A method for protecting reliability of data associated with a data array is provided. The method initiates with defining state information associated with the data array. Then, crucial state information is identified from the state information. Next, a copy of the crucial state information is generated. Then, the state information and the copy of the crucial state information are protected. Next, a worst case state associated with non-crucial information is defined. In response to detecting an error associated with the non-crucial information, the method includes defaulting to the worst case state. A computer readable media and a shared memory multiprocessor chip are also provided.