Patent ID: 6928470

Claim:
A network switch for resolving requests from a plurality of host initiators by scheduling access to a plurality of disk storage devices, the network switch comprising: (a) a switched fabric comprising a plurality of switching elements, each switching element comprising: a plurality of bi-directional switched fabric ports; and a control input connected to receive switch control data for selectively configuring the switching element in order to interconnect the bi-directional switched fabric ports; (b) a memory for storing a routing and scheduling program; and (c) a microprocessor, responsive to the requests, for executing the steps of the routing and scheduling program to generate the switch control data to transmit scheduled requests through the bi-directional switched fabric ports, wherein: at least one of the plurality of switching elements comprises a disk storage interface for connecting to a selected one of the disk storage devices; the microprocessor for scheduling access to the plurality of disk storage devices through the disk storage interface; the disk storage interface for receiving scheduling data from the selected one of the disk storage devices; the memory for receiving the scheduling data via the bi-directional switched fabric ports of a selected number of the switching elements; the scheduling data is processed according to a priority such that the selected switching elements transfer the scheduling data through the bi-directional switched fabric ports before transferring data associated with the scheduled requests; each disk storage device comprises a disk and a head; and the scheduling data comprises a radial location of the head relative to the disk within each disk storage device.