Minimizing data transfer and storage utilization on cloud object storage system

Abstract

A method for minimizing data transfer and storage utilization on a cloud object storage system is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method copies a file from a production system to a cloud object storage system. The method determines whether a number of hard links associated with the file is greater than one. When the number is greater than one, the method creates a special object for the file on the cloud object storage system, and associates the file with the special object. After creating a hard link associated with the file on the production system, the method copies the hard link from the production system to the cloud object storage system without copying data associated with the file. Metadata references to the special object are added to a hard link on the cloud object storage system. A corresponding system and computer program product are also disclosed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to systems and methods for minimizing data transfer and storage utilization on a cloud object storage system. Background Art

[0002] In a data replication environment, one site can be designated as the production site (also known as the "cache site"), while the second site (i.e., the receiving site) can be designated as the disaster recovery site (also known as the "primary site"). In some configurations, the production site can capture all operations performed on the local file set / file system and maintain a local operation queue in first-come, first-queued order. This queue can be maintained on a node in the production site cluster. In some cases, this node is designated as a gateway node, which is configured to maintain the replication queue in storage. When a local operation is performed on the file set, the application node in the production site cluster may generate a remote procedure call to update the gateway node with the operation.

[0003] In some cases, replication from one clustered file system to another clustered file system or to a cloud object store may occur for backup and disaster recovery purposes. This can be done using standards-based protocols such as NFS, S3, etc., or using the actual file system protocol itself when the production and backup file system types are the same (such as IBM Spectrum Scale). The S3 protocol supported by cloud object stores is not POSIX-compliant, but all POSIX-compliant operations need to be replicated over the S3 protocol to ultimately be stored on the remote cloud object store (i.e., the backup site).

[0004] One feature that helps maintain or minimize storage utilization is the hard link feature. When a hard link is created for a file in a traditional file system, access to the file is achieved through a completely new path in the file system. When a new hard link is created for a file, the inode (index node) link count (i.e., nlink) associated with the file can be incremented. However, cloud object storage servers generally do not directly support such hard links. Therefore, when a replication solution attempts to replicate the hard link operation to the cloud object storage server, the hard link may generate a new object at the cloud object storage site.

[0005] This may cause various problems. For example, this may consume additional storage space at the cloud object storage site because objects (i.e., files) may be stored multiple times at the cloud object storage site. In addition, this may cause more data to be sent from the production site to the cloud object storage site because the same object may need to be transferred more than once. This problem is further complicated when the file has additional hard links and / or the size of the file for which the hard links are created is large. In the use scenario where objects are obtained from the cloud object storage site, for example, in order to rebuild a new file system at the production site and populate the file system with files from the cloud object storage site, duplicate copies of the files at the cloud object storage site may need to be copied back to the production site. This may cause more data than is necessary to rebuild the file system to be sent from the cloud object storage system to the production site. Summary of the invention

[0006] The present invention was developed in view of the current state of the art, and in particular, in view of the problems and needs in the prior art that have not been fully solved by currently available systems and methods. Therefore, the present invention is developed to provide a system and method for minimizing data transmission and storage utilization on a cloud object storage system. The features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description and the appended claims, or may be learned through the practice of the present invention as described below.

[0007] Consistent with the foregoing, a method for minimizing data transfer and storage utilization on a cloud object storage system is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method includes copying a file from a production system to a cloud object storage system. The method determines whether the number of hard links associated with the file is greater than one. In the event that the number of hard links is greater than one, the method creates a special object for the file on the cloud object storage system and associates the file with the special object. After creating the hard link associated with the file on the production system, the method copies the hard link from the production system to the cloud object storage system without copying the data associated with the file. A metadata reference to the special object is added to the hard link on the cloud object storage system.

[0008] In another embodiment of the present invention, a computer program product for minimizing data transfer and storage utilization on a cloud object storage system is disclosed. The computer program product includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having a computer-usable program code embodied therein. The computer-usable program code is configured to copy a file from a production system to a cloud object storage system. The computer-usable program code determines whether the number of hard links associated with the file is greater than one. In the event that the number of hard links is greater than one, the computer-usable program code creates a special object for the file on the cloud object storage system and associates the file with the special object. After creating the hard link associated with the file on the production system, the computer-usable program code copies the hard link from the production system to the cloud object storage system without copying the data associated with the file. A metadata reference to the special object is added to the hard link on the cloud object storage system.

[0009] In another embodiment of the present invention, a system for minimizing data transfer and storage utilization on a cloud object storage system includes at least one processor and at least one memory device, the at least one memory device being operably coupled to the at least one processor and storing instructions for execution on the at least one processor. The instructions cause the at least one processor to copy a file from a production system to the cloud object storage system. The instructions further cause the at least one processor to determine whether the number of hard links associated with the file is greater than one. In the event that the number of hard links is greater than one, the instructions create a special object for the file on the cloud object storage system and associate the file with the special object. After creating the hard link associated with the file on the production system, the instructions copy the hard link from the production system to the cloud object storage system without copying the data associated with the file. A metadata reference to the special object is added to the hard link on the cloud object storage system.

