Methods and apparatus for peer-to-peer data channels for storage devices

1. A method comprising:

transferring data between a host and a first storage device using a first storage interface;

transferring data between the host and a second storage device using a second storage interface; and

transferring data between the first storage device and the second storage device using a peer-to-peer bus;

wherein data is transferred between the first storage device and the second storage device using the peer-to-peer bus, based on a Quality-of-Service (QoS) parameter.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the storage devices are configured for the QoS parameter by one or more of the host, a management controller, or at least one of the storage devices.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the QoS parameter comprises one or more of a priority, a resource, or a performance level.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

transferring data between the host and a third storage device using a third storage interface; and

configuring the first, second and third storage devices as one or more peer-to-peer groups.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein a peer-to-peer group is created dynamically.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing, by the first storage device, a service for the second storage device based on the QoS parameter.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising overriding the QoS parameter.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the QoS parameter is a first QoS parameter, the method further comprising:

transferring data between the host and one or more additional storage devices using one or more additional storage interfaces;

configuring the first storage device and the second storage device as a first peer-to-peer group;

configuring at least two of the first storage device, the second storage device, and the one or more additional storage devices as a second peer-to-peer group; and

transferring data within the second peer-to-peer group, using the peer-to-peer bus, based on a second QoS parameter.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein:

the first peer-to-peer group performs a first operation based on the first QoS parameter; and

the second peer-to-peer group performs a second operation based on the second QoS parameter.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the QoS parameter is based on a policy parameter.

11. A storage system comprising:

a host interface;

a first storage device having a first storage interface coupled to the host interface;

a second storage device having a second storage interface coupled to the host interface; and

a peer-to-peer bus coupled between the first and second storage devices;

wherein the first storage device and the second storage device are configured to transfer data between the first storage device and the second storage device using the peer-to-peer bus based on a flow control.

12. The storage system of claim 11 , wherein:

the first storage interface is coupled to the host interface using a first storage connector;

the second storage interface is coupled to the host interface using a second storage connector; and

the peer-to-peer bus is coupled between the first storage connector and the second storage connector.

13. The storage system of claim 11 , wherein the peer-to-peer bus comprises a switch fabric.

14. The storage system of claim 11 , wherein the peer-to-peer bus is located at least partially on one of a midplane, a motherboard, or a switchboard.

15. The storage system of claim 11 , wherein the flow control comprises an acknowledgment.

16. The storage system of claim 11 , wherein the flow control comprises a message sequence.

17. A storage device comprising:

a storage medium;

a storage device controller coupled to the storage medium;

a storage interface coupled to the storage device controller; and

a peer-to-peer interface coupled to the storage device controller and configured to transfer data using the peer-to-peer interface based on a Quality-of-Service (QoS) parameter.

18. The storage device of claim 17 , wherein the storage interface comprises a two-port interface.

19. The storage device of claim 17 , further comprising a storage connector coupled to the storage interface, wherein the storage connector is coupled to the peer-to-peer interface.

20. The storage device of claim 19 , further comprising an additional connector coupled to the peer-to-peer interface.