Patent ID: 8793406

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, at a serial attached small computer system interface (SAS) switch and from an initiator device, a serial small computer system interface protocol (SSP) INQUIRY command; sending a SSP INQUIRY response to the initiator device, wherein the SSP INQUIRY response comprises an indication that the SAS switch supports bulk discovery; receiving a registration request for bulk discovery, wherein the bulk discovery is either on a push basis or pull basis; receiving a change indication specifying that a change has occurred in a SAS fabric associated with the SAS switch; updating a data model based on the received change indication; and if the initiator device is registered for bulk discovery on a push basis, filtering the updated data model, and sending the filtered data model to the initiator device; and if the initiator device is registered for bulk discovery on a pull basis, sending the change indication to the initiator device.