Patent ID: 8396009

Claim:
A method of adapter name discovery in a network system, comprising: providing a first plurality of name server network devices that communicates with a second plurality of network devices via a network fabric; requesting an adapter name, by a requester adapter in a network device in the second plurality of network devices, the requester adapter transmitting a discover name request to the first plurality of name server network devices; transmitting, by each name server network device, a respective adapter name to the requester adapter; receiving, by the requester adapter, a plurality of adapter names from the name server network devices; selecting, by the requester adapter, any one of the plurality of adapter names transmitted by the name server network devices as the selected name for the requester adapter, the name server network device that transmitted the selected name being designated the particular name server network device; transmitting, by the requester adapter, an assignment request for the selected name that targets the particular name server network device; assigning, by the particular name server network device, the selected name to the requester adapter; broadcasting, by the particular name server network device, the selected name for the requester adapter to other network devices to make the other network devices aware of the assignment of the selected name to the requester adapter; and transmitting, by the particular name server network device, an acknowledgement to the requester adapter to validate the selected name for the requester adapter.