Patent ID: 8738821

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving a copy request to copy data from a primary storage location to a secondary storage location; determining, by storage management software executing in one of a plurality of primary clusters in a primary storage controller, wherein each primary cluster includes a plurality of primary network adaptors, an owner primary cluster of the primary clusters for the primary storage location, wherein the primary network adaptors in the primary clusters are configured to access the primary storage location, wherein the primary clusters designated as an owner of a storage location handle writes to the storage location; determining, by the storage management software, whether there is at least one port on one of the primary network adaptors in the owner primary cluster providing an available path to the secondary storage location, wherein one path is available when the path is operational; selecting, by the storage management software, one port on one of the primary network adaptors in the owner primary cluster to use to copy the data to the secondary storage location in response to determining that there is at least one port on one of the primary network adaptors in the owner primary cluster available to transmit to the secondary storage location; selecting, by the storage management software, an available port on one of the primary network adaptors in the primary cluster not owning the primary storage location to use to copy the data to the secondary storage location in response to determining that there is not at least one port on one of the primary network adaptors in the owner primary cluster available to transmit to the secondary storage location; determining, by adaptor logic in the primary network adaptor including the selected available port, from a plurality of secondary clusters in a secondary storage controller, wherein each secondary cluster includes a plurality of secondary network adaptors, an owner secondary cluster for the secondary storage location, wherein the secondary network adaptors in the secondary clusters are configured to access the secondary storage location; determining, by the adaptor logic, whether there is at least one port on one of the secondary network adaptors in the owner secondary cluster available through the selected port on one of the primary network adaptors in the owner primary cluster; and selecting, by the adaptor logic, one port on one of the secondary network adaptors in the owner secondary cluster to use to copy the data in response to determining that there is at least one port on one of the secondary network adaptors in the owner secondary cluster available to transmit to the secondary storage location.