Trunking for fabric ports in Fibre channel switches and attached devices
First Claim
1. A trunking N_Port for a Fibre Channel node, the trunking N_Port comprising:
- an N_Port interface designed or configured to support a communication protocol for configuring virtual Storage Area Network (VSAN) functionality; and
a controller designed or configured to communicate with an F_Port on a Fibre Channel switch and determine whether VSAN functionality is available on the F_Port and, if so, define one or more VSAN interfaces for one or more VSANs on the trunking N_Port, each of the one or more VSANs on the trunking N_Port having a corresponding VSAN on the F_Port, each of the one or more VSAN interfaces designed or configured to provide functionality of an N_Port for a corresponding VSAN on the trunking N_Port;
wherein each of the one or more VSAN interfaces is designed or configured to provide frames containing information identifying the particular VSAN to which it belongs.
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Accused Products
Abstract
N_Ports and F_Ports are provided with logic allowing designation of multiple virtual interfaces on a single host bus adaptor or other Fiber Channel interface, one virtual interface for each VSAN operating on the node interface. Node ports with this additional functionality are referred to as trunking N_Ports or TN_Ports. These ports have a functional design allowing creation of the multiple virtual interfaces as appropriate for the application at hand. This port design also includes logic for communicating with a peer fabric port to initialize and modify the configuration of the virtual interfaces on the TN_Port. A corresponding functional design and communication logic is provided for fabric ports, referred to herein as trunking F_Ports or TF_Ports.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A trunking N_Port for a Fibre Channel node, the trunking N_Port comprising:
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an N_Port interface designed or configured to support a communication protocol for configuring virtual Storage Area Network (VSAN) functionality; and a controller designed or configured to communicate with an F_Port on a Fibre Channel switch and determine whether VSAN functionality is available on the F_Port and, if so, define one or more VSAN interfaces for one or more VSANs on the trunking N_Port, each of the one or more VSANs on the trunking N_Port having a corresponding VSAN on the F_Port, each of the one or more VSAN interfaces designed or configured to provide functionality of an N_Port for a corresponding VSAN on the trunking N_Port; wherein each of the one or more VSAN interfaces is designed or configured to provide frames containing information identifying the particular VSAN to which it belongs. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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- 9. A trunking N_Port or F_Port for a Fibre Channel device, the trunking N_Port or F_Port comprising a controller for managing trunking on the trunking N_Port or F_Port, wherein the controller is designed or configured to communicate with a peer port over a Fibre Channel link and determine whether virtual Storage Area Network (VSAN) functionality is available on the peer port and, if so, define one or more VSAN interfaces for one or more VSANs on the trunking N_Port or F_Port, each of the one or more VSANs on the trunking N_Port or F_Port having a corresponding VSAN on the peer port, each of the one or more VSAN interfaces designed or configured to provide functionality of a particular VSAN, wherein each one of the one or more VSAN interfaces is designed or configured to provide frames containing information identifying the particular VSAN to which it belongs.
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12. A storage area network comprising:
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(a) two or more nodes, each comprising a trunking N_Port coupled to a Fibre Channel link; and (b) one or more Fibre Channel switches comprising multiple F_Ports in communication with the trunking N_Ports and defining a fabric allowing communication among the two or more nodes, wherein the trunking N_Ports comprise controllers designed or configured to communicate with F_Ports on a Fibre Channel switch and determine whether virtual Storage Area Network (VSAN) functionality is available on the F_Ports and, if so, define one or more VSAN interfaces for one or more VSANs on their trunking N_Ports, each one of the one or more VSANs on the trunking N_Ports having a corresponding VSAN on the F_Ports, each of the one or more VSAN interfaces designed or configured to provide functionality of an N_Port for a corresponding VSAN on the trunking N_Ports, wherein one or more of the VSAN interfaces is designed or configured to provide frames containing information identifying the particular VSAN to which it belongs. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A method of establishing a link between a trunking N_Port on a node and an F_Port on a Fibre Channel switch, the method comprising:
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(a) determining whether virtual Storage Area Network (VSAN) functionality is available on the F_Port; and (b) defining one or more VSAN interfaces for one or more VSANs on the trunking N_Port according to a result of the determining, each one of the one or more VSANs on the trunking N_Port having a corresponding VSAN on the F_Port, each of the one or more VSAN interfaces providing the functionality of an N_Port for a corresponding VSAN, the one or more of the VSAN interfaces providing frames containing information identifying the particular VSAN to which it belongs. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory machine readable medium on which is provided program instructions for establishing a link between a trunking N_Port on a node and an F_Port on a Fibre Channel switch, wherein the program instructions comprise:
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(a) code for determining whether virtual Storage Area Network (VSAN) functionality is available on the F_Port; and (b) code for defining one or more VSAN interfaces for one or more VSANs on the trunking N_Port according to a result of the determining, each one of the one or more VSANs on the trunking N_Port having a corresponding VSAN on the F_Port, each of the one or more VSAN interfaces providing the functionality of an N_Port for a corresponding VSAN such that frames transmitted from the corresponding one of the VSAN interfaces include information identifying the particular VSAN to which it belongs. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A trunking N_Port for a Fibre Channel node, the trunking N_Port comprising:
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a processor; and a memory, at least one of the processor or the memory being configured for; determining whether virtual Storage Area Network (VSAN) functionality is available on a F_Port to which the trunking N_Port is linked; and defining one or more VSAN interfaces for one or more VSANs on the trunking N_Port according to a result of the determining, each one of the one or more VSANs on the trunking N_Port having a corresponding VSAN on the F_Port, each of the one or more VSAN interfaces providing the functionality of an N_Port for a corresponding VSAN such that frames transmitted from the one of the VSAN interfaces include information identifying the particular VSAN to which it belongs. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
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Specification