Patent ID: 6219753
Filing Date: 2001-04-17
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A data storage system comprising;a plurality (n) of information storage devices each having first and second device access ports;a plurality (c) of communication channels;a device controller controlling access by said plurality of information storage devices to said plurality of communication channels;at least one of said storage devices being connected via said first access port to a first one of said communication channels and via said second access port to a second one of said communication channels different from said first channel, so that said at least one storage device is accessed by said controller via either said first channel through said first port or via said second channel through said second port;wherein the relationship between the minimum number (n) of devices for an automatically balanced system and the number of channels (c) is defined by the equation: ##EQU5##where k is a constant equal to 2 for drives having only a single active port at any time, and equal to 1 for fully-dual-ported drives, and m is an integer equal to 1 that defines the minimum number of devices for redundant balanced operations and equal to an integer greater than 1 for redundant load balanced operation and higher storage capacity.