Method and arrangement for communicating with SCSI devices

An arrangement in a system having a host and one or more small computer system interface (SCSI) devices, the arrangement enabling a user application accessing the system to communicate with one or more of the SCSI devices, comprising:

• means for querying a kernel component in the system for all SCSI devices in the system that are known to the kernel component;
• means for preparing a buffer of virtual handles at the kernel component in response to the querying step, each virtual handle representing a known SCSI device;
• means for forwarding the buffer to the user application;
• means for issuing a command data structure to the kernel component, the command data structure containing the virtual handles and command information;
• means for comparing, at the kernel component, each virtual handle to a list of SCSI device data structures of said SCSI devices known to the kernel component, and
• means for transporting the command data structure to SCSI devices, when there is a match between a virtual handle and a corresponding device data structure of a SCSI device

A computer program product, for use in a system having a bus, a host connected to the bus, and one or more small computer system interface (SCSI) devices connected to the bus, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium having computer program logic stored thereon for enabling a processor of the product to allow a user application accessing the system to communicate with one or more of the SCSI devices, the computer program logic causing the processor to perform the steps of:

• querying a kernel component in the system for all SCSI devices in the system that are known to the kernel component;
• preparing a buffer of virtual handles at the kernel component in response to the querying step, each virtual handle representing a known SCSI device;
• forwarding the buffer to the user application;
• issuing a command data structure to the kernel component, the command data structure containing the virtual handles and command information;
• comparing, at the kernel component, each virtual handle to a list of SCSI device data structures of said SCSI devices known to the kernel component, and
• transporting the command data structure SCSI devices, where there is a match between a virtual handle and a corresponding device data structure of a SCSI device, so as to establish a communication path between the user application and the SCSI devices.