Abstract: A method for performing background disk sector analysis for drives, including drives dedicated to redundancy and/or fault recovery techniques, in an intelligent, microprocessor based disk array. The method directs the microprocessor to wait a specified time and test for disk activity. In the absence of disk activity, the disk controller is directed to generate a read request for a disk memory location within the array. A return code following the array is checked to determine if the read failed, indicating a disk drive media failure. The disk controller is then notified if a failure occurs. The processor again checks for disk array activity and in the absence of activity issues a read request for successive locations within the array, thereby reading all disk memory locations within the array.