Increased data availability in raid arrays using smart drives

• US 6,892,276 B2
• Filed: 11/26/2002
• Issued: 05/10/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies General IP PTE Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: LSI Logic Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Chatterjee, Paresh, Hallyal, Basavaraj, Mishra, Ragendra, Biswas, Chayan
• Primary Examiner(s): Moazzam, Nasser
• Assistant Examiner(s): DILLER, JESSE DAVID
• Application Number:
  US10/304,994
• Publication Number:
  US 20040103246A1
• Time in Patent Office: 896 Days
• Field of Search: 711/114, 714/6
• US Class Current: 711/114
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/004 Error avoidance G06F11/07 and subgroups take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/008 Reliability or availability analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1096 Parity calculation or recalculation after configuration or reconfiguration of the system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1662 the resynchronized component or unit being a persistent storage device re-synchronization of failed mirror storage G06F11/2082; rebuild or reconstruction of parity RAID storage G06F11/1008
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2094 Redundant storage or storage space G06F11/2056 takes precedence

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a system and method for increased data availability. In an aspect of the present invention, a method includes receiving a SMART indication from a data storage device included in a plurality of data storage devices configured as a RAID array. Data from the data storage device which originated the SMART indication is replicated to a second data storage device. The second data storage device was not originally configured in the RAID array with the plurality of data storage devices for data storage. The data storage device which originated the SMART indication from the RAID array is removed, thereby resulting the second data storage device and the plurality of data storage devices configured as a RAID array.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a plurality of data storage devices capable of giving a SMART indication, the plurality of data storage device arranged as a RAID array, in which a SMART indication from a data storage device is issued, data from the data storage device which originated the SMART indication is replicated to a second data storage device that was not originally configured for data storage in the RAID array with the plurality of data storage devices, and the data storage device which originated the SMART indication from the RAID array is removed after replication is completed, thereby obtaining the second data storage device and the plurality of data storage devices configured as a RAID array, a data storage device of the plurality of data storage devices which did not originate the SMART indication being removed, the removed data storage device being replaced with the second data storage device so that data is replicated from the data storage device which originated the SMART indication to the second data storage device, once replication is complete, the data storage device which originated the SMART indication is replaced with the removed data storage device.

2. The system as described in claim 1, wherein a new configuration is written automatically by RAID firmware of the RAID array after replication is completed in response to a new ordering of the data storage devices.

3. A method, comprising:

receiving a SMART indication from a data storage device included in a plurality of data storage devices configured as a RAID array;

removing a data storage device of the plurality of data storage devices which did not originate the SMART indication;

replacing the removed data storage device with a second data storage device, the second data storage device not originally configured in the RAID array with the plurality of data storage devices for data storage;

replicating data from the data storage device which originated the SMART indication to a second data storage device;

removing the data storage device which originated the SMART indication from the RAID array; and

replacing the data storage device which originated the SMART indication in the RAID array with the removed data storage device.