Storage router and method for providing virtual local storage
First Claim
1. A system for providing virtual local storage on remote storage devices to hosts, the system comprising:
- remote storage;
an access controller coupled to the remote storage, the access controller comprising;
a first controller operable to connect to and interface with a serial transport medium, wherein when the access controller is connected to the serial transport medium, the access controller is positioned between hosts connected to the serial transport medium and the remote storage so that requests from the hosts to access the remote storage pass through the access controller;
a supervisor unit coupled to the first controller, the supervisor unit operable to;
maintain a map that maps hosts connected to the serial transport medium to subsets of storage space on the remote storage in order to implement centralized access controls to the subsets of remote storage;
process a command received from a host, wherein the command includes a native low level block protocol request for access to a subset of storage;
use native low level block protocol information in the command to determine if the host is allowed access to the requested subset of storage in accordance with the map; and
allow the requesting host to access the requested subset of storage if the requesting host is allowed access to the requested subset of storage.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A storage router (56) and storage network (50) provide virtual local storage on remote SCSI storage devices (60, 62, 64) to Fibre Channel devices. A plurality of Fibre Channel devices, such as workstations (58), are connected to a Fibre 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 Fibre 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.
230 Citations
49 Claims
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1. A system for providing virtual local storage on remote storage devices to hosts, the system comprising:
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remote storage; an access controller coupled to the remote storage, the access controller comprising; a first controller operable to connect to and interface with a serial transport medium, wherein when the access controller is connected to the serial transport medium, the access controller is positioned between hosts connected to the serial transport medium and the remote storage so that requests from the hosts to access the remote storage pass through the access controller; a supervisor unit coupled to the first controller, the supervisor unit operable to; maintain a map that maps hosts connected to the serial transport medium to subsets of storage space on the remote storage in order to implement centralized access controls to the subsets of remote storage; process a command received from a host, wherein the command includes a native low level block protocol request for access to a subset of storage; use native low level block protocol information in the command to determine if the host is allowed access to the requested subset of storage in accordance with the map; and allow the requesting host to access the requested subset of storage if the requesting host is allowed access to the requested subset of storage. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method for providing virtual local storage to hosts for remote storage devices, comprising:
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providing an access controller coupled to one or more storage devices; connecting the access controller to a serial transport medium between hosts connected to the serial transport medium and the one or more storage devices so that the one or more storage devices are remote storage for the hosts and requests from the hosts to access the remote storage pass through the access controller; maintaining a map that maps hosts connected to the serial transport medium to subsets of storage space on the remote storage in order to implement centralized access controls to the subsets of remote storage; processing a command received from a host, wherein the command includes a native low level block protocol request for access to a subset of storage; using native low level block protocol information in the command to determine if the host is allowed access to the requested subset of storage in accordance with the map; and allowing the requesting host to access the requested subset of storage if the requesting host is allowed access to the requested subset of storage. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
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Specification