Method and apparatus for monitoring and analyzing network appliance status information

Claim 2

Apparatus for monitoring the status of multiple devices comprising: a first status message generator located in a first device; a second status message generator located in a second device; a first status monitor located in said second device; a second status monitor located in said first device; a communication network coupling said first device to said second device using a plurality of communications channels; where said first status message generator periodically transmits status messages to said first status monitor using said plurality of communications channels and said second status message generator transmits status messages to said second status monitor using said plurality of communications channels; and wherein said first and second status message generators comprise means for producing a status message, means for periodically transmitting the status message on said plurality of communications channels, and a disconnect counter for identifying a socket error and means for opening a new socket in response to an error.

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said status messages are sent at 1 second intervals.

Claim 4

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first and second status monitor comprises: a fault analyzer to determine which, if any, device has failed.

Claim 5

The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said fault analyzer comprises: means for performing a distributed fault analysis by collecting status information from each of the devices.

Claim 6

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said devices are storage controller modules coupled to a storage pool.

Claim 7

Apparatus for monitoring the status of multiple devices comprising: a first status message generator located in a first device; a second status message generator located in a second device; a first status monitor located in said second device; a second status monitor located in said first device; a communications network coupling said first device to said second device using a plurality of communications channels; where said first status message generator periodically transmits status messages to said first status monitor using said plurality of communications channels and said second status message generator transmits status messages to said second status monitor using said plurality of communications channels; wherein said first and second status message monitors comprise means for opening a plurality of communications sockets, means for counting a number of received status messages, and means for invoking a fault analysis if the number of received status messages is less than a predefined number on at least one of the communications channels in said plurality of communications channels; and wherein said means for counting comprises a counter that is initialized to a predefined number, means for incrementing the counter when a status message is received, and means for decrementing a counter on a periodic basis.

Claim 8

Apparatus for monitoring the status of multiple devices comprising: a first status message generator located in a first device; a second status message generator located in a second device; a first status monitor located in said second device; a second status monitor located in said first device; a communications network coupling said first device to said second device using a plurality of communications channels; where said first status message generator periodically transmits status messages to said first status monitor using said plurality of communications channels and said second status message generator transmits status messages to said second status monitor using said plurality of communications channels; wherein said first and second status message monitors comprise means for opening a plurality of communications sockets, means for counting a number of received status messages, and means for invoking a fault analysis if the number of received status messages is less than a predefined number on at least one of the communications channels in said plurality of communications channels; and wherein said means for counting comprises a counter that is initialized to a predefined number, means for incrementing the counter when a status message is received, and means for decrementing a counter on a periodic basis.

Claim 9

Apparatus for monitoring the status of multiple devices comprising: a first status message generator located in a first device; a second status message generator located in a second device; a first status monitor located in said second device; a second status monitor located in said first device; a communications network coupling said first device to said second device using a plurality of communications channels; where said first status message generator periodically transmits status messages to said first status monitor using said plurality of communications channels and said second status message generator transmits status messages to said second status monitor using said plurality of communications channels; means for determining a quality of service metric for said first and second devices; and means for comparing at least one quality of service metric of said first device to the quality of service metric of said second device to determine if either said first or second devices should failover.

Claim 10

Apparatus for monitoring the status of multiple devices comprising: a first status message generator located in a first device; a second status message generator located in a second device; a first status monitor located in said second device; a second status monitor located in said first device; a communications network coupling said first device to said second device using a plurality of communications channels; where said first status message generator periodically transmits status messages to said first status monitor using said plurality of communications channels and said second status message generator transmits status messages to said second status monitor using said plurality of communications channels; means for determining a quality of service metric for said first and second devices; and means for comparing at least one quality of service metric of said first device to the quality of service metric of said second device to determine if either said first or second devices should failover.

Claim 11

The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said quality of service information is shared by said first and second devices.

Claim 12

A network of storage system comprising: a first storage control module comprising a first status message generator and a second status message monitor; a second storage control module comprising a second status message generator and a first status message monitor; at least one storage array coupled to both said first and second storage control modules; a communications network coupling said first storage control module to said second storage control module using a plurality of communications channels; where said first status message generator periodically transmits status messages to said second status monitor using a plurality of communications channels and said second status message generator transmits status messages to said first status monitor using a plurality of communications channels; and wherein said first and second status message generators comprise means for producing a status message, means for periodically transmitting the status message on said plurality of communications channels, and a disconnect counter for identifying a socket error and means for opening a new socket in response to an error.

Claim 13

A network of storage system comprising: a first storage control module comprising a first status message generator and a second status message monitor; a second storage control module comprising a second status message generator and a first status message monitor; at least one storage array coupled to both said first and second storage control modules; a communications network coupling said first storage control module to said second storage control module using a plurality of communications channels; where said first status message generator periodically transmits status messages to said second status monitor using a plurality of communications channels and said second status message generator transmits status messages to said first status monitor using a plurality of communications channels; and wherein said first and second status message generators comprise means for producing a status message, means for periodically transmitting the status message on said plurality of communications channels, and a disconnect counter for identifying a socket error and means for opening a new socket in response to an error.

Claim 16

The method of claim 10 wherein said status messages are transmitted at 1 second intervals.

Claim 17

The method of claim 10 further comprising: invoking a fault analyzer to determine which, if any, device has failed.

Claim 18

The method of claim 12 wherein said fault analyzer comprises: performing a distributed fault analysis by collecting status information from each of the devices.

Claim 19

The method of claim 10 wherein said devices are storage controller modules coupled to a storage pool.