1. A tiltable trailer hitch for tilting a trailer for reducing interference between either of a trailer, a ramp, or the ground, and a vehicle being loaded onto or unloaded from the trailer, said tiltable trailer hitch comprising:
a shank adapted to be received within a conventional receiver-type trailer hitch, said shank defining a first end and a second end, said first end configured to be received within a conventional receptor of a trailer hitch, said shank defining at least one through opening for receiving a shank locking pin cooperatively receivable in the trailer hitch;
an adjustment bracket carried by said shank, said adjustment bracket defining at least a first side wall and a second side wall, each of said first side wall and said second side wall defining at least one first opening and at least one second opening, each of said at least one first opening defined in said first side wall being aligned with one of said at least one first opening defined in said second side wall to define at least one cooperating pair of first openings for receiving a first ballmount locking pin, each of said at least one second opening defined in said first side wall being aligned with one of said at least one second opening defined in said second side wall to define at least one cooperating pair of second openings for receiving a second ballmount locking pin; and
a ballmount pivotally mounted on said adjustment bracket, said ballmount being adapted to receive a conventional hitch ball, said ballmount being configured to be received between said first side wall and said second wall, and wherein said ballmount defines a first opening for cooperatively receiving said first ballmount locking pin with said at least one cooperating pair of first openings and a second opening for cooperatively receiving said second ballmount locking pin with said at least one cooperating pair of second openings.
2. The tiltable trailer hitch of claim 1 wherein said adjustment bracket defines a plurality of said at least one cooperating pair of second openings, said plurality of cooperating pairs of second openings being radially spaced apart about a first of said at least one cooperating pair of first openings, whereby said ballmount is selectively raised and lowered about said first ballmount locking pin and is secured at a selected location with said second ballmount locking pin.
3. The tiltable trailer hitch of claim 2 wherein said adjustment bracket defines a plurality of said at least one cooperating pair of first openings, said plurality of cooperating pairs of first openings being radially spaced apart about a first of said plurality of cooperating pairs of second openings, whereby said ballmount is selectively raised and lowered about at least one of said first ballmount locking pin and said second ballmount locking pin.
4. The tiltable trailer hitch of claim 1 wherein said adjustment bracket defines a plurality of said at least one cooperating pair of first openings, said plurality of cooperating pairs of first openings being radially spaced apart about a first of said at least one cooperating pair of second openings, whereby said ballmount is selectively raised and lowered about said second ballmount locking pin and is secured at a selected location with said first ballmount locking pin.
5. The tiltable trailer hitch of claim 1 wherein said adjustment bracket defines an inverted substantially U-shaped configuration defining said first side wall disposed on a first side of said shank, said second side wall disposed on a second side of said shank, and a top wall disposed between said first side wall and said second side wall.
6. A tiltable trailer hitch for tilting a trailer for reducing interference between either of a trailer, a ramp, or the ground, and a vehicle being loaded onto or unloaded from the trailer, said tiltable trailer hitch comprising:
a shank adapted to be received within a conventional receiver-type trailer hitch, said shank defining a first end and a second end, said first end configured to be received within a conventional receptor of a trailer hitch, said shank defining at least one through opening for receiving a shank locking pin cooperatively receivable in the trailer hitch;
an adjustment bracket carried by said shank, said adjustment bracket defining at least a first side wall and a second side wall, each of said first side wall and said second side wall defining at least one first opening and a plurality of second openings, each of said at least one first opening defined in said first side wall being aligned with one of said at least one first opening defined in said second side wall to define at least one cooperating pair of first openings for receiving a first ballmount locking pin, each of said plurality of second openings defined in said first side wall being aligned with one of said plurality of second openings defined in said second side wall to define a plurality of cooperating pairs of second openings for receiving a second ballmount locking pin, wherein said plurality of cooperating pairs of second openings are radially spaced apart about a first of said at least one cooperating pair of first openings; and
a ballmount pivotally mounted on said adjustment bracket, said ballmount being adapted to receive a conventional hitch ball, said ballmount configured to be received between said first side wall and said second wall of said adjustment bracket, said ballmount defining a first opening for cooperatively receiving said first ballmount locking pin with said at least one cooperating pair of first openings and a second opening for cooperatively receiving said second ballmount locking pin with one of said plurality of cooperating pairs of second openings, said ballmount being selectively raised and lowered about said first ballmount locking pin and is secured at a selected location with said second ballmount locking pin.
