Patent ID: 6748557
Filing Date: 2004-06-08
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A method for analyzing proposed interface ports to a device, comprising:for each proposed interface port, determining a number of single points of failure for the proposed interface port in common with interface ports currently used to access the device, wherein determining the number of single points of failure further comprises reading failure boundary data from the device indicating at least one failure boundary of a proposed interface to the device; for each proposed interface port, determining a relative availability rating based on the number of single points of failure for each proposed interface port, wherein determining the relative availability rating based on the single points of failure comprises comparing the failure boundary of the proposed interface with failure boundary data indicating at least one failure boundary of existing interfaces to the device; and applying at least one mask to the failure boundary data for the proposed interface and existing interfaces to determine at least one failure boundary for the proposed interface and existing interfaces, wherein the determined at least one failure boundary for the proposed and existing interfaces is compared to determine the relative availability rating.