Granted Patent B1

US 7,103,686 · App. 09/687,699 · Granted Sep 5, 2006

Abstract

Claims (25)

1. A method for providing device type information using a Fibre Channel network, comprising the operations of:

obtaining device type information for a device coupled to a Fibre Channel based network;

constructing an address database having a device entry for the device, by defining the device entry by a device address and the device type information, the device address associating a Fibre Channel Address with a SCSI-based address, the SCSI-based address including a port target identifier (port target ID) and a logical unit identifier (LUN ID), wherein the address database facilitates translation of an operating system independent command received by a Fibre Channel wrapper module into a Fibre Channel command usable by a Fibre Channel layer module that is in communication with a Fibre Channel controller, the operating system independent command being a Common Hardware Interface Module (CHIM) command;

receiving a request for the device type information from a SCSI-based network application, wherein the request includes the SCSI-based address; and

returning the device type information and the Fibre Channel Address associated with the SCSI-based address to the requesting application.

2. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the request is in the form of a SCSI-based command, the SCSI-based command is one of a Protocol Auto Configuration (PAC) command or a Probe command.

3. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the Fibre Channel Address is in the form of a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop Physical Address (AL_PA).

4. A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the device is a Fibre Channel network device.

5. A system for providing device type information using a Fibre Channel network, comprising:

a Fibre Channel based network;

a device coupled to the Fibre Channel based network, the device having an associated Fibre Channel Address; and

an address database having a device entry for the device, wherein the device entry includes a device address and the device type information, the device address associating the Fibre Channel Address with a SCSI-based address, the SCSI-based address comprised of a port target identifier (port target ID) and a logical unit identifier (LUN ID),

wherein the address database facilitates translation of an operating system independent command received by a Fibre Channel wrapper module into a Fibre Channel command usable by a Fibre Channel layer module that is in communication with a Fibre Channel controller, the operating system independent commands being a Common Hardware Interface Module (CHIM) command.

6. A system as recited in claim 5 , further comprising a Fibre Channel driver having a Fibre Channel Common Hardware Interface Module (FCHIM).

7. A system as recited in claim 6 , further comprising a SCSI-based network application in communication with the Fibre Channel driver.

8. A system as recited in claim 7 , wherein the SCSI-based network application passes a request for device type information to the Fibre Channel driver, wherein the request is in the form of a SCSI-based command that includes the SCSI-based address, the SCSI-based command is one of a Protocol Auto Configuration (PAC) command or a Probe command.

9. A system as recited in claim 8 , wherein the Fibre Channel driver returns the device type information and the Fibre Channel Address to the SCSI-based network application by utilizing the address database to correlate the SCSI-based address to the device type information and Fibre Channel Address associated with the SCSI-based address.

10. A computer program stored on a computer storage medium that provides device type information using a Fibre Channel network, comprising:

a code segment that obtains device type information for a device coupled to a Fibre Channel based network;

a code segment that constructs an address database having a device entry for the device, wherein the device entry includes a device address and the device type information, the device includes a device address and the device type information, the device address associating a Fibre Channel Address with a SCSI-based address, the SCSI-based address comprised of a port target identifier (port target ID) and a logical unit identifier (LUN ID), wherein the address database facilitates translation of an operating system independent command received by a Fibre Channel wrapper module into a Fibre Channel command usable by a Fibre Channel layer module that is in communication with a Fire Channel controller, the operating system independent command being a Common Hardware Interface Module (CHIM) command;

a code segment that receives a request for the device type information from a SCSI-based network application, wherein the request includes the SCSI-based address; and

a code segment that returns the device type information and the Fibre Channel Address associated with the SCSI-based address to the requesting SCSI-based application.

11. A computer program as recited in claim 10 , wherein the Fibre Channel Address is in the form of a Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop Physical Address (AL_PA).

12. A computer program as recited in claim 10 , wherein the request is in the form of a SCSI-based command, the SCSI-based command is one of a Protocol Auto Configuration (PAC) command or a Probe command.

13. A computer program as recited in claim 10 , further comprising a code segment that utilizes the SCSI-based address to lookup the device type information and the Fibre Channel Address associated with the SCSI-based address.

Assignments (9)