Storage area network methods and apparatus with coordinated updating of topology representation

A method, comprising:

• providing a representation of a topology of host and storage devices in the network;
• providing a first queue including at least one notification, wherein the at least one notification indicates updates to the topology of the devices in the network, wherein the updates to the topology indicated by the notifications are a member of a set of updates comprising:
• adding a new storage of service device to the network;
• modifying attributes of one device in the network;
• indicating that a device is missing;
• a change in a relationship or interconnectivity of the devices;
• providing a second queue including at least one task, wherein each of the at least one task is created for handling at least one notification in the first queue associated with the task, wherein each of the at least one task in the second queue is associated with at least one notification in the first queue;
• placing the notifications and tasks on the first and second queues;
• and
• executing the tasks in the second queue to process the at least one notification associated with the executed tasks to update the representation of the topology of the network with the updates indicated in the at least one notification processed by the executed task.

A computer readable medium having a program executed by a system receiving information on host and storage devices in a network, wherein the program is executed to perform operations comprising:

• providing a representation of a topology of the host and storage devices in the network;
• providing a first queue including at least one notification, wherein the at least one notification indicates updates to the topology of the devices in the network, wherein the updates to the topology indicated by the notifications are a member of a set of updates comprising:
• adding a new storage of service device to the network;
• modifying attributes of one device in the network;
• indicating that a device is missing;
• a change in a relationship or interconnectivity of the devices;
• a second queue including at least one task, wherein each of the at least one task is created for handling at least one notification in the first queue associated with the task, wherein each of the at least one task in the second queue is associated with at least one notification in the first queue;
• placing the notifications and tasks on the first and second queues;
• and
• executing the tasks in the second queue to process the at least one notification associated with the executed tasks to update the representation of the topology of the network with the updates indicated in the at least one notification processed by the executed task.

A network, comprising:

• storage devices;
• host devices connected to the storage devices;
• a system including:
• a processor;
• a representation of a topology of the host and storage devices in the network;
• a first queue including at least one notification for each task in the first queue, wherein the at least one notification indicates updates to the topology of the devices in the network, wherein the updates to the topology indicated by the notifications are a member of a set of updates comprising:
• adding a new storage or service device to the network;
• modifying attributes of one device in the network;
• indicating that a device is missing;
• a change in a relationship or interconnectivity of the devices;
• a second queue including at least one task, wherein each of the at least one task is created for handling at least one notification in the first queue associated with the task, wherein each of the at least one task in the second queue is associated with at least one notification in the first queue;
• a computer readable medium including a program executed by the processor to perform:
• placing the notifications and tasks on the first and second queues;
• and
• executing the task in the second queue to process the at least one notification associated with the executed task to update the representation of the topology of the network with the updates indicated in the at least one notification processed by the executed task.

A network, comprising:

• storage devices;
• host devices connected to the storage devices;
• at least one agent, wherein each agent is associated with one of the hosts, for monitoring a topology of the network, wherein the agents identify attributes of any of (i) the host with which it is associated, (ii) the interconnect to which that host is coupled, and (iii) storage units to which that host is coupled;
• and
• a manager service in communication with the agents, comprising:
• a discover module that identifies changes in the network based on attributes identified by the agents and generates at least one notification corresponding to each such change;
• a service module in communication with the discover module that receives the notifications from the discover module, wherein the service module performs:
• generating a first queue including at least one notification, wherein the at least one notification indicates updates to the topology of the devices in the network, wherein the updates to the topology indicated by the notifications are a member of a set of updates comprising:
• adding a new storage of service device to the network;
• modifying attributes of one device in the network;
• indicating that a device is missing;
• a change in a relationship or interconnectivity of the devices;
• generating a second queue including at least one task, wherein each of the at least one task is created for handling at least one notification in the first queue associated with the task, wherein each of the at least one task in the second queue is associated with at least one notification in the first queue;
• placing the notifications and tasks on the first and second queues;
• and
• executing the tasks in the second queue to process the at least one notification associated with the executed task to update the representation of the topology of the network with the updates indicated in the at least one notification processed by the executed task.