7. The tiltable trailer hitch of claim 6 wherein said adjustment bracket defines a plurality of said at least one cooperating pair of first openings, said plurality of cooperating pairs of first openings being radially spaced apart about a first of said plurality of cooperating pairs of second openings, whereby said ballmount is further selectively raised and lowered about said second ballmount locking pin.
8. The tiltable trailer hitch of claim 6 wherein said adjustment bracket defines an inverted substantially U-shaped configuration defining said first side wall disposed on a first side of said shank, said second side wall disposed on a second side of said shank, and a top wall disposed between said first side wall and said second side wall.
9. A tiltable trailer hitch for tilting a trailer for reducing interference between either of a trailer, a ramp, or the ground, and a vehicle being loaded onto or unloaded from the trailer, said tiltable trailer hitch comprising:
a shank adapted to be received within a conventional receiver-type trailer hitch, said shank defining a first end and a second end, said first end configured to be received within a conventional receptor of a trailer hitch, said shank defining at least one through opening for receiving a shank locking pin cooperatively receivable in the trailer hitch;
an adjustment bracket carried by said shank, said adjustment bracket defining an inverted substantially U-shaped configuration defining a first side wall disposed on a first side of said shank, a second side wall disposed on a second side of said shank, and a top wall disposed between said first side wall and said second side wall, each of said first side wall and said second side wall defining a plurality of first openings and a plurality of second openings, each of said plurality of first openings defined in said first side wall being aligned with one of said plurality of first openings defined in said second side wall to define a plurality of cooperating pairs of first openings for receiving a first ballmount locking pin, each of said plurality of second openings defined in said first side wall being aligned with one of said plurality of second openings defined in said second side wall to define a plurality of cooperating pairs of second openings for receiving a second ballmount locking pin, wherein said plurality of cooperating pairs of second openings are radially spaced apart about a first of said at least one cooperating pair of first openings, and wherein said plurality of cooperating pairs of first openings are radially spaced apart about a first of said plurality of cooperating pairs of second openings; and
a ballmount pivotally mounted on said adjustment bracket, said ballmount being adapted to receive a conventional hitch ball, said ballmount configured to be received between said first side wall and said second wall of said adjustment bracket, said ballmount defining a first opening for cooperatively receiving said first ballmount locking pin with said at least one cooperating pair of first openings and a second opening for cooperatively receiving said second ballmount locking pin with one of said plurality of cooperating pairs of second openings, said ballmount being selectively raised and lowered about either of said first ballmount locking pin and said second ballmount locking pin and is secured at a selected location with both of said first ballmount locking pin and said second ballmount locking pin.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method comprising actions of:
ascertaining one or more port metrics for at least one device at a first time;
ascertaining the one or more port metrics for the at least one device at a second time;
analyzing the one or more port metrics from the first and second times; and
determining if the analysis indicates a link problem in a path of a storage network, the path of the storage network comprising three or more switching devices.
2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising an action of:
acquiring information regarding the path of the storage network.
3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the action of acquiring comprises at least one action of:
retrieving one or more device files corresponding to the path of the storage network; or
retrieving one or more node files of nodes that are bound to the storage network and that correspond to the path thereof.
4. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising an action of:
if the analysis is determined to indicate a link problem in the path of the storage network, reporting a problem relating to the path.
5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the action of reporting comprises at least one action of:
presenting an error code andor a results summary that identifies suspect ports corresponding to the link problem along the path; or
presenting at least those analyzed port metrics that indicate the link problem along the path.
6. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the action of reporting comprises at least one action of:
identifying a link having the link problem as failing or failed; or
visually identifying a health of a link having the link problem with a color-coded graphical indicator.
7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein:
the action of ascertaining one or more port metrics for at least one device at a first time comprises an action of:
interrogating at least one switch at the first time to ascertain the one or more port metrics at the first time; and
the action of ascertaining the one or more port metrics for the at least one device at a second time comprises an action of:
interrogating the at least one switch at the second time to ascertain the one or more port metrics at the second time.
8. The method as recited in claim 7, further comprising an action of:
stimulating a device on the path of the storage network after the first time but before the second time.
9. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the action of stimulating comprises an action of:
performing a small computer serial interface (SCSI) inquiry on the device.
