Methods and apparatus for non-disruptive upgrade by redirecting I/O operations

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for non-disruptive upgrade by redirecting I/O operations. With this arrangement, a driver upgrade does not require restarting an application. In one embodiment, a method includes installing on a computer a legacy upgrade module in a kernel having a legacy driver with first and second loadable extensions for handling input/output operations for applications to and from devices, retrieving and storing static configuration data from the legacy driver, transferring the stored static configuration data to a new driver, obtaining runtime device configuration data from the devices and transferring the runtime device configuration data to the new driver, and filtering device input/output operations such that prior to cutover input/output operations are directed by the LUM through device stacks for the legacy driver and after cutover input/output operations are directed to the new driver.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.