PROTOCOL INDEPENDENT STORAGE DISCOVERY AND ENABLEMENT

摘要

A manager node provides discovery, translation, and mapping services for supported Ethernet protocol layers. The manager node discovers other nodes within the cloud environment and issues commands to each of the discovered nodes to obtain storage device specific information associated to storage devices communicatively connected to the discovered nodes. The storage device information obtained may include such things as device function (initiator or target), device model number, device capacity, and available storage (free), etc. When the manager node has gathered the storage device specific information it makes available to a management application a list of all feasible storage devices that could be utilized within the cloud environment. The management application determines which of the discovered storage devices will be enabled. Subsequently, the manager node serves as an address translator and a gateway between protocols.

主权项

1. A method for Ethernet protocol independent storage device discovery comprising:
emulating, with a manager node, a plurality of cloud nodes, each cloud node capable of sending and receiving of data frames according to a respective Ethernet protocol; discovering one or more cloud nodes, with the manager node, by receiving a reply frame from one or more of the cloud nodes; requesting, with the manager node, storage device specific information from the discovered one or more cloud nodes, wherein storage devices are communicatively connected to each respective one or more cloud nodes; logging, with the manager node, the storage device specific information within a local network device map, and; sending, with the manager node, the network device map to a network manager, the network manager querying the storage device specific information to determine whether to enable the storage devices.