Data reconstruction method and system wherein timing of data reconstruction is controlled in accordance with conditions when a failure occurs
First Claim
1. A data reconstruction system comprising:
- a plurality of storage units having stored therein divided data and error correcting data for the divided data, the divided data being data divided into one of bit units, byte units, and arbitrary units stored in separate ones of the storage units;
data reconstructing means for reconstructing divided data stored in any of the storage units in which a failure has occurred based on (1) divided data stored in other ones of the storage units in which a failure has not occurred and (2) the error correcting data, and storing the reconstructed divided data in at least one of the storage units;
monitoring means for monitoring operation of the storage units and producing an output when a failure has occurred in any of the storage units;
means, responsive to the output of the monitoring means, for determining a total number of the storage units in which a failure has occurred;
means for storing a predetermined value based on a total number of the storage units in which the error correcting data is stored; and
control means for controlling the data reconstructing means toreconstruct the divided data without stopping if the total number of the storage units in which a failure has occurred is not less than the predetermined value, andtemporarily stop reconstructing the divided data to allow the storage units to be accessed if the total number of the storage units in which a failure has occurred is less than the predetermined value.
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Abstract
A storage data reconstruction system including: a plurality of storage units for storing therein divided data, the plural independent storage units forming a set; units for storing therein ECC data corresponding to the divided data; a spare storage unit for storing therein a reconstructed data; an I/O-reconstruction control circuit; a timer; a data reconstructing table for storage unit which has failed; and a circuit for reconstructing faulty data. When a failure occurs in any of the storage units, the failure is detected by an error check, a state of the failure is discriminated, a preferred processing suitable for the state of the failure is selected from a processing of a normal access or read/write and a data reconstruction processing, and the selected processing is carried out, or the frequency of the processing of the normal access or read/write and the data reconstruction processing, or the ratio of the amount of the data reconstruction processing within a unit time, is set. The time taken to reconstruct the faulty data does not exceed a fixed period of time.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A data reconstruction system comprising:
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a plurality of storage units having stored therein divided data and error correcting data for the divided data, the divided data being data divided into one of bit units, byte units, and arbitrary units stored in separate ones of the storage units; data reconstructing means for reconstructing divided data stored in any of the storage units in which a failure has occurred based on (1) divided data stored in other ones of the storage units in which a failure has not occurred and (2) the error correcting data, and storing the reconstructed divided data in at least one of the storage units; monitoring means for monitoring operation of the storage units and producing an output when a failure has occurred in any of the storage units; means, responsive to the output of the monitoring means, for determining a total number of the storage units in which a failure has occurred; means for storing a predetermined value based on a total number of the storage units in which the error correcting data is stored; and control means for controlling the data reconstructing means to reconstruct the divided data without stopping if the total number of the storage units in which a failure has occurred is not less than the predetermined value, and temporarily stop reconstructing the divided data to allow the storage units to be accessed if the total number of the storage units in which a failure has occurred is less than the predetermined value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A data reconstruction system comprising:
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a plurality of storage units having stored therein divided data and error correcting data for the divided data, the divided data being data divided into one of bit units, byte units, and arbitrary units; data reconstructing means for reconstructing divided data stored in any of the storage units in which a failure has occurred based on (1) divided data stored in other ones of the storage units in which a failure has not occurred and (2) the error correcting data, and storing the reconstructed divided data in at least one of the storage units; monitoring means for monitoring operation of the storage units and producing an output when a failure has occurred in any of the storage units; and control means for receiving requests for accessing the storage units from a host unit, setting a data reconstruction frequency at which the data reconstructing means is to reconstruct the divided data, determining, for each failure which has occurred, a nature of the failure based on the output of the monitoring means, and controlling the data reconstructing means to switch between a first operating mode and a second operating mode in accordance with the data reconstruction frequency and the nature of the failure, wherein in the first operating mode, the data reconstructing means reconstructs the divided data, and wherein in the second operating mode, the data reconstructing means temporarily stops reconstructing the divided data to allow the host unit to access the storage units. - View Dependent Claims (5)
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6. A data reconstruction method comprising the steps of:
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monitoring operation of a plurality of storage units having stored therein divided data and error correcting data for the divided data, and detecting when a failure has occurred in any of the storage units, the divided data being data divided into one of bit units, byte units, and arbitrary units; determining a total number of the storage units in which a failure has occurred; setting a data reconstruction frequency at which divided data stored in any of the storage units in which a failure has occurred is to be reconstructed; if the total number of the storage units in which a failure has occurred is less than a first predetermined value, reconstructing the divided data based on (1) divided data stored in other ones of the storage units in which a failure has not occurred and (2) the error correcting data; and storing the reconstructed divided data in at least one of the storage units; wherein the reconstructing step includes the steps of (1) reconstructing the divided data without stopping, and (2) temporarily stopping reconstructing the divided data to allow the storage units to be accessed; and wherein each of the steps (1) and (2) of the reconstructing step is performed based on (1) the total number of the storage units in which a failure has occurred and (2) the data reconstruction frequency. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A data reconstruction method comprising the steps of:
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monitoring operation of a plurality of storage units having stored therein divided data and error correcting data for the divided data, and detecting when a failure has occurred in any of the storage units, the divided data being data divided into one of bit units, byte units, and arbitrary units; if a failure is detected in any of the storage units, defining a plurality of first time zones and a plurality of second time zones alternating with the first time zones; during each of the first time zones, reconstructing a part of the divided data stored in any of the storage units in which a failure has occurred by performing the steps of reading divided data stored in other ones of the storage units in which a failure has not occurred, reading error correcting data stored in the storage units, reconstructing the part of the divided data based on the divided data read from the other ones of the storage units in which a failure has not occurred and the error correcting data read from the storage units, and storing the reconstructed part of the divided data in at least one of the storage units; during each of the second time zones, allowing the storage units to be accessed by a host unit in response to access requests received from the host unit; and if an access request received from the host unit is a read request for reading a part of the divided data stored in any of the storage units in which a failure has occurred which has not been reconstructed in a first time zone, reconstructing the part of the divided data which has not been reconstructed in a first time zone by performing the steps of reading divided data stored in the other ones of the storage units in which a failure has not occurred, reading error correcting data stored in the storage units, reconstructing the part of the divided data which has not been reconstructed in a first time zone based on the divided data read from the other ones of the storage units in which a failure has not occurred and the error correcting data read from the storage units, and sending the reconstructed part of the divided data which has not been reconstructed in a first time zone to the host unit. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification