Functionality

The Silent Brick System uses Erasure Resilient Coding (ERC) as the storage method in the functions

• Virtual Tape Library

• Compliant Archive

• SNAS ERC

• Virtual Tape Library

• SNAS ERC

Data is divided into fragments, extended with redundant data pieces, and re-encoded. Then, the data is distributed across multiple storage devices. This method ensures a high level of data security.

The Silent Brick System includes a digital data verification function (Digital Audit). In this process, every single bit of stored data is regularly and automatically checked for errors. Thanks to the high redundancy reserves of the Silent Brick Library, an affected hard disk can be repaired or powered down during operation without any data loss.

The Silent Brick Storage Containers are equipped with data storage devices from different production batches. This measure prevents data loss due to batch defects.

The Silent Brick System employs the ZFS filesystem with RAID-Z redundancy logic in the SNAS function.

RAID-Z combines multiple physical data storage devices into a single logical drive to enhance fault tolerance and performance. It operates similarly to other RAID systems but possesses certain distinctive features:

• It is exclusively designed for the ZFS file system and can only be used with it.

• The functions of RAID-Z are directly integrated into the ZFS file system.

• It employs dynamic bandwidths instead of fixed block sizes.

RAID-Z leverages the ZFS capabilities for data self-healing:

• During each block read, the checksum is verified.

• In case of discrepancies, parity information is utilized to identify and correct corrupted data.

Due to its robust architecture, RAID-Z offers several advantages over traditional RAID:

• Elimination of the "write hole" effect through the copy-on-write functionality of ZFS.

• Enhanced data integrity through additional checksums at the file system level.

• Increased flexibility in the configuration of storage pools.