Patent ID: 7778157

Claim:
A method comprising: assigning a port identifier to a first port among a plurality of ports on a first node, wherein the first node is a member of a cluster of nodes; registering the port identifier as a permitted port identifier for communicating with a storage unit, wherein the registering comprises storing a port identifier registration in a storage system, the storage system comprises the storage unit, the storage unit is communicatively coupled to the cluster, the storage unit comprises an active/passive (A/P) storage array, and the A/P storage array comprises a storage controller; detecting a failure of a first path that couples the first port to the storage unit; determining whether a single-node failover would cause a trespass onto the storage controller; in response to a determination that a single-node failover would cause a trespass onto the storage controller, de-assigning the port identifier from the first port on the first node, wherein the port identifier registration is preserved in the storage system during the de-assigning, and assigning the port identifier to a second port among the plurality of ports on the first node.