Patent ID: 7653830

Claim:
A method, comprising: partitioning a plurality of processing nodes in a storage system into a plurality of logical processing units, wherein the plurality of logical processing units can respond to I/O requests from a host coupled to the storage system; grouping at least two logical processing units, wherein data in a first storage coupled to a first logical processing unit of the least two logical processing units is mirrored by data in a second storage coupled to the second logical processing unit of the at least two logical processing units; in response to a failure of the first logical processing unit, responding to an I/O request from the host via the second logical processing unit, receiving from the first logical processing unit, a request for memory access of a logical processing unit; determining, by one or more partitioning applications coupled to the plurality of logical processing units, whether the logical processing unit is grouped with the first logical processing unit; if the logical processing unit is grouped with the first logical processing unit, then allowing the memory access of the logical processing unit to the first logical processing unit; and if the logical processing unit is not grouped with the first logical processing unit, then preventing the memory access of the logical processing unit to the first logical processing unit.