Patent ID: 8732340

Claim:
A system for providing multi-pathing via small computer system interface (SCSI) input/output (I/O) referrals, comprising: an initiator, the initiator including at least two ports; and at least two targets, each target of said at least two targets including at least two ports, each target of the at least two targets being communicatively coupled to said initiator via at least two storage area networks, the at least two storage area networks including a Fibre channel storage area network and an iSCSI storage area network, said Fibre channel storage area network and said iSCSI storage area network implemented at different media transport layer protocols, wherein said initiator is configured to: access portions of data stored in two or more of a plurality of data segments via two or more said at least two ports of said initiator and said two or more ports of each target of said at least two targets across said Fibre channel storage area network and said iSCSI storage area network; receive multiple input/output referrals for the plurality of data segments, the multiple input/output referrals listing different ports; determine multiple paths for accessing a particular data segment, the multiple paths including a first path over said Fibre channel storage area network and a second path over said iSCSI storage area network; select which port to access the particular data segment; and issue a referral input/output request for requesting access to the particular data segment over the first path or the second path.