Patent ID: 7469274

Claim:
A computer-implemented method comprising: identifying a plurality of third-party copy devices, wherein each of the third-party copy devices is configured to respond to an extended copy command by copying data from one storage device to another storage device, wherein the identifying comprises issuing a command to probe information to each of the third-party copy devices; receiving a first extended copy command, wherein the first extended copy command specifies a source storage device from which first data will be transferred and a destination storage device to which the first data will be transferred as part of a data protection operation; identifying a third-party copy device coupled to the source storage device and the destination storage device, wherein the third-party copy device is one of the plurality of third party copy devices; and determining a performance characteristic of at least one of: (1) the third-party copy device, and (2) a connection between the third-party copy device and the source storage device.