Patent ID: 8020032

Claim:
A computer-based method for deferring maintenance in a storage system comprising a plurality of storage subsystems each containing a disk array formed from a set of disks, with each disk being configured to have one or more spare partitions in addition to one or more data partitions, said computer-based method comprising the steps of: a. detecting at least one faulty array containing a faulty disk within said plurality of storage subsystems; b. migrating data in said faulty array containing said faulty disk to one or more spare partitions in at least one array in a different storage subsystem; c. reconfiguring said faulty array to form a new array without said faulty disk; d. migrating data from said one or more spare partitions in said at least one array in a different storage subsystem to said reconfigured new array in (c) without said faulty disk; e. monitoring and identifying when overall spare capacity in said spare partitions across said plurality of storage subsystems falls below a predetermined threshold; and wherein when said predetermined threshold is exceeded, said computer-based method schedules a service visit for replacement of failed disks.