A data storage system includes a plurality of disk drives for data storage. A storage server controls the reading and writing of data to the disk drives. The storage server can be tested prior to connecting the disk drives and other components of the data storage system by connecting ports of the storage server to other ports of the storage server. One of the connected ports is changed from an initiator to a target to simulate a the target state of a disk drive. The server can test itself at normal data transfer rates using the initiator-target pair just as if it was testing a normal server/disk drive connection, but without having to test the actual disk drive and without having to detect or distinguish any problems that may exist with the disk drive and its connection, or other components that may be in the loop.