Fibre channel controller shareable by a plurality of operating system domains within a load-store architecture

• US 7,493,416 B2
• Filed: 01/27/2005
• Issued: 02/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mellanox Technologies Limited (NVIDIA Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NextIO Incorporated
• Inventors: Pettey, Christopher J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hafiz, Tariq
• Assistant Examiner(s): Plante, Jonathan R
• Application Number:
  US11/046,537
• Publication Number:
  US 20050172041A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,482 Days
• Field of Search: 710/5, 710/30, 710/62, 709/249, 709/250, 709/251
• US Class Current: 709/250
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/12 using hardware independent of the central processor, e.g. channel or peripheral processor

Abstract

A Fibre Channel controller shareable by a plurality of operating system domains (OSDs) is disclosed. The controller includes a programming interface, located within a system load-store memory map of each OSD by which the OSDs request the controller to perform I/O operations with remote FC devices. The programming interface includes a distinct control/status register (CSR) bank for each of OSD. The OSDs execute load-store instructions addressed to the programming interface to request the I/O operations. Selection logic selects as a target of each of the load-store transactions the distinct CSR bank for the OSD that executed the corresponding load-store instruction. An FC port obtains a distinct FC port identifier for each OSD and transceives FC frames with the remote FC devices using the distinct FC port identifier for each OSD in response to the I/O operation requests. In one embodiment, multiple blade servers share the controller via a shared I/O switch.

Claims

1. A Fibre Channel (FC) controller shareable by a plurality of operating system domains (OSDs) within a load-store architecture, comprising:

a programming interface, located within a system load-store memory map of each of the plurality of OSDs for requesting the controller to perform I/O operations with remote FC devices, said programming interface comprising a distinct control/status register (CSR) bank for each of the plurality of OSDs, wherein the plurality of OSDs execute load-store instructions addressed to said programming interface to request said I/O operations, wherein the controller receives corresponding load-store transactions in response to execution of said load-store instructions;

selection logic, coupled to said CSR banks, configured to select as a target of each of said load-store transactions said distinct CSR bank for the one of the plurality of OSDs that executed said corresponding load-store instruction; and

a FC port, coupled to said programming interface, configured to obtain a distinct FC port identifier for each of the plurality of OSDs, and to transceive FC frames with said remote FC devices using said distinct FC port identifier for each of the plurality of OSDs in response to said I/O operation requests, wherein said FC port obtains said distinct FC port identifier for each of the plurality of OSDs by logging into a FC fabric using a unique FC Port Name associated with the OSD.

2. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein a location of said programming interface within said system load-store memory map is configurable by each of the plurality of OSDs.

3. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 2, wherein said location of said programming interface within said system load-store memory map requires reconfiguration after a reset of a corresponding one of the plurality of OSDs.

4. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein a location of said programming interface within said system load-store memory map may be different for two or more of the plurality of OSDs.

5. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein said programming interface is further configured for communicating completions of said I/O operation requests to the plurality of OSDs.

6. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 5, wherein said programming interface is configured to concurrently communicate said completions to the plurality of OSDs.

7. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein each of said load-store transactions includes an OSD identifier that uniquely identifies said one of the plurality of OSDs that initiated said load-store transaction, wherein said selection logic is configured to determine the one of the plurality of OSDs that executed said corresponding load-store instruction based on said OSD identifier.

8. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a memory, coupled to said selection logic, wherein said programming interface comprises a distinct region in said memory for each of the plurality of OSDs, for receiving said I/O requests from the plurality of OSDs, wherein said selection logic is configured to select as a target of each of said load-store transactions said distinct memory region for the one of the plurality of OSDs that executed said corresponding load-store instruction.

9. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 8, wherein said memory is configurable into a location within said system load-store memory map of each of the plurality of OSDs.

10. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 9, wherein said location of said memory is distinct from a location of said CSR bank.

11. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein said programming interface is configured to concurrently receive said load-store transactions from the plurality of OSDs.

12. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

association logic, coupled to said FC port, configured to associate said FC frames with each of the plurality of OSDs based on said distinct FC port identifier obtained for the OSD.

13. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 12, wherein said association logic is further configured to populate an Source Identifier field of outgoing ones of said FC frames with said distinct FC port identifier obtained for the one of the plurality of OSDs that requested the shared FC controller to perform said I/O operation.

14. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 12, wherein said association logic comprises:

a mapping table, for storing association information for associating said distinct FC port identifier with its corresponding one of the plurality of OSDs.

15. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 14, further comprising:

a plurality of control block lists, for storing information regarding said transceiving of said FC frames by said FC port, wherein each of said plurality of control block lists is associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of OSDs.

16. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 15, wherein said mapping table is also for storing associations of said distinct port identifier obtained for each of the plurality of OSDs with a corresponding one of said plurality of control block lists.

17. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 16, wherein the controller looks up a Destination Identifier field value specified in each incoming one of said FC frames in said mapping table to associate said incoming FC frame with said associated one of the plurality of control block lists.

18. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of OSDs comprises:

a processing complex, for executing said load-store instructions addressed to said programming interface.

19. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 18, wherein said processing complex comprises:

at least one processor, for executing said load-store instructions addressed to said programming interface.

20. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 19, wherein said processing complex further comprises:

a memory, coupled to said at least one processor.

21. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 18, wherein said processing complex further comprises:

a memory, coupled to said processing complex.

22. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 18, wherein said processing complex further comprises:

an operating system executing on said processing complex.

23. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of OSDs comprises:

a device driver, comprising said load-store instructions addressed to said programming interface.

24. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein said load-store transactions comprise PCI Express transactions.

25. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein said load-store transactions comprise PCI Express+transactions.

26. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein said load-store transactions comprise PCI Express transactions modified to include an OSD identifier for identifying the one of the plurality of OSDs that requested the shared FC controller to perform said I/O operation.

27. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a load-store bus interface, coupled to said selection logic, for coupling to a load-store bus, configured to receive said load-store transactions.

28. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 27, wherein said load-store bus interface is further configured to generate a select signal for provision to said selection logic for selecting said distinct CSR bank for the one of the plurality of OSDs that executed said corresponding load-store instruction.

29. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 28, wherein said load-store bus interface generates said select signal based on an OSD identifier included in each of said load-store transactions that uniquely identifies said one of the plurality of OSDs that initiated said load-store transaction.

30. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 27, wherein said load-store bus interface comprises a plurality of configuration registers programmable by corresponding ones of the plurality of OSDs for configuring a location of said programming interface within said system load-store memory map of each of the plurality of OSDs.

31. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 30, wherein said plurality of configuration registers comprise Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) configuration registers.

32. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 27, wherein said load-store bus interface is further configured to generate interrupts on said load-store bus to the plurality of OSDs.

33. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 32, wherein the sharable FC controller generates said interrupts in response to completion of said requests to perform I/O operations with said remote FC devices.

34. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 33, wherein each of said interrupts include an OSD identifier for identifying the one of the plurality of OSDs that requested the shared FC controller to perform said I/O operation.

35. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 34, wherein said interrupts comprise a message transmitted on said load-store bus, wherein said message includes said OSD identifier.

36. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 35, wherein said message comprises a PCI message signaled interrupt (MSI) modified to include said OSD identifier.

37. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 35, wherein said message comprises a PCI Express message signaled interrupt (MSI) packet modified to include said OSD identifier.

38. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 27, wherein said load-store bus interface is further configured to initiate second load-store transactions on said load-store bus targeted at the plurality of OSDs, wherein said load-store bus interface supplies an OSD identifier within each of said second transactions for identifying the one of the plurality of OSDs at which said transaction is targeted.

39. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 27, wherein said load-store bus interface is configured for coupling to a serial load-store bus.

40. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 39, wherein said serial load-store bus comprises a packet-based serial load-store bus.

41. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 39, wherein said serial load-store bus comprises a PCI Express+bus.

42. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 41, wherein said PCI Express+bus comprises a PCI Express bus for transmitting PCI Express transactions including an OSD identifier for identifying the one of the plurality of OSDs that executed said corresponding load-store instruction.

43. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 41, wherein said PCI Express+bus comprises a PCI Express bus for transmitting PCI Express transactions including an OSD header.

44. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 43, wherein said OSD header includes an OSD identifier for identifying the one of the plurality of OSDs that executed said corresponding load-store instruction.

45. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 27, wherein said load-store bus interface is configured for coupling to a HyperTransport bus.

46. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 27, wherein said load-store bus interface is configured for coupling to a VERSAmodule Eurocard bus.

47. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 27, wherein said load-store bus interface is configured for coupling to a RapidIO bus.

48. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 27, wherein said load-store bus interface is configured for coupling to an Accelerated Graphics Port bus.

49. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 27, wherein the plurality of OSDs comprises a plurality of processors coupled to a processor bus, wherein said load-store bus interface is configured for coupling to said processor bus.

50. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 49, wherein each of the plurality of processors provides a processor ID on said processor bus with each of said load-store transactions, wherein said selection logic selects as said target of said load-store transaction said distinct CSR bank for the one of the plurality of OSDs specified by said processor ID.

51. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a second FC port, coupled to said programming interface, configured to obtain a second distinct FC port identifier for each of the plurality of OSDs, and to transceive second FC frames with said remote FC devices using said second distinct FC port identifier for each of the plurality of OSDs in response to said I/O operation requests.

52. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein each of said load-store transactions includes a memory address for specifying a register in said distinct CSR bank selected as said target of said load-store transaction.

53. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 52, wherein said memory address is a memory address specified in said corresponding executed load-store instruction.

54. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 52, wherein the shareable FC controller is selected as a destination of said load-store transaction based on said memory address.

55. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 54, wherein the shareable FC controller is selected as a destination of said load-store transaction based on said memory address rather than based on a device identifier in said load-store transaction specifying the shareable FC controller as said destination.

56. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein each of said load-store transactions includes an I/O address for specifying a register in said distinct CSR bank selected as said target of said load-store transaction.

57. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 56, wherein said I/O address is an I/O address specified in said corresponding executed load-store instruction.

58. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 56, wherein the shareable FC controller is selected as a destination of said load-store transaction based on said I/O address.

59. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 58, wherein the shareable FC controller is selected as a destination of said load-store transaction based on said I/O address rather than based on a device identifier in said load-store transactions specifying the shareable FC controller as said destination.

60. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein each said distinct CSR bank comprises storage elements for storing data.

61. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 60, wherein said storage elements comprise memory.

62. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 60, wherein said storage elements comprise registers.

63. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein said FC port is configured to drop incoming said FC frames having a Destination Identifier field value not matching any of said distinct port identifiers obtained for the plurality of OSDs.

64. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein said FC port comprises a FC Node Loop Port for communication on a FC arbitrated loop, wherein said FC NL_Port obtains a respective FC Arbitrated Loop Physical Address for each of the plurality of OSDs, wherein said distinct port identifier for each of the plurality of OSDs comprises said respective FC AL_PA.

65. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein said FC port comprises a FC Node Loop Port for communication on a FC arbitrated loop, wherein said FC NL_Port appears as multiple FC NL_Ports to a FC fabric by performing multiple logins to said FC fabric.

66. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein said FC port comprises a FC Node Loop Port for communication on a FC arbitrated loop, wherein said FC NL_Port appears as multiple FC end nodes to a FC fabric by performing multiple logins to said FC fabric.

67. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein said FC port comprises a FC Node Loop Port for communication on a FC arbitrated loop, wherein said FC NL_Port appears as multiple FC end nodes to a FC arbitrated loop by acquiring multiple Arbitrated Loop Physical Addresses.

68. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

at least one direct memory access controller (DMAC), configured to transfer at least a portion of said FC frames to respective ones of the plurality of OSDs.

69. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a processor, coupled to said programming interface, configured to process said requests to perform said I/O operations.

70. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein said FC port comprises a FC Node Port linked to a FC Fabric Port supporting a FC Multiple N Port identifier Assignment capability, wherein said FC N_Port obtains from said F_Port a respective FC N_Port identifier for each of the plurality of OSDs.

71. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine whether a FC Fabric Port to which said FC port is linked supports a FC Multiple N Port identifier Assignment capability, to obtain a distinct FC N_Port_ID for each of the plurality of OSDs if the FC F_Port supports the FC Multiple N_Port_ID Assignment capability, and to obtain a distinct FC Node Loop Port identifier for each of the plurality of OSDs if the FC F_Port does not support the FC Multiple N_Port_ID Assignment capability.

72. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine that one of the plurality of OSDs has been reset, and to disclaim the distinct FC port identifier for the one of the plurality of OSDs that has been reset, in response thereto.

73. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to operate within a blade server environment comprising:

a plurality of blade servers; and

a shared switch for coupling to the plurality of blade servers, and for providing communication between the plurality of blade servers and a downstream endpoint, the downstream endpoint comprising the shared FC controller.

74. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 73, wherein each of said load-store instructions includes a memory or I/O address within a range of addresses in which said programming interface is located within said system load-store memory map, wherein said shared switch determines said controller is a target of said load-store instructions based on decoding said address and generates a corresponding one of said load-store transactions to said controller in response to said decoding.

75. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 74, wherein each of said load-store transactions includes a server identifier identifying the one of the plurality of blade servers that executed said corresponding load-store instruction.

76. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein the shareable FC controller supplies said unique FC Port_Name associated with the OSD.

77. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 1, wherein the shareable FC controller receives the unique FC Port_Name associated with the OSD from the OSD.

78. A method for sharing a Fibre Channel (FC) controller by a plurality of operating system domains (OSD), the method comprising:

obtaining a unique port identifier from a FC fabric for each of a respective one of the plurality of OSDs by logging into a FC fabric using a unique FC Port Name associated with the respective OSD;

receiving from each of the plurality of OSDs a store transaction, the store transaction commanding the controller to perform an I/O operation with a remote FC device via a FC port of the controller;

directing the store transaction to one of a respective plurality of control/status register banks based on which one of the plurality of OSDs the store transaction was received from, in response to said receiving;

populating a FC frame with the unique port identifier obtained for the one of the plurality of OSDs the store transaction was received from, after said directing; and

transmitting said FC frame via the FC port on the FC fabric to the remote FC device, after said populating.

79. The method as recited in claim 78, wherein said obtaining is performed prior to said receiving.

80. The method as recited in claim 78, wherein the store transaction includes an OSD identifier for uniquely identifying a respective one of the plurality of OSDs from which the store transaction was received, wherein said directing is based on the OSD identifier.

81. The method as recited in claim 78, further comprising:

receiving from each of the plurality of OSDs a second store transaction, prior to said obtaining, the store transaction commanding the controller to obtain the unique port identifier from the FC fabric for the OSD, wherein said obtaining is performed in response to said receiving said second store transaction.

82. The method as recited in claim 78, further comprising:

receiving from the fabric a plurality of FC frames;

determining whether a Destination Identifier field value in each of the plurality of FC frames matches one of the unique port identifiers; and

accepting each of the plurality of FC frames whose D_ID field value matches one of the unique port identifiers.

83. The method as recited in claim 82, further comprising:

transferring at least a portion of each of the accepted FC frames to one of the plurality of OSDs having said unique port identifier that matches said D_ID field value.

