Patent ID: 6880032

Claim:
A data storage system wherein a host computer is coupled to a bank of disk drives through an interface, such interface comprising: a plurality of directors; a bus; a memory connected to the directors through the bus; wherein the directors control data transfer between the host computer and the bank of disk drives as such data passes through the memory; a plurality of ESCON adapters, a front end portion of the directors being coupled between the host computer and the bus through the ESCON adapter boards; wherein each one of such adapter boards includes: a plurality of adapter board ports each one being coupled to a corresponding port of the host computer; a plurality of adapter board gate arrays; a plurality of optic interfaces, each one of the optic interfaces being coupled between a corresponding one of the adapter board ports and a corresponding one of the adapter board gate arrays, each one of the coupled optic interfaces and adapted board gate arrays providing a corresponding one of a plurality of channels for the data; wherein each adapter board also comprises: a plurality of adapter board CPUs, each one being coupled to the adapter board gate arrays and the optic interface of a corresponding one of the channels, each one of the CPUs controlling the initiation and termination of the data passing through said corresponding one of the channels; wherein each one of the front end portion of the director boards includes a plurality of director board gate arrays and a plurality of EDACs; and wherein each pair of the director board gate arrays is coupled between a corresponding pair of the adapter board gate arrays and a corresponding one of the EDACs.