[0010] In some embodiments, the special object is created only for files that have more than one hard link. In other or the same embodiments, determining whether the number of hard links associated with the file is greater than one includes reading a hard link count maintained for the file. Likewise, in some embodiments, copying the hard link from the production system to the cloud object storage system includes copying the hard link without copying data associated with the file. In some embodiments, the special object is a hidden object. In some embodiments, restoring the file and associated hard link from the cloud object storage system to the production system includes locating the file and hard link on the cloud object storage system that references the special object. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] In order that the advantages of the invention may be readily understood, a more detailed description of the invention briefly described above will be provided by reference to specific embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that these drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of the invention and are not to be construed as limiting the scope thereof. The invention will be described and explained with additional particularity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0012] Figure 1 is a high-level block diagram showing data replication from a production system to a cloud object storage system;

[0013] Figure 2 is a high-level block diagram showing the replication of files and hard links from a production system to a cloud object storage system;

[0014] Figure 3 is a process flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of an improved technique for replicating files and hard links from a production system to a cloud object storage system;

[0015] Figure 4 It is a display Figure 3 A high-level block diagram of an example of an improved replication technique;

[0016] Figure 5 is a process flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of an improved technique for restoring files and hard links from a cloud object storage system to a production system;

[0017] Figure 6 It is a display Figure 5 A high-level block diagram of an example of an improved recovery technique; and

[0018] Figure 7 is a high-level block diagram illustrating one example of a computing environment for executing computer code to perform any of the innovative methods disclosed herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] It can be readily appreciated that the components of the present invention as generally described and illustrated in the figures herein can be deployed and designed in a variety of different configurations. Therefore, the following more detailed description of various embodiments of the present invention, as represented in the figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention, but is merely representative of certain examples of presently contemplated embodiments in accordance with the present invention. The presently described embodiments can be better understood by reference to the drawings, wherein like parts are represented by like reference numerals throughout the drawings.

[0020] The present invention may be implemented in the form of a system, method and / or computer program product. The computer program product may include one or more computer-readable storage media having computer-readable program instructions for causing a processor to execute various aspects of the present invention.

[0021] A computer-readable storage medium may be a tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. The computer-readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of the above devices. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer-readable storage medium includes the following: a portable computer floppy disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanical encoding device such as a punch card or a raised structure in a groove on which instructions are recorded, and any suitable combination of the above devices. Here, a computer-readable storage medium should not be interpreted as a transient signal itself, such as a radio wave or other freely propagating electromagnetic wave, an electromagnetic wave propagating through a waveguide or other transmission medium (e.g., a light pulse propagating through an optical fiber), or an electrical signal transmitted through a wire.

[0022] The computer-readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded from a computer-readable storage medium to a corresponding computing / processing device, or downloaded to an external computer or external storage device via a network such as the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network, and / or a wireless network. The network may include copper transmission cables, transmission optical fibers, wireless transmissions, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers, and / or edge servers. The network adapter card or network interface in each computing / processing device receives the computer-readable program instructions from the network and forwards these computer-readable program instructions to be stored in a computer-readable storage medium in the corresponding computing / processing device.

[0023] Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations of the present invention may be assembly instructions, instruction set architecture (ISA), machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state setting data, or source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object oriented programming languages ​​such as Smalltalk, C++ or similar languages, and traditional procedural programming languages ​​such as the "C" programming language or similar programming languages.

[0024] The computer-readable program instructions may be executed entirely on the user's computer, partially on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partially on the user's computer, partially on a remote computer, or entirely on a remote computer or server. In the latter case, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer via any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or may be connected to an external computer (e.g., via the Internet using an Internet service provider). In certain embodiments, electronic circuits including, for example, programmable logic circuits, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or programmable logic arrays (PLAs) may execute computer-readable program instructions by utilizing state information of the computer-readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuits, thereby performing various aspects of the present invention.

[0025] Various aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowcharts and / or block diagrams of methods, devices (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the present invention. It is understood that each box in the flowchart and / or block diagram, and the combination of boxes in the flowchart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer-readable program instructions.

[0026] These computer-readable program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device create a means for implementing the functions / actions specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram. These computer-readable program instructions can also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, which can direct the computer, programmable data processing device, and / or other device to work in a specific manner, so that the computer-readable storage medium in which the instructions are stored includes a product, which includes instructions for implementing various aspects of the functions / actions specified in one or more boxes in the flowchart and / or block diagram.

