Author: claimsbot

I claim:

1. A device for supporting a collapsible waste bag from the inside of the bag near a mouth of the bag for maintaining the bag mouth in an open position, the device comprising:
a continuous, imperforate band having an expanded circular configuration, the band being formed from a flexible material having sufficient flexibility that the band may be grasped by a user with one hand at approximately a mid-portion thereof and squeezed together with said one hand to form a collapsed configuration of a partial lemniscate to facilitate insertion of said band into said bag, said band expanding to said circular configuration when released and expanding radially outwardly against the bag.
2. The bag device as set forth in claim 1, wherein said band has an approximate circumference that is ranges from between about 100% to about 106% of the perimeter of said bag mouth.
3. The bag device as set forth in claim 1, wherein said band is formed from a solid strip of plastic.
4. The bag device as set forth in claim 1, wherein said band is formed from an elongated strip of plastic having two opposing ends, said band two ends being overlaid upon each other and permanently joined to each other to form said continuous band.
5. The bag device as set forth in claim 1, wherein said band has a width of between about 1 inch and about 2 inches.
6. The bag device as set forth in claim 2, wherein said band diameter is between about 17 and about 18 inches.
7. The bag device as set forth in claim 1, wherein said band, when grasped and squeezed with said one hand into said partial lemniscate, has two opposing end portions, each end including a partial loop with a curved surface facing outwardly at each said end portion.
8. The bag device as set forth in claim 4, wherein said band two ends are joined together by an adhesive.
9. The bag device as set forth in claim 4, wherein said band two ends are joined together by welding.
10. An expandable and collapsible device for imparting rigidity to a perimeter of an opening of a collapsible yard waste bag to facilitate the loading and unloading of the year waste bag, the device forming an interior frame of said bag opening, said device comprising:
a continuous, collapsible frame member that is configurable between a first configuration for expansion against said waste bag and a second, collapsed configuration for insertion into said yard waste bag opening, said first configuration being a circular configuration and said second configuration being a partial lemniscate, said band having a sidewall of predetermined width that engages an inner perimeter of said yard waste bag when said band is inserted into said yard waste bag and expanded against said yard waste bag sidewalls, said band being collapsible and expandable with one hand.
11. The device of claim 10, wherein said band, when in said partial lemniscate configuration, has two loop portions at opposite ends of said band, each of said loop portions having an exterior curved surface that initially contact said bag sidewalls when said band is inserted into said yard waste bag opening.
12. The device of claim 11, when said band includes an solid and imperforate band.
13. The device of claim 12, wherein said band has a circumference that is about 100% of said bag opening perimeter.
14. The device of claim 11, wherein said band has a circumference that is slightly greater than said perimeter of said bag opening, whereby when said band is expanded into said second configuration, said band exerts a pressure on said yard waste bag near said opening thereof.
15. The device of claim 11, wherein said band is formed from a solid strip of plastic.
16. The device of claim 11, wherein said band is formed from an elongated strip of plastic having two opposing ends that overlap each other and are joined together along the length in which they overlie each other.
17. A device for supporting a collapsible waste bag from the inside of the bag near a mouth of the bag for maintaining the bag mouth in an open position, the device comprising:
a continuous, non-articulated band having an expanded circular configuration, the band being formed from a flexible material having sufficient flexibility that the band may be grasped by a user with one hand at approximately a mid-portion thereof and squeezed together by said user with said one hand to form a collapsed configuration of a partial lemniscate to facilitate insertion of said band into said bag, said band expanding to said circular configuration when released and expanding radially outwardly against the bag, said band having an perimeter that is approximate no greater than a the perimeter of said bag mouth, said band, when in said partial lemniscate configuration, having two opposing end portions, each end including a partial loop with a curved surface facing outwardly at each said end portion.
18. The bag device as set forth in claim 17, wherein said band has an approximate circumference that is about 100% of the perimeter of said bag mouth.
19. The bag device as set forth in claim 17, wherein said band is formed from a solid strip of plastic.
20. The bag device as set forth in claim 17, wherein said band is formed from an elongated strip having two opposing ends that overlap each other and which are joined together permanently along the length in which they overlie each other.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. An apparatus comprising:
a liquid crystal display comprising sub-pixels each comprising a first display field and a second display field that either both operate in a transmissive mode or both operate in a reflective mode, the first and second display fields of a sub-pixel being driven by a same driving device, the first and second display fields of a sub-pixel having different characteristics that cause liquid crystal layers in the first and second display fields to have different transmittances.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein when a pixel voltage corresponding to a particular gray level is applied to the sub-pixel, the first display field shows a gray level darker than the particular gray level, the second display field shows a gray level lighter than the particular gray level, and overall the sub-pixel appears to show the particular gray level.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each sub-pixel corresponds to a primary color shown on the display and, when the same pixel voltage is applied to a group of sub-pixels that correspond to the same primary color, the first display fields of the group of sub-pixels have substantially the same transmittance.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each sub-pixel corresponds to a primary color shown on the display and, when the same pixel voltage is applied to various sub-pixels that correspond to different primary colors, the first display fields of the sub-pixels have different transmittances.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the driving device comprises a thin film transistor.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the sub-pixels are oriented such that the position of the first display field relative the corresponding second display field is the same for a row of sub-pixels.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the sub-pixels are oriented such that, within a row of sub-pixels, the position of the first display field relative the corresponding second display field alternates from one sub-pixel to the next sub-pixel.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first display field and the second display field of the same sub-pixel have different cell gaps.
