Claims:WE CLAIM
1. A method of dynamically allocating front end ports in a storage device, the method comprising:
determining, by the storage device, a need for re-allocating a set of servers being served by a first set of front end ports from among a plurality of front end ports of the storage device;
evaluating, by the storage device, remaining ports of the plurality of front end ports to identify a second set of front end ports to serve the set of servers;
dynamically updating, by the storage device, a configuration of each of the plurality of front end ports by emulating virtual worldwide names (vWWNs) of the first set of front end ports onto the second set of front end ports; and
serving, by the storage device, the set of servers from the second set of front-end ports based on the updated configuration.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the need comprises:
monitoring each of the plurality of front end ports serving a plurality of servers for at least one of an error, a failure, performance issues, or future performance issues; and
determining the need based on the monitoring.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein performance issue of a front end port is derived from performance data of the front end port, and wherein performance issue comprises at least one of an occupancy level of the front end port over a pre-defined occupancy threshold, a bandwidth consumption of the front end port over a pre-defined bandwidth threshold, or a number of input/output (I/O) operations serviced by the front end port equaling a pre-defined I/O threshold.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein monitoring each of the plurality of front end ports for the future performance issues comprises monitoring performance data of each of the plurality of front end ports over a period of time, and wherein determining the need comprises predicting performance issues based on the monitored performance data and historical performance issues data.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein evaluating the remaining ports comprises evaluating at least one of performance data of the remaining ports, or a policy of each of a plurality of servers being serviced by the plurality of front end ports.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein evaluating the remaining ports comprises:
determining an occupancy level of each of the remaining ports; and
selecting the second set from among the remaining ports based on their occupancy level.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein evaluating the remaining ports further comprises evaluating the remaining ports based on a statistical trend analysis of the performance data.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein dynamically updating the configuration of each of the plurality of front end ports comprises ensuring minimal impact to input/output (I/O) operations of a plurality of servers being served by the plurality of front end ports.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising dynamically updating the configuration of each of the plurality of front end ports to an initial configuration upon cessation of the need.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining a database comprising the vWWNs and performance data for each of the plurality of ports.

11. A system for dynamically allocating front end ports in a storage device, the system comprising:
a storage device comprising:
a plurality of front end ports for servicing a plurality of servers; and
at least one processor and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
determining a need for re-allocating a set of servers, from among the plurality of servers, being served by a first set of front end ports from among the plurality of front end ports;
evaluating remaining ports of the plurality of front end ports to identify a second set of front end ports to serve the set of servers;
dynamically updating a configuration of each of the plurality of front end ports by emulating virtual worldwide names (vWWNs) of the first set of front end ports onto the second set of front end ports; and
serving the set of servers from the second set of front-end ports based on the updated configuration.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein determining the need comprises:
monitoring each of the plurality of front end ports serving a plurality of servers for at least one of an error, a failure, performance issues, or future performance issues; and
determining the need based on the monitoring.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein performance issue of a front end port is derived from performance data of the front end port, and wherein performance issue comprises at least one of an occupancy level of the front end port over a pre-defined occupancy threshold, a bandwidth consumption of the front end port over a pre-defined bandwidth threshold, or a number of input/output (I/O) operations serviced by the front end port equaling a pre-defined I/O threshold.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein monitoring each of the plurality of front end ports for the future performance issues comprises monitoring performance data of each of the plurality of front end ports over a period of time, and wherein determining the need comprises predicting performance issues based on the monitored performance data and historical performance issues data.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein evaluating the remaining ports comprises evaluating at least one of performance data of the remaining ports, or a policy of each of a plurality of servers being serviced by the plurality of front end ports.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein evaluating the remaining ports comprises:
determining an occupancy level of each of the remaining ports; and
selecting the second set from among the remaining ports based on their occupancy level.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein evaluating the remaining ports further comprises evaluating the remaining ports based on a statistical trend analysis of the performance data.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein dynamically updating the configuration of each of the plurality of front end ports comprises ensuring minimal impact to input/output (I/O) operations of a plurality of servers being served by the plurality of front end ports.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise dynamically updating the configuration of each of the plurality of front end ports to an initial configuration upon cessation of the need.

Dated this 21st day of March, 2018

R Ramya Rao
Of K&S Partners
Agent for the Applicant
IN/PA-1607
, Description:TECHNICAL FIELD
This disclosure relates generally to storage device, and more particularly to method and system for dynamically allocating front end ports in a storage device.