Abstract: The discovery and configuration of devices of interest connected to the Ethernet by an Ethernet port is disclosed. To perform discovery, Client software in a management interface transmits packets including the address of the management interface and a port identifier to a known broadcast address, requesting the MAC address for all devices of interest. Server software in the devices of interest parse the broadcast packets and broadcast a packet containing a MAC address that uniquely identifies the devices of interest back to the Client. Once the MAC addresses are returned to the Client, the Client can then broadcast protocol packets requesting the configuration of a specific device of interest such as a new IP address. Once a device of interest is configured with at least an IP address, the device of interest can communicate using TCP/IP, and it can thereafter be managed using higher level tools and firmware.

Abstract: The detection, removal and reinsertion of possibly malfunctioning devices from an arbitrated loop is disclosed. When a new device is first connected to a storage switch and a loop is formed and begins initialization, a LOOP_DOWN event is sent to a processor and a loop down timer is started for each port in the loop. If initialization is successful, a LOOP_UP event is sent to the processor and the loop down timer is reset for each port in the loop. However, if one of the loop down timers times out, a problem occurred during the initialization. The port associated with the timed out timer is bypassed so that the devices in the remainder of the loop can continue trying to complete the initialization. The processor initiates a PTBI event on the bypassed device. If the bypassed device is operating properly, it is re-inserted back into the loop.