[0027] The computer-readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device to produce a computer-implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions / actions specified in one or more boxes in the flowchart and / or block diagram.

[0028] Reference Figure 1, shows a high-level block diagram illustrating data replication from a production system 102 to a cloud object storage system 104. In some embodiments, the production system 102 may also be referred to as a "cache site," and the cloud object storage system 104, which may also be referred to as a "primary site," may be used as a disaster recovery site. In some configurations, the production system 102 may capture all operations performed on a local file set / file system and maintain a local operation queue in a first-come, first-queued order. This queue may be maintained on a node in the production site cluster. This node is designated as a gateway node 108 that maintains a replication queue in memory. When a local operation is performed on a file set, an application node 106 in the production site cluster 102 may generate a remote procedure call to update the gateway node 108 with the operation.

[0029] In some cases, replication from one clustered file system to another clustered file system or to the cloud object storage system 104 may occur for backup and disaster recovery purposes. This can be done using standards-based protocols such as NFS, S3, etc., or when the production and backup file system types are the same (such as in the case of IBM Spectrum Scale), using the actual file system protocol itself. The S3 protocol supported by the cloud object storage is not POSIX compliant, but all POSIX compliant operations need to be replicated over the S3 protocol to ultimately be stored on the remote cloud object storage (i.e., the backup site).

[0030] One feature that helps maintain or minimize storage space utilization is the hard link feature. When a hard link is created for a file in a traditional file system, access to the file is achieved through a completely new path in the file system. When a new hard link is created for a file, the inode link count (i.e., nlink) associated with the file can be incremented. However, cloud object storage servers 110 generally do not directly support such hard links. Therefore, when a replication solution attempts to replicate a hard link operation to a cloud object storage server 110, the hard link may generate a new object at the cloud object storage site 104.

[0031] This may cause various problems. For example, this may consume additional storage space at the cloud object storage site 104 because the object (i.e., file) may be stored multiple times at the cloud object storage site 104. In addition, this may cause more data to be sent from the production system 102 to the cloud object storage system 104 because the same object may need to be transferred more than once. This problem is further complicated when the file has additional hard links and / or the size of the file for which the hard links are created is large. In the use scenario of obtaining objects from the cloud object storage system 104, for example, in order to rebuild a new file system at the production system 102 and repopulate the production system 102 with files from the cloud object storage system 104, the duplicate copies of the files at the cloud object storage system 104 may need to be copied back to the production system 102. This may cause more data than is necessary to rebuild the file system to be sent from the cloud object storage system 104 to the production system 102.

[0032] Figure 2 shows an example of this problem in more detail. Figure 2 As shown, it is assumed that multiple files and associated hard links are stored or created on the production system 102. In the illustrated example, these files include "File 1" with inode number "1000" and "File 2" with inode number "1001". Figure 1 As shown, a hard link "HLink_File1" of File1 is stored or created, and a hard link "HLink_File2" of File2 is stored or created. These hard links allow access to File1 and File2, respectively, through completely new paths within the file system, and minimize storage space utilization on production system 102 by eliminating or reducing the need to store multiple copies of files. Figure 2 As shown, when these files and hard links are created on the application node 106, the application node 106 can generate a remote procedure call that updates the gateway node 108 with these operations. These files and hard links can then be copied from the production system 102 to the cloud object storage system 104 for backup and / or disaster recovery purposes.

[0033] like Figure 2As shown, at cloud object storage system 104, an object may be created for File1, an object may be created for File2, an object may be created for HLink_File1, and an object may be created for HLink_File2. Because hard links may not be supported on cloud object storage system 104, creating hard links on cloud object storage system 104 may generate new objects on cloud object storage system 104 that include all data from the files to which they are linked. Therefore, assuming that File1 consumes 10 megabytes (MB) of storage space on production system 102, copying File1 and its associated hard link HLink_File1 to cloud object storage system 104 may result in doubling the amount of data transferred and consumed on cloud object storage system 104. Similarly, copying File2 and its associated hard link HLink_File2 from production system 102 to cloud object storage system 104 may double the amount of data transferred to and consumed on cloud object storage system 104, as shown in FIG. Figure 2 shown.

[0034] Reference Figure 3 , presents a process flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of an improved technique for copying files and hard links from a production system 102 to a cloud object storage system 104. This method 300 can minimize the amount of data transferred and consumed on the cloud object storage system 104 when copying files and their hard links.

[0035] As shown, method 300 first determines 302 whether a file or a hard link associated with the file needs to be copied from production system 102 to cloud object storage system 104. If so, method 300 then determines 304 the number of hard links associated with the file. In certain embodiments, this may involve reading an inode link count (nlink) maintained for the file. If the number of hard links is not greater than one, method 300 copies 314 the file from production system 102 to cloud object storage system 104 in a conventional manner.

