Embodiments of the present invention provide optimization of read/write channels in a recording system by embedding channel optimization algorithm/procedure into the channels, or a system-on-chip (SOC) where a read/write channel is integrated with a disk drive controller, according to an Embedded Channel Optimization Solution (ECOS). In one embodiment, the ECOS comprises a setup/restore block configured to set up the read/write channel (separate or embedded in SOC) according to a pattern specified by an input received by the setup/restore block; a parameter/metric block configured to store the parameters to be optimized and a metric for each of the parameters; a metric measurement block configured to provide metric measurements based on the specified pattern; and a sweep compare select block configured to sweep each value of a plurality of values of the parameters, compare a current metric taken from the metric measurement block with a previous metric for each swept value of the parameters to identify a better metric, and select a value of each of the parameters corresponding to the better metric in order to optimize the plurality of parameters.