Patent ID: 7653783

Claim:
Apparatus for reading from a physical storage-device array comprising a plurality of storage devices, wherein: the physical storage-device array has a plurality of sector levels, each sector level containing one sector on each storage device in the array at corresponding addresses on across the storage devices; and the apparatus comprises: a memory adapted to store two or more profiles, each profile defining (i) a virtual array associated with a selected set of the storage devices and (ii) one or more parameters used for accessing information from the virtual array; a buffer (i) having a first portion and a second portion and (ii) coupled to receive data from the storage devices; and a state machine (i) coupled to the buffer and the memory and (ii) adapted to generate two or more successive pairs of instructions, wherein: the first instruction of each pair of instructions (i) is based on one or more parameters of a first profile and (ii) is an instruction to read, into the first portion of the buffer, one sector of data from each storage device of a first virtual array; and the second instruction of each pair of instructions (i) is based on one or more parameters of a second profile and (ii) is an instruction to read, into the second portion of the buffer, one sector of data from each storage device of a second virtual array.