[0036] On the other hand, if the number of hard links is greater than one, the method 300 will determine whether a special object has been created for the file on the cloud object storage system 104. Figure 4Explained in more detail, for a file with multiple hard links (e.g., an nlink value greater than one), a method according to the present invention may create a special object associated with the file on the cloud object storage system 104. In some embodiments, the special object may be created with the following naming convention: ".afm / +file inode number / +file generation number / +file creation time / ". Objects beginning with ".afm" may be used to specify internal objects in the cloud object storage system 104. Such internal objects may be configured to carry all files related to the original file on the production system 102. In some embodiments, the special object may also store the number of hard links associated with the file (e.g., the nlink value). This value may be useful when restoring a file and associated hard links from the cloud object storage system 104 to the production system 102, as will be explained in more detail below.

[0037] Once a special object is created, all other hard links can be stored on the cloud object storage system 104 as objects without any data (i.e., metadata-only objects). These hard links can contain metadata references pointing to the special object. In this way, hard links can be independent of the data they point to or reference. Therefore, operations such as creation, renaming, or removal performed on the hard link or the original file referenced by the hard link can be easily replicated to the cloud object storage system 104 without copying any data associated with the file or touching or changing the data associated with the file on the cloud object storage system 104. This preserves a large amount of storage space on the cloud object storage system 104 because it eliminates or reduces duplicate copies of data. This in turn reduces the costs associated with maintaining the cloud object storage system 104 and the data stored thereon, as well as the cost of transferring data from the production system 102 to the cloud object storage system 104.

[0038] If, at step 306, the number of hard links is greater than one and a special object has not yet been created for the file or hard link, the method 300 creates 308 the special object on the cloud object storage system 104 and stores 310 the data associated with the hard link or file in the special object. If, at step 306, the special object has already been created on the cloud object storage system 104, the method 300 provides 312 a metadata reference in the hard link object pointing to the special object. In this way, no data is stored in the hard link object and the data in the special object remains untouched. This allows the hard link object to remain independent of the data it carries or the data it provides access to.

[0039] Figure 4 Shown Figure 3 The example is based on the method 300 of combining Figure 2 Examples are shown and discussed. Figure 4As shown in , when files and associated hard links are copied from production system 102 to cloud object storage system 104, method 300 can determine whether the number of hard links associated with a particular file is greater than one. If the count is greater than one, method 300 creates a special object for the file on cloud object storage system 104.

[0040] For example, assuming that File1 and File2 each have a hard link count greater than one, a first special object is created on cloud object storage system 104 for File1 (i.e., inode number "1000"), and a second special object is created on cloud object storage system 104 for File2 (i.e., inode number "1001"). Data associated with File1 may be stored in the special object associated with File1, and data associated with File2 may be stored in the special object associated with File2. Similarly, objects without any data (i.e., objects containing only metadata) are created and stored on cloud object storage system 104 for File1 and HLink_File1. These objects contain metadata references pointing to the special object for File1, such as Figure 4 In a similar manner, objects without any data are created and stored on the cloud object storage system 104 for File2 and HLink_File2. These objects also contain metadata references pointing to special objects for File2, such as Figure 4 As shown by the arrow in Figure 4 As shown, the result of this technique is two special objects, each storing 10MB on the cloud object storage system 104. Each special object has a metadata-only file and hard link object associated with it (so its size is negligible) that contains a metadata reference to the special object.

[0041] Reference Figure 5 , presents a process flow diagram of one embodiment of an improved technique for restoring files and hard links from cloud object storage system 104 to production system 102. In some cases, one or more file systems on production system 102 may need to be restored or rebuilt using data on cloud object storage system 104. Figure 5 An embodiment of a method 500 for restoring files and hard links to a production system 102 is shown, assuming that the files and hard links have been restored using Figure 3 and Figure 4 The techniques shown are created and stored on the cloud object storage system 104 .

[0042] As shown, the method 500 may first determine 502 whether it is time to restore files and / or hard links from the production system 102 to the cloud object storage system 104. This may be in response to a failure, maintenance, or other event on the production system 102. When a particular file and / or hard link is ready to be restored, the method 500 may determine 506 the old inode number of the file or hard link to be restored. In some embodiments, this may be accomplished by reading a table on the gateway node 108 that stores a list of inode numbers (e.g., files and associated hard links) that have been stored on the cloud object storage system 104. In some embodiments, the table may store one or more of the following: a list of old inode numbers that have been stored on the cloud object storage system 104, a list of new inode numbers on the production system 102 (the old inode numbers will be restored to the new inode numbers), and a hard link count (e.g., nlink value) associated with each old inode number.

