Hierarchical Enclosure Management Services

A system for managing data within a fibre channel arbitrated loop (FC-AL) dual loop storage network, comprising:

• first and second controller cards having first and second small computer systems interface (SCSI) enclosure services (SES) processor modules organized as leader processors;
• and
• third and fourth controller cards having third and fourth small computer systems interface (SCSI) enclosure services (SES) processor modules organized as subordinate processors, the third and fourth controller cards electrically connected to the first and second controller cards, wherein:
• the first SES processor and the third SES processor are presented within the storage network as a single logical entity on the first of the dual loops, and
• the second SES processor and the fourth SES processor are presented within the storage network as a single logical entity on the second of the dual loops.

A method of manufacturing an array of storage devices compliant with a fibre-channel arbitrated loop (FC-AL) specification, comprising:

• providing first and second controllers having integrated first and second SCSI enclosure services (SES) processing devices acting as leader processors;
• and
• providing third and fourth controllers coupled to the first and second controllers and acting as subordinate processors, the third and fourth controllers having integrated third and fourth SCSI enclosure services (SES) processing devices, wherein:
• each of the SES processing devices synchronizes and merges data to create a single control image for the entire configuration, presenting a single SES instance to a storage device interconnect network and to host controller software.