Storage Controller Formatting and Rebuild Separation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Formatting and rebuild processes in storage media, when performed simultaneously, increase CPU load and delay completion, and can lead to data loss if one storage medium fails during the rebuild process.
Innovation Solution
A storage apparatus with multiple first storage mediums and a controller that performs formatting and failure detection separately, allowing for immediate data rebuilding in a redundant second storage medium, thereby avoiding simultaneous execution of these processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If formatting and rebuild process are performed at the same time, then data redundancy is maintained, but CPU load increases and formatting completion is delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the formatting and rebuild processes into separate execution phases. When formatting is detected to be in progress on a storage medium, the system waits for formatting completion before initiating the rebuild process, rather than executing both simultaneously. This temporal segmentation reduces CPU load while maintaining data redundancy through sequential processing.
2Reliability
If formatting and rebuild process are performed at the same time, then data redundancy is maintained, but CPU load increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the concurrent execution of formatting and rebuild into sequential segments. The system monitors formatting status and only initiates rebuild after formatting completion is detected, thereby segmenting the computational workload over time rather than concentrating it simultaneously, which reduces peak CPU load and energy consumption.
3Measurement precision
If formatting is performed first to detect abnormalities, then data loss risk increases during subsequent rebuild process
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs formatting as a preliminary action to detect storage medium abnormalities before the rebuild process begins. By completing formatting and verifying storage medium health beforehand, the system identifies potential failures early, allowing for safer rebuild operations with reduced data loss risk since the target storage medium has been pre-validated.
Data Source
AI summary
A storage apparatus includes a plurality of first storage mediums in which data is redundantly stored and a controller. The controller includes a formatting section which performs formatting in each of the plurality of first storage mediums, a detection section which detects a failure that has occurred in the plurality of first storage mediums, a control section which makes the formatting section stop the formatting at the time of the detection of the failure by the detection section and which rebuilds the data stored in the plurality of first storage mediums in which the failure has occurred in a second storage medium other than the plurality of first storage mediums, and a rebuild processing section which rebuilds the data stored in the plurality of first storage mediums in the second storage medium in accordance with instructions from the control section.