I/O Errors
I don’t have any statistics how common IO errors are versus total drive failures, but it’s clear that a single simple IO error could put most users into a jam they couldn’t get out of. As a user, I feel like there should be a high-level handling of this failure scenario. However, as a developer I’m unsure about the best course of action. Zero-filling was the right solution for this case, but certainly isn’t in many other cases, and it’s nontrivial for the software to make the decision for the user.
More from Alastair Houghton.
