Patent ID: 7987229

Claim:
A data storage system for transferring data between a host computer/server and a bank of disk drives through a system interface, such system interface having: a plurality of storage processors, each one of the storage processors having a user data port, one portion of the storage processors having the user data port coupled to the host computer/server and another portion of the storage processors having the user data port coupled to the bank of disk drives; and, a packet switching network coupled to the plurality of storage processors for passing packets between the plurality storage processors, each one of the plurality of storage processors comprising: a CPU section; a data pipe section coupled between the user data port and the packet switching network, such data pipe section comprising: a plurality of data pipe managers; a plurality of data pipes, each one of the data pipes having a corresponding one of the plurality of data pipe managers; and a data pipe controller responsive to descriptors produced by the CPU section for controlling the plurality of data pipes, user data at the user data port passing through the data pipes, each one of the plurality of data pipes being controlled by the corresponding one of the plurality of data pipe managers in such one of the data pipes in response to the descriptors passed to the data pipe manager in such one of the data pipes by the data pipe controller.