Patent ID: 6996752

Claim:
A method in a data processing system for increasing data storage performance, the data processing system having a plurality of primary storage devices and a spare storage device, the method comprising the steps of: establishing a logical volume definition that defines a logical volume utilizing said plurality of primary storage devices, said logical volume definition including a list of storage devices that are included in said logical volume, said logical volume definition including a designation of said spare storage device as being a “spare” device and a designation of each one of said plurality of primary storage devices as being a “primary” device; detecting a failure of one of said plurality of primary storage devices; reconstructing, on said spare storage device, data that was stored on said failed one of said plurality of primary storage devices at the time said failure was detected; and reassigning said spare storage device in said logical volume definition by changing said designation of said spare storage device from “spare” to “primary”, wherein said spare storage device becomes a primary storage device.