Patent ID: 8819380

Claim:
A method for allocating a block of storage space on a write surface of a hard disk drive, the method comprising the steps of: a computer system maintaining a write count for each block on the hard disk drive, wherein a write count is a cumulative number of write operations performed on a block of storage space; the computer system receiving an allocation request for a block of storage space on the hard disk drive; the computer system identifying one or more candidate blocks of storage space on the hard disk drive that can be selected to fulfill the allocation request; the computer system determining an estimated write count, wherein the estimated write count is an estimated number of write operations that will be performed on any candidate block that is subsequently selected from the one or more candidate blocks to fulfill the allocation request; the computer system identifying one or more allocated blocks of storage space on the hard disk drive whose write counts are within a specified number of write operations of the estimated write count; the computer system selecting a candidate block from the one or more candidate blocks based, at least in part, on physical proximity of the candidate block to one or more of the one or more allocated blocks of storage space on the hard disk drive whose write counts are within a specified number of write operations of the estimated write count, such that the selected candidate block is at least on a track adjacent to a track of at least one of the one or more allocated blocks of storage space on the hard disk drive whose write counts are within a specified number of write operations of the estimated write count; and the computer system allocating the selected candidate block to fulfill the allocation request.