Patent ID: 6904544

Claim:
A computer implemented diagnostic method for automatically diagnosing a system by: determining a path in the system to test, wherein the path includes path components including at least a host adaptor, a link, a device interface, and a device, wherein the device comprises a storage system; performing an initial test to determine if there is a failure in the path; adding at least one of the path components to a suspect list capable of being a cause of the failure, wherein the suspect list is implemented in a computer readable data structure; performing at least one isolation test on at least one of the path components added to the suspect list; receiving input from a user indicating one or more storage areas to test in the storage system, wherein isolation tests on the storage system are performed with respect to those storage areas indicated by the user; removing the tested path component from the suspect list if the isolation test confirms that the tested path component cannot be a source of the failure; and returning the suspect list to the user to provide information on the path components capable of being the cause of the failure.