9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein each sub-pixel corresponds to a primary color shown on the display, and the first display fields that correspond to the same primary color have substantially the same cell gap.
10. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein each sub-pixel corresponds to a primary color shown on the display, each sub-pixel comprises a color filter (CF) layer, and portions of the CF layers covering the first display fields of a group of sub-pixels associated with the same primary color have substantially the same thickness.
11. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein each sub-pixel corresponds to a primary color shown on the display, and the first display fields of various sub-pixels that correspond to different primary colors have different cell gaps.
12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each sub-pixel corresponds to a primary color shown on the display, each sub-pixel comprises a color filter (CF) layer, and portions of the CF layers covering the first display fields of various sub-pixels associated with different primary colors have different thicknesses.
13. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each sub-pixel comprises a color filter (CF) layer, the CF layer having a first portion covering the first display field and a second portion covering the second display field, the first portion having a color layer, the second portion having a color layer and a transparent layer such that the second portion has a thickness greater than the first portion.
14. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each sub-pixel comprises a first common electrode that corresponds to the first display field and a second common electrode that corresponds to the second display field, the first common electrode to connect to a first common voltage, the second common electrode to connect to a second common voltage that is different from the first common voltage.
15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein each sub-pixel corresponds to a primary color shown on the display, and the first display fields of sub-pixels corresponding to the same primary color are associated with the same common electrode.
16. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the first common electrode is coupled to a first direct-current voltage and the second common electrode is coupled to a second direct-current voltage.
17. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the first common electrode is coupled to a first alternating-current common voltage and the second common electrode is coupled to a second alternating-current common voltage.
18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the pixel electrode is coupled with an alternating-current pixel voltage, the frequency of the pixel voltage, the first common voltage and the second common voltage are substantially the same, and the average value of the pixel voltage, the average value of the first common voltage, and the average value of the second common voltage are substantially the same.
19. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the polarity of the first alternating-current common voltage is opposite to that of the second alternating-current common voltage.
20. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the first common electrode comprises a plurality of first extending portions, the second common electrode comprises a plurality of second extending portions, the first extending portions and the second extending portions being disposed alternately along a direction.
21. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein each of some first extending portions corresponds to two rows of the sub-pixels and each of some of the second extending portions correspond to two rows of the sub-pixels.
22. An apparatus comprising:
a liquid crystal display comprising sub-pixels each comprising a first display field and a second display field that either both operate in a transmissive mode or operate in a reflective mode, the first display field comprising a liquid crystal layer between a pixel electrode and a first common electrode, the second display field comprising a liquid crystal layer between the pixel electrode and a second common electrode, the first common electrode to connect to a first common voltage, the second common electrode to connect to a second common voltage that is different from the first common voltage to cause the first display field to have a transmittance different from that of the second display field.
23. An apparatus comprising:
a liquid crystal display comprising sub-pixels each comprising a first display field and a second display field, the first and second display fields both being driven by a same driving device, the first and second display fields having characteristics such that when a pixel voltage corresponding to a particular gray level is applied to the sub-pixel, the first display field shows a gray level darker than the particular gray level, the second display field shows a gray level lighter than the particular gray level, and overall the sub-pixel appears to show the particular gray level.
24. A method comprising:
applying a pixel voltage to a pixel electrode of a sub-pixel of a display, the pixel electrode corresponding to a first display field and a second display field of the sub-pixel;
applying a first common voltage to a first common electrode that covers the first display field;
applying a second common voltage to a second common electrode that covers the second display field, the second common voltage being different from the first common voltage to cause the first display field to have a transmittance that is different from that of the second display field; and
operating both the first and second display fields in a transmissive mode or both the first and second display fields in a reflective mode.
25. A method comprising:
driving a first display field and a second display field of a sub-pixel of a liquid crystal display using a driving device, the first and second display fields having characteristics such that when a pixel voltage corresponding to a particular gray level is applied to the sub-pixel, the first display field shows a gray level darker than the particular gray level, the second display field shows a gray level lighter than the particular gray level, and overall the sub-pixel appears to show the particular gray level.

