Asymmetric logical unit access path selection system

An Information Handling System (IHS), comprising:

• a processing system;
• and
• a memory system that is coupled to the processing system and that includes instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the processing system to provide a path selection engine that is configured to:
• receive, via at least one first Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) Initialization Protocol (FIP) Snooping Bridge (FSB) device, a host device communication generated by a host device;
• retrieve, from the host device communication, a host device hop count that identifies a number of hops between the host device and the processing system;
• receive, via at least one second FSB device, a storage subsystem communication generated by a storage subsystem;
• retrieve, from the storage subsystem communication, a storage subsystem hop count that identifies a number of hops between the storage subsystem and the processing system;
• receive, from the host device, a hop count request;
• and
• transmit, in response to the hop count request, at least one of the host device hop count and the storage subsystem hop count, wherein the at least one of the host device hop count and the storage subsystem hop count are configured for use by the host device to select an active-optimized path to a Logical Unit Number (LUN) included in the storage subsystem.

A method for path selection in an Asymmetric Logical Unit Access (ALUA) system, comprising:

• receiving, by a first Fiber Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) networking device via at least one first FCoE Initialization Protocol (FIP) Snooping Bridge (FSB) device, a first host device communication generated by a host device;
• retrieving, by the first FCoE networking device from the first host device communication, a first host device hop count that identifies a number of hops between the host device and the first FCoE networking device;
• receiving, by the first FCoE networking device via at least one second FSB device, a first storage subsystem communication generated by a storage subsystem;
• retrieving, by the first FCoE networking device from the first storage subsystem communication, a first storage subsystem hop count that identifies a number of hops between the storage subsystem and the first FCoE networking device;
• receiving, by the first FCoE networking device from the host device, a first hop count request;
• and
• transmitting, by the first FCoE networking device in response to the first hop count request, at least one of the first host device hop count and the first storage subsystem hop count, wherein the at least one of the first host device hop count and the first storage subsystem hop count are configured for use by the host device to select an active-optimized path to a Logical Unit Number (LUN) included in the storage subsystem.