Patent ID: 7461298

Claim:
A computerized method comprising: selecting a first portion of a storage available in a mass storage device, the first portion encompassing less than all of the storage available in the mass storage device; performing a first plurality of I/O operations on the first portion to obtain a corresponding first plurality of I/O results; inferring a type of flaw present in the mass storage device based on the first plurality of I/O results, wherein the first plurality of I/O results indicates more than one possible type of flaw present in the mass storage device; selecting a second portion of the storage available in the mass storage device, the second portion not co-extant with the first portion; performing a second plurality of I/O operations on the second portion to obtain a corresponding second plurality of I/O results; and distinguishing among the more than one possible type of flaw present in the mass storage device based on the second plurality of I/O results.