SYSTEM, APPARATUS, AND METHOD FOR MANAGING A DATA STORAGE SYSTEM IN AN N-WAY ACTIVE CONTROLLER CONFIGURATION

The present invention provides a system, apparatus, and method for managing a data storage system in n-way active controller configuration, such that a controller can detect the failure of and reset more than just a single other controller. To accomplish this, a controller sends a ping message to at least a subset of the other controllers, and waits for any of the other controllers to respond to the ping message within a first predetermined amount of time. If any of the other controllers do not respond to the ping message within the first predetermined amount of time, it is determined that the non-responding controller has failed. The controller will reset any failed controller.