Arrayed disk drive system and method

An arrayed memory system for providing memory to a host computer, comprising:

• a plurality of storage devices configured to form an array, said arrayed storage devices accessed by a plurality of channels, each channel accessing a plurality of storage devices, and;
• controlling means separate from the host computer for configuring said plurality of storage devices to appear to the host computer as any arrangement of storage devices, whereby the plurality of storage devices may be configured to appear all as one logical storage device, or as plural logical storage devices equal to the plurality of storage devices, or any configuration therebetween.

A method for providing memory to a host computer employing an arrayed system having a plurality of storage devices configured to form an array, said arrayed storage devices accessed by a plurality of channels, each channel accessing a plurality of storage devices, comprising the steps of:

• logically grouping the arrayed storage devices to form logical storage devices which appear to the host computer as any conceivable arrangement of storage devices, whereby the arrayed storage devices may appear to the host computer as the plurality of storage devices, or as one large storage device comprised of all the arrayed storage devices, or any combination in between;
• providing a plurality of levels of data loss protection on data read or written by the computer to the arrayed storage devices;
• selectively enabling from none to the plurality of levels of data loss protection to operate on data being read or written from the arrayed storage devices.

A configurable arrayed disk drive system for providing memory to a host computer, comprising:

• a plurality of disk drives;
• and
• array control means for selectively defining any combination of one or more logical groups of disk drives in which each group includes at least one disk drive and in which the combination employs up to the plurality of disk drives, and for selectively assigning disk drives from among the plurality to form the logical groups, the array control means including (a) disk drive control processing means coupled to the disk drives to control read/write operations of each disk drive, and (b) system control processing means, coupled to the disk drive control processing means, for receiving read/write requests for any logical group form the host computer and controlling the disk drive control processing means to cause appropriate read/write operations to occur with respect to each disk drive in the logical group for which the request was received, wherein each logical group is accessed by the host computer as if it were a separate single disk drive.

A configurable arrayed storage device system for providing memory to a host computer, comprising:

• a plurality of storage devices;
• and
• array control means for selectively defining any combination of one or more logical groups of storage devices in which each group includes at least one storage device and in which the combination employs up to the plurality of storage devices, and for selectively assigning storage devices from among the plurality to form the logical groups, the array control means including (a) storage device control processing means coupled to the storage devices to control read/write operations of each storage device, and (b) system control processing means, coupled to the storage device control processing means, for receiving read/write requests for any logical group from the host computer and controlling the storage device control processing means to cause appropriate read/write operations to occur with respect to each storage device in the logical group for which the request was received, wherein each logical group is accessed by the host computer as if it were a separate single storage device.