Abstract:
The present invention discloses a method of recovering damage of a hard disk having different types of partitions. The method can be exercised in an electronic device including several operating hard disks and a backup hard disk, and these operating hard disks are all created an unrecoverable configuration partition and at least one recoverable configuration partition. When any partition of the operating hard disks is damaged, then the electronic device will create the partitions same as those in the damaged operating hard disk into the backup hard disk. If the damaged partition of the damaged hard disk is recoverable, then the data of the damaged recoverable configuration partition in the damaged operating hard disk will be rebuilt into the backup hard disk based on each of the other undamaged operating hard disks, and then the data of the rest undamaged recoverable configuration partitions will be rebuilt into the backup hard disk based on each of other undamaged operating hard disks, and finally the data of the unrecoverable configuration partition will be duplicated from the damaged operating hard disks into the backup hard disk.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a method of recovering damage of a hard disk having different types of partitions, and more particularly to a method of recovering damage of a hard disk based on different recoverable configuration redundant disk array technologies. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    For electronic manufacturers who engage in the production of external storage devices, much emphases are placed on the accessing speed of a hard disk device. As hard disk devices with faster accessing speeds are introduced to the market, manufacturers recognize that a fast and stable hard disk devices cannot be achieved, regardless of the fast speed of the hard disk device, if the safety of storing data is not enhanced. Furthermore, computer devices have become indispensable to our life and work, and computers not only improve our work efficiency, but also greatly lower our burden on processing documents, and thus we substantially rely on the data stored in a hard disk of the computer device. Therefore, potential dangers should be taken into consideration. Since we rely heavily on the data stored in such hard disk devices, irreversible damages may occur, if such hard disk devices fail or have a bad track or sector. 
         [0003]    Related manufacturers provide a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) using a method of combining several hard disks to provide a high performance and redundant function for standardizing and categorizing the high transmission rate of the redundant array of inexpensive disk (RAID) technology, so that a plurality of disk drivers can transmit data simultaneously, and the disk driver itself could be a whole set of disk drivers. The RAID technology can expedite a single disk driver by several tens of times or even hundreds of times in compliance with a high-speed central processing unit (CPU) of a computer. 
         [0004]    The RAID technology further includes a fault-tolerance function (not including the cyclic redundancy check, CRC) which is not provided by a general disk driver for writing data on a disk, and the RAID technology is established on the hardware fault-tolerance function of each disk driver, and thus can provide a higher safety for the data storage. 
         [0005]    Based on different requirements, the RAID technology includes: 
         [0006]    1. RAID 0 Technology: 
         [0007]    The RAID 0 is also known as “striping” that uses two or more hard disks, and the usable memory space of each hard disk is divided into chunks, and a chunk represents a combination of sectors in the hard disk, and all data written into the disk array are divided into chunks and written sequentially into each disk, and these chunks in the array look like a stripe. For instance, if 12 KB of data is written into dual disks, and a chunk in the array has a size of 4 KB, then the data is divided into three 4 KB chunks and written into the disk as follows: The first 4K of data is written into a first chunk of a first hard disk; the second 4K of data is written into a first chunk of a second disk, and the last 4K of data is written into a second chunk of the first disk. 
         [0008]    Compared with a single hard disk, the RAID 0 technology has the following advantages: 
         [0009]    a. The RAID 0 technology provides a larger storage space for storing larger data files than the single hard disk. 
         [0010]    b. The RAID 0 technology provides a better write-in performance, since the I/O operations of the array of the RAID 0 technology are evenly allocated to all hard disks in the array. 
         [0011]    c. The RAID 0 technology wastes no space, since the spaces of all hard disks are used for storing data; 
         [0012]    d. The RAID 0 technology is relatively unreliable, and each disk in the array must work properly to maintain the operation of the RAID 0 technology. 
         [0013]    e. If any one of N hard disks with the RAID 0 technology fails, the whole data cannot be used even though only 1/N of the data is damaged. 
         [0014]    2. RAID 1 Technology: 
         [0015]    The RAID 1 technology is also known as mirroring that uses two (or even more) identical hard disks, so that all data are written into the two hard disks at the same time. When the RAID 1 technology writes a data into a hard disk, a computer system duplicates two copies of data, such that one copy of data is written into a hard disk, and another copy of data is written into another hard disk. On the contrary, when the RAID 1 technology reads a data, only the data in one of the hard disks is read. 
         [0016]    Compared with a single hard disk, the RAID 1 technology has the following advantages: 
         [0017]    a. The RAID 1 technology provides a more redundant reliability, and even one of the hard disks fails, users still can access data. 
