System and method for assigning network device port address based on link rate

1. A method for assigning port addresses for a plurality of network devices based on a link rate associated with each network device, comprising:

discovering a link rate associated with each of the plurality of network devices;

assigning port addresses for each of the plurality of network devices, where at least a portion of each port address is selected based on the discovered link rate; and

assigning communication lanes among the plurality of network devices for network communication, wherein the communication lanes are assigned such that network devices with similar link rates use a same communication lane.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the communication lanes are virtual lanes used by the plurality of network devices to communicate with each other in a Fibre Channel based network.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the device address for a network device communicating in the Fibre Channel network includes an Area identifier (Area_ID) field, and at least a portion of Area_ID field is selected based on the discovered link rate.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein certain bits of a destination identifier (D_ID) for the network device are selected based on the discovered link rates.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein after a network device receives a fabric login frame, a physical port number is extracted from a Fibre Channel frame and the physical port number is mapped to a logical port number.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the communication lanes are virtual lanes used in an InfiniBand network.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein a subnet manager assigns a service level to a virtual lane based on the discovered link rate.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of network devices operate in an Ethernet network.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein an Ethernet packet class or priority is assigned based on the discovered link.

10. A method for grouping devices in a computer network to decrease congestion in the network, the method comprising the steps of:

initializing network devices;

collecting link rates for the network devices; and

associating device link rates with routing parameters, thereby grouping the devices based on the link rate of each so that every device in a given group has a common link rate.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the network is a Fibre Channel based network.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the network is an InfiniBand based network.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the network is an Ethernet based network.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the network devices support Fibre Channel over Ethernet protocol.

15. A computer network including a plurality of devices communicating via a plurality of virtual lanes (VLs), each device being configured to operate at one of a plurality of link rates, the network comprising:

a first group of the devices configured to operate at a first one of the plurality of link rates; and

a second group of the devices configured to operate at a second one of the plurality of link rates;

wherein the devices in the first group are grouped together on a first VL, and the devices in the second group are grouped together on a second VL in order to decrease congestion in the network.

16. The computer network of claim 15 , wherein each device includes a device address, and for each device address at least a portion thereof is selected based on the link rate of that device.

17. The computer network of claim 16 , wherein each device address portion is in an Area identifier (Area_ID) field of the device address.

18. The computer network of claim 16 , wherein certain bits of a destination identifier (D_ID) for each device are selected based on the link rate for that device.

19. The computer network of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of devices operate in an Ethernet network.

20. The computer network of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of devices operate in an InfiniBand network.