Patent ID: 7756049
Filing Date: 2010-07-13
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for controlling link state changes, the apparatus comprising: a copy services module configured to control a plurality of link adapters, each link adapter having a control module configured to establish a plurality of communication links between a source and a target storage device, and each link adapter configured to monitor the status of the plurality of communication links; each control module further configured to transmit a first link status change notification associated with the establishment of a communication link to the copy services module after the communication link is established, start a timer upon transmitting the first link status change notification, and stop the timer upon receiving an acknowledgement from the copy services module that the established communication link has been validated, wherein each link adapter continuously monitors the status of the established communication link while the timer is running, and wherein the control module waits to transmit a second link status change notification to the copy services module until after the timer has stopped, the second link status change notification being associated with a monitored status change of the established communication link occurring while the timer is running; and the copy services module further configured to simultaneously process link status change notifications from a plurality of communication links; wherein after receiving the acknowledgement from the copy services module, the control module compares the latest monitored status of the established link with a status of the established link associated with the first link status change notification, wherein the second link status change notification is generated by the control module and transmitted to the copy services module only if the latest monitored status is different than the status of the established link associated with the first link status change notification.