How to design a method which not only detects errors in file data, but enables them to be corrected? A tale of Hamming, Reed, Solomon and CDs.
Parchive
Can you use error-correcting code to repair very large files, for example of around 20 GB or more?
What difference does it make when a file has a block of 512 bytes corrupted instead of just a single byte? Results from image formats and recovery using ECC.
How can you squeeze recovery data into smaller storage space than you’d need for a second copy of a file? Using codes, explained here.
Simply having ECC enabled doesn’t mean that damaged files can be recovered. It appears promising, but needs careful real-world evaluation.
We assume what we know to be impossible, and pretend that just making ‘safe’ copies of important documents will preserve them for the future.
The Eclectic Light Company 