84. The method as recited in claim 78, wherein the shareable FC controller supplies the unique FC Port_Name associated with the respective OSD.

85. The method as recited in claim 78, wherein the shareable FC controller receives the unique FC Port_Name associated with the respective OSD from the respective OSD.

86. A Fibre Channel (FC) controller shareable by a plurality of operating system domains (OSDs) within a load-store architecture, comprising:

a programming interface, located within a system load-store memory map of each of the plurality of OSDs for requesting the controller to perform I/O operations with remote FC devices, said programming interface comprising a distinct control/status register (CSR) bank for each of the plurality of OSDs, wherein the plurality of OSDs execute load-store instructions addressed to said programming interface to request said I/O operations, wherein the controller receives corresponding load-store transactions in response to execution of said load-store instructions;

selection logic, coupled to said CSR banks, configured to select as a target of each of said load-store transactions said distinct CSR bank for the one of the plurality of OSDs that executed said corresponding load-store instruction; and

a FC port, coupled to said programming interface, configured to obtain a distinct FC port identifier for each of the plurality of OSDs, and to transceive FC frames with said remote FC devices using said distinct FC port identifier for each of the plurality of OSDs in response to said I/O operation requests, wherein said FC port obtains said distinct FC port identifier for each of the plurality of OSDs by logging into a FC fabric using a unique FC Node_Name associated with the OSD.

87. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 86, wherein the shareable FC controller supplies said unique FC Node_Name associated with the OSD.

88. The shareable FC controller as recited in claim 86, wherein the shareable FC controller receives the unique FC Node_Name associated with the OSD from the OSD.

89. A method for sharing a Fibre Channel (FC) controller by a plurality of operating system domains (OSD), the method comprising:

obtaining a unique port identifier from a FC fabric for each of a respective one of the plurality of OSDs by logging into a FC fabric using a unique FC Node_Name associated with the respective OSD;

receiving from each of the plurality of OSDs a store transaction, the store transaction commanding the controller to perform an I/O operation with a remote FC device via a FC port of the controller;

directing the store transaction to one of a respective plurality of control/status register banks based on which one of the plurality of OSDs the store transaction was received from, in response to said receiving;

populating a FC frame with the unique port identifier obtained for the one of the plurality of OSDs the store transaction was received from, after said directing; and

transmitting said FC frame via the FC port on the FC fabric to the remote FC device, after said populating.

90. The method as recited in claim 89, wherein the shareable FC controller supplies the unique FC Node_Name associated with the respective OSD.

91. The method as recited in claim 89, wherein the shareable FC controller receives the unique FC Node_Name associated with the respective OSD from the respective OSD.

92. A Fibre Channel (FC) controller shareable by a plurality of operating system domains (OSDs) within a load-store architecture, comprising:

a programming interface, located within a system load-store memory map of each of the plurality of OSDs for requesting the controller to perform I/O operations with remote FC devices, said programming interface comprising a distinct control/status register (CSR) bank for each of the plurality of OSDs, wherein the plurality of OSDs execute load-store instructions addressed to said programming interface to request said I/O operations, wherein the controller receives corresponding load-store transactions in response to execution of said load-store instructions;

selection logic, coupled to said CSR banks, configured to select as a target of each of said load-store transactions said distinct CSR bank for the one of the plurality of OSDs that executed said corresponding load-store instruction; and

a FC port, coupled to said programming interface, configured to obtain a distinct FC port identifier for each of the plurality of OSDs, and to transceive FC frames with said remote FC devices using said distinct FC port identifier for each of the plurality of OSDs in response to said I/O operation requests, wherein said FC port comprises a FC Node Loop Port (NL_Port) for communication on a FC arbitrated loop, wherein said FC NL_Port obtains a respective FC Arbitrated Loop Physical Address (AL_PA) for each of the plurality of OSDs, wherein said distinct port identifier for each of the plurality of OSDs comprises said respective FC AL_PA.

