Granted Patent B2

US 12,619,374 · App. 18/519,353 · Granted May 5, 2026

Inventors: Amit Pundalik Anchi (Bangalore, IN); Rimpesh Patel (Bangalore, IN)

Assignee: Dell Products L.P.

G06F3/0655G06F3/0604G06F3/067

Abstract

Claims (42)

1 . An apparatus comprising:

at least one processing device comprising a processor coupled to a memory;

the at least one processing device being configured:

to implement a centralized discovery controller for coupling to a host and to a storage system accessed by the host;

wherein the centralized discovery controller is configured:

to receive discovery requests from the host and to provide, in response to each of one or more of the discovery requests, information identifying at least one storage system endpoint to which the host is permitted to connect;

to receive, from at least one of the host and the storage system, information indicating a need for an adjustment in at least one zone set, a given such zone set specifying a plurality of endpoints including one or more host endpoints and one or more storage system endpoints; and

responsive to the received information, to automatically initiate the adjustment in the at least one zone set;

wherein the information indicating a need for an adjustment in at least one zone set comprises a request from the host, generated based at least in part on a condition detected by the host, to move at least one endpoint from a configured zone set maintained for the host in the centralized discovery controller to an active zone set maintained for the host in the centralized discovery controller, the request being sent from the host to the centralized discovery controller to direct the centralized discovery controller to modify the configured zone set and the active zone set as requested by the host, the modification of the configured zone set and the active zone set being carried out in the centralized discovery controller through adjustment of the configured zone set and the active zone set in at least one zoning database maintained by the centralized discovery controller.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one processing device comprises at least a portion of a switch fabric over which the host communicates with the storage system.

3 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the host endpoints comprise respective host initiators and the storage system endpoints comprise respective storage system targets.

4 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the centralized discovery controller is further configured to identify particular targets of the storage system that are accessible to the host.

5 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the information indicating the need for the adjustment in the at least one zone set is received in the centralized discovery controller from a multi-path input-output driver of the host and wherein the multi-path input-output driver controls delivery of input-output operations from the host to the storage system over selected paths.

6 . The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the information indicating the need for the adjustment in the at least one zone set is generated by the multi-path input-output driver based at least in part on an issue detected by the multi-path input-output driver, wherein the issue detected by the multi-path input-output driver comprises at least one of:

a loss of at least a threshold number of connections between one or more host endpoints and one or more storage system endpoints;

at least a threshold amount of change in a workload of at least one application executing on the host; and

at least a threshold amount of performance degradation associated with one or more fabric performance impact notifications (FPINs) relating to a storage area network (SAN) over which the host communicates with the storage system.

7 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the information indicating the need for the adjustment in the at least one zone set comprises a request from the host for the centralized discovery controller to initiate a particular type of adjustment in the at least one zone set.

8 . The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the particular type of adjustment comprises at least one of an addition of at least one endpoint to a given zone set and a deletion of at least one endpoint from the given zone set.

9 . The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the request for the centralized discovery controller to initiate a particular type of adjustment in the at least one zone set comprises at least one command sent from a multi-path input-output driver of the host utilizing a particular storage access protocol.

10 . The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the request for the centralized discovery controller to initiate a particular type of adjustment in the at least one zone set comprises a request to modify a status of at least one endpoint from a configured status to an active status for the at least one zone set.

11 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the information indicating the need for the adjustment in the at least one zone set comprises a request from the storage system for the centralized discovery controller to initiate a particular type of adjustment in the at least one zone set.

12 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the information indicating the need for the adjustment in the at least one zone set comprises at least one Asynchronous Event Notification (AEN) sent from one of the host and the storage system and associated with at least one corresponding Asynchronous Event Request (AER) previously sent by the centralized discovery controller to one of the host and the storage system.

13 . The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the AEN is sent from the storage system to the centralized discovery controller and indicates a detected condition relating to one or more storage system endpoints that will adversely impact one or more connections between the host and the storage system.