10. The method as recited in claim 8, further comprising actions of:
determining if the device responds to the stimulating; and
if not, reviewing security access rights of a stimulating source with respect to the device.
11. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein:
the action of analyzing comprises an action of:
comparing the one or more port metrics ascertained at the first time to the one or more port metrics ascertained at the second time; and
the action of determining comprises an action of:
detecting if values of the one or more port metrics are increasing or unchanging based on the comparing; wherein detection of an indicated link problem is dependent upon a type of the one or more port metrics.
12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein:
the action of ascertaining one or more port metrics for at least one device at a first time comprises an action of:
issuing a port state query command to at least one node at the first time to ascertain the one or more port metrics at the first time; and
the action of ascertaining the one or more port metrics for the at least one device at a second time comprises an action of:
issuing a port state query command to the at least one node at the second time to ascertain the one or more port metrics at the second time.
13. The method as recited in claim 12, further comprising an action of:
setting a retry count;
wherein the retry count establishes a number of times an error is to be detected prior to a reporting of the error.
14. The method as recited in claim 13, further comprising an action of:
setting a polling frequency to a first interval;
wherein the first interval establishes the polling frequency for performing the action of issuing a port state query command to the at least one node at the second time during non-error conditions.
15. The method as recited in claim 14, further comprising an action of:
after an error is initially detected, setting the polling frequency to a second interval;
wherein the second interval establishes the polling frequency for performing the action of issuing a port state query command to the at least one node at the second time during error conditions.
16. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the action of analyzing comprises an action of:
evaluating one or more responses received from the at least one node, the one or more responses corresponding to the port state query commands issued to the at least one node at the first and second times.
17. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the action of determining comprises an action of:
detecting if the one or more port metrics increment or fail to increment by a predetermined amount within a predetermined time period.
18. The method as recited in claim 12, further comprising actions of:
performing a dead node check with regard to a bad node field; and
performing a link failure check with regard to a failed link field.
19. The method as recited in claim 18, wherein the storage network comprises a fibre channel storage area network (SAN); and wherein the bad node field comprises a \u201clipf\u201d field, and the failed link field comprises a \u201cBad alpas\u201d field.
20. The method as recited in claim 18, further comprising actions of:
when a bad node or a failed link is detected from the actions of performing,
(1) translating a value to an identifier of a node, and
(2) reporting the identified node as problematic.
21. An arrangement for diagnosing paths in a storage network, the arrangement comprising:
ascertainment means for ascertaining one or more port metrics for at least one device at a first time and at a second time;
analysis means for analyzing the one or more port metrics from the first time and the second time; and
determination means for determining if the analysis indicates a link problem in a path of the storage network having three or more switching devices.
22. The arrangement as recited in claim 21, further comprising:
acquisition means for acquiring information regarding the path of the storage network.
23. The arrangement as recited in claim 21, further comprising:
means for reporting a problem relating to the path if the determination means determines that the analysis indicates a link problem in the path of the storage network.
24. The arrangement as recited in claim 21, wherein the ascertainment means comprises:
interrogation means for interrogating the at least one device on the path of the storage network, the at least one device comprising a switch and including one or more ports with which the one or more port metrics are associated.
25. The arrangement as recited in claim 21, wherein the ascertainment means comprises:
interrogation means for interrogating at least one switch at the first time to ascertain the one or more port metrics at the first time and at the second time to ascertain the one or more port metrics at the second time.
26. The arrangement as recited in claim 25, further comprising:
stimulation means for stimulating a device on the path of the storage network after the first time but before the second time.
27. The arrangement as recited in claim 21, wherein the ascertainment means comprises:
issuance means for issuing one or more port state query commands to at least one node on the path of the storage network, the at least one device comprising the at least one node.
28. The arrangement as recited in claim 21, wherein the ascertainment means comprises:
issuance means for issuing a port state query command to at least one node at the first time to ascertain the one or more port metrics at the first time and for issuing a port state query command to the at least one node at the second time to ascertain the one or more port metrics at the second time.
29. The arrangement as recited in claim 28, further comprising:
means for setting a retry count that establishes a number of times an error is to be detected prior to reporting the error; and
means for setting a polling frequency that establishes a frequency at which the issuance means issues the port state query command to the at least one node.
30. The arrangement as recited in claim 28, wherein the analysis means comprises:
evaluation means for evaluating one or more responses that are received from the at least one node and that correspond to the port state query commands issued to the at least one node by the issuance means at the first and second times.
