Patent ID: 7433948

Claim:
A method of implementing storage virtualization on a network device of a storage area network, the method comprising: (a) receiving a frame or packet at a port of the network device, wherein the network device is a switch, router, iSCSI gateway, or other network node configured to perform a switching function, wherein the frame or packet received at the port of the network device includes a read or write command; (b) determining that the frame or packet pertains to access of a virtual storage location of a virtual storage unit representing one or more physical storage locations on one or more physical storage units of the storage area network, wherein the virtual storage unit comprises a VLUN or other virtual representation of storage on the storage area network; (c) obtaining a virtual-physical mapping between the one or more physical storage locations and the virtual storage location; (d) sending a new or modified frame or packet to an initiator or a target specified by the virtual-physical mapping; and (e) requesting a lock of the one or more physical storage locations by said port of the network device prior to submitting the read or write command to the one or more physical storage locations, wherein requesting the lock of the one or more physical storage locations includes sending a lock request to a single master port of a network device within the storage area network, wherein the master port is adapted for managing lock requests; wherein (b), (c), (d) and (e) are performed by a dedicated processor that is dedicated to only said port of the network device.