14 . The apparatus of claim 13 wherein responsive to receipt of the AEN from the storage system, the centralized discovery controller automatically initiates the adjustment in the at least one zone set at least in part by sending an AEN to the host, wherein the host, responsive to receipt of the AEN from the centralized discovery controller, sends a log page command to the centralized discovery controller to determine one or more new endpoints to which it should connect to alleviate the detected condition.

15 . A computer program product comprising a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having stored therein program code of one or more software programs, wherein the program code when executed by at least one processing device comprising a processor coupled to a memory, causes the at least one processing device:

to implement a centralized discovery controller for coupling to a host and to a storage system accessed by the host;

wherein the centralized discovery controller is configured:

to receive discovery requests from the host and to provide, in response to each of one or more of the discovery requests, information identifying at least one storage system endpoint to which the host is permitted to connect;

to receive, from at least one of the host and the storage system, information indicating a need for an adjustment in at least one zone set, a given such zone set specifying a plurality of endpoints including one or more host endpoints and one or more storage system endpoints; and

responsive to the received information, to automatically initiate the adjustment in the at least one zone set;

wherein the information indicating a need for an adjustment in at least one zone set comprises a request from the host, generated based at least in part on a condition detected by the host, to move at least one endpoint from a configured zone set maintained for the host in the centralized discovery controller to an active zone set maintained for the host in the centralized discovery controller, the request being sent from the host to the centralized discovery controller to direct the centralized discovery controller to modify the configured zone set and the active zone set as requested by the host, the modification of the configured zone set and the active zone set being carried out in the centralized discovery controller through adjustment of the configured zone set and the active zone set in at least one zoning database maintained by the centralized discovery controller.

16 . The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the information indicating the need for the adjustment in the at least one zone set comprises a request from one of the host and the storage system for the centralized discovery controller to initiate a particular type of adjustment in the at least one zone set.

17 . The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the information indicating the need for the adjustment in the at least one zone set comprises at least one Asynchronous Event Notification (AEN) sent from one of the host and the storage system and associated with at least one corresponding Asynchronous Event Request (AER) previously sent by the centralized discovery controller to one of the host and the storage system.

18 . A method comprising:

implementing a centralized discovery controller for coupling to a host and to a storage system accessed by the host, the centralized discovery controller being configured to receive discovery requests from the host and to provide, in response to each of one or more of the discovery requests, information identifying at least one storage system endpoint to which the host is permitted to connect;

receiving, in the centralized discovery controller from at least one of the host and the storage system, information indicating a need for an adjustment in at least one zone set, a given such zone set specifying a plurality of endpoints including one or more host endpoints and one or more storage system endpoints; and

responsive to the received information, automatically initiating in the centralized discovery controller the adjustment in the at least one zone set;

wherein the information indicating a need for an adjustment in at least one zone set comprises a request from the host, generated based at least in part on a condition detected by the host, to move at least one endpoint from a configured zone set maintained for the host in the centralized discovery controller to an active zone set maintained for the host in the centralized discovery controller, the request being sent from the host to the centralized discovery controller to direct the centralized discovery controller to modify the configured zone set and the active zone set as requested by the host, the modification of the configured zone set and the active zone set being carried out in the centralized discovery controller through adjustment of the configured zone set and the active zone set in at least one zoning database maintained by the centralized discovery controller; and

wherein the method is performed by at least one processing device comprising a processor coupled to a memory.

19 . The method of claim 18 wherein the information indicating the need for the adjustment in the at least one zone set comprises a request from one of the host and the storage system for the centralized discovery controller to initiate a particular type of adjustment in the at least one zone set.

20 . The method of claim 18 wherein the information indicating the need for the adjustment in the at least one zone set comprises at least one Asynchronous Event Notification (AEN) sent from one of the host and the storage system and associated with at least one corresponding Asynchronous Event Request (AER) previously sent by the centralized discovery controller to one of the host and the storage system.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (69)