1. A polyester resin having a substantially linear structure and a number average molecular weight less than about 20,000, said polyester resin comprising: a di-epoxide monomer; and a di-acid monomer.
2. The polyester resin according to claim 1, wherein the stoichiometric ratio of the diepoxide monomer to the di-acid monomer, or the di-acid monomer to the di-epoxide monomer, ranges from about 1:0.30 to 1.0:0.99.
3. The polyester resin according to claim 2, wherein the stoichiometric ratio ranges from about 1.0:0.35 to 1.0:0.80.
4. The polyester resin ratio according to claim 3, wherein the stoichiometric ratio from about 1.0:0.42 to 1.0:0.65.
5. The polyester resin according to claim 1, wherein the molecular weight ranges from about 5,000 to 10,000.
6. The polyester resin according to claim 5, wherein the molecular weight ranges from about 6,000 to 8,000.
7. The polyester resin according to claim 1, wherein the diepoxide monomer is selected from the group consisting of: bisphenol-A diglycidyl ether or its ethoxylated analogues, cycloaliphatic epoxies, cycloaromatic epoxies, hydrogenated bisphenol-A diglycidyl ether or its ethoxylated analogues and mixtures thereof.
8. The polyester resin according to claim 1, wherein the di-acid monomer is selected from the group consisting of: isophthalic acid, sebacic acid, fumaric acid, maleic acid, adipic acid, nitroisophthalic acid, terephthalic acid, undecanoic acid, succinic acid, glutaric acid, pimelic acid, azeliac acid, malonic acid, suberic acid and mixtures thereof.
9. The polyester resin according to claim 1, wherein the polyester resin is free of acrylates.
10. The polyester resin according to claim 1, wherein the polyester resin comprises two pendant hydroxyl groups per repeat unit.
11. The polyester resin according to claim 1, wherein said acid value is less than 1.0.
12. The polyester resin according to claim 11, wherein the acid value is less than 0.5.
13. The polyester resin according to claim 12, wherein the acid value is less than 0.25.
14. The polyester resin according to claim 1, further comprising a free radical inhibitor.
15. The polyester resin according to claim 14, wherein the free radical inhibitor is selected from the group consisting of: hydroquinone, methyl hydroquinone, monomethyl ether of hydroquinone, tert-butyl hydroquinone, di-tert-butyl hydroquinone, 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol, phenothiazin, triphenyl antimony, oxalic acid and mixtures thereof.
16. A method of preparing the polyester resin according to claim 1, comprising reacting the di-epoxide monomer with the di-acid monomer.
17. An energy curable lithographic printing ink or coating comprising the polyester resin according to claim 1.
18. The energy curable lithographic printing ink according to claim 17, wherein the polyester resin is about 15-35 wt. % of the energy curable lithographic ink.
19. The energy curable lithographic printing ink according to claim 18, wherein the polyester resin is about 18-32 wt. % of the ink.
20. The energy curable lithographic printing ink according to claim 17, exhibiting a total body change less than about 40%.
21. The energy curable lithographic printing ink according to claim 20, wherein the total body change is less than about 15%.
22. The energy curable lithographic printing ink according to claim 21, wherein the total body change is less than about 3%.
23. The energy curable lithographic printing ink according to claim 17, exhibiting a water window greater than about 15%.
24. The energy curable lithographic printing ink according to claim 23, wherein the water window is greater than about 30%.
25. The energy curable lithographic printing ink according to claim 17, wherein the print density is less than about 8%.
26. The energy curable lithographic printing ink according to claim 17, further comprising a polymerizable multifunctional monomer.
27. The energy curable lithographic printing ink according to claim 26, wherein said polymerizable multifunctional monomer is less than about 35 wt % of the ink.
28. The energy curable lithographic printing ink according to claim 27, wherein the polymerizable multifunctional monomer is less than about 25 wt. % of the ink.
29. The energy curable lithographic printing ink according to claim 17, further comprising a radiation curable oligomer andor polymer.
30. The energy curable lithographic printing ink according to claim 29, wherein said radiation curable oligomer andor polymer is selected from the group consisting of: (meth)acrylated urethanes, (meth)acrylated epoxies, (meth)acrylated polyesters, (meth)acrylated(meth)acrylics, (meth)acrylated silicones, (meth)acrylated polyethers, vinyl(meth)acrylates, (meth)acrylated oils and mixtures thereof.
31. The energy curable lithographic printing ink according to claim 17, further comprising a photoinitiator.
32. A method of making the energy curable lithographic printing ink according to claim 17, comprising: providing a polyester resin; and mixing the polyester resin with a solvent.
33. A printed article comprising the energy curable lithographic ink according to claim 17.
34. Use of the energy curable lithographic ink according to claim 17 for printing on a substrate.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A system for appliance back-up comprising:
a network;
a storage device coupled to the network; and
a primary appliance and a standby appliance coupled to the network, the primary appliance receiving requests or commands and sending a status message via the network to the standby appliance indicating that the primary appliance is operational,
wherein if the standby appliance does not receive the status message or the status message is invalid:
the standby appliance writes a shutdown message to a the storage device,
