Patent ID: 7941628

Claim:
A method, comprising: providing a plurality of storage devices of a plurality of storage device types; associating a plurality of criteria for each of the plurality of storage devices, based on characteristics of the plurality of storage devices, wherein the plurality of criteria can be used to determine whether a selected storage device is a compatibility spare for a storage device in a storage device array, and whether the selected storage device is an availability spare for the storage device in the storage device array; determining, by a spare management application, based on at least the plurality of criteria and at least one optimality condition, a first set of storage devices selected from the plurality of storage devices to be allocated to a plurality of storage device arrays, and a second set of storage devices selected from the plurality of storage devices to be allocated as spares for the plurality of storage device arrays; allocating the first set of storage devices to the plurality of storage device arrays; and allocating the second set of storage devices as spares for the plurality of storage device array, wherein a selected compatibility spare for a first storage device has a storage capacity that is greater than or equal to the first storage device and a rotational speed that is greater than or equal to the first storage device, wherein a selected availability spare for the first storage device has a storage capacity that is greater than or equal to the first storage device, and wherein while allocating the second set of storage devices as spares, satisfying the following conditions: ensuring that all storage device types have a first number of compatibility spares and a second number of availability spares, while limiting number of spares of any selected storage device type to one per a third number of storage devices; allocating spares first to storage device types that have greatest potential of being compatibility or availability spares for other storage device types; and allowing the first number or the second number to be selected such that there are more spares allocated than required to meet availability criteria to allow deferral of repair actions.