         [0018]    b. The RAID 1 technology provides a better read performance and read data separately from two hard disks, and thus sharing the burden of I/O operations of the single hard disk. 
         [0019]    c. The maximum space of the array cannot exceed the maximum hard disk capacity in the array. 
         [0020]    d. The write-in performance of the RAID 1 technology becomes slower, because updated data is maintained in the two hard disks. When a data is written, two hard disks are operating at the same time, and thus slowing down the overall write-in performance of the array. 
         [0021]    e. The RAID 1 technology has a lower cost-effectiveness, because one copy of data is stored in two hard disks at the same time, and thus the cost of the RAID 1 technology is at least twice as much as the cost of the single hard disk. 
         [0022]    3. RAID 2 Technology: 
         [0023]    The RAID 2 technology is also called an error correcting Hamming code disk array. In the disk array, a first disk, a second disk, a fourth disk . . . and a 2 n th  disk are detecting disks for detecting and correcting errors. For instance, seven disks are used in the RAID 2 technology, wherein the first, second, and fourth disks are detecting disks, and the rest of disks are used for storing data. Thus, the more disks used, the less is the number of detecting disks. The RAID 2 technology is very useful for the output of huge data. On the other hand, RAID 2 is rarely used in applications with an output of a small number of data. 
         [0024]    4. RAID 3 Technology: 
         [0025]    The RAID 3 technology requires at least three hard disks, and the data will be magnetized into stripes of the same size and stored in different hard disks, and one of the hard disks is specified for storing a parity which is calculated from the data stored in the hard disks. If one of the hard disks fails, users can change such hard disk, and the computer system will rebuild the hard disk by other data and store the data back into an updated hard disk. 
         [0026]    5. RAID 5 Technology: 
         [0027]    The RAID 5 technology has the advantage of attempting to integrate the RAID 0 technology and the RAID 1 technology, and also overcomes existing shortcomings. The RAID 5 array comprises a plurality of hard disks (at least three or more hard disks of the same size), and each hard disk is divided into several chunks, such that the data can be written sequentially. Unlike the RAID 0 technology, not every chunk is used for storing data. On the contrary, only the n th  chuck of a disk having n hard disks in an array will be used for storing a parity check code. At present, a system includes a plurality of hard disks, and each hard disk stores data of different levels of importance. The more important data is processed and backed up by the RAID 1 or RAID 5 technology, and the less important data is processed and backed up by the RAID 0 technology. However, if the system having a very limited number of hard disks that are insufficient for the backup and processing or the system only uses one of the foregoing RAID technologies to process and back up all data in each hard disk of the system, it cannot concurrently give considerations to disk capacity allocation and disk safety, and it will create many limitations to the backup of the disks. Thus, finding a method of recovering damage of hard disk having different types of partitions to overcome the issue of a limited number of hard disks and recover the data if one of the hard disks fails in order to maintain the normal operation of the system demands immediate attentions and feasible solutions. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0028]    In view of the foregoing shortcomings of the prior art, the inventor of the present invention based on years of experience to conduct extensive researches and experiments and finally invented a method of recovering damage of hard disk having different types of partitions, so as to effectively give considerations to both disk capacity allocation and disk safety and maintain a balance between the data with different levels of importance. 
         [0029]    Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to overcome the foregoing shortcomings by providing a method of recovering damage of hard disk having different types of partitions. The method implements in an electronic device comprising a plurality of operating hard disks and a backup hard disk, and the electronic device creates an unrecoverable configuration partition separately on these operating hard disks according to an unrecoverable configuration redundant disk array technology, and creates at least one recoverable configuration partition according to at least one recoverable configuration redundant disk array technology. If the electronic device determines that any recoverable configuration partition of an operating hard disk is damaged, the electronic device will create an unrecoverable configuration backup partition and a number of recoverable configuration backup partitions equal to the number of the recoverable configuration partition in the backup hard disk according to the unrecoverable configuration partition and each recoverable configuration partition in the damaged operating hard disk, and duplicate the data of the unrecoverable configuration partition of the damaged operating hard disk into the unrecoverable configuration backup partition, and will rebuild the data of each recoverable configuration partition of the damaged operating hard disk into each recoverable configuration backup partition according to different recoverable configuration redundant disk array technologies. 
