Methods and Apparatus for Managing Asynchronous Dependent I/O for a Virtual Fibre Channel Target

Abstract

A management method for maintaining congruency for multiple concurrent I/O while mirroring data across multiple back end targets.

How it works

This patent simplifies exchange ID management when multiple physical I/O operations execute in parallel. Instead of maintaining complex linked lists to track relationships between operations, the system allocates a range of sequential exchange identifier values — operations sharing IDs within a predefined numerical block are automatically recognized as related, eliminating complex queue structures and reducing memory access overhead.