Patent ID: 6965559

Claim:
A method for discovering a topology of a switch from an initiator device, wherein the switch includes a plurality of switch ports, wherein a plurality of Input/Output (I/O) devices are connected to the switch ports, wherein each I/O device and the initiator device connect to the switch through one of the switch ports, wherein the initiator and I/O devices communicate on a first network configured by the switch, wherein the initiator device communicates with the switch over a second network, and wherein the initiator device performs: submitting a first query from the initiator device over the first network to the switch requesting a unique address of a plurality of I/O devices that are accessible to the initiator device over the first network; receiving, in response to the first query to the switch on the first network, the unique address of each I/O device from the switch; submitting a second query from the initiator device over the second network to the switch for information on switch ports on the switch; receiving, in response to the second query to the switch over the second network, the information on the switch ports; and generating information on a topology of the switch ports and the initiator and I/O devices having the unique address.