Patent ID: 8228931

Claim:
A distributed virtual storage switch comprising: a plurality of metro spaced nodes, wherein the metro spaced nodes are coupled in a ring; a first one of the nodes being in communication with a first storage device via a first storage switch; and a second one of the nodes being in communication with a second storage device via a second storage switch; a third one of the nodes accessible by the first and second nodes using logical point to point connections between nodes on the ring, the third node allocating bandwidth to the first and second nodes by placing a number of empty frames in transmissions from the third node, the empty frames being accessible by, and replaced by data by, the first and second nodes, the number of empty frames being in a fixed proportion to a number of non-empty data frames in transmissions from the third node; and the plurality of nodes of the ring providing a virtual storage switch for reaching the first and second storage devices.