[0043] like Figure 5 As shown, once the old inode number associated with the file is determined, the method 500 may determine 506 a new inode number on the production system 102 to which the old inode number is to be restored. As described above, this may be accomplished by reading a table on the gateway node 108. Once the old inode number and the new inode number are determined, the method 500 may retrieve 508 the special objects and data associated with the old inode number from the cloud object storage system 104. Next, the method 500 may store 510 the data associated with the file in a new or rebuilt file system on the production system 102 using the new inode number.

[0044] The method 500 may then determine 512 whether the restored file has any associated hard links that also need to be restored. In some embodiments, this may be accomplished by reading the hard link count (e.g., nlink value) stored in a table for the old inode number. These hard links may then be restored 514 from the cloud object storage system 104 to the production system 102 to provide an access path to the file with the new inode number in the new or restored file system.

[0045] Figure 6 It is a combination of display Figure 5 A high-level block diagram of an example of the improved recovery technique described. This example is based on combining Figure 2 and Figure 4 As shown, the cloud object storage system 104 stores special objects for File1 and File2, and stores hard link objects for each file.

[0046] When it is necessary to restore the file system on the production system 102, the method 500 of the present invention can determine the old inode number of the file or hard link for the file system that pushed the object to the cloud object storage system 104, and determine the new inode number for the new file system on the production system 102 to which the file and hard link are to be restored. Figure 6 As shown, in some embodiments, a table 600 can be maintained on the production system 102, specifically on the gateway node 108, which associates the old inode number with the new inode number and the hard link count of each original inode number. The table 600 can be maintained during the batch download of objects from the cloud object storage system 104 to populate the new file system on the production system 102.

[0047] When objects (including metadata-only objects, such as hard link objects) are transferred from cloud object storage system 104 to production system 102 to repopulate a new file system on production system 102, table 600 may be referenced to determine a new inode number to associate with the object. In some embodiments, when the number of hard link objects (i.e., metadata-only hard link objects) transferred to production system 102 matches the hard link count maintained in table 600, the entry may be removed from table 600 or marked as complete. Figure 6 In the example provided in , when the number of hard link objects restored to the production system 102 equals two, the entry for File1 or File2 can be removed from the table 600 or marked as complete.

[0048] Reference Figure 7 , various aspects of the present disclosure are described by narrative text, flow charts, block diagrams of computer systems, and / or block diagrams of machine logic included in computer program product (CPP) embodiments. With respect to any flow chart, depending on the technology involved, the operations may be performed in an order different from that shown in a given flow chart. For example, again depending on the technology involved, two operations shown in consecutive flow chart blocks may be performed in reverse order, as a single integrated step, in parallel, or in a manner that at least partially overlaps in time.

[0049] Computer program product embodiments ("CPP embodiments" or "CPP") are terms used in this disclosure to describe any collection of one or more storage media (also referred to as "media") that are collectively contained in a collection of one or more storage devices that collectively contain machine-readable code corresponding to instructions and / or data for performing computer operations defined in a given CPP claim. "Storage device" refers to any tangible device that is capable of holding and storing instructions for use by a computer processor. Without limitation, a computer-readable storage medium may be an electronic storage medium, a magnetic storage medium, an optical storage medium, an electromagnetic storage medium, a semiconductor storage medium, a mechanical storage medium, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Some known types of storage devices that include these media include: magnetic disks, hard disks, random access memories (RAM), read-only memories (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROM or flash memory), static random access memories (SRAM), compact disk read-only memories (CD-ROM), digital versatile disks (DVD), memory sticks, floppy disks, mechanical encoding devices (such as punch cards or pits / bumps formed on a major surface of a disk), or any suitable combination of the foregoing. The term computer-readable storage medium as used in this disclosure should not be interpreted as storage in the form of transient signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through waveguides, light pulses through optical cables, electrical signals propagating through wires, and / or other transmission media. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, during normal operation of a storage device, such as during access, defragmentation, or garbage collection, data is typically moved at some occasional point in time, but this does not make the storage device transient because the data is not transient when it is stored.

[0050] The computing environment 700 includes an example of an environment for executing at least some of the computer codes involved in performing the inventive method, such as the code associated with the data transfer and storage usage minimization module 750. In some embodiments, the data transfer and storage usage minimization module 750 may be used to perform the combined Figures 1 to 6Any inventive method or technique described herein. In addition to box 750, computing environment 700 also includes, for example, computer 701, wide area network (WAN) 702, end user device (EUD) 703, remote server 704, public cloud 705, and private cloud 706. In this embodiment, computer 701 includes processor set 710 (including processing circuit 720 and cache 721), communication structure 711, volatile memory 712, persistent storage device 713 (including operating system 722 and above-mentioned box 750), peripheral device set 714 (including user interface (UI) device set 723, storage device 724, and Internet of Things (IoT) sensor set 725), and network module 715. Remote server 704 contains remote database 730. Public cloud 705 includes gateway 740, cloud orchestration module 741, host physical machine set 742, virtual machine set 743, and container set 744.

