Patent ID: 7500134

Claim:
Apparatus for use in a storage system comprising a fabric having a database that associates Fibre Channel names and Fibre Channel addresses of Fibre Channel ports coupled to it, the apparatus comprising: a plurality of groups of logical units of storage; at least one physical port coupled to the groups through which the groups can be coupled to a fabric; each group assigned a unique virtual port address for each physical port to which it is coupled; a first said group comprising a primary virtual array, the primary virtual array having at least one primary virtual port coupled to the fabric, each primary virtual port having a primary virtual port name and a primary virtual port address; a second said group comprising a secondary virtual array, the secondary virtual array having one or more secondary virtual ports coupled to the fabric, each secondary virtual port having a secondary virtual port name and a secondary virtual port address; logic for copying all data resident on the primary virtual array to the secondary virtual array; logic responsive to a failure for: replacing the secondary virtual port names with the primary virtual port names; causing the fabric to update its name server database so that the database associates the primary virtual port names with the secondary virtual port addresses.