Patent ID: 7856022

Claim:
A method of transferring I/O from a first storage device coupled to a storage area network to a second storage device coupled to the storage area network, the method comprising: blocking I/O operations for a first port of the first storage device coupled to the storage area network, wherein the first port is associated with a first identifier; coupling the second storage device to the storage area network via a port associated with a second identifier different from the first identifier; coupling a virtualization engine to the storage area network via a first virtualization port provided with the first identifier and via a second virtualization port, wherein the first virtualization port receives I/O operations that were destined for the first port of the first storage device; causing at least a portion of the I/O operations received by the virtualization engine through the first virtualization port thereof to be routed through the second virtualization port thereof to the second storage device; and following blocking I/O operations for the first port of the first storage device, coupling a second port of the first storage device to the storage area network and migrating data from the first storage device to the second storage device through the second port of the first storage device, the migrating of the data being performed while causing the portion of the I/O operations received by the first virtualization port of the virtualization engine to be routed through the second virtualization port to the second storage device.