Storage area retirement in a storage device

A storage system, comprising:

• a storage device comprising a plurality of storage areas operable to store data;
• and
• a controller operable to manage the plurality of storage areas of the storage device and configured to:
• identify a number of individual portions of a first storage area of the plurality of storage areas of the storage device to retire,
• determine whether a total of the number of identified individual portions of the first storage area to retire and a number of individual portions of the first storage area already retired is less than a threshold total,
• upon determining that the total of the number of identified individual portions to retire and the number of individual portions already retired is not less than the threshold total, retire the entire first storage area,
• upon determining that the total of the number of identified individual portions to retire and the number of individual portions already retired is less than the threshold total, retire the identified individual portions of the first storage area,
• test the remaining individual portions of the first storage area,
• determine whether individual portions of the first storage area were retired due to write failures during the testing,
• upon determining that individual portions of the first storage area were retired due to write failure, setting a current code rate index associated with the first storage area to an original code rate index for the first storage area, and
• upon determining that no individual portions of the first storage area were retired due to write failure, setting the current code rate index associated with the first storage area to a minimum code rate index.

A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a controller of a storage device, direct the controller to:

• identify a number of individual portions of a first storage area of the storage device to retire;
• determine whether a total of the number of identified individual portions of the first storage area to retire and a number of individual portions of the first storage area already retired is less than a threshold total;
• upon determining that the total of the number of identified individual portions to retire and the number of individual portions already retired is not less than the threshold total, retire the entire first storage area;
• upon determining that the total of the number of identified individual portions to retire and the number of individual portions already retired is less than the threshold total, retire the identified individual portions of the first storage area;
• test the remaining individual portions of the first storage area;
• determine whether individual portions of the first storage area were retired due to write failures during the testing;
• upon determining that individual portions of the first storage area were retired due to write failure, setting a current code rate index associated with the first storage area to an original code rate index for the first storage area;
• and
• upon determining that no individual portions of the first storage area were retired due to write failure, setting the current code rate index associated with the first storage area to a minimum code rate index.