;
a menu driven command interface, operatively connected to the configuration interface, which allows an administrator to alter the routing tables and security controls;
wherein the routing tables and security controls are used by a processor to implement access controls for storage space on the remote storage devices, wherein the storage space considered by each host device to be its local storage is actually a subset of storage located in one or more physically remote storage devices, and wherein the host devices access the remote storage space to which they have been allocated using native low level block protocols. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
a Fibre Channel controller operatively connected to the first medium;
a SCSI controller operatively connected to the second medium.
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25. The product of claim 24, wherein the configuration interface is a serial interface.
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26. The product of claim 24, wherein the configuration interface is an Ethernet interface.
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27. The product of claim 24, wherein the Ethernet interfaces communicates using simple network management protocol (SNMP).
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28. The product of claim 26, wherein the Ethernet interface is password-protected.
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29. The product of claim 24, wherein the configuration interface is a Fibre Channel interface, the administrator uses a host computer with special rights, and wherein the configuration interface accepts administrator commands only from one or more host computers having special rights.
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30. The product of claim 21, wherein the configuration interface accepts administrator commands from one or more host computers having special rights.
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31. The product of claim 30, wherein the administrator commands are vendor specific commands.
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32. The product of claim 21, wherein the configuration interface accepts administrator commands from an administrator connected to the product via a serial or Ethernet connection.
Specification