93. A method for sharing a Fibre Channel (FC) controller by a plurality of operating system domains (OSD), the method comprising:

obtaining a unique port identifier for each of a respective one of the plurality of OSDs;

receiving from each of the plurality of OSDs a store transaction, the store transaction commanding the controller to perform an I/O operation with a remote FC device via a FC port of the controller;

directing the store transaction to one of a respective plurality of control/status register banks based on which one of the plurality of OSDs the store transaction was received from, in response to said receiving;

populating a FC frame with the unique port identifier obtained for the one of the plurality of OSDs the store transaction was received from, after said directing; and

transmitting said FC frame via the FC port on a FC fabric to the remote FC device, after said populating;

wherein said FC port comprises a FC Node Loop Port (NL_Port) for communication on a FC arbitrated loop, wherein said FC NL_Port obtains a respective FC Arbitrated Loop Physical Address (AL_PA) for each of the plurality of OSDs, wherein said unique port identifier for each of the respective one of the plurality of OSDs comprises said respective FC AL_PA.

94. A Fibre Channel (FC) controller shareable by a plurality of operating system domains (OSDs) within a load-store architecture, comprising:

a programming interface, located within a system load-store memory map of each of the plurality of OSDs for requesting the controller to perform I/Ooperations with remote FC devices, said programming interface comprising a distinct control/status register (CSR) bank for each of the plurality of OSDs, wherein the plurality of OSDs execute load-store instructions addressed to said programming interface to request said I/O operations, wherein the controller receives corresponding load-store transactions in response to execution of said load-store instructions;

selection logic, coupled to said CSR banks, configured to select as a target of each of said load-store transactions said distinct CSR bank for the one of the plurality of OSDs that executed said corresponding load-store instruction; and

a FC port, coupled to said programming interface, configured to obtain a distinct FC port identifier for each of the plurality of OSDs, and to transceive FC frames with said remote FC devices using said distinct FC port identifier for each of the plurality of OSDs in response to said I/O operation requests, wherein the controller is configured to determine whether a FC Fabric Port (F_Port) to which said FC port is linked supports a FC Multiple N_Port identifier (N_Port_ID) Assignment capability, to obtain a distinct FC N_Port_ID for each of the plurality of OSDs if the FC F_Port supports the FC Multiple N_Port_ID Assignment capability, and to obtain a distinct FC Node Loop Port (NL_Port) identifier (NL_Port_ID) for each of the plurality of OSDs if the FC F_Port does not support the FC Multiple N_Port_ID Assignment capability.

95. A method for sharing a Fibre Channel (FC) controller by a plurality of operating system domains (OSD), the method comprising:

obtaining a unique port identifier for each of a respective one of the plurality of OSDs;

receiving from each of the plurality of OSDs a store transaction, the store transaction commanding the controller to perform an I/O operation with a remote FC device via a FC port of the controller;

directing the store transaction to one of a respective plurality of control/status register banks based on which one of the plurality of OSDs the store transaction was received from, in response to said receiving;

populating a FC frame with the unique port identifier obtained for the one of the plurality of OSDs the store transaction was received from, after said directing;

transmitting said FC frame via the FC port on a FC fabric to the remote FC device, after said populating;

determining whether a FC Fabric Port (F_Port) to which the FC port is linked supports a FC Multiple N_ID) Assignment capability;

wherein said obtaining the unique port identifier for each of a respective one of the plurality of OSDs comprises;

obtaining a unique FC N_Port_ID for each of the plurality of OSDs if the FC F_Port supports the FC Multiple N_Port_ID Assignment capability; and

obtaining a unique FC Node Loop Port (NL_Port) identifier (NL_Port_ID) for each of the plurality of OSDs if the FC F_Port does not support the FC Multiple N_Port_ID Assignment capability.