APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROVISIONING STORAGE TO A SHARED FILE SYSTEM IN A STORAGE AREA NETWORK

A provisioning apparatus for provisioning a storage volume to a shared file system in a storage area network, wherein the storage area network comprises a plurality of server nodes and a plurality of storage devices, wherein each server node comprises a shared file system operable for sharing by each of the plurality of server nodes and each server node is operable for communicating with each of the plurality of storage devices, the apparatus comprising: a creator component creates a new storage volume; a messenger component instructs the server nodes to detect the new storage volume and to allocate a device name; an instructor component instructs the shared file system to assign the storage volume to the shared file system; an instructor component associates the device name with the shared file system; a receiver component receives a unique identifier for the storage volume and the device name; and a builder component for determines a relationship between the unique identifier and the device name, storing the relationship in the provisioning apparatus.