Fiber channel connection storage controller

A method of attempting access to a storage system coupled to a plurality of host computers via a network, wherein the storage system has a plurality of storage regions, the method comprising the steps of:

• for at least one of the storage regions, registering in the storage system, distinctive identification information for two or more of the host computers permitted to access the storage region;
• receiving distinctive identification information in a frame issued by a given one of the plurality of host computers attempting access to the storage system;
• receiving storage region information in the frame identifying the at least one storage region of the storage system to be accessed;
• determining whether the access attempted is permissible by checking whether the distinctive identification information in the frame corresponding to the storage region information is registered in the storage system;
• and
• if the access attempted is not permissible, sending to the given one of the plurality of host computers a response frame indicating rejection of the attempted access of the storage system.

In a data system having a plurality of host computers, a storage subsystem, and an interface coupled to the plurality of host computers and the storage subsystem, wherein the interface transfers data frames between said plurality of host computers and said storage subsystem, the storage subsystem comprising:

• a storage controller;
• and
• at least one storage device having divided partitions, wherein two or more of the host computers are permitted access to at least one of the divided partitions;
• wherein said storage controller recognizes a received access request in a data frame transferred from one of the plurality of host computers, wherein the received access request includes distinctive identifying information for a given one of the plurality of host computers, and includes built-in protocol information identifying the at least one of the divided partitions of the storage device;
• and
• wherein said storage controller grants the received access request if the distinctive identifying information for the given one of the host computers corresponding to the at least one divided partition matches distinctive identifying information for one of the two or more of the host computers that are permitted access to the at least one divided partition.

A data transfer network comprising:

• a plurality of host computers;
• a storage system logically divided into storage portions, wherein two or more of the host computers are permitted access to at least one of the divided storage portions;
• and
• a network interface coupled to said plurality of host computers and said storage system, wherein the network interface transfers frames between said plurality of host computers and said storage system;
• wherein said storage system recognizes a received frame transferred from one of the plurality of host computers, which includes distinctive identifying information for a given one of the plurality of host computers in a first layer of the frame, and includes data in a second layer, the data containing information identifying the at least one storage portion;
• and checks whether distinctive identifying information for the given one of the host computers matches distinctive identifying information for one of the two or more of the host computers that are permitted access to the at least one divided storage portion.

A storage system for use with a plurality of computers via a network, said storage system comprising:

• at least one storage device for storing data, said storage device having a plurality of storage regions, wherein two or more of the computers are permitted access to at least one of the storage portions;
• a storage controller coupled to said computers via said network for controlling said storage device, said storage controller processing a frame containing a first level logical layer having a logical unit number for identifying the at least one of said storage regions, and a second level logical layer having distinct identification information for identifying a given one of said computers;
• a table in said storage controller for storing the distinct identification information for the two or more of the computers as computers permitted to access the at least one of the storage region;
• wherein said first level logical layer is an upper-level logical layer relative to said second level logical layer;
• wherein said second layer has said first layer in a field of the second layer;
• and
• wherein said storage controller decides whether or not the at least one storage region identified by said logical unit number is accessible by the given one of said computers identified by said distinct identification information based on said table.

A storage system for use with a plurality of computers via a network, said storage system comprising:

• at least one storage device for storing data, said storage device having a plurality of storage regions, wherein two or more of the computers are permitted access to at least one of the storage portions;
• a storage controller coupled to said computers via said network for controlling said storage device, said storage controller processing a frame including a first level logical layer having a logical unit number for identifying the at least one storage region, and a second level logical layer having distinct identification information for identifying a given one of said computers;
• a table in said storage controller for storing the distinct identification information for the two or more computers as computers permitted to access to the at least one storage region;
• wherein said first level logical layer is an upper-level logical layer relative to said second level logical layer;
• wherein said first level logical layer is different from said second level logical layer;
• and
• wherein said storage controller decides whether or not said at least one storage region identified by said logical unit number is accessible by the given one of said computers identified by said distinct identification information based on said table.