US Patent 7143315 Data storage systems and methods

Fault tolerant data storage systems and methods of operating a fault tolerant data storage system are presented. In one aspect of the invention, a fault tolerant data storage system comprises: a plurality of coupled components individually including: an interface adapted to couple with a data connection and to selectively receive a plurality of transactions from the data connection; transaction processing circuitry coupled with the interface and configured to process transactions received from the interface; and analysis circuitry configured to detect error conditions within the transactions and to prevent entry of transactions individually including an error condition into the respective component responsive to the detection.