Patent ID: 9727472
Date: 2017-08-08
CPC Classifications: G06F

Claim:
1. An expander operable to link a plurality of initiators to a plurality of Redundant Array of independent Disks logical volumes, the expander comprising: a plurality of physical transceivers, each being operable to link the logical volumes to the initiators; a region lock manager operable to receive a request from a first of the initiators to lock a storage region of the logical volumes for an input/output operation by the first initiator, to determine if the requested storage region is unlocked, to lock the requested storage region from the remaining initiators to allow the input/output operation of the first initiator responsive to determining the requested storage region is unlocked, and to unlock the requested storage region after the input/output operation of the first initiator is complete; one or more message initiators that are coupled to the plurality of initiators and enable the expander to transmit requests to the plurality of initiators; and one or more message targets that transfer the request to the region lock manager for processing.