Storage area network methods and apparatus with virtual SAN recognition

• US 6,920,494 B2
• Filed: 10/05/2001
• Issued: 07/19/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Focus Global Solutions LLC (Jeffrey M. Gross)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Yonker, William Roy, Merbach, David Lynn, Heitman, Allen Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): KIM, HONG CHONG
• Application Number:
  US09/972,391
• Publication Number:
  US 20030149763A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,383 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/224, 709/220, 709/214, 709/215, 718/100, 714/7, 711/114, 711/112, 711/6, 711/170
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2003/0697 device management, e.g. handlers, drivers, I/O schedulers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0601 Interfaces specially adapted for storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0622 in relation to access
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0643 Management of files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0653 Monitoring storage devices or systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0689 Disk arrays, e.g. RAID, JBOD
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30

Abstract

A storage area network (SAN) has one or more host digital data processors are coupled to one or more storage devices (e.g., LUNs) by an interconnect, e.g., a fiber channel-based fabric. Switches or switch-like interfaces on the interconnect fabric define zones or regions in which certain hosts can access certain storage devices, but not other storage devices. Scanners, e.g., operating within agents associated with the hosts, collect information regarding the regions and, more particularly, the hosts, storage devices and interconnect elements that make them up. A manager operating, for example, on a further digital data processor disambiguates information from the regions and discerns the topology of the portion of the SAN spanned by the regions. Thus, it identifies as a virtual SAN elements from regions that have at least one common storage device with at least one other region.

Claims

1. A storage area network (SAN) comprising

one or more regions forming at least a portion of the SAN, each region having one or more components, the components including one or more digital data processors and one or more storage devices;

one or more scanners that collect, for each region, information regarding the components and their interconnectivity;

a manager, coupled to the one or more scanners, that responds to the collected information to determine a topology of a portion of the SAN spanned by the regions.

2. The SAN of claim 1, wherein the manager identifies one or more storage device ports common to two or more regions.

3. The SAN of claim 1, wherein the manager identifies regions having one or more common storage devices as a virtual SAN.

4. The SAN of claim 1, wherein the regions comprise one or more host digital data processors coupled for communication with one or more storage devices by a first network.

5. The SAN of claim 4, wherein the scanners execute on host digital data processors.

6. The SAN of claim 4, wherein the manager executes on a manager digital data processor that is coupled to the host digital data processors by via a second network.

7. The SAN of claim 6, wherein the first network comprises fiber channel media.

8. The SAN of claim 6, wherein the second network comprises an IP network.

9. The storage area network of claim 1, wherein the manager maintains scan histories from each scanner providing information on components and their interconnectivity and determines changes in the topology of the components and their interconnectivity by comparing a received information from one scan history.

10. A storage area network (SAN) comprising

a plurality of hosts, each coupled via an interconnect with a plurality of storage units, the hosts and storage units forming a plurality of regions, each comprising one or more hosts in communication coupling with one or more storage devices over the interconnect,

a manager digital data processor that maintains a topological representation of the SAN,

one or more scanners, in communication coupling with the hosts and with the manager digital data processor, that determine the hosts and storage units in each region, and

the manager digital data processor determining, as a function of the information collected by the scanners, a topology of a portion of the SAN spanned by the regions.

11. The SAN of claim 10, wherein the manager digital data processor identifies, as a function of the information collected by the scanners, the hosts and storage units that make up the portion of the SAN spanned by the regions.

12. The SAN of claim 11, wherein the manager digital data processor identifies, as a function of the information collected by the scanners, the interconnectivity of the hosts and storage units that make up the portion of the SAN spanned by the regions.

13. The SAN of claim 11, wherein the manager digital data processor identifies one or more virtual SANs as a function of the information collected by the scanners, each virtual SAN comprising at least the storage devices included within a set of regions, each of which has one or more common storage device ports with at least one other region of that set.

14. The SAN of claim 11, comprising a plurality of agents in communication with the manager digital data processor, wherein each agent is associated with a host, and wherein each scanner is associated with an agent.

15. The SAN of claim 11, wherein the regions comprise one or more host digital data processors coupled for communication with one or more storage devices by a first network.

16. The SAN of claim 15, wherein the scanners execute on host digital data processors.

17. The SAN of claim 15, wherein the manager digital data processor that is coupled to the host digital data processors via a second network.

18. The SAN of claim 15, wherein the agents identify attributes of the storage units coupled to the respective hosts via one or more adapters on the respective host.

19. The SAN of claim 15, wherein the zones are defined by any of switches or switch-like interfaces on any of the first network, the host digital data processors and the storage devices.

20. The SAN of claim 19, wherein the first network comprises fiber channel media.

21. The SAN of claim 20, wherein the second network comprises an IP network.

22. The storage area network of claim 10, wherein the manager maintains scan histories from each scanner providing information on components and their interconnectivity and determines changes in the topology of the components and their interconnectivity by comparing a received information from one scan history.

23. A method of determining a topology of at least a portion of a storage area network (SAN) spanned by one or more regions, comprising:

identifying, for each region, one or more components contained within that region and their connectivity to generate information regarding topology of that region via a first network, and

collating the information regarding topology of the one or more regions via a second network to determine topology of the portion of the SAN spanned by those regions.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of identifying regions having one or more common endpoints, where the endpoints include any of components and component ports.

25. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of identifying as a SAN, a set of regions each of which has one or more common storage device ports with at least one other region of that set.

26. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

maintaining scan histories from each scanner providing information on components and their interconnectivity; and

determining changes in the topology of the components and their connectivity by comparing a received information from the scanner and one scan history.