System and method for generating a world wide name for use with host for enabling communication with a data storage system

A system for generating a world wide name related to a component in a data storage system for use in enabling a host computer to communicate with the data storage system, the system comprising:

• a computer-readable storage medium encoded to enable the execution of the steps of:
• receiving information at the host computer related to the selection of a data storage system for communicating with the host computer;
• presenting to the host computer a list of communication channels or interfaces at the data storage system based on the received information;
• receiving at the host computer information related to the selection of at least one communication channel or interface from the list;
• and
• generating a world wide name at the host computer for each communication channel or interface selected for which information was received, wherein the world wide name is useful for enabling the host computer to communicate with the selected data storage system, wherein the information related to the selected data storage system is a serial number of the data storage system and wherein the generation of the world wide name at the host computer is implemented without ever using the host computer to communicate with the data storage system to retrieve computer readable information from the data storage system.

An apparatus for generating a world wide name related to a component in a data storage system for use in enabling a host computer to communicate with the data storage system, the apparatus comprising:

• means for receiving information at the host computer related to the selection of a data storage system for communicating with the host computer;
• means for presenting to the host computer a list of communication channels or interfaces at the data storage system based on the received information;
• means for receiving information at the host computer related to the selection of at least one communication channel or interface from the list;
• and
• means at the host for generating a world wide name for each communication channel or interface selected for which information was received, wherein the world wide name is useful for enabling the host computer to communicate with the selected data storage system, wherein the information related to the selected data storage system is a serial number of the data storage system and wherein the generation of the world wide name at the host computer is implemented without ever using the host computer to communicate with the data storage system to retrieve computer readable information from the data storage system.