Apparatus and method to validate the configuration of an information storage and retrieval system

A master controller comprising a processor, memory, an Overwrite Indicator, a Load Physical Indicator, a Load Logical Indicator, and a computer readable medium having computer readable program code disposed therein to validate the configuration of an information storage and retrieval system, wherein said master controller is capable of communicating with a source information storage and retrieval system comprising (N) physical objects and (M) logical objects, and wherein said article of manufacture is capable of communicating with a target information storage and retrieval system, the computer readable program code comprising a series of computer readable program steps to effect:

• when overwriting the configuration of said target information storage and retrieval system, setting said Overwrite Indicator;
• when loading the physical configuration of said source information storage and retrieval system to said target information storage and retrieval system, setting said Load Physical Indicator;
• when loading the logical configuration of said source information storage and retrieval system to said target information storage and retrieval system, setting said Load Logical Indicator;
• receiving a command to validate the configuration of said target information storage and retrieval system with respect to said source information storage and retrieval system, wherein said source information storage and retrieval system comprises an (i)th physical object, wherein (i) is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to (N);
• when said source information storage and retrieval system comprises a logical object corresponding to said (i)th physical object, and when said target information storage and retrieval system does not include said (i)th physical object, providing an error message failing said configuration validation.

A computer program product encoded in an information storage medium and usable with a programmable computer processor disposed in a master controller comprising an Overwrite Indicator, a Load Physical Indicator, and a Load Logical Indicator, to validate the configuration of an information storage and retrieval system, comprising:

• computer readable program code which, when overwriting the configuration of said target information storage and retrieval system, causes said programmable computer processor to set said Overwrite Indicator;
• computer readable program code which, when loading the physical configuration of said source information storage and retrieval system to said target information storage and retrieval system, causes said programmable computer processor to set said Load Physical Indicator;
• computer readable program code which, when loading the logical configuration of said source information storage and retrieval system to said target information storage and retrieval system, causes said programmable computer processor to set said Load Logical Indicator;
• computer readable program code which causes said programmable computer processor to receive a command to validate the configuration of said target information storage and retrieval system with respect to said source information storage and retrieval system, wherein said source information storage and retrieval system comprises an (i)th physical object, wherein (i) is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to (N);
• computer readable program code which, when said source information storage and retrieval system comprises a logical object corresponding to said (i)th physical object and when said target information storage and retrieval system does not include said (i)th physical object, causes said programmable computer processor to provide an error message failing said configuration validation.