Wear leveling of solid state disks based on usage information of data and parity received from a raid controller

A method, comprising:

• configuring, by a controller, a plurality of solid state disks as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), wherein the plurality of solid state disks store a plurality of blocks, and wherein storage areas of the plurality of solid state disks corresponding to at least some blocks of the plurality of blocks have different amounts of estimated life expectancies;
• and
• including, by the controller, in first data structures associated with a first block that is to be stored in the storage areas of the solid state disks a first indication that indicates how many data drives are present in the RAID, wherein the plurality of solid state disks allocate the first block to a first story e area based on the estimated life expectancies and the number of data drives;
• and
• including, by the controller, in second data structures associated with a second block that is to be stored in the storage areas of the solid state disks a second indication, wherein the second indication indicates a relative frequency with which the data stored in the second block is likely to be updated, wherein a second storage area that is estimated to have a relatively greater life expectancy in comparison to other storage areas is used to store the second block, wherein the second block has a higher relative frequency of updates in comparison to other blocks.

A method, comprising:

• configuring, by a controller, a plurality of solid state disks as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), wherein the plurality of solid state disks store a plurality of blocks, and wherein storage areas of the plurality of solid state disks corresponding to at least some blocks of the plurality of blocks have different amounts of estimated life expectancies;
• and
• including, by the controller, in data structures associated with a block that is to be stored in the storage areas of the solid state disks an indication that indicates how many data drives are present in the RAID, wherein the plurality of solid state disks allocate the first block to a first storage area based on the estimated life expectancies and the number of data drives;
• receiving, by firmware included in the plurality of solid state disks, the data structures, wherein the data structures are sent by the controller;
• and
• allocating, by the firmware included in the plurality of solid state disks, the storage area that is estimated to have the relatively greater life expectancy in comparison to the other storage areas to store the block, wherein the block includes parity information.

A controller in communication with a pularlity of solid state disks, the controller comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor performs operations, the operations comprising:
• configuring a plurality of solid state disks as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), wherein the plurality of solid state disks store a plurality of blocks, and wherein storage areas of the plurality of solid state disks corresponding to at least some blocks of the plurality of blocks have different amounts of estimated life expectancies;
• and
• including in data structures associated with a block that is to be stored in the storage areas of the solid state disks an indication that indicates how many data drives are present in the RAID, wherein the plurality of solid state disks allocate the block to a storage area based on the estimated life expectancies and the number of data drives, wherein the data structures are included in a Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) command descriptor block (CDB), and wherein unused bits of the CDB are used to store the data structures.

A controller in communication with a plurality of solid state disks, the controller comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor performs operations, the operations comprising:
• configuring a plurality of solid state disks as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), wherein the plurality of solid state disks store a plurality of blocks, and wherein storage areas of the plurality of solid state disks corresponding to at least some blocks of the plurality of blocks have different amounts of estimated life expectancies;
• and
• including in first data structures associated with a first block that is to he stored in the storage areas of the solid state disks a first indication that indicates how many data drives are present in the RAID, wherein the plurality of solid state disks allocate the first block to a storage area based on the estimated life expectancies and the number of data drives;
• and
• including in second data structures associated with a second block that is to be stored in the storage areas of the solid state disks a second indication, wherein the second indication indicates a relative frequency with which the data stored in the second block is likely to be updated, wherein a second storage area that is estimated to have a relatively greater life expectancy in comparison to other storage areas is used to store the second block, wherein the second block has a higher relative frequency of updates in comparison to other blocks.

A controller in communication with a plurality of solid state disks, the controller comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor performs operations, the operations comprising:
• configuring a plurality of solid state disks as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), wherein the plurality of solid state disks store plurality of blocks, and wherein storage areas of the plurality of solid state disks corresponding to at least some blocks of the plurality of blocks have different amounts of estimated life expectancies;
• including in data structures associated with a block that is to be stored in the storage areas of the solid state disks an indication that indicates how many data drives are present in the RAID, wherein the plurality of solid state disks allocate the block to a storage area based on the estimated life expectancies and the number of data drives;
• receiving, by firmware included in the plurality of solid state disks, the data structures;
• and
• allocating, by the firmware included in the plurality of solid state disks, the storage area that is estimated to have the relatively greater life expectancy in comparison to the other storage areas to store the block, wherein the block includes parity information.

A computer program product for wear leveling of a plurality of solid state disks, the computer program product comprising:

• a computer readable storage medium comprising at least one of a memory, a magnetic disk, and an optical disk, the computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code configured to:
• configure, by a controller, a plurality of solid state disks as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), wherein the plurality of solid state disks store a plurality of blocks, and wherein storage areas of the plurality of solid state disks corresponding to at least some blocks of the plurality of blocks have different amounts of estimated life expectancies;
• and
• include, by the controller, in data structures associated with a block that is to be stored in the storage areas of the solid state disks an indication that indicates how many data drives are present in the RAID, wherein the plurality of solid state disks allocate the block to a storage area based on the estimated life expectancies and the number of data drives, wherein the data structures are included in a Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) command descriptor block (CDB), and wherein unused bits of the CDB are used to store the data, structures.

A computer program product for wear leveling of a plurality of solid state disks, the computer program product comprising:

• a computer readable storage medium comprising at least one of a memory, a magnetic disk, and an optical disk, the computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code configured to:
• configure, by a controller, a plurality of solid state disks as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), wherein the plurality of solid state disks store a plurality of blocks, and wherein storage areas of the plurality of solid state disks corresponding to at least some blocks of the plurality of blocks have different amounts of estimated life expectancies;
• and
• include, by the controller, in first data structures associated with a first block that is to be stored in the storage areas of the solid state disks a first indication that indicates how many data drives are present in the RAID, wherein the plurality of solid state disks allocate the first block to a storage area based on the estimated life expectancies and the number of data, drives;
• and
• include in second data structures associated with a second block that is to be stored in the storage areas of the solid state disks a second indication, wherein the second indication indicates a relative frequency with which the data stored in the second block is likely to be updated, wherein a second storage area that is estimated to have a relatively greater life expectancy in comparison to other storage areas is used to store the second block, wherein the second block has a higher relative frequency of updates in comparison to other blocks.

A computer program product for wear leveling of a pluralitY of solid state disks, the computer program product comprising:

• a computer readable storage medium comprising at least one of a memory, a magnetic disk, and an optical disk, the computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the readable program code configured to:
• configuring, by a controller, a plurality of solid state disks as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), wherein the plurality of solid state disks store a plurality of blocks, and wherein storage areas of the plurality of solid state disks corresponding to at least some blocks of the plurality of blocks have different amounts of estimated life expectancies;
• and
• including, by the controller, in data structures associated with a block that is to be stored in the storage areas of the solid state disks an indication that indicates how many data drives are present in the RAID, wherein the plurality of solid state disks allocate the block to a storage area based on the estimated life expectancies and the number of data drives;
• receiving, by firmware included in the plurality of solid state disks, the data structures;
• and
• allocating, by the firmware included in the plurality of solid state disks, the storage area that is estimated to have the relatively greater life expectancy in comparison to the other storage areas to store the block, wherein the block includes parity information.