System and method for operating a SCSI bus with redundant SCSI adaptors
US6735715B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 13, 2000 |
| Grant date | May 11, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 13, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F11/2005
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A computer system includes a port duplex driver (PDD) that creates a “virtual SCSI adaptor,” to control the operations of one or more redundant SCSI adaptors. During boot-up operations or when the status of a device on a SCSI bus changes, the PDD identifies the virtual SCSI adaptor as the only adaptor that provides access to particular storage devices on the SCSI bus. System components then direct data transfer operations through the virtual SCSI adaptor to the storage devices. The PDD intercepts commands that are directed through the virtual SCSI adaptor, and redirects the commands to a selected one of the actual SCSI adaptors. The selected SCSI adaptor then operates in a conventional manner, to translate the generic commands from the system components to device-specific commands for the storage devices on the SCSI bus. If the selected SCSI adaptor fails, the PDD redirects the data transfer operations instead through one of the redundant SCSI adaptors. The failure does not affect the remainder of the system, which continues to conduct data transfer operations through the virtual SCSI adaptor.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.