Method and apparatus for relocating RAID meta data

A method for enabling interoperability of a RAID implementation between different host systems, the method comprising:

• identifying meta data for a RAID implementation;
• storing the meta data of the RAID implementation;
• transferring the RAID implementation from a first host system to a second host system;
• and
• accessing the meta data for each disk of the RAID implementation in response to the start-up of the second host system,
• wherein the meta data is stored in one of a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) associated with each disk of the RAID implementation and a last sector of each disk of the RAID implementation.

A method for enabling meta data of a RAID implementation to be recognized by different host systems, the method comprising:

• identifying meta data for a RAID implementation;
• storing the meta data of the RAID implementation in a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) if access to the NVRAM is available;
• if access to the NVRAM is not available, then storing the meta data for the RAID implementation in a last sector of each disk of the RAID implementation,
• transferring the RAID implementation from a first host system to a second host system;
• accessing the meta data in the NVRAM or the last sector of each disk of the RAID implementation in response to the start-up of the second host system;
• and
• determining if the meta data requires modification to communicate with the second host system.

A computer readable media containing program instructions for enabling interoperability of a RAID implementation between different host systems, the computer readable media comprising:

• program instructions for identifying meta data for a RAID implementation;
• program instructions for storing the meta data of the RAID implementation;
• program instructions for transferring the RAID implementation from a first host system to a second host system;
• and
• program instructions for accessing the meta data for each disk of the RAID implementation in response to the start-up of the second host system wherein the meta data is stored in one of a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) associated with each disk of the RAID implementation and a last sector of each disk of the RAID implementation.