Diagnostic Port For Inter-switch And Node Link Testing In Electrical, Optical And Remote Loopback Modes

Abstract

A diagnostic testing utility is used to perform single link diagnostics tests including an electrical loopback test, an optical loopback test, a link traffic test, and a link distance measurement test. To perform the diagnostic tests, two ports (251, 261; 263, 271) at each end of a link (270) are identified and then statically configured by a user. The ports will be configured as D_Ports and as such will be isolated from the fabric with no data traffic flowing through them. This configuration can be static or can be on request or on errors. The ports (251, 261, 263, 271) will then be used to send test frames to perform the diagnostic tests. After completion of requested or on error testing the ports (251, 261, 263, 271) can return to normal operation.

Description

[0001] Cross References to Related Applications [0002] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 13 / 047,513, filed March 14, 2011, by David Skirmont, Saumitra Buragohain, and Balakrishna Wusirika, entitled "Diagnostic Port for Inter-Switch Link Testing in Electrical, Optical and Remote Loopback Modes" application, US Patent Application Serial No. 13 / 047,513 is a nonprovisional application of Serial No. 61 / 379,150 filed September 1, 2010, both of which are incorporated herein by reference. technical field [0003] The present invention relates to the field of computer networks, and in particular to techniques for performing link-level diagnostics in switching fabrics. Background technique [0004] A storage area network (SAN) is typically implemented to interconnect data storage devices and data servers or hosts by using network switches to provide interconnectivity within the SAN. A SAN can be a complex system with many interconnecte...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

First, the SFP electro-optical module has digital diagnostics, but it only operates at the SFP component level

Second, a command line interface (CLI) tool may be provided to allow injection and looping of frames on specific links, but the end result is only an indication of good and bad, which does not greatly aid diagnosis

Therefore, fault detection of suspected link errors using existing built-in tools is time-consuming and can become a daunting task

Using external stand-alone testing tools is also cumbersome and introduces different issues that do not exist in built-in tools

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