the primary appliance reads the shutdown message stored in the storage device and disables itself from processing requests or commands, and
the standby appliance causes a standby appliance address to be identical to a primary appliance address and processes the requests or commands.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the primary appliance completes tasks and disables communication connections.
3. The system of claim 2, wherein the primary appliance writes a shutdown completion message to the storage device.
4. The system of claim 3, wherein the standby appliance reads the shutdown completion message from the storage device and initiates a start-up procedure.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the primary appliance includes a primary application and the standby appliance includes a standby application, the standby application being identical to the primary application.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the primary appliance includes a first fibrechannel adapter having associated therewith the primary appliance address and the standby appliance includes a second fibrechannel adapter having associated therewith the standby appliance address.
7. A method for appliance back-up comprising:
sending a status message from a primary appliance to a standby appliance indicating that the primary appliance is operational;
if the standby appliance does not receive the status message or the status message is invalid:
writing a shutdown message to a storage device;
reading the shutdown message stored in the storage device;
disabling the primary appliance from processing requests or commands;
causing a standby appliance address to be identical to a primary appliance address; and
causing the standby appliance to process the requests or commands.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the disabling further comprises completing tasks and disabling communication connections.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein the disabling further comprises writing a shutdown completion message to the storage device.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:
reading the shutdown completion message from the storage device; and
initiating a start-up procedure.
11. The method of claim 7, wherein the primary appliance includes a primary application and the standby appliance includes a standby application, identical to the primary application, for processing the requests or commands.
12. A method for appliance back-up comprising:
monitoring a primary appliance for an indication of a failure, the primary appliance having a primary appliance address,
wherein if the failure occurs:
writing a message to a storage device;
in response to the message, disabling the primary appliance from processing requests or commands;
causing a standby appliance address of a standby appliance to be identical to the primary appliance address; and
processing the requests or commands.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the monitoring further comprises sending a status message to the standby appliance indicating that the primary appliance is operational.
14. The method of claim 12, wherein the monitoring further comprises sending a status request message to the primary appliance and receiving an update status message from the primary appliance.
15. The method of claim 13, wherein the failure is the status message is not sent to the standby appliance.
16. The method of claim 13, wherein the message is written if the standby appliance does not receive the status message or the status message is invalid.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein the disabling further comprises completing tasks and disabling communication connections.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the disabling further comprises writing a shutdown completion message to the storage device.
19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:
reading the shutdown completion message from the storage device; and
initiating a start-up procedure.
20. The method of claim 14, wherein the message is written if the standby appliance does not receive the update status message or the update status message is invalid.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein the disabling further comprises completing tasks and disabling communication connections.
22. The method of claim 21, wherein the disabling further comprises writing a shutdown completion message to the storage device.
23. The method of claim 12, wherein the standby appliance address and the primary appliance address are world wide port names.
24. The method of claim 12, wherein the primary appliance includes a primary application and the standby appliance includes a standby application, identical to the primary application, for processing the requests or commands.
25. The system of claim 1, wherein:
the standby appliance monitors the status of the primary appliance via a communications link; and
the standby appliance writes the shutdown message to the storage device if the communications link is broken.
26. The method of claim 7, comprising writing the shutdown message to the storage device if a communications link between the standby appliance and the primary appliance is broken.
27. A communications system, comprising:
at least one storage device;
a first appliance configured to receive requests or commands for communicating with one or more of the at least one storage devices via a first communications link, the first appliance having a first appliance address; and
a second appliance configured to:
transmit, at selected times, messages to the first appliance via a second communications link different from the first communications link;

