Parallel drive array storage system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A parallel array Winchester disk drive storage system comprising:
- at least three substantially standard hard disk drive storage units;
means for mounting said disk drive units side-by-side;
master controller means for controlling the operation of said disk drives to store digital data in said drives and to route data and instructions between a host computer and said disk drives;
means for storing data in more than one-half of said drives, and means for storing parity check data relating to the data stored in said drives in at least one of the other of said drives;
means for regenerating erroneous or missing data from any one of said drives from the parity check drive data, and/or data from the other drives in said group, in an on-line basis;
means for identifying a malfunctioning one of said drives;
means for powering down said malfunctioning drive;
means for removing any single drive unit from said system and substituting a different drive unit into said system while the system remains on line;
means for storing digital information onto the new drive which is substituted for the malfunctioning drive, using said regenerated data; and
said controlling means including means for storing data on said drives in terms of successive bytes or groups of bits from the host computer being successively applied to successive ones of said drives.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A large capacity digital storage system includes five standard 51/4 inch Winchester disk drives, a formatter for each disk drive, and a master controller for coupling to the host computer or data processor. The spindles of the disk drives are rotated in synchronism to improve data handling. Successive bytes of digital information are routed to four of the drives, and the fifth drive has parity check information; and control circuitry is provided so that any one of the five standard drives may be unplugged and replaced without interruption of storage system operation.
266 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A parallel array Winchester disk drive storage system comprising:
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at least three substantially standard hard disk drive storage units; means for mounting said disk drive units side-by-side; master controller means for controlling the operation of said disk drives to store digital data in said drives and to route data and instructions between a host computer and said disk drives; means for storing data in more than one-half of said drives, and means for storing parity check data relating to the data stored in said drives in at least one of the other of said drives; means for regenerating erroneous or missing data from any one of said drives from the parity check drive data, and/or data from the other drives in said group, in an on-line basis; means for identifying a malfunctioning one of said drives; means for powering down said malfunctioning drive; means for removing any single drive unit from said system and substituting a different drive unit into said system while the system remains on line; means for storing digital information onto the new drive which is substituted for the malfunctioning drive, using said regenerated data; and said controlling means including means for storing data on said drives in terms of successive bytes or groups of bits from the host computer being successively applied to successive ones of said drives. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 29)
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13. A method for storing data in a storage system including a plurality of at least three substantially standard Winchester type disk drives, and a master controller for coupling a host data processor to said disk drives, including the steps of:
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transferring data between said host computer and said drives with successive groups of successive bits of data from said host computer being transferred to a group of said drives including more than one-half of said drives; storing parity check digital information in at least one additional drive not included in said group; determining that a malfunction exists in one of said group drives; regenerating data applied to said malfunctioning drive, using the parity check digital information and/or the data stored in the remaining drives of said group; supplying the regenerated data to the host computer with the valid data from other drives of said group; physically removing the malfunctioning drive from the system and replacing it with a new, functioning drive, while the system is kept on line; and supplying regenerated digital information to the new functioning drive to restore lost digital information. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A parallel array Winchester disk drive storage system comprising:
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at least three substantially standard Winchester type disk drive storage units; means for mounting said disk drive units adjacent one-another; master controller means for controlling the operation of said disk drives to store digital data in said drives and to route data and instructions between a host computer and said disk drives; means for storing data in a group of more than one-half of said drives, and means for storing parity check data relating to the data stored in said group of drives in at least one of said drives not included in said group drives; means for regenerating erroneous or missing data from any one of said group of driven from the parity check drive data, and data from the other drives in said group; said controlling means including means for storing data on said drives in terms of successive bytes or groups of bits from the host computer being successively applied to successive ones of said group of drives; and means for synchronizing the angular rotation of all of said drives from a signal supplied by said master controller means. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A parallel array Winchester disk drive storage system comprising:
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at least three Winchester type disk drive units; means for mounting said disk drive units adjacent one-another; master controller means for controlling the operation of said disk drives to store digital data in said drives and to route data and instructions between a host computer and said disk drives; means for storing data in a group of more than one-half of said drives, and means for storing parity check data relating to the data stored in said group of drives in at least one of said drives not included in said group of drives; means for regenerating erroneous or missing data from any one of said group of drives from the parity check drive data, and data from the other drives in said group; said controlling means including means for storing data on said drives in terms of successive bytes or groups of bits from the host computer being successively applied to successive ones of said group of drives; and means for providing commands to the master controller means from the host data processor, said commands having a lengthy format including data transfer information, if any, in an early portion of said command, and means for initially processing the portion of the commands relating to data transfer, and relaying head positioning instructions to the drives, to speed up system response.
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24. A parallel array Winchester disk drive storage system comprising:
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at least three Winchester type disk drive units; means for mounting said disk drive units adjacent one-another; master controller means for controlling the operation of said disk drives to store digital data in said drives and to route data and instructing between a host computer and said disk drives; means for storing data in a group of more than one-half of said drives, and means for storing parity check data relating to the data stored in said group of drives in at least one of said drives not included in said group of drives; means for regenerating erroneous or missing data from any one of said group of drives from the parity check drive data, and data from the other drives in said group; said controlling means including means for storing data on said drives in terms of successive bytes or groups of bits from the host computer being successively applied to successive ones of said group of drives; said system including drive formatter means for coupling said master controller means to each of said drives; and said system including a housing, and each disk drive and associated formatter unit being mounted on means for guiding the drive and formatter into said housing, and mating connector means on said housing and on each drive and associated formatter, to automatically connect and disconnect each said drive and formatter into the system as they are guided into and removed from said housing, respectively. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 30)
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31. A parallel array Winchester disk drive storage system comprising:
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at least three substantially standard Winchester type disk drive storage units; means for mounting said disk drive units adjacent one-another; master controller means for controlling the operation of said disk drives to store digital data in said drives and to route data and instructions between a host computer and said disk drives; means for storing data in a group of more than one-half of said drives, and means for storing parity check data relating to the data stored in said group of drives in at least one of said drives not included in said group drives; means for regenerating erroneous or missing data from any one of of said group of drives from the parity check drive data, and data from the other drives in said group; said controlling means including means for storing data on said drives in terms of successive bytes or groups of bits from the host computer being successively applied to successive ones of said group of drives; means for synchronising the angular rotation of all of said drives from a signal supplied by said master controller means; and drive formatter means for coupling said master controller means to each of said drives. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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Specification