System and method for domain failure analysis of a storage area network
First Claim
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1. A method comprising:
- creating a storage area network (SAN) topology data structure using data comprising SAN device connectivity information, and SAN device status information, wherein the data is gathered via calls to a host bus adapter (HBA);
loading a module into a multipath device driver, whereinthe module comprises device-specific procedures augmenting an existing set of general procedures, andthe module is specific to one of a plurality of devices within a SAN topology;
receiving, at the HBA, a message indicating occurrence of an event related to a change in the SAN topology;
obtaining, from the HBA, information from the received message, wherein the information describes a change in a SAN device;
updating the SAN topology data structure according to the information from the received message;
using information in the updated SAN topology data structure to identify a suspect path for use by the multipath device driver; and
selecting, using the updated SAN topology data structure, a path different from the suspect path, whereinthe selecting is based in part on the module loaded into the multipath device driver.
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Abstract
Systems, methods, apparatus and software can implement a SAN monitoring scheme for determining changes in SAN topology, such as device failure and state changes. These changes are recorded in a SAN topology data structure. Information in the SAN topology data structure is used, for example, to identify a suspect path or set of paths, and to make decisions about communications pathways used by a multipath device driver.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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creating a storage area network (SAN) topology data structure using data comprising SAN device connectivity information, and SAN device status information, wherein the data is gathered via calls to a host bus adapter (HBA); loading a module into a multipath device driver, wherein the module comprises device-specific procedures augmenting an existing set of general procedures, and the module is specific to one of a plurality of devices within a SAN topology; receiving, at the HBA, a message indicating occurrence of an event related to a change in the SAN topology; obtaining, from the HBA, information from the received message, wherein the information describes a change in a SAN device; updating the SAN topology data structure according to the information from the received message; using information in the updated SAN topology data structure to identify a suspect path for use by the multipath device driver; and selecting, using the updated SAN topology data structure, a path different from the suspect path, wherein the selecting is based in part on the module loaded into the multipath device driver. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A system comprising instructions stored in a memory device, wherein the instructions are configured to:
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create a storage area network (SAN) topology data structure using data comprising SAN device connectivity information, and SAN device status information, wherein the data is gathered via calls to a host bus adapter (HBA); load a module into a multipath device driver, wherein the module comprises device-specific procedures augmenting an existing set of general procedures, and the module is specific to one of a plurality of devices within a SAN topology; obtain, from the HBA coupled to the processor and coupled to a SAN, information about a change in the SAN topology; update the SAN topology data structure according to the information about the change in SAN topology; direct input/output (I/O) operations along at least one of a plurality of communication pathways of the processor to at least one storage device in the SAN, use information in the SAN topology data structure to identify a suspect path of the plurality of communication pathways, and select a path of the plurality of communication pathways different from the suspect path, based on the updated SAN topology data structure, wherein the path is selected based in part on the module loaded into the multipath device driver. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A computer readable storage medium comprising program instructions executable on a processor, the computer readable medium encoding the program instructions, wherein the program instructions are operable to implement each of:
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creating a storage area network (SAN) topology data structure using data comprising SAN device connectivity information, and SAN device status information, wherein the data is gathered via calls to a host bus adapter (HBA); loading a module into a multipath device driver, wherein the module comprises device-specific procedures augmenting an existing set of general procedures, and the module is specific to one of a plurality of devices within a SAN topology; obtaining, from the HBA, information about a change in the SAN topology; updating the SAN topology data structure according to the information about the change in SAN topology; using information in the updated SAN topology data structure to identify a suspect path for use by the multipath device driver; and selecting a path different from the suspect path, wherein the selecting is based in part on the module loaded into the multipath device driver. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification