Patent ID: 7346674

Claim:
A configurable fibre channel (FC) communication system for coupling mass storage devices to input/output (I/O) controllers in a data storage system, the communication system comprising: a first port bypass system (PBPS) and a second PBPS, each PBPS including respective FC protocol network sections, each of the network sections including a respective plurality of nodes, each PBPS also including respective bypass element controllers (BEC), each BEC controlling a respective one of the network sections; and in each respective PBPS: the nodes form a FC network comprising a number N of FC loops, each being controlled by a respective BEC in the respective PBPS, the FC network permitting the storage devices to be coupled to I/O ports of the respective PBPS, the I/O ports coupling the respective PBPS to the I/O controllers, and in one operating mode of the respective PBPS, the BEC in the respective PBPS control the respective network sections in the respective PBPS so as to cause a number N/2 of the N FC loops of the FC network to operate together resulting in a number M of FC loops, each of the M FC loops being respectively coupled to one of M of the I/O ports, and in another operating mode of the respective PBPS, the respective BEC in the respective PBPS control the respective network sections in the respective PBPS so as to cause the FC network to operate as the number N of FC loops that are respectively coupled to one of N of the I/O ports, wherein M is less than N.