Systems and methods for auto-detection and auto-configuration of uplinks and server interfaces for storage solutions

1. A computer-implemented method for automatically detecting and configuring connections in a Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)-based communications network, the method comprising:

given a virtual fabric (vfabric) comprising one or more I/O modules (IOMs), in which each of the one or more IOMs has been assigned an FCoE Virtual LAN (VLAN) identifier, at least one of the one or more IOMs performing steps comprising:

responsive to obtaining information that an uplink interface of a IOM of the one or more IOMs is available, sending a fabric login (FLOGI) via the uplink interface that is available;

in response to receiving at the uplink interface of the IOM a fabric login (FLOGI) response, identifying the uplink interface as a Fibre Channel (FC) Gateway type interface and causing the uplink interface to be added to a first uplink group and marked as an FC gateway interface;

in response to receiving at the uplink interface a FLOGI request, identifying the uplink interface as an FC Direct Attach type interface and causing the uplink interface to be added to a second uplink group and marked as an FC direct attach interface;

determining whether a server interface coupled to the TOM support FCoE; and

configuring the server interface based on the type of uplink interface identified.

2. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:

for each uplink interface in which neither a FLOGI response nor a FLOGI request was received:

initiating one or more link resets on the uplink interface; and

in response to a timeout condition being met or a link reset being received, resuming with the step of sending a FLOGI via the uplink interface.

3. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:

in response to not receiving the information, deleting the vfabric;

assigning to each set of IOMs VLAN identifiers that comprise an untagged VLAN;

generating a list of uplink interfaces that have received data control bridge exchange (DCBx) protocol data units (PDUs), but have not received link aggregation control protocol (LACP) PDUs;

using one or more of the DCBx PDUs to configure an uplink interface from the list of uplink interfaces;

adding the uplink interface to one or more untagged VLANs;

via the uplink interface, sending a VLAN discovery request upstream;

in response to receiving a VLAN notification, adding the uplink interface to an FCoE group; and

associating the uplink interface with an FCoE VLAN.

4. The computer-implemented method according to claim 3 , further comprising, in response to not receiving the VLAN notification, proceeding with a second interface.

5. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein configuring the server interface comprises the steps of:

in response to determining that a type of the uplink interface is present at a first IOM:

applying to a server interface associated with the first TOM a first set of control bridge exchange (DCB) configurations that comprise Virtual LAN (VLAN) settings and FCoE VLAN settings; and

applying to a server interface of a second IOM a second set of DCB configurations that comprise VLAN settings and FCoE VLAN settings.

6. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein configuring the server interfaces comprises the steps of:

in response to determining that an FCoE type uplink is present:

applying to a server interface of a first IOM a control bridge exchange (DCB) configuration that has been received at an IOM interface and comprises a Virtual LAN (VLAN) configuration and an FCoE VLAN configuration, the FCoE VLAN configuration having been learned on an uplink interface coupled to the first IOM; and

applying to a server interface of a second IOM a second DCB configuration that has been received at a second IOM interface and comprises a VLAN configuration and an FCoE VLAN configuration, the FCoE VLAN configuration having been learned on an uplink interface coupled to the second IOM.

7. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein determining whether a server interface coupled to the IOM support FCoE comprises the steps of:

querying a model system management (MSM) to obtain information comprising whether server interfaces of a set of IOMs support FCoE; and

communicating at least some of the information to one or more IOMs associated with the server interfaces to facilitate deployment of a Virtual LAN (VLAN) or the vfabric on one or more TOM downlink interfaces based on one or more VLAN configurations of uplink interfaces.

8. The computer-implemented method according to claim 7 , wherein querying is performed by an IOM.

9. The computer-implemented method according to claim 8 , wherein the information further comprises partition information about the server interfaces.

10. The computer-implemented method according to claim 7 , wherein the server interfaces comprise a converged network adapter (CNA) interface that is coupled to at least one of the VLAN or the vfabric.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium or media comprising one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, causes steps to be performed comprising:

given a virtual fabric (vfabric) comprising one or more I/O modules (IOMs), in which each of the one or more IOMs has been assigned a Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) Virtual LAN (VLAN) identifier, for at least one of the one or more IOMs:

responsive to obtaining information that an uplink interface of the IOM is available, sending a fabric login (FLOGI) via the uplink interface that is available;

in response to receiving at the uplink interface of the IOM a fabric login (FLOGI) response, identifying the uplink interface as a Fibre Channel (FC) Gateway type interface and causing the uplink interface to be added to a first uplink group and marked as FC gateway interface;

