Patent ID: 7617345

Claim:
A storage controller, wherein the storage controller is coupled to a host and is coupled to at least one storage device, the storage controller comprising: memory; and processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor performs operations, the operations comprising: (i) receiving an interrupt control directive from the host; (ii) generating a first plurality of interrupts, in response to access requests received from the host for the at least one storage device, wherein the first plurality of interrupts indicates whether access to the at least one storage device is allowed to the host; (iii) generating a second plurality of interrupts, wherein the second plurality of interrupts comprises unsolicited interrupts for the host that are different from the first plurality of interrupts; and (iv) controlling how many of the first plurality of interrupts and how many of the second plurality interrupts to send to the host, based on the received interrupt control directive, wherein a predetermined ratio of the first plurality of interrupts and the second plurality of interrupts that are to be sent to the host during a period of time is indicated in the received interrupt control directive.