Error tolerant or streaming storage device

Abstract

A method of storing data includes receiving general purpose (GP) data and special Error Tolerant or Streaming (ETS) data, storing the GP data using a data storage method, and storing the ETS data using a different data storage method which affects the access rate, resilience to errors, data integrity, storage density, or storage capacity. The storage medium, which can include a disk drive, flash memory, or holographic memory, is utilized differently depending on the required Quality of Service in aspects including block size, storage of error correction codes, utilization of error correction codes, storage area density, physical format pattern, storage verification, or reaction to failed storage verification. For disk drives these differences include spacing between tracks; overlap between tracks; spiral track formatting; concentric track formatting, and size of blocks, and for flash memories these differences include levels per cell and number of cells.

1 . A method of storing data on a storage system comprising:
 providing a previously manufactured storage medium as part of the storage system; operating said storage system to store general purpose data on the previously manufactured storage medium in a first physical storage format; and   operating said storage system to store specialized data on the previously manufactured storage medium in a second physical storage format different than said first physical storage format, the specialized data selected from the group consisting of: streaming data, error tolerant data, and data that is both streaming and error tolerant;   
       wherein storage of the specialized data differs from storage of the general purpose data in at least one aspect of storage selected from the group consisting of: access rate, resilience to errors, data integrity, storage density, and storage capacity. 
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the storage medium is utilized differently for general purpose data than for specialized data in at least one aspect selected from the group consisting of: block size, storage of error correction codes, utilization of error correction codes, storage area density, physical format pattern, storage verification, and reaction to failed storage verification. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the block size for storing specialized data is larger than the block size for general purpose data. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising:
 storing error correcting codes with the specialized data, the error correcting codes being of a type whose efficiency is facilitated by block sizes greater than 512 bytes; 
 wherein the block size used for storing specialized data is greater than 512 bytes. 
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  where the error correcting code is selected from the group consisting of: Reed Solomon and Low Density Parity Check. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 differentiating between general purpose data and specialized data sent to the storage device before the data is stored on the storage medium. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 determining, within the storage system, whether data received from the host is general purpose
 or specialized, by differentiating between streaming commands and non-streaming commands. 
 
 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 determining, within the storage system, whether data received is general purpose or specialized, 
 by examining addresses received from the host that indicate where the data is to be stored. 
 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the storage medium is selected from the group consisting of: hard disk drive platter, flash memory, and holographic memory. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the storage density used to store specialized data is different from the storage density used to store general purpose data and the block size used to store specialized data is different from the block size used to store general purpose data. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the storage medium is a hard disk drive platter, and the overlap of tracks is different for general purpose data than for specialized data. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the storage medium is a hard disk drive platter, the general purpose data is stored on the hard disk drive platter in one or more concentric tracks, and the specialized data is stored on the hard disk drive platter in one or more spiral tracks. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the storage medium is a hard disk drive platter, and
 specialized data is stored differently from the general purpose data in at least one aspect selected from the group consisting of: bits per inch and tracks per inch. 
 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the storage medium is a flash memory, and specialized data is stored with a different levels per cell than general purpose data. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the storage medium is a flash memory, and specialized data is stored with a different number of cells per bit than general purpose data. 
     
     
         16 .- 44 . (canceled) 
     
     
         45 . A storage system comprising:
 a previously manufactured storage medium, and   a controller operative for:   distinguishing between specialized and general purpose data, specialized being data which is either streaming or error tolerant or both;   storing general purpose data on the previously manufactured storage medium in a first physical storage format; and   storing specialized data on the previously manufactured storage medium in a second physical storage format different than said first physical storage format, the specialized data stored differently from the general purpose data so as to affect at least one aspect of storage selected from the group consisting of: access rate, resilience to errors, data integrity, storage density, and storage capacity.   
     
     
         46 . The storage system of  claim 45 , wherein the storage medium is utilized differently for general purpose data than for specialized data in at least one aspect selected from the group consisting of: block size, storage of error correction codes, utilization of error correction codes, storage area density, physical format pattern, storage verification, and reaction to failed storage verification. 
     
     
         47 . The storage system of  claim 45 , wherein the block size for storing specialized data is larger than the block size for general purpose data. 
     
     
         48 . The storage system of  claim 47 , wherein said controller is operative for storing error correcting codes with the specialized data, the error correcting codes being of a type whose efficiency is facilitated by block sizes greater than 512 bytes; and
 wherein the block size used for storing specialized data is greater than 512 bytes.   
     
     
         49 . The storage system of  claim 45 , wherein said controller is operative for determining whether data received from the host is general purpose or specialized, by differentiating between streaming commands and non-streaming commands. 
     
     
         50 . The storage system of  claim 45 , wherein said controller is operative for determining whether data received is general purpose or specialized,
 by examining addresses received from the host that indicate where the data is to be stored.   
     
     
         51 . The storage system of  claim 45 , wherein the storage medium is selected from the group consisting of: hard disk drive platter, flash memory, and holographic memory. 
     
     
         52 . The storage system of  claim 45 , wherein the storage density used to store specialized data is different from the storage density used to store general purpose data and the block size used to store specialized data is different from the block size used to store general purpose data. 
     
     
         53 . The storage system of  claim 45 , wherein the storage medium is a hard disk drive platter, and the overlap of tracks is different for general purpose data than for specialized data. 
     
     
         54 . The storage system of  claim 45 , wherein the storage medium is a hard disk drive platter, the general purpose data is stored on the hard disk drive platter in one or more concentric tracks, and the specialized data is stored on the hard disk drive platter in one or more spiral tracks. 
     
     
         55 . The storage system of  claim 45 , wherein the storage medium is a hard disk drive platter, and
 specialized data is stored differently from the general purpose data in at least one aspect selected from the group consisting of: bits per inch and tracks per inch.   
     
     
         56 . The storage system of  claim 45 , wherein the storage medium is a flash memory, and specialized data is stored with a different levels per cell than general purpose data. 
     
     
         57 . The storage system of  claim 45 , wherein the storage medium is a flash memory, and specialized data is stored with a different number of cells per bit than general purpose data.