Method for partitioning disk drives within a physical disk array and selectively assigning disk drive partitions into a logical disk array

A method for storing data within a plurality of disk drives;

• comprising the steps of:
• partitioning each one of said plurality of disk drives into multiple partitions, wherein each of said partitioned disk drives is partitioned into an equivalent number of partitions, and wherein corresponding partitions from said partitioned disk drives have equivalent storage capacity;
• and
• configuring corresponding partitions from said plurality of disk drives into a logical disk array;
• wherein each partition within said logical disk array operates as a single disk drive within said logical disk array;
• data is stored within at least one of said partitions in accordance with a disk array storage scheme;
• and data is stored within another of said partitions in accordance with a different disk array storage scheme.

A method for storing data within a plurality of disk drives;

• comprising the steps of:
• partitioning each one of said plurality of disk drives into at least two partitions, wherein each one of said plurality of disk drives is partitioned into an equivalent number of partitions, and wherein corresponding partitions from said disk drives have equivalent storage capacity in an equivalent manner;
• and
• configuring said partitions into at least two logical units, each one of said logical units including corresponding partitions from each one of said plurality of disk drives;
• wherein each one of said logical units functions as an independent disk array;
• and
• each partition within each one of said logical units operates as a single disk drive within its logical unit;
• and
• wherein data is stored within each one of said logical units in accordance with a different disk array storage scheme.

A method for storing data within a plurality of disk drives;

• comprising the steps of:
• grouping said disk drives into at least two groups, each group comprising at least two disk drives;
• and
• configuring said groups into a single logical unit;
• wherein:
• said logical unit operates as a disk array;
• each group within said logical unit operates as a single disk drive within said logical unit;
• said groups are organized into at least two logical units;
• data is stored within at least one of said logical units in accordance with a RAID storage scheme;
• and
• data is stored within another of said logical units in accordance with a different RAID storage scheme.

A method for storing data within a disk array including a plurality of disk drives distributed across a plurality of channels and organized into at least one rank, said rank including a set of corresponding disk drives, one drive from each channel, the method comprising the steps of:

• partitioning each drive within said rank into at least two partitions, each drive within said rank being partitioned into an equivalent number of partitions, corresponding partitions from said disk drives having equivalent storage capacity;
• configuring each set of corresponding partions from the disk drives within said rank into a corresponding logical unit;
• and
• operating each logical unit in accordance with a different disk array storage scheme;
• each partition within each one of said logical units operates as a single disk drive within its logical unit.

A method for storing data within a disk array including a plurality of disk drives distributed across a plurality of channels and organized into at least two ranks, each one of said ranks including a set of corresponding disk drives, one drive from each channel, the method comprising the steps of:

• associating each disk drive belonging to a first rank with a corresponding disk drive belonging to a second rank;
• operating each pair of associated disk drives as a single disk drive;
• operating said first and second ranks as a logical disk array;
• wherein each pair of disk drives operates as a single disk drive within said logical disk array;
• storing data within a first single disk drive in accordance with a RAID storage scheme;
• and
• storing data within a second single disk drive in accordance with another RAID storage scheme.