System and method for determining disk ownership model

1. A method for determining a disk ownership model to utilize with a storage system, the method comprising the steps of:

identifying all disks accessible by the storage system;

for each identified disk, reading predetermined ownership information from the identified disk and determining ownership attributes for the identified disk;

for each of one or more sets of ownership attributes, determining if a number of disks with one of the one or more sets of ownership attributes exceeds a first predetermined threshold value for the set of ownership attributes;

in response to determining that the number of disks with one of the one or more sets of ownership attributes exceeds the first predefined threshold value, utilizing an ownership model associated with the one of the one or more sets of the ownership attributes; and

in response to determining that a number of disks with one of the one or more sets of ownership attributes does not exceed the first predetermined threshold value for any of the one or more set of ownership attributes, utilizing a predefined ownership model.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the predetermined ownership information comprises Sector S ownership information.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein one of the one or more sets of ownership attributes comprises a disk having predetermined ownership information identifying the storage system as an owner of the disk.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein one of the one or more sets of ownership attributes comprises a disk having predetermined ownership information identifying a storage system other than the storage system as an owner of the disk.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the predefined ownership model utilizes a determination of physical connection to determine disk ownership.

6. A system for determining a disk ownership model to utilize with a storage system, the system comprising:

means for identifying all disks accessible by the storage system;

means for reading, for each identified disk, predetermined ownership information from the identified disk and determining ownership attributes for the identified disk;

means for determining, for each of one or more sets of ownership attributes, if a number of disks with one of the one or more sets of ownership attributes exceeds a first predetermined threshold value for the set of ownership attributes;

means for utilizing, in response to determining that the number of disks with one of the one or more sets of ownership attributes exceeds the first predetermined threshold value, an ownership model associated with the one of the one or more sets of the ownership attributes; and

means for utilizing a predefined ownership model in response to determining that a number of disks with one of the one or more sets of ownership attributes does not exceed the first predetermined threshold value for any of the one or more set of ownership attributes.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the predetermined ownership information comprises Sector S ownership information.

8. The system of claim 6 wherein one of the one or more sets of ownership attributes comprises a disk having predetermined ownership information identifying the storage system as an owner of the disk.

9. The system of claim 6 wherein one of the one or more sets of ownership attributes comprises a disk having predetermined ownership information identifying a storage system other than the storage system as an owner of the disk.

10. The system of claim 6 wherein the predefined ownership model utilizes a determination of physical connection to determine disk ownership.

11. A computer readable medium for determining a disk ownership model to utilize with a storage system, the computer readable medium including program instructions for performing the steps of:

identifying all disks accessible by the storage system;

for each identified disk, reading predetermined ownership information from the identified disk and determining ownership attributes for the identified disk;

for each of one or more sets of ownership attributes, determining if a number of disks with one of the one or more sets of ownership attributes exceeds a first predetermined threshold value for the set of ownership attributes;

in response to determining that the number of disks with one of the one or more sets of ownership attributes exceeds the first predetermined threshold value, utilizing an ownership model associated with the one of the one or more sets of the ownership attributes; and

in response to determining that a number of disks with one of the one or more sets of ownership attributes does not exceed the first predetermined threshold value for any of the one or more set of ownership attributes, utilizing a predefined ownership model.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 11 wherein the predetermined ownership information comprises Sector S ownership information.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 11 wherein one of the one or more sets of ownership attributes comprises a disk having predetermined ownership information identifying the storage system as an owner of the disk.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 11 wherein one of the one or more sets of ownership attributes comprises a disk having predetermined ownership information identifying a storage system other than the storage system as an owner of the disk.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 11 wherein the predefined ownership model utilizes a determination of physical connection to determine disk ownership.

16. A system for determining a disk ownership module comprising:

a plurality of disks;

a storage system including a storage operating system having a disk ownership module adapted to determine a disk ownership model by:

(i) identifying all disks accessible by the storage system;

(ii) for each identified disk, reading predetermined ownership information from the identified disk and determining ownership attributes for the identified disk;

(iii) for each of one of more sets of ownership attributes, determining if a number of disks with one of the one or more sets of ownership attributes exceeds a first predetermined threshold value for the set of ownership attributes;

(iv) in response to determining that the number of disks with one of the one or more sets of ownership attributes exceeds the first predetermined threshold value, utilizing an ownership model associated with the one of the one or more sets of the ownership attributes; and

(v) in response to determining that a number of disks with one of the one or more sets of ownership attributes does not exceed the first predetermined threshold value for any of the one or more set of ownership attributes, utilizing a predefined ownership model.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the predetermined ownership information comprises Sector S ownership information.

18. The system of claim 16 wherein one of the one or more sets of ownership attributes comprises a disk having predetermined ownership information identifying the storage system as an owner of the disk.

19. The system of claim 16 wherein one of the one or more sets of ownership attributes comprises a disk having predetermined ownership information identifying a storage system other than the storage system as an owner of the disk.

20. The system of claim 16 wherein the predefined ownership model utilizes a determination of physical connection to determine disk ownership.