31. The arrangement as recited in claim 30, wherein the determination means comprises:
detection means for detecting if the one or more port metrics, which are received in the one or more responses, increment or fail to increment by a predetermined amount within a predetermined time period.
32. The arrangement as recited in claim 21, further comprising:
means for performing a dead node check with regard to a bad node field; and
means for performing a link failure check with regard to a failed link field.
33. The arrangement as recited in claim 21, wherein the arrangement comprises at least one of (i) one or more processor-accessible media or (ii) at least one apparatus of the storage network.
34. A system having elements of a storage network, the system comprising:
a switching device including a first switching port and a second switching port;
a disk device including a disk port; and
a computer capable of diagnosing a health level of a path that includes the first switching port, the second switching port, and the disk port; wherein the computer is further capable of: ascertaining one or more port metrics at a first time and a second time and determining if there is a link problem along the path by comparing the one or more port metrics ascertained at the first time to the one or more port metrics ascertained at the second time;
wherein the path comprises three or more switching devices.
35. The system as recited in claim 34, further comprising:
second and third switching devices having a plurality of ports;
wherein the path further includes the plurality of ports of the second and third switching devices.
36. The system as recited in claim 34, wherein the computer comprises a host computer having a host bus adapter (HBA) andor a management station having a network interface card (NIC).
37. The system as recited in claim 34, wherein the computer is adapted to ascertain the one or more port metrics by interrogating the switching device.
38. The system as recited in claim 37, wherein the computer is adapted to stimulate the disk device between the first time and the second time.
39. The system as recited in claim 34, wherein the computer is adapted to ascertain the one or more port metrics by issuing at least one port state query command to the switching device andor to the disk device.
40. The system as recited in claim 34, wherein the computer is further capable of: detecting a link problem along the path by performing a dead node check using a bad node field andor a link failure check using a failed link field, the fields located in one or more registers of the switching device.
41. One or more processor-accessible media comprising processor-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an apparatus to perform actions comprising:
ascertaining one or more port metrics for at least one device at a first time;
ascertaining the one or more port metrics for the at least one device at a second time;
analyzing the one or more port metrics from the first and second times; and
determining if the analysis indicates a link problem in a path of a storage network, the path of the storage network comprising three or more switching devices.
42. The one or more processor-accessible media as recited in claim 41, wherein the action of ascertaining one or more port metrics for at least one device at a first time comprises an action of:
interrogating the at least one device on the path of the storage network, the at least one device comprising a switch that includes one or more ports with which the one or more port metrics are associated.
43. The one or more processor-accessible media as recited in claim 42, wherein the action of interrogating comprises an action of:
performing a simple network management protocol (SNMP) query on the switch.
44. The one or more processor-accessible media as recited in claim 42, wherein the one or more port metrics comprise at least one port metric type selected from a group comprising: a transmission word count, a received word count, a number of cyclical redundancy cycle (CRC) errors, a number of invalid transmission words, a number of link failures, a number of primitive sequence protocol errors, a number of signal losses, and a number of synchronization losses.
45. The one or more processor-accessible media as recited in claim 41, wherein the one or more processor-accessible media comprise at least one of (i) one or more storage media or (ii) one or more transmission media.
46. The one or more processor-accessible media as recited in claim 41, wherein at least a portion of the processor-executable instructions comprise at least part of a path connectivity module of a storage area network (SAN) management application.
47. The one or more processor-accessible media as recited in claim 41, wherein the action of ascertaining one or more port metrics for at least one device at a first time comprises an action of:
issuing a port state query command to at least one node on the path of the storage network, the at least one node corresponding to the at least one device.
48. The one or more processor-accessible media as recited in claim 47, wherein the at least one node comprises a switch, a host bus adapter (HBA), or a disk device; and wherein the at least one node includes at least one port.
49. The one or more processor-accessible media as recited in claim 47, wherein the port state query command comprises a fibre channel read link error status (RLS) command.
50. The one or more processor-accessible media as recited in claim 47, wherein the one or more port metrics comprise at least one port metric type selected from a group comprising: bad character counts, loss of synchronization counts, loss of signal counts, link failure counts, invalid transmission word counts, invalid cyclical redundancy cycle (CRC) counts, and primitive sequence protocol error counts.