US 11,811,609 B2
Storage target discovery in a multi-speed and multi-protocol ethernet environment
Komal Shailendra Shah, Pune (IN); Subhojit Roy, Pune (IN); Subhamay Barui, Pune (IN); and Anuj Chandra, Pune (IN)
Assigned to International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US)
Filed by International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US)
Filed on May 4, 2018, as Appl. No. 15/971,834.
Prior Publication US 2019/0342177 A1, Nov. 7, 2019
Int. Cl. H04L 41/12 (2022.01); H04L 41/0803 (2022.01)
CPC H04L 41/12 (2013.01) [H04L 41/0803 (2013.01)] 23 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system, comprising:
a plurality of ports configured to send and receive data;
a processing circuit coupled to the plurality of ports; and
logic integrated with the processing circuit, executable by the processing circuit, or integrated with and executable by the processing circuit, the logic being configured to cause the processing circuit to:
determine at least one characteristic of the plurality of ports on an individual basis;
select the ports having at least one shared characteristic;
split the selected ports having the at least one shared characteristic into multiple port groupings, wherein none of the selected ports having the at least one shared characteristic are included in more than one of the port groupings;
receive, from an initiator port, a target discovery request at a target port of the plurality of ports;
determine which particular port grouping the target port belongs to, wherein the ports in the particular port grouping all share a characteristic of the initiator port, the characteristic being a protocol used for communications;
send information about all ports in the particular port grouping to the initiator port in response to receiving the target discovery request from the initiator port;
receive, from the initiator port, a second target discovery request at one of the ports in the particular port grouping other than the target port; and
connect the initiator port to the port that received the second target discovery request.