International Business Machines Corporation

Marshon Larapheal Robinson

James P Allen

Robert G Kovacs

Marcus Bryan Grande

John Leslie Neemidge

Madhuranath Narasipur Krishna Iyengar

In traditional Fiber Channel systems, remote devices connected to the Fiber Channel network using a bridge or included in a storage enclosure are not tracked. If a remote device, such as a SCSI disk device, is removed or swapped, data errors such as data corruption can result. A device identifier corresponding to the remote device is obtained from the remote device. The device identifier may include the remote device's serial number and other identifying information pertaining to the device. The first time the remote device is used, the device identifier is obtained and stored by the Fiber Channel device using the remote device. This device identifier is compared with subsequently obtained identifiers. If the identifiers match, communication with the remote device occurs. However, if the identifiers do not match, an error condition is raised indicating that the remote device has been removed or swapped.

System and method for improved handling of fiber channel remote devices

In traditional Fibre Channel systems, remote devices connected to the Fibre Channel network using a bridge or included in a storage enclosure are not tracked. A device identifier corresponding to the remote device is obtained from the remote device. The device identifier may include the remote device's serial number and other identifying information pertaining to the device. The remote device's vendor and product identifiers are retrieved and matched against a table of known vendor/product identifiers. If the match is successful, a predefined routine is located based on the match. The predefined routine is repeatedly used to retrieve the device identifier from the remote device. Communication with the remote device continues while the device identifier matches a previously stored device identifier corresponding to the device. When the device identifier no longer matches, an error occurs indicating that the remote device has been removed or swapped.

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Austin, TX, United States of America

Marshon Larapheal Robinson