Patent ID: 7349961

Claim:
A method of managing a storage area network (SAN) at a manager running on a management server, wherein the management server is connected via a management network, separate from the storage area network, to a plurality of servers, a disk subsystem and a switch connected to the servers and disk subsystem, the plurality of servers, the disk subsystem and the switch constituting the storage area network, the method comprising, in response to a configuration change in the storage area network by an administrator: providing a first agent on each of the servers for managing configuration of the server, each first agent capable of reporting configuration information of the server to the manager running on the management server via the management network; providing a second agent on the disk subsystem for managing configuration of the disk subsystem, the second agent capable of reporting configuration information of the disk subsystem to the manager running on the management server via the management network; providing a third agent on the switch for managing configuration of the switch, the third agent capable of reporting configuration information of the switch to the manager running on the management server via the management network; collecting configuration information from each first agent, second agent, and third agent, wherein the configuration information is collected via the management network; examining the configuration information collected, the configuration information comprising storage area network security information or storage area network switch zoning information; detecting any inconsistencies in the configurations of the servers, switch and disk subsystem, by checking interrelationships among the servers, switch and disk subsystem based on the security information or the switch zoning information, wherein the detected inconsistencies comprise security-related inconsistencies or switch zoning-related inconsistencies; determining a cause of the detected inconsistencies; and storing information on the detected inconsistencies and the determined cause.