Using high speed data transfer protocol

1. A method of using high speed data transfer protocol to transfer data between a host and a storage system, comprising:

determining if a portion of data is a candidate for being transferred using the high speed data transfer protocol by determining if the portion of the data has been preloaded into the cache memory of the storage system in anticipation of the portion of the data needing to be accessed by the host or if the portion of the data has been recently accessed by the host, wherein the storage system is a stand-alone device coupled to the host and wherein data is transferred between the host and the storage system in a mixed mode that provides for some of the data to be transferred to the storage system using the high speed data transfer protocol and some of the data is transferred to the storage system using a relatively low speed data transfer protocol;

if the portion of the data is not a candidate for high speed data transfer, transferring the portion of the data using the relatively low speed data transfer protocol to transfer the data via a low speed connection from the host to the storage system;

if the portion of the data is a candidate for high speed data transfer, attempting to transfer the portion of the data using the high speed data transfer protocol to transfer the data via a high speed connection from the host to the storage system; and

if transferring the portion of the data using the high speed data transfer protocol is unsuccessful, transferring the portion of the data using the relatively low speed data transfer protocol to transfer the data via the low speed connection from the host to the storage system.

2. A method, according to claim 1 , wherein the high speed data transfer protocol is zHyperlink.

3. A method, according to claim 1 , wherein the relatively low speed data transfer protocol is zHPF.

4. A method, according to claim 1 , wherein the high speed connection is one of: a PCIe connection or an InfiniBand connection.

5. A method, according to claim 1 , wherein the low speed connection is an ANSI FC-SB-3 Single-Byte Command Code Sets-3 Mapping Protocol for Fibre Channel connection.

6. A method, according to claim 1 , wherein relatively large portions of data are split up into smaller portions that are examined for possible transfer using the high speed data transfer protocol.

7. A method, according to claim 1 , wherein a drivers layer on the host determines if a portion of the data is a candidate for being transferred using the high speed data transfer protocol.

8. A non-transitory computer readable medium, according to claim 1 , wherein a drivers layer on the host determines if a portion of the data is a candidate for being transferred using the high speed data transfer protocol.

9. A method, according to claim 1 , wherein determining if the portion of the data has been preloaded into the cache memory of the storage system includes determining if related blocks of data have already been accessed by the host.

10. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing software that uses high speed data transfer protocol to transfer data between a host and a storage system, the software comprising:

executable code that determines if a portion of data is a candidate for being transferred using the high speed data transfer protocol by determining if the portion of the data has been preloaded into the cache memory of the storage system in anticipation of the portion of the data needing to be accessed by the host or if the portion of the data has been recently accessed by the host, wherein the storage system is a stand-alone device coupled to the host and wherein data is transferred between the host and the storage system in a mixed mode that provides for some of the data to be transferred to the storage system using the high speed data transfer protocol and some of the data is transferred to the storage system using a relatively low speed data transfer protocol;

executable code that transfers the portion of the data using the relatively low speed data transfer protocol to transfer the data via a low speed connection from the host to the storage system if the portion of the data is not a candidate for high speed data transfer;

executable code that attempts to transfer the portion of the data using the high speed data transfer protocol to transfer the data via a high speed connection from the host to the storage system if the portion of the data is a candidate for high speed data transfer; and

executable code that transfers the portion of the data using the relatively low speed data transfer protocol to transfer the data via the low speed connection from the host to the storage system if transferring the portion of the data using the high speed data transfer protocol is unsuccessful.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium, according to claim 10 , wherein the high speed data transfer protocol is zHyperlink.

12. A non-transitory computer readable medium, according to claim 10 , wherein the relatively low speed data transfer protocol is zHPF.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium, according to claim 10 , wherein the high speed connection is one of: a PCIe connection or an InfiniBand connection.

14. A non-transitory computer readable medium, according to claim 10 , wherein the low speed connection is an ANSI FC-SB-3 Single-Byte Command Code Sets-3 Mapping Protocol for Fibre Channel connection.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium, according to claim 10 , wherein relatively large portions of data are split up into smaller portions that are examined for possible transfer using the high speed data transfer protocol.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium, according to claim 10 , wherein determining if the portion of the data has been preloaded into the cache memory of the storage system includes determining if related blocks of data have already been accessed by the host.

17. A storage system, comprising:

one or more physical storage units coupled to one or more disk adapters;

at least one host adapter coupled to the one or more disk adaptors;

at least one zHyperlink board coupled to the one or more disk adapters; and

at least one processor provided on the one or more disk adapters, the at least one host adapter, or both, the at least one processor having a non-transitory computer readable medium containing software that uses high speed data transfer protocol to transfer data between a host and a storage system, the software including executable code that determines if a portion of data is a candidate for being transferred using the high speed data transfer protocol by determining if the portion of the data has been preloaded into the cache memory of the storage system in anticipation of the portion of the data needing to be accessed by a host coupled to the storage system or if the portion of the data has been recently accessed by the host, wherein the storage system is a stand-alone device coupled to the host and wherein data is transferred between the host and the storage system in a mixed mode that provides for some of the data to be transferred to the storage system using the high speed data transfer protocol and some of the data is transferred to the storage system using a relatively low speed data transfer protocol, executable code that transfers the portion of the data using the relatively low speed data transfer protocol to transfer the data via a low speed connection from the host to the storage system if the portion of the data is not a candidate for high speed data transfer, executable code that attempts to transfer the portion of the data using the high speed data transfer protocol to transfer the data via a high speed connection from the host to the storage system if the portion of the data is a candidate for high speed data transfer, and executable code that transfers the portion of the data using the relatively low speed data transfer protocol to transfer the data via the low speed connection from the host to the storage system if transferring the portion of the data using the high speed data transfer protocol is unsuccessful.

18. A storage system, according to claim 17 , wherein determining if the portion of the data has been preloaded into the cache memory of the storage system includes determining if related blocks of data have already been accessed by the host.

19. A storage system, according to claim 17 , wherein the high speed data transfer protocol is zHyperlink and the relatively low speed data transfer protocol is zHPF.

20. A storage system, according to claim 17 , wherein the high speed connection is one of: a PCIe connection or an InfiniBand connection and the low speed connection is an ANSI FC-SB-3 Single-Byte Command Code Sets-3 Mapping Protocol for Fibre Channel connection.