         [0030]    The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0031]      FIG. 1  is a schematic block diagram of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0032]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0033]      FIG. 3  is another flow chart of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0034]      FIG. 4  is a schematic block diagram of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0035]      FIG. 5  is a flow chart of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0036]      FIG. 6  is another flow chart of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0037]      FIG. 7  is a schematic block diagram of a third preferred embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0038]      FIG. 8  is a flow chart of a third preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0039]    Referring to  FIG. 1  for a method of recovering damage of hard disk having different types of partitions in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the method which is implemented in an electronic device  1  (such as a computer or a server), and the electronic device  1  includes a plurality of operating hard disks (HDD)  10  and a backup hard disk (backup HDD)  20 , and the electronic device  1  creates an unrecoverable configuration partition  12  (such as a disk partition) in the operating hard disks  10  according to an unrecoverable configuration redundant disk array technology (such as RAID 0 technology), such that if the data in an unrecoverable configuration partition  12  is lost, the data in the rest of the unrecoverable configuration partitions  12  cannot provide complete data for the recovery, and the electronic device  1  further creates a recoverable configuration partition  11  (such as a disk partition) in the operating hard disks  10  according to at least one recoverable configuration redundant disk array technology (such as RAID 1 technology or RAID 5 technology), such that if the data in one of the recoverable configuration partitions  11  is lost, the data of the rest of each recoverable configuration partition  11  can be provided for recovering the complete data. 
         [0040]    In  FIG. 1 , if any partition of the operating hard disk  101  is damaged, then the electronic device  1  will create an unrecoverable configuration backup partition  22  in the backup hard disk  20  according to the unrecoverable configuration partition  120  of the damaged operating hard disk  101 , and will create a recoverable configuration backup partition  21  in the backup hard disk  20  according to these recoverable configuration partition  110  of the damaged operating hard disk  101 , and the electronic device  1  will determine whether or not the damaged partition in the damaged operating hard disk  101  is recoverable, if the damaged partition in the damaged operating hard disk  101  is recoverable, then the electronic device  1  will rebuild the data of the damaged recoverable configuration partition  110  and the data of the rest of undamaged recoverable configuration partitions  110  of the damaged operating hard disk  101  from each of other undamaged operating hard disks  10  into the backup hard disk  20  according to different recoverable configuration redundant disk array technologies, and on the other hand, the electronic device  1  will duplicate the data of the unrecoverable configuration partition  120  from said damaged operating hard disk  101  into the back hard disk  20 . Thus, if any operating hard disk  101  fails (even if each of the recoverable configuration partitions  110  fails), the data of each recoverable configuration partition  11  in the rest of the operating hard disks  10  still can be used, and the damaged operating hard disk  101  can be removed. 
         [0041]    In  FIG. 1 , if the damaged partition in the damaged operating hard disk  101  is unrecoverable, the electronic device  1  will create an unrecoverable configuration backup partition  22  in the backup hard disk  20  according to the unrecoverable configuration partition  120  of the damaged operating hard disk  101 , and will create at least one recoverable configuration backup partition  21  in the backup hard disk  20  according to each recoverable configuration partition  110  of the damaged operating hard disk  101 , and then will respectively rebuild the data of each recoverable configuration partition  110  of the damaged operating hard disk  101  into each recoverable configuration backup partition according to different recoverable configuration redundant disk array technologies. Since each unrecoverable configuration partition  120  is damaged, the data therein is lost, and the data of the rest of the unrecoverable configuration partitions  120  cannot recover the whole data, therefore the electronic device  1  only rebuilds the data of each recoverable configuration partition  110  into each recoverable configuration backup partition  21  according to different recoverable configuration redundant disk array technologies, and labels the unrecoverable configuration partition  120  of the damaged operating hard disk  101 , or removes the damaged operating hard disk  101 , so that the unrecoverable configuration partition  120  cannot be used anymore. 
         [0042]    For instance, in a first preferred embodiment as shown in  FIG. 1 , each operating hard disk  10  only has a recoverable configuration partition  11  and an unrecoverable configuration partition  12 , wherein one of the recoverable configuration redundant disk array technologies could be the RAID 1 technology and the recoverable configuration partitions  11  of any two operating hard disks  10  contain the same backup data  111 , and each backup data  111  could be a first complete data, and the unrecoverable configuration redundant disk array technology could be the RAID 0 technology, and the unrecoverable configuration partition  12  of each operating hard disk  10  contains a fragment backup data  121 , and the fragment backup data  121  can be combined into a complete second data. If a recoverable configuration partition  110  in an operating hard disk  101  is damaged and its backup data  111  cannot be used, the electronic device  1  will process the following procedure as shown in  FIG. 2 : 
         [0043]    (Step  201 ) detecting whether or not the backup hard disk  20  fails; if yes, then end this procedure, or else go to Step  202 ; 
         [0044]    (Step  202 ) partitioning the backup hard disk  20  into partitions, one of which having the same configuration according to the recoverable configuration partition  110  of the damaged operating hard disk  101 , such that the backup hard disk  20  has a recoverable configuration backup partition  21 ; 
         [0045]    (Step  203 ) partitioning the backup hard disk  20  into partitions, one of which having the same configuration according to the unrecoverable configuration partition  120  of the damaged operating hard disk  101 , such that the backup hard disk  20  has an unrecoverable configuration backup partition  22 ; 
         [0046]    (Step  204 ) rebuilding the backup data  111  from the recoverable configuration partition  11  of the rest having the backup data  111  according to the rebuilding rules of the RAID 1 technology into the recoverable configuration backup partition  21 ; 
         [0047]    (Step  205 ) mirroring the fragment backup data  121  of the unrecoverable configuration partition  120  of the damaged operating hard disk  101  according to the backup rules of the RAID 1 technology into the unrecoverable configuration backup partition  22 ; and 
         [0048]    (Step  206 ) labeling the recoverable configuration partition  110  of the damaged operating hard disk  101 , so that the recoverable configuration partition  110  cannot be used anymore. 
