Interface technology for moving data via a third party copy engine

A liaison system interposed between an application program running on a host and a third party copy engine (“3PCE”) external to said host, said application program needing to copy desired data from a source device external to said host to a destination device external to said host via said 3PCE, the liaison system comprising:

• an application program interface (“API”) to receive the following first code arrangement from said application program:
• a calling portion;
• and
• at least one data entity portion that identifies said 3PCE, said destination, said desired data and said source;
• and
• a copy command generator to generate a second code arrangement string representing a copy command and corresponding parameters thereof that will cause said 3PCE to copy said desired data from said source to said destination;
• wherein said generator begins operation in response to said calling portion;
• and
• wherein said generator is operable to generate said second code arrangement based upon said data entity portion.

A method of interfacing between application program running on a host and a third party copy engine (“3PCE”) external to said host, said application program needing to copy desired data from a source device external to said host to a destination device external to said host via said 3PCE, the method comprising:

• receiving a first code arrangement from said application program, said first code arrangement including:
• a calling portion;
• and
• at least one data entity portion that identifies said 3PCE, said destination, said desired data and said source;
• initiating, in response to said calling portion, a process to generate a second code arrangement representing a copy command and corresponding parameters thereof that will cause said 3PCE to copy said desired data from said source to said destination;
• and
• forming, once said process is begun, said second code arrangement based upon said data entity portion.

A liaison system interposed between an application program running on a host and a third party copy engine (“3PCE”) external to said host, said application program needing to copy desired data from a source device external to said host to a destination device external to said host via said 3PCE, the liaison system comprising:

• an application program interface (“API”) to receive the following first code arrangement from said application program:
• a calling portion;
• and
• at least one data entity portion that identifies said 3PCE, said destination, said desired data and said source;
• and
• a copy command generator to generate a second code arrangement representing the EXTENDED COPY command defined by the Small Computer Systems Interface (“SCSI”) standard and corresponding parameters thereof that will cause said 3PCE to copy said desired data from said source to said destination;
• wherein said generator begins operation in response to said calling portion;
• and
• wherein said generator is operable to generate said second code arrangement based upon said data entity portion;
• wherein said generator is operable to query said 3PCE a first time to confirm that said 3PCE is of a type supported by said generator before said generator generates said second code arrangement;
• wherein, if said 3PCE is supported, then said generator is operable to query said 3PCE a second time to obtain particular operational parameters supported by said 3PCE for a copy operation;
• wherein said generator is operable to verify that said particular operational parameters received from said 3PCE are each supported by said generator before said generator generates said second code arrangement;
• wherein, if said generator supports fewer than all of said particular operation parameters, then said generator is operable to communicate with said 3PCE to confirm that said 3PCE can tolerate receiving a copy command for which the unsupported ones of said particular operational parameters are not present before said generator generates said second code arrangement;
• and
• wherein if a size of said desired data is greater than said 3PCE can accommodate via execution of a single a copy command, then said generator is operable to generate a plurality of said second code arrangements, wherein each one of said plurality copies less than all of said desired data but together said plurality copies all of said desired data.

A method of interfacing between application program running on a host and a third party copy engine (“3PCE”) external to said host, said application program needing to copy desired data from a source device external to said host to a destination device external to said host via said 3PCE, the method comprising:

• receiving a first code arrangement from said application program, said first code arrangement including:
• a calling portion;
• and
• at least one data entity portion that identifies said 3PCE, said destination, said desired data and said source;
• and
• initiating, in response to said calling portion, a process to generate a second code arrangement representing the EXTENDED COPY command defined by the Small Computer Systems Interface (“SCSI”) standard and corresponding parameters thereof that will cause said 3PCE to copy said desired data from said source to said destination;
• forming, once said process is begun, said second code arrangement based upon said data entity portion;
• querying, before said second code arrangement is formed, said 3PCE to confirm that said 3PCE is of a type supported by said method;
• querying said 3PCE to obtain particular operational parameters supported by said 3PCE for a copy operation;
• verifying, before said second code arrangement is formed, that said particular operational parameters received from said 3PCE are each supported by said method;
• communicating with said 3PCE, if said generator supports fewer than all of said particular operation parameters, to confirm that said 3PCE can tolerate receiving a copy command for which the unsupported ones of said particular operational parameters are not present before said second code arrangement is formed;
• and
• repeating the step of forming, if a size of said desired data is greater than said 3PCE can accommodate via execution of a single a copy command, so as to form a plurality of said second code arrangements, wherein each one of said plurality copies less than all of said desired data but together said plurality copies all of said desired data.