Private arbitrated loop self-test management for a fibre channel storage enclosure
View Patent ↗A self-test method and system for facilitating reliable and fault-tolerant operation of a multi-peripheral-device enclosure for use in high-availability computer systems. The reliable and fault-tolerant multi-peripheral-device enclosure uses a three-tiered port bypass control strategy for diagnosing and isolating malfunctioning peripheral devices within the multi-peripheral-device enclosure, and uses a similar a three-tiered port bypass control strategy for isolation of the entire multi-peripheral-device enclosure from a communications medium that interconnects the multi-peripheral-device enclosure with one or more host computers. This three-tiered port bypass control strategy is employed by a self-test routine to isolate the multi-peripheral-device enclosure from external processing elements in order to test peripheral devices and other components within the multi-peripheral-device enclosure, and to isolate any detected defective or malfunctioning components.
1. A method for testing a multi-device enclosure that contains multiple devices and at least one processor, the method comprising:
controlling a number of bypass circuits to bypass a number of external communications medium connectors to isolate the multi-device enclosure from an external communications medium;
internally testing the multi-device enclosure by running a self-test routine on an internal processor by
controlling a number of bypass circuits to isolate the devices from an internal communications medium;
testing the internal communications medium;
when the internal communications medium passes the testing,
for each device,
controlling a bypass circuit to connect the device to the internal communications medium,
testing the device, and
when the device fails testing,
controlling a bypass circuit to disconnect the device from the internal communications medium, and
returning an indication that the testing of the multi-device enclosure has succeeded;
when the internal communications medium fails the testing,
returning an indication that the testing of the multi-device enclosure has failed; and
when the multi-device enclosure passes the testing,
controlling a number of bypass circuits to connect the number of external communications medium connectors to the external communications medium.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the external communications medium and the internal communications medium are both portions of a fibre channel arbitrated loop.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein controlling a number of bypass circuits to bypass a number of external communications medium connectors to isolate the multi-device enclosure from an external communications medium further includes:
controlling a bypass circuit to bypass a primary external communications medium connector to isolate the multi-device enclosure from the upstream portion of the fibre channel arbitrated loop; and
controlling a bypass circuit to bypass an expansion external communications medium connector to isolate the multi-device enclosure from the downstream portion of the fibre channel arbitrated loop.
4. The method of claim 2 wherein the multi-device enclosure may be connected to two fibre channel arbitrated loops and wherein controlling a number of bypass circuits to bypass a number of external communications medium connectors to isolate the multi-device enclosure from an external communications medium further includes:
controlling two bypass circuits to bypass two primary external communications medium connectors to isolate the multi-device enclosure from the upstream portions of two fibre channel arbitrated loops; and
controlling two bypass circuits to bypass two expansion external communications medium connectors to isolate the multi-device enclosure from the downstream portions of two fibre channel arbitrated loops.
5. The method of claim 2 wherein testing the internal communications medium includes sending a loop initialization primitive around the internal portion of the fibre channel arbitrated loop.
6. The method of claim 2 wherein testing a device includes:
sending a loop initialization primitive around the internal portion of the fibre channel arbitrated loop.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein testing a device further includes:
issuing commands to the device to cause the device to undergo a self-test and to solicit information from the device about the device.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein the commands issued to the device are small computer systems interconnect enclosure services commands.
9. A method for testing a multi-device enclosure that contains multiple devices, the method comprising:
controlling a number of bypass circuits to isolate the devices from an internal communications medium;
when the internal communications medium passes the testing,
for each device,
controlling a bypass circuit to connect the device to the internal communications medium,
testing the device, and
when the device fails testing,
controlling a bypass circuit to disconnect the device from the internal communications medium, and
returning an indication that the testing of the multi-device enclosure has succeeded; and
when the internal communications medium fails the testing,
returning an indication that the testing of the multi-device enclosure has failed.
10. The method of claim 9 further including:
when a device malfunctions during operation of the multi-device enclosure,
controlling a bypass circuit to disconnect the device from the internal communications medium.
11. A self-testing multi-device enclosure comprising:
an internal fibre-channel-arbitrated-loop communications medium;
a number of devices interconnected by the fibre-channel-arbitrated-loop internal communications medium;
a number of connectors that connect the multi-device enclosure to an external fibre-channel-arbitrated-loop communications medium;
bypass circuits that can be controlled to isolate devices from, and connect devices to, the internal fibre-channel-arbitrated-loop communications medium;
bypass circuits that can be controlled to isolate connectors from, and connect connectors to, the external fibre-channel-arbitrated-loop communications medium;
a processor; and
a self-test routine that runs on the processor to test the internal fibre-channel-arbitrated-loop communications medium and the number of devices and to control bypass circuits to isolate the multi-device enclosure during self-testing from the external fibre-channel-arbitrated-loop communications medium and to isolate the devices from the internal fibre-channel-arbitrated-loop communications medium.
12. The self-testing multi-device enclosure of claim 11 , wherein the number of devices include devices that exchange data and control information with other devices connected to the fibre channel arbitrated loop.
13. The self-testing multi-device enclosure of claim 12 wherein the self-test routine
controls a number of bypass circuits to bypass a number of connectors to isolate the multi-device enclosure from the external communications medium;
tests the multi-device enclosure; and
when the multi-device enclosure passes the testing,
controls a number of bypass circuits to connect the number of connectors to the external communications medium.
14. The self-testing multi-device enclosure of claim 13 wherein, after isolating the multi-device enclosure from the external communications medium, the self-test routine tests the multi-device enclosure by:
controlling a number of bypass circuits to isolate the devices from the internal communications medium;
testing the internal communications medium;
when the internal communications medium passes the testing,
for each device,
controlling a bypass circuit to connect the device to the internal communications medium,
testing the device, and
when the device fails testing,
controlling a bypass circuit to disconnect the device from the internal communications medium, and
returning an indication that the testing of the multi-device enclosure has succeeded; and
when the internal communications medium fails the testing,
returning an indication that the testing of the multi-device enclosure has failed.
15. The self-testing multi-device enclosure of claim 14 wherein controlling a number of bypass circuits to bypass a number of external communications medium connectors to isolate the multi-device enclosure from an external communications medium further includes:
controlling a bypass circuit to bypass a primary external communications medium connector to isolate the multi-device enclosure from the upstream portion of the fibre channel arbitrated loop; and
controlling a bypass circuit to bypass an expansion external communications medium connector to isolate the multi-device enclosure from the downstream portion of the fibre channel arbitrated loop.
16. The self-testing multi-device enclosure of claim 15 wherein testing the internal communications medium includes sending a loop initialization primitive around the internal portion of the fibre channel arbitrated loop.
17. The self-testing multi-device enclosure of claim 15 wherein testing a device includes:
sending a loop initialization primitive around the internal portion of the fibre channel arbitrated loop.
18. The self-testing multi-device enclosure of claim 17 wherein testing a device further includes:
issuing commands to the device to cause the device to undergo a self-test and to solicit information from the device about the device.