Storage area network management and configuration method and apparatus via enabling in-band communications
First Claim
1. A storage area network (SAN) management and configuration method via enabling in-band communications comprising the steps of:
- utilizing a SAN management application for managing and configuring the storage area network;
said SAN management application communicates with at least one SAN-connected host system and communicates with a host bus adapter (HBA) device driver, andproviding a pass through in said HBA device driver for passing communications to a designated device in the storage area network from said SAN management application including at least one topology analysis command;
said at least one topology analysis command including a command to get interconnect information and a command to get topology information; and
providing said pass through includes providing at least a transport pass through and an extended link service (ELS) pass through;
each of said transport pass through and said extended link service (ELS) pass through being a binary pass through, each taking applied commands and passing said commands to said designated device in the storage area network.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A storage area network (SAN) management and configuration method and apparatus are provided via enabling in-band communications. In the storage area network (SAN) management and configuration method, a SAN management application is utilized for communicating with a device driver. A pass through is provided by the device driver to a host bus adapter (HBA) for passing communications to a device in the storage area network from the SAN management application. The storage area network (SAN) management and configuration apparatus via enabling in-band communications includes a storage area network (SAN) management application for communicating with at least one SAN-connected host system. Each SAN connected host system includes a management application agent for communicating with a host bus adapter (HBA) device driver. The HBA device driver is provided for communicating with a device in the storage area network. The HBA device driver includes at least one pass through service for passing a plurality of commands to the device in the storage area network. The management application agent provides predefined protocol functions for communicating with the device in the storage area network. The predefined protocol functions include a common transport (CT) protocol function and an extended link service (ELS) protocol function.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A storage area network (SAN) management and configuration method via enabling in-band communications comprising the steps of:
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utilizing a SAN management application for managing and configuring the storage area network;
said SAN management application communicates with at least one SAN-connected host system and communicates with a host bus adapter (HBA) device driver, andproviding a pass through in said HBA device driver for passing communications to a designated device in the storage area network from said SAN management application including at least one topology analysis command;
said at least one topology analysis command including a command to get interconnect information and a command to get topology information; and
providing said pass through includes providing at least a transport pass through and an extended link service (ELS) pass through;
each of said transport pass through and said extended link service (ELS) pass through being a binary pass through, each taking applied commands and passing said commands to said designated device in the storage area network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A storage area network (SAN) management and configuration apparatus via enabling in-band communications comprising:
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a storage area network (SAN) management application for managing and configuring the storage area network;
said SAN management application communicates with at least one SAN-connected host system;said SAN-connected host system including a management application agent for communicating with a host bus adapter (HBA) device driver; said HBA device driver for communicating with a designated device in the storage area network;
said HBA device driver including at least one pass through service for passing a plurality of commands to said designated device in the storage area network;
said commands including at least one topology analysis command;
said at least one topology analysis command including a command to get interconnect information and a command to get topology information;said at least one pass through including a transport pass through and an extended link service (ELS) pass through;
each of said transport pass through and said extended link service (ELS) pass through being a binary pass through, each taking applied commands and passing said commands to the designated device in the storage area network. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification