Consistency check, Appendix – Areca 24/4 Internal/External Port Pcie 3.0 12 Gb/s SAS/SATA Raid Controller 2Gb Cache User Manual

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APPENDIX

The RAID controller drives perform automatic defect reassign-

ment for both read and write errors. Writes are always com-

pleted - if a location to be written is found to be defective, the

drive will automatically relocate that write command to a new

location and map out the defective location. If there is a re-

coverable read error, the correct data will be transferred to the

host and that location will be tested by the drive to be certain

the location is not defective. If it is found to have a defect,

data will be automatically relocated, and the defective location

is mapped out to prevent future write attempts.

In the event of an unrecoverable read error, the error will be

reported to the host and the location will be flagged as being

potentially defective. A subsequent write to that location will

initiate a sector test and relocation should that location prove

to have a defect. Auto Reassign Sector does not affect disk

subsystem performance because it runs as a background task.

Auto Reassign Sector discontinues when the operating system

makes a request.

Consistency Check

A consistency check is a process that verifies the integrity of

redundant data. To verify RAID 3, 5, 6, 30, 50 or 60 redun-

dancy, a consistency check reads all associated data blocks,

computes parity, reads parity, and verifies that the computed

parity matches the read parity.

Consistency checks are very important because they detect

and correct parity errors or bad disk blocks in the drive. A

consistency check forces every block on a volume to be read,

and any bad blocks are marked; those blocks are not used

again. This is critical and important because a bad disk block

can prevent a disk rebuild from completing. We strongly rec-

ommend that you run consistency checks on a regular basis —

at least once per week. Note that consistency checks degrade

performance, so you should run them when the system load

can tolerate it.

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