Patent ID: 8416772

Claim:
A link control card for disk drives, comprising: a first connector for carrying user data and environmental data; a diplexer having: an environmental data port for carrying the-environmental data through the diplexer; and a user data port for carrying user data to and from the user data connector through the diplexer; an optical connector for carrying user data; a communication channel for coupling user data to and from the disk drives through a selected one of two paths, a first path of the two paths being between the disk drives and the user data port of the diplexer and a second path of the two paths being between the disk drives and the optical connector wherein the communication channel includes: a first electrical wire having a first end connected to the port of the diplexer and a second end terminating in a first electrically conductive terminal; a second electrical wire having a first end terminating in a second electrically conductive terminal spaced from the first electrically conductive terminal and a second end coupled to the disk drives; a third electrical wire having a first end connected to the optical connector and a second end terminating in a third electrically conductive terminal; and a switch for selecting one of the two paths; wherein the switch selects the first path of the two paths by coupling the first electrically conductive terminal and the second electrically conductive terminal; wherein the switch selects the second path of the two paths by coupling the third electrically conductive terminal and the second electrically conductive terminal.