Patent ID: 8028110

Claim:
A method of transferring I/O from a first storage device coupled to a storage area network to a second storage device coupled to the storage area network, the method comprising: blocking I/O operations for a first port of the first storage device coupled to the storage area network, wherein the first port of the first storage device is associated with an identifier; coupling the second storage device to the storage area network via a first port of the second storage device associated with the identifier; establishing a connection between a host and the first port of the second storage device to cause I/O operations by the host to be routed to the second storage device, wherein the second storage device appears to the host to be the first storage device; and following blocking I/O operations for the first port of the first storage device, coupling a second port of the first storage device to the storage area network and migrating data from the first storage device to the second storage device through the second port of the first storage device and using the first port of the second storage device associated with the identifier.