Verification apparatus, method, and recording medium of program

• US 8,824,465 B2
• Filed: 08/22/2011
• Issued: 09/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Nomura, Yuji
• Primary Examiner(s): Elliott, IV, Benjamin H
• Application Number:
  US13/214,300
• Publication Number:
  US 20120051232A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,107 Days
• Field of Search: 370/242, 370/244, 370/247, 370/248, 370/249, 370/250, 370/255, 370/357, 370/360, 370/363, 370/368, 370/371, 370/374, 370/378, 370/386, 709238-244
• US Class Current: 370/386
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/24 Multipath
• 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 69/14 Multichannel or multilink protocols
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

A verification device that is used in a system in which a first device and a second device communicate using a physical communication path that includes at least one switch among switches included in a plurality of switch clusters and does not include a plurality of switches that belong to a different switch cluster among the plurality of switch clusters, the verification device including a verification unit that verifies whether switches included in a first communication path and a second communication path that are communication paths used for communication between the first device and the second device are included in the same switch cluster, and an output unit that outputs a result of the verifying.

Claims

1. A verification method that is used in a system in which a first device and a second device communicate using a physical communication path that includes at least one switch among switches included in a plurality of switch clusters and does not include a plurality of switches that belong to a different switch cluster among the plurality of switch clusters, the verification method comprising:

verifying, by a computer, whether switches included in a first communication path and a second communication path that are communication paths used for communication between the first device and the second device are included in a same switch cluster by comparing cluster identification information for switches on at least the first communication path with cluster identification information for switches on the second communication path; and

producing identification of whether respective switches compared are in the same switch cluster based on the verifying.

2. The verification method according to claim 1,

wherein the verifying uses cluster identification information which identifies a switch cluster including at least one switch used by a respective communication path, to verify whether the same switch cluster is used on different communication paths, and

the verifying includes comparing cluster identification information for switches on a first communication path with cluster identification information for switches on a second communication path to determine when the same switch cluster exists.

3. The verification method according to claim 2,

wherein when the same switch cluster is used by the first communication path and the second communication path, the verifying verifies the same switch cluster to identify whether there are multiple switches in the same switch cluster, and whether the first communication path and the second communication are configured to transmit data to different switches in the same switch cluster.

4. The verification method according to claim 2, comprising:

indicating a presence of redundancy in physical communication paths between the first device and the second device when a result of the verifying indicates no match between the cluster identification information associated with a first port in the first device and the cluster identification information associated with a second port in the first device.

5. The verification method according to claim 2, comprising:

indicating a presence of redundancy in physical communication paths between the first device and the second device when the identification indicates;

a match between the cluster identification information associated with a first port in the first and the cluster identification information associated with a second port in the first,

there are at least two matching switches in a same switch cluster, and

the first port and the second port are configured to transmit data to different switches in the same switch cluster.

6. The verification method according to claim 2, comprising:

obtaining identification information that identifies a first port provided in the second device accommodating a communication path connected with a second port in the first device, and

outputting a communication path setting error when cluster identification information for a switch corresponding with the first port does not match the cluster identification information associated with the second port.

7. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing an evaluation program that causes a computer to execute a process comprising:

storing, in a storage, first identification information identifying a destination port of each port provided in switches, a switch associated with the destination port and cluster identification information that identifies a switch cluster associated with the switch;

obtaining second identification information that identifies both a first port and a second port that are ports provided in a first device along a communication path used for communication with a second device;

determining whether cluster identification information for a switch corresponding with the first port matches cluster identification information for a switch corresponding with the second port, to thereby produce an evaluation result including identification of whether respective switches compared are in a same switch cluster; and

outputting the evaluation result.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 7, wherein the process comprising:

indicating a presence of redundancy in physical paths between the first device and the second device when the evaluation result indicates no match between the cluster identification information associated with the first port and the cluster identification information associated with the second port.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 7, wherein the process comprising:

indicating a presence of redundancy in physical paths between the first device and the second device when the evaluation result indicates;

a match between the cluster identification information associated with the first port and the cluster identification information associated with the second port,

there are at least two matching switches in a same switch cluster, and

the first port and the second port are configured to transmit data to different switches in the same switch cluster.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 7 wherein the process comprising:

conducting a path searching process on physical communication paths between the first device and the second device, and conducting redundancy verification of the physical communication paths between the first device and the second device when a presence of redundancy is not indicated.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 7, wherein the process comprising:

obtaining third identification information that identifies a third port that is a port provided in the second device accommodating a communication path connected with the first port, and

outputting a communication path setting error when cluster identification information for a switch corresponding with the third port does not match the cluster identification information associated with the first port.

12. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing an evaluation program that causes a computer to execute a process comprising:

determining whether switches in a first communication path and a second communication path between a first device and a second device are included in a same switch cluster of a plurality of switch clusters by comparing cluster identification information for switches on at least the first communication path with cluster identification information for switches on the second communication path, to thereby produce an evaluation result including identification of whether respective switches compared are in the same switch cluster; and

outputting the evaluation result.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 12, wherein when the same switch cluster is used by the first communication path and the second communication path, the evaluating further evaluates the same switch cluster to identify whether there are multiple switches in the same switch cluster, and whether the first communication path and the second communication are configured to transmit data to different switches in the same switch cluster.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 13,

wherein the evaluation result selectively changes based on data evaluated in the evaluating.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium according to claim 12, wherein the evaluating compares cluster identification information across a plurality of communication paths.

16. A verification device that is used in a system in which a first device and a second device communicate using a physical communication path that includes at least one switch among switches included in a plurality of switch clusters and does not include a plurality of switches that belong to a different switch cluster among the plurality of switch clusters, the verification device comprising:

a processor coupled to a memory, configured to;

verify whether switches included in a first communication path and a second communication path that are communication paths used for communication between the first device and the second device are included in a same switch cluster by comparing cluster identification information for switches on at least the first communication path with cluster identification information for switches on the second communication path, and thereby produce a verification result including identification of whether respective switches compared are in the same switch cluster; and

output the verification result.

17. A verification device comprising:

a communication interface which obtains information identifying a destination of each port of each device included in a system in which a first device and a second device communicate through any of a plurality of switch clusters; and

a processor which verifies, using the obtained information indicating the destination, whether switches included in each of a first communication path and a second communication path that are communication paths used for communication between a first device and a second device, are included in a same switch cluster by comparing cluster identification information for switches on at least the first communication path with cluster identification information for switches on the second communication path and issues identification as to whether respective switches compared are in the same switch cluster.

18. A verification device in a system that includes a first device, a second device, and a plurality of switch clusters, the verification device comprising:

a memory that stores port identification information identifying a destination port for ports provided in a switch corresponding with a switch cluster, where the port identification information is associated with cluster identification information which identifies the switch cluster of the plurality of switch clusters;

a communication interface that obtains the port identification information identifying a first port and a second port that are ports provided in the first device accommodating a communication path used for communication with the second device; and

a processor configured to determine whether the cluster identification information for a switch corresponding with the first port matches with cluster identification information for a switch corresponding with the second port by comparing cluster identification for a switch associated with the first port and cluster identification information for a switch associated with the second port and producing an evaluation result including identification of whether respective switches compared correspond with the same cluster identification information.