Techniques for storing system images in slices on data storage devices

1. A data storage device comprising:

at least one data storage medium, wherein a data storage capacity of the data storage device is divided into slices, and each of the slices has sectors; and

data storage device firmware configured to store copies of a system image in the slices on the data storage device, wherein each of the slices stores a different copy of the system image, wherein each of the sectors in the slices is a clean sector if the sector is empty and a dirty sector after data has been written to the sector, and

wherein each clean sector in a first one of the slices has a reference to a sector in a previously created one of the slices that the data storage device uses to access the sector in the previously created one of the slices in response to a read command requesting to access the referencing clean sector.

2. The data storage device defined in claim 1 wherein each reference to a sector in the previously created one of the slices is updated to reflect new data in order to write the new data to the sector in the previously created one of the slices.

3. The data storage device defined in claim 1 wherein after the data storage device firmware creates a new one of the slices, each sector in the new one of the slices is marked as a clean sector that is empty until data is written to that sector.

4. The data storage device defined in claim 1 wherein the data storage device firmware dynamically assigns each of the sectors in the slices to a physical address in the data storage device when data is written to that sector.

5. The data storage device defined in claim 4 wherein the data storage device firmware attempts to make physical addresses of the sectors in each of the slices sequential.

6. The data storage device defined in claim 1 wherein the data storage capacity of the data storage device is divided into at least three slices, and wherein clean sectors that are empty in the previously created one of the slices contain references to sectors in a third one of the slices.

7. The data storage device defined in claim 1 wherein a youngest slice stores a current version of the system image, and wherein an oldest slice stores an oldest version of the system image.

8. The data storage device defined in claim 1 wherein the data storage device is a hard disk drive, wherein the data storage medium comprises at least one hard disk, wherein the hard disk drive comprises multiple platter surfaces, and wherein each of the slices is stored on one of the platter surfaces.

9. The data storage device defined in claim 1 wherein the data storage device is a hard disk drive wherein the data storage medium comprises at least one hard disk, and wherein each of the slices are sub-divided into sub-slices that are stored in an alternating manner on the at least one hard disk such that each of the sub-slices and two adjacent sub-slices are part of three different slices.

10. A data storage device that comprises code for storing a system image in slices, wherein the code is stored on a computer readable medium in the data storage device, the data storage device comprising:

at least one data storage medium;

code for dividing the data storage device into the slices, wherein each of the slices contains sectors; and

code for storing copies of the system image in the slices on the data storage device, wherein each of the slices stores a different copy of the system image, wherein each of the sectors in the slices is a clean sector when the sector is empty and a dirty sector after data has been written to the sector, and

wherein each clean sector in a first one of the slices has a reference to a sector in a previously created one of the slices that the data storage device uses to access the sector in the previously created one of the slices in response to a read command requesting to access the referencing clean sector.

11. The data storage device defined in claim 10 wherein the code for storing copies of the system image in the slices on the data storage device comprises code for creating a new one of the slices and marking each sector in the new one of the slices as a clean sector that is empty until data is written to that sector.

12. The data storage device defined in claim 10 wherein the code for dividing the data storage device into the slices further comprises code for dividing the data storage device into at least three of the slices, and wherein clean sectors that are empty in the previously created one of the slices contain references to sectors in a third one of the slices.

13. The data storage device defined in claim 10 further comprising:

code for dynamically assigning each of the sectors in the slices to a physical address in the data storage device when data is written to that sector.

14. The data storage device defined in claim 10 wherein the data storage device is a hard disk drive and the at least one data storage medium comprises at least one hard disk.

15. The data storage device defined in claim 14 wherein the hard disk drive comprises a platter surface that is divided into the slices.

16. The data storage device defined in claim 14 wherein the hard disk drive comprises multiple platter surfaces, and each of the slices is stored on one of the platter surfaces.

17. The data storage device defined in claim 14 wherein each of the slices are sub-divided into sub-slices that are stored in an alternating manner on the at least one hard disk such that each of the sub-slices and two adjacent sub-slices are part of three different slices.

18. A method for storing a system image in slices on a hard disk drive comprising at least one hard disk, the method comprising:

dividing the hard disk drive into the slices, wherein each of the slices has sectors; and

storing copies of the system image in the slices on the hard disk drive, wherein each of the slices stores a different copy of the system image taken at different times, and wherein each of the sectors in the slices is designated as a clean sector if the sector is empty and as a dirty sector after data has been written to the sector, and

wherein each clean sector in a first one of the slices has a reference to a sector in a previously created one of the slices that the hard disk drive uses to access the sector in the previously created one of the slices in response to a read command requesting to access the referencing clean sector.

19. The method defined in claim 18 wherein the hard disk drive comprises a platter surface that is divided into at least three of the slices.

20. The method defined in claim 18 wherein the hard disk drive comprises first, second, and third platter surfaces, and wherein the first one of the slices is stored on the first platter surface, the previously created one of the slices is stored on the second platter surface, and a third one of the slices is stored on the third platter surface.