Patent ID: 7650532

Claim:
A storage system, comprising: a storage apparatus, which performs a communication over a communication network with a maintenance terminal; a first information processing terminal which performs necessary setting tasks, maintenance tasks, or management tasks on each portion of said storage apparatus and which monitors the states of each portion of said storage apparatus, and upon recognizing the occurrence of an event in said storage apparatus, notifies said maintenance terminal of the occurrence of the event; a second information processing terminal which monitors a state of said first information processing terminal; a plurality of hubs on communication paths between said first information processing terminal and said second information processing terminal; and a management table in each of said first information processing terminal and said second information processing terminal, which stores information indicating the results of communication tests performed with the other of said first information processing terminal and said second information processing terminal via a communication path; wherein each of said first information processing terminal and said second information processing terminal references information recorded in its management table, and based on said information, judges whether the state of the other information processing terminal is anomalous; wherein upon either of said first information processing terminal or said second information processing terminal judging the state of the other information processing terminal as anomalous, said judging terminal halts operation of said anomalous terminal, and said judging terminal performs tasks previously performed by said anomalous terminal; wherein each of said first and second information processing terminals has pattern information stored in said management tables; wherein said pattern information is obtained as a result of communication tests with the other of first and second information processing terminals; wherein said pattern information is used to detect the presence of a malfunction in the other information processing terminal, and the malfunction location; wherein said second information processing terminal monitors the states of said plurality of hubs; wherein each of said first information processing terminal and said second information processing terminal references information recorded in its management table, and based on said information, judges whether the state of a hub is anomalous; and wherein upon either of said first information processing terminal or said second information processing terminal judging the state of a hub as anomalous, said information processing terminal turns off the anomalous hub, and turns on another hub.