Patent ID: 8566845

Claim:
A method for directing a data access request to one of a plurality of network elements operatively connected to one or more destination storage elements of a cluster, comprising: identifying a destination storage element connected through a storage adapter to a storage device with data requested by the data access request; identifying a first network element configured to receive the data access request through a first network adapter, the first network element sharing a first connection with the destination storage element using a cluster switching fabric; identifying a second network element configured to receive the data access request through a second network adapter, the second network element sharing a second connection with the destination storage element without use of the cluster switching fabric; determining that the second network element, and not the first network element, is identified in a list of local destination storage element indices provided by one or more of the plurality of network elements indicating that each of the one or more network elements shares a respective second connection with a respective disk storage element; and in response to determining that the second network element, and not the first network element, is identified in the list, designating the second network element instead of the first network element to receive the data access request, wherein the second connection is a higher speed connection than the first connection.