<s>
In	O
computer	B-General_Concept
storage	I-General_Concept
,	O
multipath	B-General_Concept
I/O	I-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
fault-tolerance	O
and	O
performance-enhancement	O
technique	O
that	O
defines	O
more	O
than	O
one	O
physical	O
path	O
between	O
the	O
CPU	B-General_Concept
in	O
a	O
computer	O
system	O
and	O
its	O
mass-storage	B-Device
devices	I-Device
through	O
the	O
buses	B-General_Concept
,	O
controllers	B-General_Concept
,	O
switches	O
,	O
and	O
bridge	O
devices	O
connecting	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
an	O
example	O
,	O
a	O
SCSI	B-Architecture
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
may	O
connect	O
to	O
two	O
SCSI	B-Architecture
controllers	B-General_Concept
on	O
the	O
same	O
computer	O
,	O
or	O
a	O
disk	O
may	O
connect	O
to	O
two	O
Fibre	B-Architecture
Channel	I-Architecture
ports	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Should	O
one	O
controller	O
,	O
port	O
or	O
switch	O
fail	O
,	O
the	O
operating	O
system	O
can	O
route	O
the	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
through	O
the	O
remaining	O
controller	O
,	O
port	O
or	O
switch	O
transparently	O
and	O
with	O
no	O
changes	O
visible	O
to	O
the	O
applications	O
,	O
other	O
than	O
perhaps	O
resulting	O
in	O
increased	O
latency	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Multipath	O
software	O
layers	O
can	O
leverage	O
the	O
redundant	O
paths	O
to	O
provide	O
performance-enhancing	O
features	O
,	O
including	O
dynamic	O
load	B-Application
balancing	I-Application
,	O
traffic	O
shaping	O
,	O
automatic	O
path	O
management	O
,	O
and	O
dynamic	O
reconfiguration	O
.	O
</s>
