Patent ID: 7369339
Filing Date: 2008-05-06
Classification: G11B

Abstract:
1. A failure prediction method for magnetic disk devices, comprising: a first step of, during a period from the start of a unit time to the end thereof, storing first error indices concerning a magnetic head, in increments of a fixed amount of access or at fixed measuring time intervals; a second step of calculating a second error index on the basis of a fixed number of sets of first error indices stored by repeating said first step a plurality of times; a third step of, during the period from the start of a unit time to the end thereof, storing third error indices concerning the magnetic head, in increments of a fixed amount of access or at fixed measuring time intervals; and a fourth step of, by discarding the chronologically oldest set of error indices among the fixed number of sets of first error indices used as a basis for the calculation in said second step, updating the second error index on the basis of a fixed number of sets of error indices, including the set of third error indices, obtained in said third step.