Predictive Failure Analysis
Encyclopedia
Predictive Failure Analysis (PFA) is a proprietary IBM
technology for monitoring the likelihood of hard disk drive
s to fail. It was introduced in 1992 in IBM 0662-S1x drive (1052 MB Fast-Wide SCSI-2 disk at 5400 rpm
), and was industry's first such technology.
Although PFA originally referred to a disk technology, the term is now used generically for a variety of technologies deployed on the xSeries
, pSeries and zSeries
lines, for judging the imminent failure of CPU's, memory and I/O devices. See also first failure data capture.
s flying height. The parameters are compared against predefined thresholds and the health status is evaluated by the drive firmware
. If the drive is likely to fail soon, a notification is sent to the disk controller.
The major drawbacks of the technology were the binary result and the unidirectional communications - notification is sent by the drive firmware, and the only status visible to the host was presence or absence of a notification.
The technology was merged with IntelliSafe to form the Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology
.
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
technology for monitoring the likelihood of hard disk drive
Hard disk
A hard disk drive is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the...
s to fail. It was introduced in 1992 in IBM 0662-S1x drive (1052 MB Fast-Wide SCSI-2 disk at 5400 rpm
Revolutions per minute
Revolutions per minute is a measure of the frequency of a rotation. It annotates the number of full rotations completed in one minute around a fixed axis...
), and was industry's first such technology.
Although PFA originally referred to a disk technology, the term is now used generically for a variety of technologies deployed on the xSeries
Xseries
Xseries or xSeries may refer to:* Nokia Xseries, a family of mobile phones.* IBM System x, previously eServer xSeries.* X-Series, a mobile broadband offering from 3.* X , a space combat and trading video game series....
, pSeries and zSeries
ZSeries
IBM System z, or earlier IBM eServer zSeries, is a brand name designated by IBM to all its mainframe computers.In 2000, IBM rebranded the existing System/390 to IBM eServer zSeries with the e depicted in IBM's red trademarked symbol, but because no specific machine names were changed for...
lines, for judging the imminent failure of CPU's, memory and I/O devices. See also first failure data capture.
Disks
The technology is based on measuring several key (mainly mechanical) parameters of the drive unit, for example headDisk read-and-write head
Disk read/write heads are the small parts of a disk drive, that move above the disk platter and transform platter's magnetic field into electrical current or vice versa – transform electrical current into magnetic field...
s flying height. The parameters are compared against predefined thresholds and the health status is evaluated by the drive firmware
Firmware
In electronic systems and computing, firmware is a term often used to denote the fixed, usually rather small, programs and/or data structures that internally control various electronic devices...
. If the drive is likely to fail soon, a notification is sent to the disk controller.
The major drawbacks of the technology were the binary result and the unidirectional communications - notification is sent by the drive firmware, and the only status visible to the host was presence or absence of a notification.
The technology was merged with IntelliSafe to form the Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology
Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology
S.M.A.R.T. is a monitoring system for computer hard disk drives to detect and report on various indicators of reliability, in the hope of anticipating failures....
.