Patent ID: 8904141

Claim:
A method for merging a source electronic memory storage cluster into a destination electronic memory storage cluster, the method comprising: using a computer or processor to perform the steps of: designating a source storage cluster having a first configuration, where the first configuration includes at least one logical identifier mapped to a logical volume of the source storage cluster, where the logical volume is provisioned from at least one physical drive of the source storage cluster, where the logical volume is associated with a first identifier, and where the at least one physical drive is associated with a second identifier; designating a destination storage cluster having a second configuration; receiving a configuration database including mapping information associated with the first configuration of the source storage cluster; merging the configuration database for the source storage cluster into the destination storage cluster; identifying a conflict between the source storage cluster configuration and the destination storage cluster configuration by comparing the mapping information for the imported configuration database for the source storage cluster to mapping information for a configuration database associated with the second configuration of the destination storage cluster to determine when a first host has been connected to the source storage cluster and a second host has been connected to the destination storage cluster, where the first host is different from the second host, and where the first host and the second host share the same name; resolving the identified conflict between the source storage cluster configuration and the destination storage cluster configuration by deleting a host object associated with the first host from the source storage cluster; and merging the configuration database for the source storage cluster into the destination storage cluster after resolving the identified conflict between the source storage cluster configuration and the destination storage cluster configuration.