Method and Apparatus for Managing Data Integrity in a Distributed Storage Network

1 . A method for execution by a storage network, the method comprising:

determining data integrity information for data stored in a predetermined portion of the storage network;

based on the data integrity information, determining whether a storage device associated with the portion of the storage network has failed;

in response to a determination that a storage device has failed, determining whether the storage device has failed due to a transitory condition;

in response to a determination that the storage device failure is due to a transitory condition, waiting a predetermined amount of time before determining data integrity information for the predetermined portion of the storage network again;

in response to a determination that the storage device failure is not due to a transitory condition, initiating rebuilding of the portion of the storage network.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined portion is a data storage unit.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined portion is a data storage site.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined portion is an address range associated with a storage unit.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined portion is an address range associated with a storage site.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the storage device failure is determined from a list consisting of:

a minimum number of data slice errors has been exceeded;

one or more storage devices is powered off;

one or more network elements is not functioning;

an equipment failure;

a scheduled storage unit outage; and

a threshold number of data slice errors has been exceeded.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining data integrity information comprises executing a hash function on the data.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining data integrity information comprises searching the predetermined portion of the storage network using a lookup list of unique identifiers associated with the data.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining data integrity information comprises calculating a checksum on the data; and comparing the calculated checksum to a previously stored checksum.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining data integrity information comprises calculating a checksum on the data, and comparing the calculated checksum to a checksum calculated from a copy of the data stored in another portion of the storage network.

11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to a determination that a storage device associated with the portion of the storage network has not failed, determining if a site failure has occurred; and

in response to a determination that a site failure has occurred, determining whether the failure is due to a transitory condition;

in response to a determination that the site failure is due to a transitory condition, waiting a predetermined amount of time before determining data integrity information for the predetermined portion of the storage network again; and

in response to a determination that the site failure is not due to a transitory condition, initiating rebuilding of the portion of the storage network.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the rebuilding comprises:

determining a plurality of unique identifiers associated with the data;

rebuilding the data associated with each unique identifier of the plurality of unique identifiers to provide rebuilt data; and

storing the rebuilt data at another storage network site.

13 . A storage network comprises:

a network interface;

a computer processing unit including:

a memory; and

one or more processing modules, wherein the memory includes instructions for causing the one or more processing modules to:

determine data integrity information for data stored in a predetermined portion of the storage network;

determine, based on the data integrity information, whether a storage device associated with the portion of the storage network has failed;

determine, in response to a determination that a storage device has failed, whether the storage device has failed due to a transitory condition;

wait, in response to a determination that the storage device failure is due to a transitory condition, a predetermined amount of time and then determine data integrity information for the predetermined portion of the storage network again;

in response to a determination that the storage device failure is not due to a transitory condition, initiate rebuilding the portion of the storage network.

14 . The storage network of claim 13 , wherein the predetermined portion is a data storage unit.

15 . The storage network of claim 13 , wherein the predetermined portion is a data storage site.

16 . The storage network of claim 13 , wherein the predetermined portion is an address range associated with a storage unit.

17 . The storage network of claim 13 , wherein the predetermined portion is an address range associated with a plurality of storage units.

18 . The storage network of claim 13 , wherein the data integrity information is determined by at least one of executing a hash function on the data, searching the predetermined portion of the storage network using a lookup list of unique identifiers associated with the data, calculating a checksum on the data; and comparing the calculated checksum to a previously stored checksum, or

calculating a checksum on the data, and comparing the calculated checksum to a checksum calculated from a copy of the data stored in another portion of the storage network.

19 . The storage network of claim 13 , wherein the memory further includes instructions for causing the one or more processing modules to:

determine, in response to a determination that a storage device associated with the portion of the storage network has not failed, whether a site failure has occurred;

determine, in response to a determination that a site failure has occurred, whether the failure is due to a transitory condition;

wait, in response to a determination that the site failure is due to a transitory condition, a predetermined amount of time before determining data integrity information for the predetermined portion of the storage network again; and

initiate rebuilding, in response to a determination that the site failure is not due to a transitory condition, the portion of the storage network.

20 . The storage network of claim 19 , wherein the memory further includes instructions for causing the one or more processing modules to:

determine a plurality of unique identifiers associated with the data;

rebuild the data associated with each unique identifier of the plurality of unique identifiers to provide rebuilt data; and

store the rebuilt data at another storage network site.