Stratus Technologies Bermuda Ltd.

Gerry Griffin

Michael McLoughlin

An apparatus and method for accessing a first local mass storage device or a second local mass storage device in a fault-tolerant server. In one embodiment, the fault-tolerant server establishes communication between a first computing element and a first local mass storage device. The fault-tolerant server also establishes communications between a second computing element and a second local mass storage device. In one embodiment, the first computing element and the second computing element issue substantially similar instruction streams to one of the local mass storage devices.

Apparatus and method for accessing a mass storage device in a fault-tolerant server

An apparatus and method for a first computing element and a second computing element to execute in lockstep in a fault-tolerant server. In one embodiment, the first computing element provides a first instruction to a communications link and the second computing element provides a second instruction to a communications link. In one embodiment, a first local input-output (I/O) subsystem and a second local I/O subsystem are each in communication with the communications link. The first and/or the second local I/O subsystem compare the first instruction and the second instruction. In one embodiment, the first and second local I/O subsystems indicate a fault of the first computing element or the second computing element. Such a fault may be determined by a miscompare of the first instruction and the second instruction.

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Stillorgan, Ireland

Gerry Griffin