Importance

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Abstract

First and second bus bridges, e.g., first and second RAID disk controllers, are operative to communicate between a first bus and a second bus via respective first and second caches and to transfer information from the first bus bridge to the second cache over a third bus, e.g., a synchronous data link between the caches, to allow recovery of data previously cached in the first cache via the second bus bridge. The second bus bridge preferably is operative to transfer information addressed to the first bus from the first bus to the second bus, e.g., to 'alias' addresses normally assigned to the first bus bridge in event of a failure, disconnection or other change in status of the first bus bridge. The status may be communicated from the first bus bridge to the second bus bridge over a fourth bus connecting the first and second bus bridges. In one embodiment, the first and second bus bridges are included in respective first and second circuit assemblies that are connected to the first and second busses and to one another by a conductor assembly, e.g., a relatively high-reliability passive backplane. In yet another embodiment according to the present invention, a a respective one of the first and second circuit assemblies comprises a first circuit substrate configured to be releasably connected to the conductor assembly. The first circuit substrate is configured to receive a plurality of second circuit substrates for connecting the bus bridge of the circuit assembly to the first and second busses. In this manner, the circuit assemblies may be adapted to bridge a variety of bus types, such as low-voltage differential SCSI (LVDS), single-ended ended SCSI (SCSI-SE) and Fibre Channel (FC).

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First Claim