Dot Hill Assigned Two Patents

Dot Hill Systems Corp. announced two new patents that address the concept of ‘ruggedization’ inside the storage system to safeguard the performance and security of data – even under extreme conditions such as earthquakes.

The company’s additions to its patent portfolio describe technology that provides greater data reliability and protection from vibration and shock resulting from earthquakes and other environmental events. This technology is the latest developments in Dot Hill’s efforts to enable data protection for its reliable AssuredSAN storage line, which already delivers over 99.999% availability.

Dot Hill’s 81st and 82nd U.S. patents, Numbers 8,132,196 and 8,159,779, apply to designs to prevent shocks and vibrations from affecting access to data. When a sensor detects a shock or vibration event, the controller alters an operation involving a storage device. The altered operation includes instructing a host computer to delay sending data to the storage system or to re-route data to a different storage device.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that several million earthquakes occur in the world eafch year. Shaking to storage systems causes data corruption and in some cases total data loss. Spinning hard drives – when suddenly jolted to a stop – can cause damage.

"Following a natural disaster such as an earthquake, it’s not uncommon for businesses to experience the pain of data loss," states Jim Kuenzel, SVP of engineering, Dot Hill Systems. "For some this will be a mere inconvenience, but for others it will be a financial catastrophe."

According to the National Archives & Records Administration in Washington, 93% of companies that lost their data center for 10 days or more due to a disaster later filed for bankruptcy within one year of the disaster. A frequently cited study in Contingency Planning and Management magazine found that 40% of companies that shut down for three days failed within 36 months. While it varies according to industry segment, it is estimated that every hour of computer downtime can cost businesses thousands, and even millions of dollars.

"For decades, Dot Hill has been a leader in ruggedized storage which offers optimum performance in truly mission-critical environments, and we continue to build-in innovations to deliver ultimate uptime and reliability. The newest Dot Hill patents describe technology that goes farther in providing reliable access to data in the event of an earthquake or other source of unforeseen disruptions. Customers have come to rely on Dot Hill AssuredSAN storage solutions, which have demonstrated 99.999% availability," said Kuenzel.