Patent Application
20090219928
1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to networks and, more particularly, to Fibre Channel network fabrics.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Fibre Channel standard addresses the general need in networking for very fast transfers of large amounts of information. Fibre Channel networks utilize an arrangement of switches, called a Fabric, to connect devices. This approach simplifies the overhead associated with network traffic, as a device with a Fibre Channel port need only manage a point-to-point connection between its port and the Fabric.
To eliminate ambiguity when routing traffic between switches in a fabric, each switch in a Fabric is assigned one or more unique Domain_IDs during a multi-phase process. In a first phase, one switch in the fabric is selected as a Principal Switch. The Principal Switch then assigns Domain_IDs to the other switches of the Fabric in a second phase. For some applications, such as virtual storage area network (VSAN) applications, a single switch may have multiple assigned Domain_IDs, including virtual Domain_IDs.
In some cases, it may be desirable for a switch to return a Domain_ID. For example, there may be a limited number of Domain_IDs available and returning a Domain_ID may allow that Domain_ID to be re-assigned to a different device, thereby preserving Domain_IDs while still maintaining uniqueness. Another situation where it can be useful to release a Domain_ID is when all the devices associated with it have been freed. Unfortunately, in conventional systems, re-assigning Domain_IDs typically requires a lengthy reconfiguration process that involves flooding the network with frames that may disrupt device operation.
Accordingly, what is needed is an imporived technique for returning Domain_IDs.
So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present disclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the disclosure may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
Embodiments of the present disclosure may reduce the time required for returning domain IDs assigned to devices in a Fibre Channel fabric in comparison to conventional networks that would require a reconfiguration process. By supporting messages that allow subordinate switches to request the return of domain IDs assigned to them, previously assigned domain IDs may be returned (for later reassignment while maintaining uniqueness) without a lengthy fabric rebuild. In addition to saving time, avoiding a fabric rebuild may prevent the associated flooding of frames through the network which may contribute to excessive device loading and a resulting unrecoverable state.
One environment that provides a useful application of the techniques presented herein is a virtual storage area network (VSAN) where the domain ID list includes virtual domain IDs. The techniques presented herein provide a great deal of flexibility in administering a VSAN by allowing virtual domain IDs to be removed from the fabric domain ID list without the necessity for a lengthy re-build fabric phase.
As used herein, the term fabric generally refers to an arrangement of one or more interconnected switches that connect devices in a network. As used herein, the term Principal Switch generally refers to a switch in a Fibre Channel fabric that assigns Domain_IDs to other switches in the same fabric.
Embodiments of the present disclosure are described below with reference to returning domain IDs in Fibre Channel fabrics. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the techniques described herein may also be more generally applied during a variety of different types of events that alter or reconfigure a fabric, such as re-booting a switch, reconfiguring a switch or any type of event in which domain IDs may be recovered and/or reassigned.
The example fabric 110 has five switches, Switch A, Switch B, Switch C, Switch D, and Switch E, with unique Domain_IDs 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14-16 respectively. Switch A is designated as the Principal Switch for the fabric and Switches B-E are subordinate switches. Each switch may keep a local copy of a fabric Domain_ID list 120, typically broadcast by the principal switch after having assigned a domain.
As previously described, it may be desirable to allow subordinate switches to return Domain_IDs, for example, to free up those Domain_IDs to be reassigned to other switches. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, Domain_IDs may be returned without a lengthy reconfiguration process involving a (re)build fabric (BF) phase. For some embodiments, a subordinate switch may be able to request the removal of Domain_IDs assigned to that switch via a message sent to the primary switch. In response, the primary switch may acknowledge acceptance of the request with a response message and send an updated Domain_ID list to all devices in the fabric.
Any suitable mechanism may be used to request removal of a set of one or more Domain_IDs assigned to a switch. For some embodiments, a special message may be provided for the specific purpose of returning Domain_IDs. For other embodiments, however, an existing message may be utilized to request removal of Domain_IDs.
For example, a Request Domain Identifier (RDI) message commonly used to request specified Domain IDs be assigned to a switch may be manipulated to instead request removal of specified Domain_IDs. Conventional RDI messages may recognize only a limited range of values as valid Domain_IDs in a request. However, a “reverse” RDI message may include a (“trigger”) value outside of this range as an indicator that the message is requesting removal of a list of Domain_IDs to follow. For example, assuming valid Domain_IDs in a range from 1-239, a trigger value of “0” or “240” may be used as an indicator. To facilitate understanding, the following description will assume the use of such a reverse RDI (RRDI) as the mechanism to request removal of Domain_IDs.
If an RRDI response is received, at 208, the requesting switch updates its Domain_ID list to remove the returned Domain_IDs. For some embodiments, the primary switch may not send an explicit RRDI response but, rather, may indicate acceptance of the request by sending a new Domain_ID list to all the switches in the fabric with the specified Domain_IDs removed.
As illustrated, if an RRDI response (or new Domain_ID list) is not received, the switch may initiate a normal Build Fabric (BF) phase, at 212. In other words, the requesting switch may still return Domain_IDs even if the principal switch does not support Domain_ID removal without reconfiguration. Thus, even if the principal switch does not support Domain_ID removal without reconfiguration, a subordinate switch may still operate properly, by regressing to conventional reconfiguration operations.
The operations begin, at 302, by receiving an RDI message. If the RDI message does not include a trigger value indicating a “reverse” RDI message, as determined at 304, the principal switch processes the “normal” RDI message, at 306. If the message does include a trigger value indicating an RRDI, however, the principal switch proceeds to process perform operations 308 and 310.
As illustrated in
At 308, the principal switch sends an RRDI response to the requesting switch. As illustrated in
At 310, the principal switch may send an updated Domain_ID list to the other switches in the fabric. As illustrated in
Whether a device operates as a principal switch or a subordinate switch may depend on the results of a build fabric (BF) phase. Because a device may operate as either, for some embodiments, a single device may support the return of Domain_IDs when acting as either a principal switch or subordinate switch. In other words, the device may perform operations such as those shown in
As described above, in the event that a subordinate switch does not receive a response to an RRDI message requesting removal of Domain_IDs, the Domain_IDs may still be returned through a conventional reconfiguration process. This scenario is illustrated in
In
As the preceding example illustrates, switches that support Domain_ID removal without reconfiguration may be interoperable with switches that do not support Domain_ID removal. This may have a significant effect in the market place, as this results in inter-operability between devices that support this feature and devices that do not. In other words, each device in a network does not need to be replaced if a single device supporting the feature is added.
In the event a principal switch does not support Domain_ID removal, a conventional reconfiguration process may occur. In other words, if a device that supports the feature is added to other devices that do not, the device may continue to operate in a conventional manner, in essence, with the time required to return Domain_IDs regressing to that of a conventional BF phase.
While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present disclosure, other and further embodiments of the disclosure may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow.