in response to receiving at the uplink interface a FLOGI request, identifying the uplink interface as an FC Direct Attach type interface and causing the uplink interface to be added to a second uplink group and marked as FC direct attach interface;

determining whether a server interface coupled to the TOM support FCoE; and

based on the type of uplink interface identified, configuring the server interface.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium or media of claim 11 , wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium or media further comprises one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, causes steps to be performed comprising:

for each uplink interface in which neither a FLOGI response nor a FLOGI request was received:

initiating one or more link resets on the uplink interface; and

in response to a timeout condition being met or a link reset being received, resuming with the step of sending a FLOGI via the uplink interface.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium or media of claim 11 , wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium or media further comprises one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, causes steps to be performed comprising:

in response to not receiving the information, deleting the vfabric;

assigning to each set of IOMs identifiers;

generating a list of uplink interfaces that have received data control bridge exchange (DCBx) protocol data units (PDUs), but have not received link aggregation control protocol (LACP) PDUs;

using one or more of the DCBx PDUs to configure an uplink interface from the list of uplink interfaces;

adding the uplink interface to one or more untagged VLANs;

via the uplink interface, sending a VLAN discovery request upstream;

in response to receiving a VLAN notification, adding the uplink interface to an FCoE group; and

associating the uplink interface with an FCoE VLAN.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium or media of claim 11 , wherein configuring the server interface comprises the steps of:

determining that server interfaces of a first and second I/O module (TOM) interfaces of an IOM support Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE);

in response to determining that a set of FC type uplinks is present, applying to a server interface of the first IOM a first set of control bridge exchange (DCB) configurations that comprise Virtual LAN (VLAN) settings and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) VLAN settings; and

applying to a server interface of the second IOM a second set of DCB configurations comprising a second set of DCB configurations that comprise VLAN settings and FCoE VLAN settings.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium or media of claim 11 , wherein determining whether the server interface coupled to the IOM support FCoE comprises the steps of:

querying a model system management (MSM) to obtain information comprising whether one or more server IOM interfaces of a set of IOMs support FCoE;

using the information to generate a list of server IOM interfaces that have FCoE partition enabled; and

communicating some or all of content of the list to IOMs associated with the server IOM interfaces to facilitate deployment of a Virtual LAN (VLAN) or the vfabric on TOM uplink interfaces as one of FC uplink type or FCoE uplink type.

16. A Fibre Channel (FC) system for automatically detecting and configuring connections in a FCoE-based communications network, the system comprising:

an I/O module (IOM), the IOM being part of a virtual fabric (vfabric);

a processor coupled to the IOM;

one or more server interfaces coupled to the IOM;

a model system management (MSM) coupled to the IOM and the one or more server interfaces; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium or media comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause steps to be performed comprising:

responsive to obtaining information that an uplink interface of the IOM is available, sending a fabric login (FLOGI) via the uplink interface that is available;

in response to receiving at the uplink interface of the IOM a fabric login (FLOGI) response, identifying the uplink interface as an FC Gateway type interface and causing the uplink interface to be added to a first uplink group and marked as an FC gateway interface;

in response to receiving at the uplink interface of the IOM a FLOGI request, identifying the uplink interface as an FC Direct Attach type interface and causing the uplink interface to be added to a second uplink group and marked as an FC direct attach interface; and

for each uplink interface in which neither a FLOGI response nor a FLOGI request was received:

initiating a link reset on the uplink interface that has not received either the FLOGI response or the FLOGI request; and

in response to a timeout condition being met or a link reset being received, resuming with the step of sending a FLOGI via the uplink interface.

17. The FC system according to claim 16 , wherein at least one of the one or more server interfaces are coupled to a converged network adapter (CNA) interface that is coupled to the vfabric.

18. The FC system according to claim 16 , wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium or media further comprises instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause steps to be performed comprising:

determining whether one or more of the one or more server interfaces support Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE); and

based on the type of uplink interface identified, configuring at least one of the one or more the server interfaces.

19. The FC system according to claim 18 , wherein determining whether the one or more server interfaces support FCoE comprises querying the MSM.

20. The FC system according to claim 18 , wherein configuring one or more server interfaces comprises applying to at least one of the one or more server interfaces a set of control bridge exchange (DCB) configurations that comprise one or more Virtual LAN (VLAN) settings.