Patent ID: 7694037

Claim:
An information processing apparatus connected to plural hosts, for executing processing in accordance with a command sent from each host, the information processing apparatus comprising a multiplicity control unit that dynamically determines command multiplicity for the command to be assigned to the host in accordance with command issue frequency of the host and sets the determined multiplicity for the host, wherein the multiplicity control unit comprises: a multiplicity determination processing unit for determining the command multiplicity assigned to the host in accordance with the command issue frequency of the host; and an interface unit for communicating with each host and setting the command multiplicity determined by the multiplicity determination processing unit for the corresponding host; and wherein the interface unit sets the command multiplicity determined by the multiplicity determination processing unit for the corresponding host using the iSCSI (internet Small Computer System Interface) standard control protocol according to which a target controls the maximum number of commands that can be sent by an initiator, wherein the multiplicity control unit includes a command processing unit for processing the command sent from the host; and wherein every time the command processing unit processes the command sent from the host, the multiplicity determination processing unit compares the command multiplicity assigned to the host with the number of commands for which no response has been made from among the commands sent from the host; and if the command multiplicity is larger than the number of commands for which no response has been made, the multiplicity determination processing unit decreases the command multiplicity assigned to the host by a predetermined number; and if the command multiplicity is equal to or less than the number of commands for which no response has been made, the multiplicity determination processing unit increases the command multiplicity assigned to the host by the predetermined number, thereby determining new command multiplicity to be assigned to the host.