Techniques for providing communications in a data storage system using a single IC for both storage device communications and peer-to-peer communications

An improved data storage system has a set of storage devices, a first storage processor and a second storage processor for storing data into and retrieving data from the set of storage devices. The first storage processor includes a processing circuit and a packaged IC device which has a first set of ports and a second set of ports. The processing circuit is adapted to configure the packaged IC device to provide (i) communications to the set of storage devices through the first set of ports and (ii) other communications to the second storage processor through the second set of ports. The processing circuit is further adapted to pass communications between the first storage processor and the set of storage devices through the first set of ports; and pass communications between the first storage processor and the second storage processor through the second set of ports.