Apparatus and method for providing transparent sharing of channel resources by multiple host machines utilizing mixed mode block and file protocols

摘要

The present invention is directed to a method and system for providing, transparent mixed mode, object and block data storage transport. The system implements I/O modules capable of translating between communication protocols for providing common message passing multi-channel data transport for data storage while providing apparent I/O circuit exclusivity to controllers. The system is capable of converting object based transports for block storage, thus permitting both block and object based access to the storage complex. Implementing the system of the present invention allows for a common data transport system permitting component scalability and virtualization while allowing for target and initiator mode utilization of I/O interface circuits.