Zoning data to a virtual machine

1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer system, cause said computer system to:

exchange support information between a physical controller and an expander, said physical controller being coupled with a server and said expander being coupled with a Serial Attached Small Computer System Interface (SAS) switch, said support information comprising an indication of an ability of said physical controller to support thereon a set of virtual controllers and an indication of an ability of said expander to support thereon a set of virtual PHYs;

in response to the indication of said ability of said expander to support thereon the set of virtual PHYs, send a list of SAS addresses to said expander from said physical controller, said SAS addresses of said list of SAS addresses representing virtual controllers of said set of virtual controllers;

receive zoning instructions at said expander via a graphical user interface, said zoning instructions comprising at least one virtual PHY to physical controller mapping direction; and

assign a first SAS address of said list of SAS addresses to a first virtual PHY of said set of virtual PHYs by said expander based upon said zoning instructions, said first virtual PHY at an assigned SAS address corresponding to a first virtual controller of said set of virtual controllers.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , further comprising instructions for:

receiving data at said first virtual PHY.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 2 , wherein said instructions for receiving said data at said first virtual PHY comprises instructions for:

coupling a storage drive with said first virtual PHY.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , further comprising instructions for:

accessing a virtual to physical mapping table having virtual to physical mapping table information comprising virtual PHY to physical controller PHY mapping information.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 4 , further comprising instructions for:

determining a target physical controller PHY of at least one physical controller PHY for received data based on said virtual PHY to physical controller PHY mapping information, said at least one physical controller PHY being coupled with said physical controller.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 5 , further comprising instructions for:

sending said received data from said expander to said target physical controller PHY, said received data becoming target physical controller PHY data.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6 , further comprising instructions for:

utilizing said physical controller to access said target physical controller PHY data received at said target physical controller PHY; and

sending said target physical controller PHY data from said physical controller to said first virtual controller.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , further comprising instructions for:

assigning a second SAS address of said list of SAS addresses to a second virtual PHY of said set of virtual PHYs by said expander, said second virtual PHY at second assigned SAS address representing a second virtual controller of said set of virtual controllers.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 , further comprising instructions for:

receiving data at said second virtual PHY.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein said instructions to exchange support information between a physical controller and an expander, comprise instructions to:

determine expander PHYs on said expander, said expander PHYs comprising at least one of a set of expander physical PHYs and said set of virtual PHYs; and

access information about a device coupled with one of said expander PHYs.

11. A system comprising:

a physical controller coupled with a server;

at least one physical controller PHY coupled with said physical controller;

an expander coupled with a Serial Attached Small Computer System Interface (SAS) switch and further coupled with said physical controller, said expander comprising:

a virtual to physical mapping table comprising virtual PHY to physical controller PHY mapping information, said virtual to physical mapping table based upon zoning instructions for said expander from a graphical user interface, said zoning instructions comprising at least one virtual PHY to physical controller mapping direction; and

a set of virtual PHYs configured to receive data to be routed to a first virtual machine; and

a set of expander PHYs coupled with said expander and to relay the data to a physical controller PHY of said at least one physical controller PHY, said physical controller and said expander to exchange support information, said support information comprising an indication of an ability of said physical controller to support thereon a set of virtual controllers and an indication of an ability of said expander to support thereon said set of virtual PHYs.

12. The system of claim 11 , further comprising:

a SAS address list sender coupled with said physical controller to send to said expander a list of SAS addresses, said SAS addresses of said list of SAS addresses representing virtual controllers of said set of virtual controllers; and

a SAS address list assignor coupled with said expander to assign a first SAS address of said list of SAS addresses to a first virtual PHY of said set of virtual PHYs, said first virtual PHY at said first SAS address corresponding to a first virtual controller of said set of virtual controllers on said first virtual machine.

13. The system of claim 12 , further comprising:

a virtual to physical mapping table information accessor coupled with said expander to access said virtual PHY to physical controller PHY mapping information; and

a target PHY determiner coupled with said virtual to physical mapping table information accessor to determine a target physical controller PHY of said at least one physical controller PHY to which to send said received data based on said virtual PHY to physical controller PHY mapping information.

14. A device, comprising:

a physical controller coupled with a server, said physical controller comprising:

a support determiner to communicate with an expander that is coupled with a Serial Attached Small Computer System Interface (SAS) switch to determine if said expander is enabled to support a set of virtual PHYs thereon; and

a SAS address list sender to send a list of SAS addresses to said expander when said expander is determined to be enabled to support the set of virtual PHYs thereon, said SAS addresses of said list of SAS addresses representing virtual controllers; and

at least one physical controller PHY coupled with said physical controller to enable communication with said expander, said communication comprising said sending said list of SAS addresses and receiving target physical controller PHY data at a target physical controller PHY, said receiving said target physical controller PHY data at the target physical controller PHY based upon zoning instructions for the expander from a graphical user interface, said zoning instructions comprising at least one virtual PHY to physical controller mapping direction.