[0051] Computer 701 may be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a smartphone, a smartwatch or other wearable computing device, a mainframe computer, a quantum computer, or any other form of computer or mobile device currently known or to be developed in the future that is capable of running programs, accessing a network, or querying a database (e.g., remote database 730). As is well known in the art of computer technology, and depending on the technology, the execution of the computer-implemented method may be distributed among multiple computers and / or among multiple locations. On the other hand, in the presentation of the computing environment 700, in order to keep the presentation as simple as possible, the detailed discussion focuses on a single computer, specifically computer 701. Computer 701 may be located in the cloud, although Figure 7 It is not shown in the cloud. On the other hand, computer 701 does not have to be located in the cloud unless explicitly stated.

[0052] Processor set 710 includes one or more computer processors of any type now known or to be developed in the future. Processing circuit 720 can be distributed in multiple packages, for example, distributed in multiple collaborative integrated circuit chips. Processing circuit 720 can implement multiple processor threads and / or multiple processor cores. Cache 721 is a memory located in the processor chip package, which is generally used for data or code that threads or cores running on processor set 710 need to access quickly. Caches are generally organized into multiple levels depending on the relative proximity to the processing circuit. Alternatively, some or all of the caches of the processor set may be located "off-chip". In certain computing environments, processor set 710 may be designed to process quantum bits and perform quantum computing.

[0053] Computer-readable program instructions are typically loaded into the computer 701 to cause the processor set 710 of the computer 701 to perform a series of operating steps to achieve a computer-implemented method, such that the instructions so executed will instantiate the method specified in the flowchart and / or narrative description of the computer-implemented method included in this document (collectively referred to as the "inventive method"). These computer-readable program instructions are stored on various types of computer-readable storage media, such as cache 721 and other storage media discussed below. The program instructions and associated data are accessed by the processor set 710 to control and direct the execution of the inventive method. In the computing environment 700, at least some of the instructions for executing the inventive method can be stored in a box 750 in a persistent storage device 713.

[0054] The communication fabric 711 is a signal conduction path that allows the various components of the computer 701 to communicate with each other. Typically, such a fabric is composed of switches and conductive paths, such as switches and conductive paths that form a bus, a bridge, physical input / output ports, etc. Other types of signal communication paths may also be used, such as fiber optic communication paths and / or wireless communication paths.

[0055] The volatile memory 712 is any type of volatile memory currently known or to be developed in the future. Examples include dynamic random access memory (RAM) or static RAM. Typically, the volatile memory 712 has random access characteristics, but unless explicitly specified, it is not required to be random access. In the computer 701, the volatile memory 712 is located in a single package and is internal to the computer 701, but alternatively or additionally, the volatile memory can also be distributed on multiple packages and / or located externally relative to the computer 701.

[0056] Persistent storage 713 is any form of non-volatile storage for computers currently known or to be developed in the future. The non-volatility of the storage means that the stored data is maintained regardless of whether power is supplied to the computer 701 and / or directly to the persistent storage 713. Persistent storage 713 can be a read-only memory (ROM), but typically at least a portion of the persistent storage allows writing data, deleting data, and rewriting data. Some common forms of persistent storage include magnetic disks and solid-state storage devices. Operating system 722 can take several forms, such as various known proprietary operating systems or open source portable operating system interface type operating systems using a kernel. The code contained in box 750 typically includes at least some of the computer code involved in executing the inventive method.

[0057] The peripheral device set 714 includes a collection of peripheral devices of the computer 701. The data communication connection between the peripheral device and other components of the computer 701 can be implemented in various ways, such as a Bluetooth connection, a near field communication (NFC) connection, a connection through a cable (such as a universal serial bus (USB) type cable), a plug-in connection (such as a secure digital (SD) card), a connection through a local area communication network, or even a connection through a wide area network such as the Internet. In various embodiments, the UI device set 723 may include components such as a display screen, a speaker, a microphone, a wearable device (such as goggles and smart watches), a keyboard, a mouse, a printer, a touchpad, a game controller, and a tactile device. The storage device 724 is an external storage device, such as an external hard drive, or a pluggable storage device, such as an SD card. The storage device 724 can be persistent and / or volatile. In some embodiments, the storage device 724 can take the form of a quantum computing storage device for storing data in the form of quantum bits. In embodiments where computer 701 requires a large amount of storage (e.g., where computer 701 locally stores and manages a large database), this storage may be provided by an external storage device designed to store very large amounts of data, such as a storage area network (SAN) shared by multiple geographically dispersed computers. IoT sensor set 725 consists of sensors that can be used in IoT applications. For example, one sensor may be a thermometer and another sensor may be a motion detector.

