Importance

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Abstract

A method and apparatus for managing blocks of information in a disc drive storage system. One embodiment is directed to a disc drive storage system that employs a plurality of disc drives, and that mirrors blocks of information on different physical locations within at least two of the disc drives. Preference may be given in each of the mirrors to reading blocks of information that are closer to an outer edge of the disc to improve system performance. Another embodiment is directed to the handling of a hot spot by reading blocks of information within the hot spot from a mirror in the system that is not read during normal operation. A further embodiment addresses hot spots by temporarily employing another disc drive as a temporary mirror to enable parallel access to blocks of information within the hot spot. In another embodiment wherein data is compressed prior to being stored on the disc drive system according to a compression ration, blocks of information that cannot be compressed according to the compression ratio are stored in a pair of sectors that are arranged on different disc drives to enable them to be accessed simultaneously.

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First Claim