A storage system includes at least one storage medium, at least one controller to control the storage medium, and a communication path to connect the storage medium and the controller in a loop for communication between the controller and the storage medium, wherein a failure diagnosis is performed to locate a failure while performing normal read/write operations.
An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for selective cross communications between autonomous storage modules. A RAID controller communicates through a first cascading communications loop comprising a first storage module. The first storage module includes a plurality of storage devices and is disposed in an enclosure. The RAID controller also communicates through a second cascading communications loop comprising a second storage module. The second storage module also includes a plurality of storage devices and is disposed in the enclosure. An interface module transmits messages of the first loop through the second storage module. In one embodiment, the RAID controller communicates a cross communications command to the interface module through the second storage module to enable the interface module to transmit the messages of the first loop through the second storage module in response to a failure of the first loop upstream of the first storage module.
