Abstract: A data storage array linking operation switching control system is proposed, which is designed for use in conjunction with an array-type data storage device that is composed of a plurality of data storage unit and associated with at least two data access channels, with the capability of selectively switching the linking between the data storage units and the data access channels for the purpose of providing various linking modes of different utilization objectives with hot spare capability, including a backup linking mode, a partitioned linking mode, and a high-performance linking mode. This capability allows the array-type data storage device to be set to different linking modes based on different utilization objectives, which allows the system management of network servers to be more flexible in application.

Abstract: A method of writing data to a disk, said method performing a write-modify-read for every partial 8 byte write, said method comprising: receiving a request for a sequence of L bytes; determining whether the last byte of the sequence of L bytes is last byte of an 8 byte boundary in a sector of the disk; modifying, if the last byte of the sequence of L bytes is not the last byte of an 8 byte boundary in a sector of the disk, the number of bytes L by an amount of bytes that would allow the last byte of reduced request to be the last byte of an 8 byte boundary in a sector of the disk, said modified number of bytes represented by M; requesting a sequence of M bytes receiving the sequence of M bytes; writing the sequence of M bytes to one or more disk sectors with continuous write steps whereby the sequence of M bytes does not need a partial 8 byte write and there is no read-modify-write step.