Data storage system
US5729763A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 15, 1995 |
| Grant date | Mar 17, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 15, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F11/2094
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A data storage system is provided wherein each one of a plurality of disk interfaces is coupled to a corresponding storage disk drive. The disk interfaces in one portion are coupled through a first unidirectional channel to a first disk controller and the disk interfaces in another portion of the disk interfaces are coupled through a second unidirectional channel to a second disk controller. Each disk interface includes a switch adapted to allow data to pass to another disk drive in the channel thereof; and, when the other channel becomes inoperative, coupling the disk drive in the inoperative channel to the operative fiber channel. With such arrangement, a disk drive may be removed without requiring a shut-down of the storage system (i.e., the disk drive may be "hot swapped"). In one embodiment, a pair of the switches is disposed on the common printed circuit board with the disk interface for enabling depopulation, or removal of, disk drives from the storage system.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.