| US 7,352,740 B2 | ||
| Extent-based fibre channel zoning in hardware | ||
| Richard L. Hammons, Hollister, Calif. (US); and David C. Banks, Pleasanton, Calif. (US) | ||
| Assigned to Brocade Communciations Systems, Inc., San Jose, Calif. (US) | ||
| Filed on Apr. 29, 2003, as Appl. No. 10/425,556. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2004/0218593 A1, Nov. 04, 2004 | ||
| This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer. | ||
| Int. Cl. H04L 12/50 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 370—386 [370/389; 370/360; 370/422; 370/465; 710/5; 710/20] | 33 Claims |
| 12. A Fibre Channel switch for use in a Fibre Channel fabric, the fabric coupling a plurality of external devices, the fabric
configured into at least two zones, where the external devices are allowed to exchange data packets only with external devices
in the same zone, the Fibre Channel switch enforcing the zones in hardware, the Fibre Channel switch comprising:
a microprocessor;
local memory connected to said microprocessor; and
a Fibre Channel device connected to and controlled by said microprocessor, wherein said Fibre Channel device includes:
a receiving port for coupling to the fabric and receiving data packets;
a transmitting port for coupling to the fabric and transmitting data packets; and
device logic connecting said receiving port and said transmitting port, wherein said device logic includes:
zoning data storage for storing configuration data indicative of the zone configuration of the fabric, including logical unit
numbers (LUNs) and extents within such LUNs of the external devices allowed to exchange data packets;
a LUN and block fields comparison circuit connected to said zoning data storage for comparing the LUN and block fields of
a received data packet with said stored configuration data and providing an output; and
an action circuit connected to said LUN and block fields comparison circuit and utilizing said LUN and block fields comparison
circuit output to determine an action to be performed on the received data packet.
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