Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for formatting data in a storage device

US6317815A · kind A · utility

41Cited by
11References
53Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 30, 1997
Grant dateNov 13, 2001
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 30, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F3/0689
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A method and apparatus for reformatting a main storage device associated with a computer system. The storage device is reformatted by making use of a secondary storage device on which is stored a copy of the data stored on the main storage device. A reformatting process is run on the secondary storage device while the main computer system continues normal operation. When the reformatting process is completed, the secondary storage device is updated with the updates that were made on the main storage system while the reformatting process was run on the secondary system. Thereafter, the reformatted and updated data is either transferred to the main storage device, or the main storage device is physically replaced with the secondary storage device. In another aspect, non-standard programming techniques are employed to provide access to non-configured disc drives coupled to an AS/400.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.