[0058] The network module 715 is a collection of computer software, hardware, and firmware that allows the computer 701 to communicate with other computers via the WAN 702. The network module 715 may include hardware such as a modem or a Wi-Fi signal transceiver, software for packaging and / or unpacking data for communication network transmission, and / or network browser software for communicating data on the Internet. In some embodiments, the network control function and the network forwarding function of the network module 715 may be executed on the same physical hardware device. In other embodiments (e.g., embodiments utilizing software defined networks (SDN)), the control function and the forwarding function of the network module 715 are executed on physically separated devices, so that the control function manages several different network hardware devices. Computer-readable program instructions for executing the inventive method can typically be downloaded to the computer 701 from an external computer or an external storage device via a network adapter card or a network interface included in the network module 715.

[0059] WAN 702 is any wide area network (e.g., the Internet) capable of transmitting computer data over non-local distances by any technology currently available or to be developed in the future for transmitting computer data. In some embodiments, WAN 702 may be replaced and / or supplemented by a local area network (LAN) designed to transmit data between devices located within a local area (e.g., a Wi-Fi network). WANs and / or LANs typically include computer hardware such as copper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers, and edge servers.

[0060] End-user device (EUD) 703 is any computer system used and controlled by an end-user (e.g., a customer of an enterprise operating computer 701), and may take any of the forms discussed above in connection with computer 701. EUD 703 typically receives helpful and useful data from the operation of computer 701. For example, in the hypothetical case where computer 701 is designed to provide recommendations to an end-user, the recommendations would typically be transmitted from network module 715 of computer 701 to EUD 703 via WAN 702. In this way, EUD 703 may display or otherwise present the recommendations to the end-user. In some embodiments, EUD 703 may be a client device, such as a thin client, a fat client, a mainframe computer, a desktop computer, etc.

[0061] Remote server 704 is any computer system that provides at least some data and / or functionality to computer 701. Remote server 704 may be controlled and used by the same entity that operates computer 701. Remote server 704 represents a machine that collects and stores helpful and useful data for use by other computers such as computer 701. For example, in the hypothetical situation where computer 701 is designed and programmed to provide recommendations based on historical data, then this historical data may be provided to computer 701 from remote database 730 of remote server 704.

[0062] The public cloud 705 is any computer system that is available to multiple entities and provides on-demand availability of computer system resources and / or other computer capabilities, particularly data storage (cloud storage) and computing capabilities, without the need for direct active management by users. Cloud computing typically uses resource sharing to achieve consistency and economies of scale. The direct and active management of the computing resources of the public cloud 705 is performed by the computer hardware and / or software of the cloud orchestration module 741. The computing resources provided by the public cloud 705 are typically implemented through virtual computing environments that run on various computers that constitute the host physical machine set 742, which is the totality of physical computers in and / or available to the public cloud 705. The virtual computing environment (VCE) typically takes the form of a virtual machine from a virtual machine set 743 and / or a container from a container set 744. It is understood that these VCEs can be stored as images and can be transferred between various physical machine hosts as images or after instantiation of the VCE. The cloud orchestration module 741 manages the transmission and storage of images, deploys new VCE instances, and manages active instances of VCE deployment. Gateway 740 is a collection of computer software, hardware, and firmware that allows public cloud 705 to communicate over WAN 702 .

[0063] A further explanation of a virtual computing environment (VCE) will now be provided. A VCE can be stored as an "image". A new active instance of a VCE can be instantiated from an image. Two common types of VCEs are virtual machines and containers. A container is a type of VCE that uses operating system-level virtualization. This refers to an operating system feature in which the kernel allows the existence of multiple isolated user space instances, called containers. These isolated user space instances generally behave like real computers from the perspective of the programs running in them. A computer program running on a normal operating system can utilize all of that computer's resources, such as connected devices, files and folders, network shares, CPU power, and quantifiable hardware capabilities. However, a program running inside a container can only use the contents of the container and the devices assigned to the container, a feature known as containerization.

[0064] Private cloud 706 is similar to public cloud 705, except that the computing resources are only available to a single enterprise. Although private cloud 706 is described as communicating with WAN 702, in other embodiments, the private cloud can be completely disconnected from the Internet and accessed only through a local / private network. A hybrid cloud is a combination of multiple clouds of different types (e.g., private, community, or public cloud types), typically implemented separately by different vendors. Each of the multiple clouds remains as a separate and discrete entity, but the larger hybrid cloud architecture is bound together by standardized or proprietary technologies that enable orchestration, management, and / or data / application portability between the multiple constituent clouds. In this embodiment, both public cloud 705 and private cloud 706 are part of a larger hybrid cloud.

