System and method for inband management of a virtual disk
AssigneeNetwork Appliance, Inc.
InventorsHerman Lee, Rebecca Beaman, Arthur F. Lent
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention provides a system and method for inband management of a virtual disk. A novel volume information command, which is a vendor-specific SCSI command, is sent by a client to a storage appliance, in response, generates a data structure containing various path and networking data associated with a vdisk. This data structure is then returned to the requesting client via a SCSI connection. A client may then utilize the returned information for generating snapshots or other data integrity/backup features offered by the storage appliance.
Claims85
A method for inband management of a vdisk stored on a storage system, the method comprising the steps of:
- sending an inband volume information command to the storage system, where the inband volume information command is a Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) command;
- and
- returning, in response to receiving the inband volume information command, volume information associated with the vdisk, where the vdisk is an encapsulated data container stored within the storage system.
A method for a client to perform a file system operation to a vdisk stored on multi-protocol storage appliance, the method comprising the steps of:
- sending an inband volume information command to the storage appliance, where the inband volume information command is a Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) command;
- returning volume information associated with the vdisk, where the vdisk is an encapsulated data container stored within the storage system;
- and
- performing the file system operation directed to the vdisk using the returned volume information.
A storage operating system executing on a storage appliance, the operating system comprising:
- a small computer systems interface target code module, the small computer systems interface target code module adapted to return a set of volume information to a client in response to receiving an inband volume information command from the client, where the inband volume information command is a Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) command.
A method for mapping a storage area network logical unit number to a network attached storage path on a storage appliance, the method comprising the steps of:
- sending an inband volume information command to the storage appliance, where the inband volume information command is a Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) command;
- and
- returning a set of volume information associated with the storage appliance, the volume information comprising the network attached storage path name associated with the storage area network logical unit number.
A computer readable medium, executing on a computer, the computer readable medium including program instructions for performing the steps of:
- opening a data access connection to a vdisk stored on a storage system, where the vdisk is an encapsulated data container stored within the storage system;
- sending an inband volume information command, where the inband volume information command is a Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) command, to the storage system via the data access connection;
- and
- receiving volume information via the data access connection.
A block access protocol, the block access protocol comprising:
- an inband volume information command, where the inband volume information command is a Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) command, adapted to cause a to respond with volume information via the block access protocol, the vdisk is an encapsulated data container stored within the storage system.
A system for inband management of a vdisk stored on a storage system, the system comprising:
- means for sending an inband volume information command to the storage system, where the inband volume information command is a Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) command;
- and
- means for returning, in response to receiving the inband volume information command, volume information associated with the vdisk, where the vdisk is an encapsulated data container stored within the storage system.
Electromagnetic signals propagating on a computer network for execution on a computer, the electromagnetic signals including program instructions for performing the steps of:
- opening a data access connection to a vdisk stored on a storage system, where the vdisk is an encapsulated data container stored within the storage system;
- sending an inband volume information command, where the inband volume information command is a Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) command, to the storage system via the data access connection;
- and
- receiving volume information via the data access connection.
A method for use with inband management of a vdisk stored on a storage system, the method comprising the steps of:
- sending an inband volume information command to the storage system, where the inband volume information command is a Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) command;
- and
- receiving volume information associated with the vdisk from the storage system, where the vdisk is an encapsulated data container stored within the storage system.
A method for use in a storage system for inband management of a vdisk stored on the storage system, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving an inband volume information command, where the inband volume information command is a Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) command;
- and
- returning, in response to receiving the inband volume information command, volume information associated with the vdisk, where the vdisk is an encapsulated data container stored within the storage system.
A method for use in a storage system, the method comprising the steps of:
- sending, to the storage system, a single disk information request command having an op-code field, the op-code field supporting a vendor-defined value;
- writing a specific vendor-defined value into the op-code field, the specific vendor-defined value for requesting information associated with a vdisk, where the vdisk is an encapsulated data container stored within the storage system;
- and
- receiving information associated with the vdisk from the storage system, the information containing data from a plurality of disks.
A method for use with management of a vdisk stored on a storage system, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving, at the storage system, a single disk information request command having an op-code field, the op-code field having a specific vendor-defined value for requesting information associated with a vdisk, where the vdisk is an encapsulated data container stored within the storage system;
- and
- returning information associated with the vdisk, the information containing data from a plurality of disks.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.