Method and system for managing stored data on a computer network

Abstract

A method and system for managing stored data on a computer network organizes data into logical volumes, and each logical volume has a friendly name associated with it. A domain controller keeps track of the friendly names of the logical volumes and associates those friendly names with the actual physical paths of the logical volumes. When a client computer on the network wishes to access a logical volume, it sends a look-up request having the friendly name to the domain controller. The domain controller may fulfill the request by sending the path of the logical volume to the client computer.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for managing stored data on a computer network, the computer network comprising at least a first and a second node, the first node comprising a server, the second node comprising a storage device, the method comprising: 
 at the server, receiving, from the storage device and over the network, a registration message that identifies a logical volume of computer-readable media managed by the storage device, wherein the registration message comprises a path by which a user of the computer network can access the logical volume;    creating an association between the path of the logical volume and a name; and    storing the association in a data structure on a computer-readable medium accessible by the server.    
     
     
         2 . A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions for performing the method of  claim 1 .  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the logical volume represents a single disk of the storage device.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the logical volume represents a logical disk that is striped across multiple physical disks.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the storage device is one of a plurality of storage devices, and the logical volume represents data that is striped across the plurality of storage devices.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the registration message further comprises a world-wide name, the method further comprising creating an association between the world-wide name and the name.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the registration message further comprises a logical unit number, and wherein the creating step comprises creating an association between the logical unit number and the name.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising creating an access control list for the logical volume, the access control list specifying which computers are permitted to access the logical volume.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 discovering the existence of the storage device; and    discovering the existence of the logical volume.    
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 controlling access by host computers on the network to the storage device.    
     
     
         11 . A method for managing stored data on a computer network, the computer network comprising at least a first, a second, and a third node, the first node comprising a server, the second node comprising a storage device, and the third node comprising a client computer, the method comprising: 
 the server computer receiving, from the client computer, a request for the path of a logical volume stored on the computer network, the request including a name of the logical volume;    the server computer referencing a data structure comprising an association between the name of the logical volume and a path of the logical volume; and    the server computer providing the path to the client computer, thereby permitting the client computer to access the logical volume via the computer network.    
     
     
         12 . A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing the method of  claim 11 .  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1   1 , further comprising: 
 the server computer determining whether the client computer is permitted to have access to the logical volume; and    the server computer performing the providing step based on the determining step.    
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the determining step comprises referencing an access control list.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the determining step comprises verifying a certificate received from the client computer.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the determining step comprises referencing permission information in the data structure.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the referencing step comprises: 
 locating the name of the logical volume in the data structure;    determining the identity of a storage device on the network that is responsible for and maintaining the logical volume; and    determining which logical unit number of the storage device corresponds to the logical volume,    wherein the providing step comprises transmitting, to the client computer, the identity of the storage device and the logical unit number.    
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the referencing step comprises: 
 locating the world-wide name of the logical volume in the data structure; and    determining the identity of a storage device on the network that is responsible for maintaining the logical volume,    wherein the providing step comprises transmitting, to the client computer, the identity of the storage device and the world-wide name of the logical volume.    
     
     
         19 . A name service for a storage network, the name service comprising: 
 a storage device linked to the storage network for storing computer-readable data;    a domain controller linked to the network for maintaining an association between the path of a logical volume of data stored on the storage device and a friendly name; and    a client computer linked to the domain controller.    
     
     
         20 . The name service of  claim 19 , wherein the domain controller executes software for performing the steps of: 
 receiving a request from the client computer for the path of the logical volume, the request including the friendly name;    using the association between the friendly name and the path to determine the path of the logical volume; and    transmitting data regarding the path to the client computer.    
     
     
         21 . The name service of  claim 19 , wherein the domain controller executes software for performing steps comprising: 
 receiving a request from the client computer for the path of the logical volume;    determining whether or not the client computer is permitted to have access to the logical volume; and    granting or denying the request based on the determining step.    
     
     
         22 . The name service of  claim 19 , wherein the domain controller executes software for performing steps comprising: 
 reviewing a request from the storage device to register the logical volume;    determining whether or not the storage device is permitted to participate in the storage network; and    granting or denying the request based on the determining step.    
     
     
         23 . The name service of  claim 19 , wherein the logical volume corresponds to a single removable computer-readable medium.  
     
     
         24 . The name service of  claim 19 , wherein the logical volume corresponds to a single disk of the storage device.  
     
     
         25 . The name service of  claim 19 , wherein the logical volume corresponds to a block of data that is striped across multiple disks of the storage device.