[0065] Several examples will now be provided to further illustrate various aspects of the present disclosure:

[0066] Example 1: A method for minimizing data transfer and storage utilization on a cloud object storage system includes copying a file from a production system to the cloud object storage system. The method determines whether the number of hard links associated with the file is greater than one. In the event that the number of hard links is greater than one, the method creates a special object for the file on the cloud object storage system and associates the file with the special object. After creating the hard link associated with the file on the production system, the method copies the hard link from the production system to the cloud object storage system without copying data associated with the file. A metadata reference to the special object is added to the hard link on the cloud object storage system.

[0067] Example 2: A limitation of Example 1, where special objects are created only for files with more than one hard link.

[0068] Example 3: As limited by Examples 1 and 2, wherein determining whether the number of hard links associated with the file is greater than one includes reading a hard link count maintained for the file.

[0069] Example 4: As limited to Examples 1-3, wherein adding a metadata reference from the hard link object to the special object includes adding an object path to the hard link object.

[0070] Example 5: As in the limitations of Examples 1-4, wherein copying the hard link from the production system to the cloud object storage system includes copying the hard link without copying data associated with the file.

[0071] Example 6: As limited to Examples 1-5, wherein the special object is a hidden object.

[0072] Example 7: As limited to Examples 1-6, further comprising, when restoring the files and associated hard links from the cloud object storage system to the production system, locating the files and hard link objects that reference the special object on the cloud object storage system.

[0073] Example 8: A system comprising one or more processors and one or more computer-readable storage media collectively storing program instructions, the program instructions being configured to cause the processor to perform the method according to any one of Examples 1-7 when executed by the processor.

[0074] Example 9: A computer program product, comprising one or more computer-readable storage media, and program instructions stored together on the one or more computer-readable storage media, wherein the program instructions include instructions configured to cause one or more processors to perform a method according to any one of Examples 1-7.

Claims

1. A method for minimizing data transfer and storage utilization on a cloud object storage system, the method comprising: Copy files from production systems to cloud object storage systems; determining whether a number of hard links associated with the file is greater than one; When the number of hard links is greater than one, creating a special object for the file on the cloud object storage system; associating the file with the special object; After creating a hard link associated with the file on the production system, copying the hard link from the production system to the cloud object storage system and storing the associated hard link object on the cloud object storage system; as well as A metadata reference is added from the hard link object to the special object on the cloud object storage system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the special object is created only for files having more than one hard link.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the number of hard links associated with the file is greater than one comprises reading a hard link count maintained for the file. 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein adding the metadata reference from the hard link object to the special object comprises adding an object path to the hard link object.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein copying the hard link from the production system to the cloud object storage system comprises copying the hard link without copying data associated with the file. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the special object is a hidden object.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprises locating the file and the hard link object that references the special object on the cloud object storage system when restoring the file and the associated hard link from the cloud object storage system to the production system.

8. A computer program product for minimizing data transfer and storage utilization on a cloud object storage system, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therein, the computer usable program code being configured to, when executed by at least one processor, perform the following operations: Copy files from production systems to cloud object storage systems; determining whether a number of hard links associated with the file is greater than one; When the number of hard links is greater than one, creating a special object for the file on the cloud object storage system; associating the file with the special object; After creating a hard link associated with the file on the production system, copying the hard link from the production system to the cloud object storage system and storing the associated hard link object on the cloud object storage system; as well as A metadata reference is added from the hard link object to the special object on the cloud object storage system.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the special object is created only for files that have more than one hard link.

10. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein determining whether the number of hard links associated with the file is greater than one comprises reading a hard link count maintained for the file.

11. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein adding the metadata reference from the hard link object to the special object comprises adding an object path to the hard link object.

12. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein copying the hard link from the production system to the cloud object storage system comprises copying the hard link without copying data associated with the file.

13. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the special object is a hidden object.

14. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the computer usable program code is further configured to locate the file and the hard link object that references the special object on the cloud object storage system when restoring the file and the associated hard link from the cloud object storage system to the production system.

15. A system for minimizing data transfer and storage utilization on a cloud object storage system, the system comprising: at least one processor; at least one memory device operably coupled to the at least one processor and storing instructions for execution on the at least one processor, the instructions causing the at least one processor to: Copy files from production systems to cloud object storage systems; determining whether a number of hard links associated with the file is greater than one; When the number of hard links is greater than one, creating a special object for the file on the cloud object storage system; associating the file with the special object; After creating a hard link associated with the file on the production system, copying the hard link from the production system to the cloud object storage system and storing the associated hard link object on the cloud object storage system; as well as A metadata reference is added from the hard link object to the special object on the cloud object storage system.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the special object is created only for files having more than one hard link.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein determining whether the number of hard links associated with the file is greater than one comprises reading a hard link count maintained for the file.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein adding the metadata reference from the hard link object to the special object comprises adding an object path to the hard link object.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein copying the hard link from the production system to the cloud object storage system comprises copying the hard link without copying data associated with the file.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the special object is a hidden object.

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