Method and apparatus to utilize large capacity disk drives

A storage system comprising:

• a data processor and a memory;
• a plurality of storage areas which have different priorities for data recovery;
• and
• a storage controller which performs data recovery of the storage system at an occurrence of a failure involving one or more of the storage areas in the storage system based on the priorities;
• wherein data recovery for one storage area having a higher priority is to occur before data recovery for another storage area having a lower priority in the storage system;
• and
• wherein for a storage volume which is a thin provisioned volume, the storage controller determines the different priorities based on area assignment and release of the thin provisioned volume using information regarding assignation process and information regarding release process for the thin provisioned volume.

A computer-readable storage medium storing a plurality of instructions for controlling a data processor to utilize storage in a storage system, the plurality of instructions comprising:

• instructions that cause the data processor to prioritize a plurality of storage areas in the storage system for data recovery with different priorities;
• and
• instructions that cause the data processor to perform data recovery of the storage system at an occurrence of a failure involving one or more of the storage areas in the storage system based on the priorities;
• wherein data recovery for one storage area having a higher priority is to occur before data recovery for another storage area having a lower priority in the storage system;
• and
• wherein for a storage volume which is a thin provisioned volume, the instructions that cause the data processor to prioritize a plurality of storage areas in the storage system for data recovery with different priorities includes instructions that cause the data processor to determine the different priorities based on area assignment and release of the thin provisioned volume using information regarding assignation process and information regarding release process for the thin provisioned volume.