Patent ID: 7197489

Claim:
A method for maintaining a database of manageable entities in a storage area network, the database operable to store network component data pertaining to network components defining manageable entities in the storage area network: receiving management data associated with existing components operating in a network; matching the management data to existing objects in a managed object database; updating management data pertaining to existing manageable entities in the storage area network, each of the components further comprising a manageable entity responsive to a SAN management application in the storage area network, updating further comprising, for each existing managed object that matches the management data, updating object data within the existing managed objects with the matching management data; for management data not matching the existing managed objects in the managed object database, creating at least one new managed object containing the non-matching management data; analyzing the management data to infer an existence of additional components operating in the network that do not have corresponding managed objects in the managed object database; detecting, within the management data, evidence of operation of at least one inter-component protocol; detecting inferential data within the management data, the inferential data inferring existence of at least one inferred component operating in the network that shares a relationship with an existing component in the network that corresponds to the management data; and creating new managed objects in the managed object database for components within the network whose existence is inferred, wherein the inferential data infers the existence of at least one of a host component, a connectivity component and a storage device component operating within the network that the managed object database does not currently represent with an existing management object, the inferred manageable entities corresponding to a synchronicity protocol, the synchronicity protocol operable to maintain recoverability in the event of failure of a manageable entity conversant with another manageable entity via the synchronicity protocol.