wherein:
the first appliance is further configured to:
communicate with one or more of the at least one storage devices in response to a received request or command; and
in response to each message received from the second appliance, provide an indication to the second appliance of a status of the first appliance via the second communications link; and

the second appliance is further configured to:
monitor the status of the first appliance based, at least in part, on the indications received from the first appliance;
determine whether a proper indication is received in response to each message;
assume an emulation address comprising the first appliance address in order to receive the requests or commands addressed to the first appliance, based, at least in part, on a failure to receive a proper indication;
process the requests or commands addressed to the first appliance, after assuming the emulation address;
continue to monitor the status of the first appliance, after assuming the emulation address;
if failure to receive a proper indication from the first appliance is due to a problem relating to the first appliance, determine that the problem has been resolved; and
transmit to the first appliance via the second communications link information directing the first appliance to resume receiving requests and commands directed to the first appliance address, when the second appliance determines that the problem has been resolved; and

the first appliance is further configured to resume receiving requests and commands directed to the first appliance address, in response to the information.
28. The system of claim 27, wherein the indication comprises a message.
29. The system of claim 27, wherein the indication comprises failure to receive the message.
30. The system of claim 27, wherein the status relates to whether the first appliance is operational.
31. The system of claim 27, wherein:
the first appliance and the second appliance communicate via a link.
32. The system of claim 31, wherein:
the second appliance is configured to send a heartbeat to the first appliance, via the link; and
the first appliance is configured to send the indication in response to the heartbeat, via the link.
33. The system of claim 27, wherein the second appliance is further configured to cause the first appliance to disable itself, based at least in part, on the indication.
34. The system of claim 33, wherein:
the second appliance is configured to cause the first appliance to disable itself, by writing a message to one of the at least one storage devices.
35. The system of claim 34, wherein:
the second appliance is configured to write the message to the storage device if a communications link between the second appliance and the first appliance fails.
36. The system of claim 33, wherein:
the second appliance is configured to cause the first appliance to disable itself by informing the first appliance over the link.
37. The system of claim 33, wherein:
the first appliance is configured to continue to provide an indication to the second appliance of the status of the first appliance after being disabled; and
the second appliance is further configured to:
instruct the first appliance to begin a start-up procedure, based, at least in part, on the indication, after disabling of the first appliance.
38. The system of claim 27, wherein:
the first and second appliances are coupled to a network.
39. The system of claim 27, wherein the second appliance stores information relating to the first address, before the second appliance determines that the first appliance is not operational.
40. The system of claim 27, wherein the first and second appliance addresses comprise, at least in part, a worldwide port name.
41. The system of claim 27, wherein the emulation address and the first appliance address are the same.
42. The system of claim 27, wherein:
the first appliance comprises a first fibrechannel adapter having associated therewith the first appliance address; and
the second appliance comprises a second fibrechannel adapter having associated therewith the second appliance address.
43. The communications system of claim 27, wherein the first appliance is further configured to:
continue to provide indications to the second appliance of the status of the first appliance; and
the second appliance is configured to determine that the problem has been resolved based, at least in part, on the indications.
44. A communications system, comprising:
a network;
at least one storage device;
a first appliance coupled to the network via a first communications link, to receive requests or commands for communicating with one or more of the at least one storage device, the first appliance having a first appliance address; and
a second appliance coupled to the network;
wherein the first appliance is configured to:
communicate with one or more of the at least one storage devices, based, at least in part, on the requests or commands; and
provide an indication to the second appliance indicating a status of the first appliance; and

