Patent ID: 8010744

Claim:
A storage system, comprising: an external storage apparatus which provides one or more logical devices for storing data; an internal storage apparatus which is coupled to a host apparatus and the external storage apparatus and virtualizes the one or more logical devices provided by the external apparatus to provide the host computer; wherein the internal storage apparatus includes a channel interface, the host apparatus sending a predetermined inquiry command to all logical devices defined as being connected to the channel interface; and wherein the internal storage apparatus: recognizing the logical devices defined as being connected to the channel interface, based on the inquiry command sent from the host apparatus, detecting one or more logical devices, from among the logical devices defined as being connected to the channel interface, that exist in the external storage apparatus, based on the recognition, and setting, based on the detection, one or more virtual volumes in the internal apparatus to provide the one or more virtual volumes to the host apparatus, the one or more virtual volumes respectively corresponding to the one or more logical devices that exist in the external storage apparatus, and also sets a first logical path between each of the set one or more virtual volumes and each of the corresponding one or more logical devices existing in the external apparatus.