Patent ID: 7529972

Claim:
A method for use in a computer system comprising at least one host, at least one object addressable storage (OAS) system and at least one communication medium that couples the at least one host to the at least one OAS system, the at least one OAS system having a plurality of storage devices and storing a plurality of content units on the plurality of storage devices, each of the at least one host and the at least one OAS system having software that provides a OAS interface so that each one of the content units stored on the OAS system is identified between the at least one host and the at least one OAS using an object identifier, wherein the computer system maps the object identifier for a first of the plurality of content units to at least one of the plurality of storage devices over at least one first path, the method comprising an act of: (A) in response to a failure that prevents the at least one host from accessing the first content unit via the at least one first path, automatically reconfiguring the at least one OAS system to establish at least one previously non-established second path that enables the at least one host to access the first content unit using the object identifier for the first content unit; wherein the OAS system includes a first controller and a second controller, where the first path passes through the first controller, and wherein the second path passes through the second controller.