the second appliance is configured to:
determine a status of the first appliance, based, at least in part, on the indication;
assume an emulation address comprising the first appliance address to receive the requests or commands directed to the first appliance, based at least in part, on the indication;
process the requests or commands addressed to the first appliance after assuming the emulation address;
cause the first appliance to disconnect itself from the network based at least in part, on the second status;
determine a second status of the first appliance after the first appliance is disconnected from the network; and
instruct the first appliance via a second communications link different from the first communications link, to connect itself to the network based, at least in part, on the second status.
45. The system of claim 44, wherein:
the first appliance is configured to continue to provide an indication to the second appliance of the second status of the first appliance; and
the second appliance is further configured to:
instruct the first appliance to begin a start-up procedure to resume reception and processing of requests or commands, based, at least in part, on the indication.
46. The system of claim 44, further comprising:
a communications link between the first appliance and the second appliance.
47. The system of claim 46, wherein:
the second appliance is configured to send a heartbeat to the first appliance, via the link; and
the first appliance is configured to send the indication in response to the heartbeat, via the link.
48. The system of claim 46, wherein the second appliance is configured to write a message to the storage device to cause the first appliance to disable itself, if the link is broken.
49. The communications system of claim 44, wherein:
the first appliance is configured to provide the indication to the second appliance via the second communications link.
50. The communications system of claim 49, wherein:
the second appliance causes the first appliance to disconnect itself from the network by instructing the first appliance via the second communications link.
51. The communications system of claim 44, wherein:
the second appliance causes the first appliance to disconnect itself from the network by instructing the first appliance via the second communications link.
52. A system comprising
a first device configured to process requests or commands received from a network, via a first communications link, the first device having a first address; and
a second device configured to:
determine a status of the first device;
assume an emulation address including, at least in part, the first address, based, at least in part, on the determination;
cause the first device to disconnect itself from the network based, at least in part, on the determination;
determine a second status of the first device after the first device disconnects from the network; and
instruct the first device via a second communications link different from the first communications link, to connect itself to the network based, at least in part, on the second status.
53. The system of claim 52, wherein the second device is further figured to:
process requests or commands addressed to the first device, after assuming the emulation address.
54. A method of operating a communications system comprising a first appliance to process requests or commands received from a network via a first communications link and a second appliance, the method comprising:
determining by a second appliance a status of a first appliance;
assuming by the second appliance an address associated with the first appliance, based, at least in part, on the status;
processing requests or commands addressed to the first appliance, by the second appliance, after assuming the address;
causing the first appliance to disconnect itself from the network based, at least in part, on the determination, by the second appliance;
determining by the second appliance a second status of the appliance after the first appliance is disconnected from the network; and
instructing the first appliance via a second communications link different from the first communications link, to begin a start-up procedure to resume reception and processing of requests or commands based, at least in part, on the second status, by the second appliance.
55. The method of claim 54, comprising:
assuming by the second appliance a same address as the first appliance.
56. The method of claim 54, comprising:
determining the status of the first appliance based, at least in part, on an indication from the first appliance.
57. The method of claim 54, wherein the indication comprises a message.
58. The method of claim 54, wherein the indication comprises failure to receive a message.
59. The method of claim 54, wherein:
the first appliance and the second appliance communicate via a link.
60. The method of claim 59, further comprising:
sending a heartbeat between the first appliance and the second appliance, via the link;
sending an acknowledgement of the heartbeat between the first appliance and the second appliance; and
disabling the first appliance if either or both of the heartbeat or the acknowledgement are not received by the second appliance.
61. The method of claim 59, further comprising:
detecting a break in the link; and
writing a message to a storage device to disable the first appliance, if a break in the link is detected.
62. The method of claim 54, further comprising:
receiving by the second appliance a request or command addressed to the first appliance after the second appliance assumes the address; and
processing, by the second appliance, the request or command.
63. The method system of claim 54, further comprising:
disabling the first appliance, based, at least in part on the indication.
64. The method of claim 63, further comprising:
continuing to receive an indication of the status of the first appliance by the second appliance, after causing the first appliance to disconnect itself from the network.
65. A communications system, comprising:
at least one storage device;
a first appliance to receive requests or commands for communicating with one or more of the at least one storage devices, the first appliance having a first appliance address; and
a second appliance;

