Method and apparatus for enabling high-reliability storage of distributed data on a plurality of independent storage devices

A computer system for distributed data storage, comprising:

• a plurality of independent nodes, each node formed by a computer having one or more associated local storage devices, each storage device being assigned to such computer for independent and asynchronous access;
• a network connecting said nodes;
• each said storage device having a plurality of storage areas and sub-areas for storing one or both of data and redundancy information, local data of each computer being stored entirely within the storage areas of one storage device associated with such computer at its corresponding node, and redundancy information corresponding to said local data being stored in sub-areas of other storage devices associated with other different nodes;
• and
• a read-write module for each of the computers, the modules providing an interface to access said storage areas of said associated storage devices while maintaining independent and asynchronous access to the local data, and providing mapping between sub-areas on said associated storage devices storing the local data and redundancy storage areas on one or more other ones of said storage devices at said other nodes storing redundancy information, the read-write modules generating and storing redundancy information for write accesses to said local data to allow reconstruction of said local data for an access failure, and initiating reconstruction of said local data for a failed access to the associated storage device.