Patent ID: 8725854
Filing Date: 2014-05-13
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method, comprising: (a) receiving a frame or packet at a port of a network device, wherein the network device is a switch, router, iSCSI gateway, or other network node configured to perform a switching function, the frame or packet comprises a read or write command; (b) determining by the port that the frame or packet pertains to access of a virtual storage location of a virtual storage unit representing one or more physical storage locations on one or more physical storage units of a storage area network, wherein the virtual storage unit comprises a virtual logical unit (VLUN) or other virtual representation of storage on the storage area network; (c) obtaining by the port a virtual-physical mapping between the one or more physical storage locations and the virtual storage location; (d) sending by the port a new or modified frame or packet to an initiator or a target specified by the virtual-physical mapping, the initiator or the target are storage devices; (e) requesting, by the port, a lock of the one or more physical storage locations by said port of the network device, requesting the lock indicates allocation of an amount of memory to be read or written at the storage device; and (f) releasing, by the port, the lock upon receiving a status from the target, the status indicates a completion of transferring data from the port to the initiator or the target, releasing the lock indicates de-allocation of the allocated amount of the memory at the storage device.