         [0049]    If an unrecoverable configuration partition  120  of the operating hard disk  101  is damaged and the fragment backup data  121  cannot be used, the electronic device  1  will process the following procedure as shown in  FIG. 3 : 
         [0050]    (Step  301 ) detecting whether or not the backup hard disk  20  fails; if yes, then end this procedure, or else go to Step  302 ; 
         [0051]    (Step  302 ) partitioning the backup hard disk  20  into partitions, one of which having the same configuration according to the recoverable configuration partition  110  of the damaged operating hard disk  101 , such that the backup hard disk  20  has a recoverable configuration backup partition  21 ; 
         [0052]    (Step  303 ) partitioning the backup hard disk  20  into partitions, one of which having the same configuration according to the unrecoverable configuration partition  120  of the damaged operating hard disk  101 , such that the backup hard disk  20  has an unrecoverable configuration backup partition  22 ; 
         [0053]    (Step  304 ) rebuilding the backup data  111  from the recoverable configuration partition  11  of the rest having the backup data  111  according to the rebuilding rules of the RAID 1 technology into the recoverable configuration backup partition  21 ; and 
         [0054]    (Step  305 ) labeling the unrecoverable configuration partition  120  of the damaged operating hard disk  101 , such that the unrecoverable configuration partition  120  cannot be used anymore. 
         [0055]    In a second preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in  FIG. 4 , each operating hard disk  10  only has a recoverable configuration partition  11  and an unrecoverable configuration partition  12 , and the recoverable configuration redundant disk array technology is the RAID 5 technology, and recoverable configuration partition  11  of each operating hard disk  10  has another fragment backup data  131 , and each of such fragment backup data  131  can be combined into a third complete data, and such fragment backup data  131  can be used for finding any other lost fragment backup data  131 . The unrecoverable configuration redundant disk array technology is the RAID 0 technology, and the unrecoverable configuration partition  12  of each operating hard disk  10  has a fragment backup data  121 , and the fragment backup data  121  can be combined into a second complete data. If a recoverable configuration partition  110  of an operating hard disk  101  is damaged and another fragment backup data  131  cannot be used, the electronic device  1  will process the following procedure as shown in  FIG. 5 : 
         [0056]    (Step  501 ) detecting whether or not the backup hard disk  20  fails; if yes, then end this procedure, or else, go to Step  502 ; 
         [0057]    (Step  502 ) partitioning the backup hard disk  20  into partitions, one of which having the same configuration according to the recoverable configuration partition  110  of the damaged operating hard disk  101 , such that the backup hard disk  20  has a recoverable configuration backup partition  21 ; 
         [0058]    (Step  503 ) partitioning the backup hard disk  20  into partitions, one of which having the same configuration according to the unrecoverable configuration partition  120  of the damaged operating hard disk  101 , such that the backup hard disk  20  has an unrecoverable configuration backup partition  22 ; 
         [0059]    (Step  504 ) using another backup data of each of the rest recoverable configuration partitions  11  to find other lost fragment backup data  131  according to the rebuilding rules of the RAID 5 technology, and backing up the lost fragment backup data  131  into the recoverable configuration backup partition  21 ; 
         [0060]    (Step  505 ) rebuilding the fragment backup data  121  from the unrecoverable configuration partition  120  of the damaged operating hard disk  101  according to the backup rules of the RAID 1 technology, such that the fragment backup data  121  is rebuilt into the unrecoverable configuration backup partition  22 ; and 
         [0061]    (Step  506 ) labeling the recoverable configuration partition  110  of the damaged operating hard disk  101 , such that the recoverable configuration partition  110  cannot be used anymore. 