wherein the first appliance is configured to:
communicate with one or more of the at least one storage devices in response to a received request or command; and
provide an indication to the second appliance of a status of the first appliance; and

the second appliance is configured to:
determine a status of the first appliance based, at least in part, on the indication;
assume an emulation address comprising the first appliance address in order to receive the requests or commands addressed to the first appliance, based, at least in part, on the indication;
process the requests or commands addressed to the first appliance, after assuming the emulation address; and
write a message to one of the at least one storage devices to cause the first appliance to disable itself, based at least in part, on the indication.
66. The system of claim 65, wherein:
the second appliance is configured to write the message to the storage device if a communications link between the second appliance and the first appliance fails.
67. The communications system of claim 65, wherein:
the network comprises a fibrechannel network.
68. The communications system of claim 67, wherein:
the first appliance includes a first fibrechannel adaptor having associated therewith the first appliance address; and
the second appliance includes a second fibrechannel adaptor having associated therewith the emulation address.
69. The communications system of claim 68, wherein:
the first appliance address comprises a first world wide port name (\u201cWWPN\u201d).
70. A communications system, comprising:
a network;
at least one storage device;
a first appliance coupled to the network, to receive requests or commands for communicating with one or more of the at least one storage devices, the first appliance having a first appliance address;
a second appliance coupled to the network; and
a communications link between the first appliance and the second appliance
wherein the first appliance is configured to:
communicate with one or more of the at least one storage devices, based, at least in part, on the requests or commands; and
provide an indication to the second appliance indicating a status of the first appliance; and

the second appliance is configured to:
determine a status of the first appliance, based, at least in part, on the indication;
assume an emulation address comprising the first appliance address to receive the requests or commands directed to the first appliance, based at least in part, on the indication;
process the requests or commands addressed to the first appliance after assuming the emulation address; and
writing a message to the storage device to cause the first appliance to disable itself from processing requests or commands, if the link is broken.
71. The communications system of claim 70, wherein:
the network comprises a fibrechannel network.
72. The communications system of claim 71, wherein:
the first appliance includes a first fibrechannel adaptor having associated therewith the first appliance address; and
the second appliance includes a second fibrechannel adaptor having associated therewith the emulation address.
73. The communications system of claim 72, wherein:
the first appliance address comprises a first world wide port name (\u201cWWPN\u201d).
74. A communications system, comprising:
at least one storage device;
a first appliance having a first appliance address, the first appliance being configured to:
receive requests or commands for communicating with one or more of the at least one storage devices via a first communications link; and

a second appliance configured to:
transmit, at selected times, messages to the first appliance via a second communications link different from the first communications link; and

wherein:
the first appliance is further configured to:
communicate with one or more of the at least one storage devices in response to a received request or command;
in response to each message received from the second appliance, provide an indication to the second appliance of a status of the first appliance via the second communications link; and
inform the second appliance, via the second communications link, of a problem relating to an operation of the first appliance, if the first appliance detects a problem relating to the operation of the first appliance; and

the second appliance is further configured to:
assume an emulation address comprising the first appliance address in order to receive the requests or commands addressed to the first appliance, if informed of a problem relating to the operation of the first appliance;
process the requests or commands addressed to the first appliance, after assuming the emulation address; and
instruct the first appliance via the second communications link to begin a start-up procedure, if informed that the problem has been repaired.
75. The communications system of claim 74, wherein:
the first appliance is further configured to inform the second appliance that the problem has been repaired.
76. The communications system of claim 75, wherein:
the first appliance is further configured to inform the second appliance that the problem has been repaired, via the second communications link.
77. The communications system of claim 74, wherein the second appliance is further configured to de-activate itself from receiving requests or commands addressed to the first appliance, after instructing the first appliance to begin the start-up procedure.