Patent ID: 7225243

Claim:
A method for target device discovery on a network comprising plurality of hosts, each of the hosts having a corresponding one of a plurality of initiators, the network further comprising a plurality of target devices in communication with one another, the method comprising: identifying a master initiator from among the plurality of initiators connected to the plurality of hosts, other initiators of the plurality of initiators being at least one slave initiator; transmitting a multicast signal from the master initiator over the network, the transmitting occurring continually at a multicast interval, the multicast signal being a signal that is sent to all nodes within the network; transmitting a registration by a unicast signal to the master initiator, the registration being transmitted from each of the target devices connected to the network, the registration being transmitted in response to a first receipt of the multicast signal upon being connected to the network; re-registering each target device connected to the network by transmitting a unicast signal to the master initiator, the re-registering being performed periodically at a selected re-registration interval; determining if a previously registered target device re-registered with the master initiator; removing the previously registered target device from a list of active target devices connected to the network when the previously registered target device has not re-registered within the selected re-registration interval, wherein the list of active target devices is maintained by the master initiator; and sending out a next multicast signal, wherein the next multicast signal includes information regarding the previously registered target device when the previously registered target device is determined to have re-registered during a current multicast interval, the current multicast interval being a period from a previous transmission of the multicast signal to the sending out of the next multicast signal.