System and method for providing persistent node names

A computer implemented method for use with a switching network, comprising:

• connecting to the switching network;
• searching to locate a unique identifier in a root volume by reading a configuration file stored in the root volume associated with a computer;
• in response to not locating the unique identifier in the configuration file, generating a new unique identifier generated using persistent data found in the computer, and storing the new unique identifier in the configuration file as a persistent unique identifier of the computer, and setting the new unique identifier to the persistent unique identifier of the computer;
• in response to locating the unique identifier stored in the configuration file, setting the unique identifier to the persistent unique identifier of the computer;
• and determining whether another device connected to the switching network is utilizing a same unique identifier of the computer.

A method for providing a persistent node name to a storage system, comprising:

• searching for a node name stored in a configuration file stored in a root volume associated with the storage system, the node name identifying the storage system;
• in response to not finding the node name in the configuration file, generating a new node name from a serial number associated with the storage system, storing the new node name in the configuration file as the persistent node name, and setting the new node name to the persistent node name;
• in response to finding the node name in the configuration file, setting the node name found in the configuration file to the persistent node name;
• and
• checking for a duplicate node name.

A method for providing a persistent node name to a storage system connected to a Fibre Channel switching network, comprising:

• searching for a node name stored in a configuration file stored in a root volume associated with the storage system;
• in response to not finding the node name in the configuration file, generating a new node name for use as the persistent node name by the storage system utilizing a serial number associated with the storage system;
• in response to finding the node name in the configuration file, setting the node name to the persistent node name found in the configuration file;
• connecting to the Fibre Channel switching network;
• requesting, from a name server associated with the Fibre Channel switching network, a list of node names connected to the Fibre Channel switching network;
• determining if another device exists on the Fibre Channel switching network with a duplicate node name;
• disconnecting, in response to identifying another device connected to the Fibre Channel switching network that has the duplicate node name, from the Fibre Channel switching network;
• performing, in response to not finding another device connected to the Fibre Channel switching network with the duplicate node name, an initialization routine for the storage system;
• and
• replacing any hardware of the storage system except hardware comprising the root volume, wherein replacing the any hardware does not change the persistent node name associated with the storage system.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing executable program instructions executed by a processor, comprising:

• program instructions that search for a unique identifier stored in a configuration file stored in a root volume of a storage system;
• program instructions that, in response to not finding the unique identifier in the configuration file, generate a new unique identifier, program instructions that store the new unique identifier in the configuration file as a persistent unique identifier of the storage system, and program instructions that set the new unique identifier to the persistent unique identifier of the storage system;
• and
• program instructions that, in response to finding the unique identifier in the configuration file, set the unique identifier found in the configuration file to the persistent unique identifier of the storage system.

A method for providing a persistent node name to a storage system connected to a switching network, comprising:

• searching for a node name stored in a configuration file stored in a root volume associated with the storage system;
• in response to not finding the node name in the configuration file, generating a new node name for the storage system by utilizing a serial number associated with a NVRAM of the storage system;
• storing the persistent node name in the configuration file as the persistent node name;
• setting the new node name to the persistent node name;
• in response to finding the node name in the configuration file, setting the node name to the persistent node name in the configuration file;
• and
• replacing any hardware of the storage system except hardware comprising the root volume, wherein replacing the any hardware does not change the persistent node name associated with the storage system.