Patent ID: 7222176
Filing Date: 2007-05-22
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method for managing a storage area network (SAN), the method comprising: defining storage domains respectively having associated configurable storage management properties that are separate from individual physical capabilities of physical storage resources available through the SAN, wherein a first set of storage management properties is associated with a first storage domain and a second set of storage management properties is associated with a second storage domain, with the first set of storage management properties being different from the second set of storage management properties; accommodating the creation of logical volumes configurable for presentation to hosts through the SAN; and allocating the logical volumes to hosts in the context of the storage domains, wherein allocating a first logical volume to a first host in the context of the first storage domain entails the provision of storage resources according to the first set of storage management properties and allocating a second volume to a second host in the context of the second storage domain entails the provision of storage resources according to the second set of storage management properties wherein presentation of logical volumes to hosts accommodates storage resource access by hosts without requiring hosts to be configured according to the requirements of the physical storage resources, and wherein said allocation of the first logical volume to the first host entails the provision of storage resources according to the first set of storage management properties and said allocation of the second logical volume to the second host subject entails the provision of storage resources according to the second set of storage management properties even though the first logical volume and second logical volume are created from physical storage resources in common.