         [0062]    If an unrecoverable configuration partition  120  of the damaged operating hard disk  101  is damaged and the fragment backup data  121  cannot be used, the electronic device  1  will process the following procedure as shown in  FIG. 6 : 
         [0063]    (Step  601 ) detecting whether or not the backup hard disk  20  fails; if yes, then end this procedure, or else go to Step  602 ; 
         [0064]    (Step  602 ) partitioning the backup hard disk  20  into partitions, one of which having the same configuration according to the recoverable configuration partition  110  of the damaged operating hard disk  101 , such that the backup hard disk  20  has a recoverable configuration backup partition  21 ; 
         [0065]    (Step  603 ) partitioning the backup hard disk  20  into partitions, one of which having the same configurations according to the unrecoverable configuration partition  120  of the damaged operating hard disk  101 , such that the backup hard disk  20  has an unrecoverable configuration backup partition  22 ; 
         [0066]    (Step  604 ) finding each of the lost fragment backup data  131  from the rest according to the rebuilding rules of the RAID 5 technology and backing up the fragment backup data  131  into the recoverable configuration backup partition  21 ; and 
         [0067]    (Step  605 ) labeling the unrecoverable configuration partition  120  of the damaged operating hard disk  101 , such that the unrecoverable configuration partition  120  cannot be used anymore. 
         [0068]    In a third preferred embodiment of the present invention as shown in  FIG. 7 , each operating hard disk  10  follows another recoverable configuration redundant disk array technology, such that each operating hard disk  10  has a recoverable configuration partition  11 , another recoverable configuration partition  13  (such as a disk partition) and an unrecoverable configuration partition  12 , and the recoverable configuration redundant disk array technology is the RAID 1 technology, and a recoverable configuration partition  11  of any two operating hard disks  10  has the same backup data  111 , and each backup data  111  could be the first complete data, and the unrecoverable configuration redundant disk array technology could be the RAID 0 technology, and the unrecoverable configuration partition  12  of each operating hard disk  10  has a fragment backup data  121 , and the fragment backup data  121  can be combined into a second complete data, and such recoverable configuration redundant disk array technology could be the RAID 5 technology, and another recoverable configuration partition  13  of each operating hard disk  10  has another fragment backup data  131 , and each of such fragment backup data  131  can be combined into a third complete data, and each of such fragment backup data  131  can be used for finding any other lost fragment backup data  131 . If a recoverable configuration partition  110 ,  130  of an operating hard disk  101  is damaged and the backup data  111  or another fragment backup data  131  cannot be used, the electronic device  1  will process the following procedure as shown in  FIG. 8 : 
         [0069]    (Step  801 ) detecting whether or not the backup hard disk  20  fails; if yes, then end this procedure, or else go to Step  802 ; 
         [0070]    (Step  802 ) partitioning the backup hard disk  20  into partitions, one of which having the same configuration according to the recoverable configuration partition  110  of the damaged operating hard disk  101 , such that the backup hard disk  20  has a recoverable configuration backup partition  21 ; 
         [0071]    (Step  803 ) partitioning the backup hard disk  20  into partitions, one of which having the same configuration according to another recoverable configuration partition  130  of the damaged operating hard disk  101 , such that the backup hard disk  20  has another recoverable configuration backup partition  23  (refer to  FIG. 7 ); 
         [0072]    (Step  804 ) partitioning the backup hard disk  20  into partitions, one of which having the same configuration according to an unrecoverable configuration partition  120  of the damaged operating hard disk  101 , such that the backup hard disk  20  has an unrecoverable configuration backup partition  22 ; 
         [0073]    (Step  805 ) rebuilding the backup data  111  from the recoverable configuration partition  11  of the rest of operating hard disks  10  according to the rebuilding rules of the RAID 1, such that the backup data  111  is rebuilt into the recoverable configuration backup partition  21 ; 
         [0074]    (Step  806 ) finding another fragment backup data  131  from each other recoverable configuration partition  13  of the rest of operating hard disks  10  according to the rebuilding rules of the RAID 5, and backing up such fragment backup data  131  into the recoverable configuration backup partition  23 ; 
         [0075]    (Step  807 ) rebuilding the fragment backup data  121  from the unrecoverable configuration partition  120  of the damaged operating hard disk  101  according to the backup rules of the RAID 1, such that the fragment backup data  121  is rebuilt into the unrecoverable configuration backup partition  22 ; and 
         [0076]    (Step  808 ) labeling the recoverable configuration partition  110  of the damaged operating hard disk  101 , such that the recoverable configuration partition  110  cannot be used anymore. 
         [0077]    While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.