Patent ID: 8060710

Claim:
A method for use in a system wherein a host is initially coupled to a source storage device on a source storage array, the source storage device having device identification information, the method for migrating data from the source storage device to a target storage device on a target storage array, comprising the steps of: executing multipath I/O software on the host, the source storage device being coupled to the host via at least one active path of a plurality of paths between the source storage device and the host; configuring the target storage device with the same device identification information as the source storage device; coupling the target storage device to the host via at least one passive path o that the target storage device can return its device identification information to the host but cannot respond to I/O read or I/O write requests from the host; disconnecting all paths between the host and the source storage device; activating an on-line data migration session between the source storage device and the target storage device; configuring at least one path between the target storage device and the host from passive to active so that the target storage device can respond to I/O read and I/O write requests during the data migration session.