US Patent 9952781 Adaptive storage reliability management

A storage controller identifies a storage location within a storage division that corresponds to a high error rate. In response, the storage controller may refresh data stored on the storage division by relocating data from the storage division and/or initializing (e.g., erasing) the storage division. In some embodiments, the storage division is selectively refreshed by relocating data from the storage location(s) having high error rates, while deferring a full relocation of other data from the storage division. The storage division may be selectively refreshed based on reliability characteristics of the storage division, such as the remaining data retention time calculated for the storage division.