Data migration without interrupting host access and with data lock for write access requests such that held write access requests do not expire

1. A method of migrating data, comprising:

creating a first virtual storage device configured to be used in copying the data from a source storage device to a target storage device;

receiving write access requests for the data at the first virtual storage device from a host during migration of the data;

sending the write access requests from the first virtual storage device to the source storage device and the target storage device;

acquiring a lock on a portion of the data during copy of the portion;

sending received write access requests, for data not subject to the lock, to the source storage device and the target storage device;

holding received write access requests for the portion; and

sending the held write access requests to the source storage device and the target storage device upon release of the lock such that the held write access requests do not expire.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising creating an alternate virtual storage device, the first virtual storage device configured to fail over to the alternate virtual storage device upon an error.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising disassociating the source storage device from the host such that the host sends read and write access requests for the data to the first virtual storage device.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

creating a second virtual storage device configured to receive read and write access requests for the data from the host during migration of the data.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first virtual storage device is configured to fail over to the second virtual storage device upon an error.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein copying the data comprises copying the data from a source storage device to a target storage device using the first virtual storage device and second virtual storage device.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising disassociating the source storage device from the host such that the host sends the read and write access requests for the data to either the first virtual storage device or the second virtual storage device.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein creating the first virtual storage device comprises creating a plurality of virtual storage devices corresponding to a plurality of source storage devices, and wherein creating the second virtual storage device comprises creating a second plurality of virtual storage devices corresponding to the plurality of source storage devices.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein creating a first virtual storage device comprises creating a plurality of virtual storage devices, each virtual storage device out of the plurality of virtual storage devices corresponding to a data path associated with one of a plurality of source storage devices, and wherein creating a second virtual storage device comprises creating a second plurality of virtual storage devices, each virtual storage device out of the second plurality of virtual storage devices corresponding to a data path associated with one of the plurality of source storage devices.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising intercepting access requests from the host and redirecting the access requests to the first virtual storage device.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein creating the first virtual storage device comprises creating the first virtual storage device on a switch, the first virtual storage device configured to receive write access requests for data from the host during migration of the data and configured to send the write access requests to the source storage device and the target storage device.

12. A device, comprising:

a first virtual storage device;

and an alternate virtual storage device, the first virtual storage device configured to fail over to the alternate virtual storage device upon a migration error, read error, or write error,

wherein the device is configured to migrate data from a source storage device to a target storage device;

wherein the first virtual storage device is configured to receive write access requests for the data from the host during data migration and send the write access requests to the source storage device and the target storage device;

acquire a lock on a portion of the data during copy of the portion;

send write access requests received by the first virtual storage device, for data not subject to the lock, to the source storage device and the target storage device;

hold write access requests received by the first virtual storage device for the portion; and

send the held write access requests to the source storage device and the target storage device upon release of the lock such that the held write access requests do not expire.

13. The device of claim 12 , wherein the access requests from the host are intercepted and redirected to the first virtual storage device.

14. The device of claim 12 , wherein the device is a switch.

15. A computer-readable medium storing a software program for migrating data that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to:

create a first virtual storage device;

copy the data from a source storage device to a target storage device using the first virtual storage device;

receive write access requests for the data at the first virtual storage device from a host during migration of the data;

send the write access requests from the first virtual storage device to the source storage device and the target storage device;

acquire a lock on a portion of the data during copy of the portion;

send received write access requests, for data not subject to the lock, to the source storage device and the target storage device;

hold received write access requests for the portion; and

sending the held write access requests to the source storage device and the target storage device upon release of the lock such that the held write access requests do not expire.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the access requests from the host are intercepted and redirected to the first virtual storage device.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the processor is located on a switch.