Patent ID: 6959344

Claim:
A storage control system comprising: a plurality of controllers configured to be coupled to an external communication path and operative to service file-level I/O requests from a host device over said external communication path; a storage apparatus having a disk drive and a device interface that executes writing and reading data into and from said disk drive; and an internal communication path configured for connection among said controllers and said device interface, each controller further being operative to monitor an operational state of other controllers via said internal communication path, each controller further being operative to communicate a data input/output command corresponding to said file-level I/O requests to said device interface via said internal communication path, said device interface being operative to execute writing or reading of data into or from said disk drive according to said data input/output commands, wherein said operational state includes information indicative of whether or not a corresponding one of said controllers has failed, said storage control system further comprising a section that makes at least one of the others of said controllers take over processing being carried out by a failed controller if at least one of the others of said controllers acknowledges that here is failure in said failed controller, wherein said controller determines that said internal communication path has failed, if said operational state of other said controllers cannot be accessed, wherein if said controller determines that said internal communication path has failed due to not being able to access said operation state, then said controller stops data I/O processing to said internal communication path.