System and method for logging disk failure analysis in disk nonvolatile memory

• US 7,996,724 B1
• Filed: 03/27/2008
• Issued: 08/09/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NetApp, Inc.
• Original Assignee: NetApp, Inc.
• Inventors: Gillette, Scott D., Coatney, Douglas W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Baderman; Scott T
• Assistant Examiner(s): Truong; Loan
• Application Number:
  US12/056,862
• Time in Patent Office: 1,230 Days
• Field of Search: 714/25, 714/42, 714/45, 714/48, 714/52, 714/57, 714/723
• US Class Current: 714/42
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0727 in a storage system, e.g. in a DASD or network based storage system drivers for digital recording or reproducing units G06F3/06; circuits for error detection or correction within digital recording or reproducing units G11B20/18; for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS], H04L67/1097
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0748 in a remote unit communicating with a single-box computer node experiencing an error/fault remote testing G06F11/2294
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0775 Content or structure details of the error report, e.g. specific table structure, specific error fields
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0787 Storage of error reports, e.g. persistent data storage, storage using memory protection
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/2516 Hard disks
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/36 Monitoring, i.e. supervising the progress of recording or reproducing for digital recording G11B20/00 and s.gr.; for monitoring, testing or measuring of TV recorders of the type covered by H04N5/76 and subgroups, see H04N17/06

Abstract

A system and method for logging and storing failure analysis information on disk drive so that the information is readily and reliably available to vendor customer service and other interested parties is provided. The information, in an illustrative embodiment, is stored on a nonvolatile (flash) random access memory (RAM), found generally in most types of disk drives for storage of updateable disk drive firmware. A known location of limited size is defined in the flash RAM, to form a scratchpad. This scratchpad is a blank area of known addresses, formed during the original firmware download onto the memory, and which is itself free of firmware code. This scratchpad is sufficient in size to write a series of failure codes in a non-erasable list as failures/errors (and user/administrator attempts to unfail the disk) are logged. The log of failures always travels with the drive, and can be read by the vendor to determine the general nature of the most recent failure(s) and whether these failures represent a problematic history for the drive.

Claims

1. A system for logging information about errors in the operation of a storage device, comprising:

a predetermined known location in a nonvolatile firmware flash memory of the storage device configured to store entries related to errors experienced by the storage device so as to be readable by a diagnosing computer, wherein the entries are configured to be stored in the predetermined known location in response to a received firmware command.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the diagnosing computer is configured to use the entries in the nonvolatile firmware flash memory of the storage device to determine if the storage device is reusable or non-reusable.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the storage device comprises a disk drive.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the entries each comprise a sense code generated by the storage device when an error is detected.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the sense codes are SCSI format data.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the diagnosing computer comprises a file server having a failure log utility for reading the known location and is configured to store information related to the read known location in connection with a database entry for the storage device.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the predetermined known location is a scratch-pad.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the firmware command comprises an update firmware command.

9. The system of claim 2 further comprising a process configured to delete the entries in response to determining a reusable storage device.

10. A method for logging information about errors in the operation of a computer data storage device, comprising:

storing, in a predetermined known location in a nonvolatile firmware flash memory of the computer data storage device, entries related to errors experienced by the computer data storage device so as to be readable by a diagnosing computer in response to receiving a firmware command to store the entries in the predetermined known location.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

reading by the diagnosing computer the known location to determine an error history for the computer data storage device; and

determining whether the errors cause the computer data storage device to be reusable or non-reusable.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the computer data storage device comprises a disk drive.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein one or more entries comprise a sense code generated by the computer data storage device when an error is detected.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the sense codes are SCSI format data.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the diagnosing computer comprises a file server comprising a failure log utility and further comprises storing information related to the read known location in connection with a database entry for the computer data storage device.

16. The method of claim 10 wherein the predetermined known location is a scratch-pad.

17. The method of claim 10 wherein the firmware command comprises an update firmware command.

18. The method of claim 11 further comprising deleting the entries in response to determining that the computer data storage device is reusable.

19. A method for diagnosing errors in a computer data storage device, comprising:

accessing a predetermined known location in a nonvolatile firmware flash memory of the computer data storage device, the predetermined known location comprising error entries related to error events experienced by the computer data storage device stored in response to receiving a firmware command; and

reading the error entries; and

determining whether the error events cause the computer data storage device to be reusable or non-reusable.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the known location comprises a scratchpad in a firmware storage area of the firmware flash memory into which the entries are entered.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising remotely contacting, with a diagnosing computer, a file server attached to the computer data storage device so as to perform the accessing and reading.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the computer data storage device comprises a disk drive.

23. A computer-readable medium containing executable program instructions executed by a processor, comprising:

program instructions that store, in a predetermined known location, in a nonvolatile firmware flash memory of a storage device, entries related to errors experienced by the storage device so as to be readable by a diagnosing computer in response to receiving a firmware command to store the entries in the predetermined known location.

24. A storage device, comprising:

a storage device configured to store data;

a nonvolatile firmware flash memory configured to store error information of the storage device, wherein the error information is stored using an update firmware command; and

an interface configured to communicate the error information to a diagnosing computer.

25. The storage device of claim 24, wherein the error information is stored in a scratchpad of the nonvolatile firmware flash memory.

26. The storage device of claim 24, further comprising:

a non-erasable list of failure codes as the error information.

27. The storage device of claim 24, wherein the storage device is a disk drive.

28. A method for managing a computer data storage device, comprising:

storing data on the computer data storage device;

detecting one or more errors of the computer data storage device;

storing information of the one or more errors on a specific portion of a nonvolatile firmware flash memory of the computer data storage device in response to receiving a firmware command; and

determining whether the one or more errors cause the computer data storage device to be reusable or non-reusable.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

reading, by a diagnosing computer, the information of the one or more errors to determine an error history of the computer data storage device.

30. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

storing firmware of the computer data storage device on a second specific portion of the nonvolatile flash memory of the computer data storage device.

31. The method of claim 28, wherein the computer data storage device is a disk drive.