Patent ID: 7860015

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for analyzing a storage area network comprising: a processor programmed to perform the process steps comprising: determining a connectivity of a storage area network (SAN), the connectivity defining interconnections between manageable entities in the SAN, including determining an existing physical connectivity at a port-to-port connection level; computing, from the connectivity, physical paths between the manageable entities; computing, from the physical paths and logical connectivity information, logical paths between the manageable entities, wherein the logical connectivity information is indicative of logical paths, the logical paths including a subset of physical connections defined by at least one of zoning, logical unit number (LUN) masking and mapping; applying a connectivity policy to the physical paths and logical paths, the connectivity policy qualifying paths between manageable entities; reporting the results of the path qualification; and wherein physical connections occur between manageable entities via a physical fabric, the manageable entities including at least one host and at least one storage array, the at least one host and the at least one storage array having one or more ports, the existing physical connectivity including at least one connection occurring between a port on the at least one host and a port on the at least one storage array.