US Patent 10209921 Expanding slice count in response to low-level failures

A method for execution by a computing device of a dispersed storage network (DSN). The method begins with identifying an encoded data slice for rebuilding, wherein a data segment of a data object is dispersed storage error encoded to produce a set of encoded data slices that is stored in a set of storage units of the DSN, wherein the set of encoded data slices includes the encoded data slice, wherein in a storage unit of the set of storage units includes a memory device that stores the encoded data slice. The method continues by identifying an issue with the memory device and by identifying sets of encoded data slices. The method continues by generating an additional encoded data slice for each of the sets of encoded data slices to produce a group of encoded data slices and storing the group of encoded data slices in memory of the DSN.