Hard Disk Platter Data Distribution for Mechanical Failure Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hard disk systems lack a reliable method to improve data storage reliability in an autonomous storage system, where data can be permanently lost due to mechanical failures, and existing solutions only address distributed architectures, not standalone systems.
Innovation Solution
A method for a hard disk controller that breaks down data into blocks and stores each block and its corresponding redundancy data on separate platters, allowing for data recovery if one platter experiences reading issues, using parity calculations or error-correcting codes, and verifying data integrity by accessing redundancy data on separate surfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If data is stored on multiple platters in a hard disk, then storage capacity increases, but reliability decreases because mechanical failures can cause permanent data loss
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides data into separate data blocks and distributes them across multiple platter surfaces. Each platter surface stores only specific blocks, allowing the system to segment data storage physically. This segmentation enables isolation of failures to specific surfaces while maintaining overall system reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention pre-calculates and stores redundancy data blocks before actual data retrieval is needed. When a failure occurs, the system already has backup blocks ready on different platter surfaces, eliminating the need for complex real-time recovery operations and ensuring rapid data restoration.
2Device complexity
If redundancy data is stored on the same platter as data blocks, then implementation is simpler, but reliability decreases because a single surface failure can destroy both data and redundancy
Solution Approach 1:
The invention transitions from storing redundancy data on the same platter surface to distributing redundancy data across different platter surfaces. This dimensional change from 2D (same surface) to 3D (different surfaces) adds a new layer of protection against surface-level failures while maintaining manageable system complexity.
3Reliability
If error correction codes are used for each data block, then data integrity improves, but storage space consumption increases due to redundancy
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges error correction functionality with the distributed redundancy mechanism. By combining ECC codes with the cross-platter data distribution strategy, the system achieves enhanced data integrity without requiring separate, dedicated error correction storage space for each block.
Solution Approach 2:
The redundancy data blocks serve multiple functions: they act as both error correction codes and backup data. This multi-functionality allows the same storage space to provide both integrity protection and disaster recovery capabilities, reducing overall storage space requirements.
Data Source
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AI summary
In particular, the aim of the invention is to improve the reliability of data storage in a hard disk comprising a plurality of platters, each platter comprising at least one data storage surface. After obtaining (500) a plurality of data blocks, each block needing to be or being stored in the hard disk, at least one redundancy data block is calculated (505) on the basis of each block of said plurality of data blocks, the number of redundancy data blocks added to the number of blocks of said plurality of data blocks being less than or equal to the number of platter surfaces of the hard disk that can store data. Said at least one redundancy data block is then written (510) on a platter surface of the hard disk that is different to the surfaces used to store each block of said plurality of data blocks.