System and method for a storage area network virtualization optimization

• US 9,571,493 B2
• Filed: 08/15/2013
• Issued: 02/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Murthy, Seshashayee S., Routray, Ramani R., Uttamchandani, Sandeep M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Dustin
• Application Number:
  US13/967,405
• Publication Number:
  US 20130333000A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,279 Days
• Field of Search: 711/111, 711/147, 709/224, 709/222, 709/223, 709/217, 370/254, 713/201, 707/10, 705/50
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0613 in relation to throughput
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0635 by changing the path, e.g. traffic rerouting, path reconfiguration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/32 Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level

Abstract

A method is implemented in a computer infrastructure having computer executable code tangibly embodied on a computer readable storage medium having programming instructions. The programming instructions are operable to determine one or more optimal mappings between a server layer and a storage layer through a network layer based on performance metrics of one or more ports of at least one of the server layer, the storage layer and the network layer.

Claims

1. A method implemented in a computer infrastructure having computer executable code tangibly embodied on a computer readable storage medium having programming instructions operable to determine, by a network virtualization optimizer, one or more mappings between a server layer, including a plurality of servers, and a storage layer through a network layer based on a plurality of inputs to the network virtualization optimizer, including one or more multi-tenancy security constraints regarding partitions in virtual storage for different customers of a virtual network, and dynamic infrastructure requirements for the servers and the storage layer, including priority requirements as to priority among the plurality of servers for accessing the storage layer and disaster recovery requirements, wherein the one or more mappings between the server layer and the storage layer dynamically changes a network layer configuration from a first network layer configuration to an updated network layer configuration by changing a configuration of switches in the network layer based on the one or more mappings.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the one or more mappings comprises determining at least one hard zone.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one hard zone is in the network layer.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining the at least one hard zone comprises dynamically determining the at least one hard zone within the network layer.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one hard zone enables a port of a server to see a port of a storage system.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one hard zone directs traffic between two or more ports of a switch in the network layer.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the programming instructions are further operable to configure the at least one hard zone to prevent unauthorized access to at least one of the storage layer, the network layer and the server layer.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the one or more mappings comprises determining at least one masking.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the at least one masking indicates a server of the server layer permitted to connect to a storage system of the storage layer.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one hard zone guides traffic within a switch of a fabric in the network layer.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one hard zone represents a traffic flow between two or more ports of the switch.