Patent ID: 7596723

Claim:
An apparatus for selective cross communications, the apparatus comprising: a first storage module disposed in an enclosure, comprising a plurality of storage devices, and in communication with an upstream first storage module disposed in an upstream enclosure and a downstream first storage module disposed in a downstream enclosure through a cascading first loop; a second storage module disposed in the enclosure, autonomous from the first storage module, comprising a plurality of storage devices, and in communication with an upstream second storage module disposed in the upstream enclosure and a downstream second storage module disposed in the downstream enclosure through a cascading second loop; an interface module in communication with the first and second storage modules, disposed in the enclosure and transmitting messages of the cascading first loop through the second storage module and cascading second loop; a code storage device storing executable code; and a processor executing the executable code, the executable code comprising a selection module enabling the interface module to transmit the messages of the cascading first loop through the second storage module in response to a failure of the cascading first loop upstream of the first storage module.