Abstract: A data recovery channel for a fault tolerant data storage system. The data storage system includes a plurality of disk drives and an input interface formatting the data records for storage among the disk drives. Stored data is organized into sectors and rows of sectors, sectors including error correction codes for the sector, and rows including sectors of parity data for the sectors of the row. Upon readback, the data recovery channel preferentially operates on parity data for error correction over utilization of error syndromes generated from the error correction codes for error correction, though both remain available. Absent an indication that an error is contained in more than one sector for a row of sectors, correction of error in the defective sector is made by use of parity information. Where error is indicated for more than one sector in a row of sectors, correction using the error syndromes is attempted, sector by sector, until the number of sectors in the row having error is reduced to one.

Abstract: A data storage system has a plurality of individual data storage units, each of which can undergo unpredictable independent failure. By dividing data blocks to be stored therein into a number of sub-blocks one or more less than the number of data storage units and creating a redundant data sub-block of the type permitting reconstruction of any one sub-block of data using the remaining sub-blocks and the redundent sub-blocks, and then storing each of the data sub-blocks and the redundant sub-block on a different one of the data storage units, it is possible to reconstruct any one failed data sub-block of a related group using the other sub-blocks. It is necessary to be able to detect the failure of the sub-block, and the preferred way is by a multibit error detection code appended to each sub-block, or by failure sensed within and by an individual data storage unit.

Abstract: A data storage system has a plurality of individual data storage units, each of which can undergo unpredictable independent failure. By dividing data blocks to be stored therein into a number of sub-blocks one or more less than the number of data storage units and creating a redundant data sub-block of the type permitting reconstruction of any one sub-block of data using the remaining sub-blocks and the redundent sub-blocks, and then storing each of the data sub-blocks and the redundant sub-block on a different one of the data storage units, it is possible to reconstruct any one failed data sub-block of a related group using the other sub-blocks. It is necessary to be able to detect the failure of the sub-block, and the preferred way is by a multibit error detection code appended to each sub-block, or by failure sensed within and by an individual data storage unit.