Storage area network methods and apparatus with centralized management

A storage area network (SAN), comprising

• one or more storage units,
• one or more host digital data processors coupled to the one or more storage units via an interconnect,
• one or more agents, each executing on an associated host digital data processor and each in communication with a manager digital data processor,
• the one or more agents each identifying attributes of any of (i) the host digital data processor with which that agent is associated, (ii) the interconnect to which that host digital data processor is coupled, and (iii) storage units to which that host digital data processor is coupled, and communicating those attributes to the host digital data processor,
• the one or more agents each responding to assignment, by the manager digital data processor, of a storage unit to the associated host digital data processor(s) by preventing access by that host digital data processor to others of said storage units in the SAN.

A storage area network (SAN) comprising

• a plurality of hosts coupled via an interconnect with one or more storage units,
• a manager coupled with the hosts,
• a plurality of agents in communication with the manager, each agent associated with a host,
• each agents generating notifications of events with respect to any of (i) the host with which that agent is associated, (ii) the interconnect to which that host is coupled, and (iii) storage units to which that host is coupled,
• the manager responding to an event notification by generating an operator notification if any of (i) a prior event notification for an underlying event has not previously been generated, or (ii) a time elapsed since any prior event notification for the underlying event has exceeds a predefined time interval.

A storage area network (SAN) comprising

• one or more hosts coupled via an interconnect with one or more storage units,
• a manager coupled with the one or more hosts,
• one or more agents in communication with the manager, each agent associated with a host,
• each of the one or more agents generating a notification of an event with respect to any of (i) the host with which it is associated, (ii) the interconnect to which that host is coupled, and (iii) storage units to which that host is coupled,
• the manager comprising
• a policy engine,
• a store that maintains a pre-defined policy defines any of (i) attributes of at least selected hosts, and (ii) relationships of at least selected hosts with one or more storage units,
• the policy engine responding to notification of a least a selected event by effecting execution of an action according to the policy for that event.

In a storage area network (SAN) of the type having a plurality of host digital data processors coupled via an interconnect with one or more storage units, the improvement comprising

• a manager digital data processor,
• a plurality of agents in communication with the manager digital data processor, each agent associated with a host digital data processor,
• the agents identifying attributes of any of (i) the host digital data processor with which it is associated, (ii) the interconnect to which that host digital data processor is coupled, and (iii) storage units to which that host digital data processor is coupled,
• the manager digital data processor responding to attributes identified by the agents to generate a user display of at least host digital data processors, storage units and relationships therebetween.

In a storage area network (SAN) of the type having a plurality of host digital data processors coupled via an interconnect with one or more storage units, the improvement comprising

• a manager digital data processor,
• a plurality of agents in communication with the manager digital data processor, each agent associated with a host digital data processor,
• the agents identifying attributes of any of (i) the host digital data processor with which it is associated, (ii) the interconnect to which that host digital data processor is coupled, and (iii) storage units to which that host digital data processor is coupled,
• the manager digital data processor responding to attributes identified by the agents to generate
• a first view for displaying one or more graphical objects representing one or more respective components of the SAN, where a component comprises any of a storage unit, host digital data processor or interconnect,
• a second view for displaying information regarding attributes of a component whose respective graphical object is selected in the first view.

A storage area network (SAN) comprising

• a plurality of hosts coupled via an interconnect with one or more storage devices,
• a manager,
• a plurality of agents in communication with the manager, each agent associated with a host,
• the agents each identifying attributes of any of (i) the host with which it is associated, (ii) the interconnect to which that host is coupled, and (iii) storage units to which that host is coupled,
• the manager responding to attributes identified by the agents to generate
• a first view for displaying one or more graphical objects representing one or more storage devices and underlying logical units connected to the SAN,
• a second view for displaying information regarding attributes of any of a storage device and a logical unit whose respective graphical object is selected in the first view.

A storage area network (SAN) comprising

• one or more hosts coupled via an interconnect with one or more storage devices,
• a manager,
• one or more agents in communication with the manager, each agent associated with a host,
• the agents each identifying attributes of any of (i) the host with which that agent associated, (ii) the interconnect to which that host is coupled, and (iii) storage units to which that host is coupled,
• the manager determining a topology of the SAN as a function of attributes identified by the agents and storing one or more aspects of that topology to a relational database.

A storage area network (SAN) comprising

• one or more hosts coupled via an interconnect with one or more storage devices,
• a manager,
• one or more agents in communication with the manager, each agent associated with a host,
• the agents each identifying attributes of any of (i) the host with which that agent is associated, (ii) the interconnect to which that host is coupled, and (iii) storage units to which that host is coupled,
• the manager determining a topology of the SAN as a function of attributes identified by the agents and displaying one or more aspects of that topology that correspond to one or more predefined numerical criterion.