Backup Services Container for Kubernetes Application Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Containerized and open source solutions for data protection lack robustness, scalability, and essential features for file-level recovery, granular live browsing, and content indexing, requiring substantial manual intervention and compromising the ease of deployment and cost advantages.
Innovation Solution
A backup services container equipped with a comprehensive set of backup preparation toolkits, including scripts and execution environments, is integrated into Kubernetes pods to prepare and manage various applications for backup operations, facilitating interoperability with proprietary or third-party data storage management systems without altering existing container configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If containerized applications use open source backup utilities, then deployment cost is reduced, but backup reliability and feature completeness deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a backup services container as an intermediary component that sits between the containerized application and the backup storage system. This mediator provides comprehensive backup capabilities including file-level recovery, granular live browsing, and content indexing without requiring changes to the original containerized application, thus maintaining cost-effectiveness while improving backup reliability and feature completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The backup services container is designed with a universal architecture that can serve multiple types of containerized applications (databases, file servers, web servers, etc.) through a standardized interface. It integrates multiple backup utilities and functions within a single container, providing robust backup capabilities across different application types without requiring separate solutions for each, thereby reducing overall deployment cost while maintaining high reliability.
2Device complexity
If containerized applications lack built-in backup resources, then container size and complexity are reduced, but data protection capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the backup functionality into a separate backup services container rather than embedding it within each individual application container. This segmentation keeps the original application containers simple and lightweight while concentrating all backup resources, scripts, and execution environments in the dedicated backup services container, thus maintaining low container complexity for applications while providing robust data protection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The backup services container acts as an intermediary that provides data protection capabilities to containerized applications without requiring the applications themselves to be complex. It contains all necessary backup resources including scripts for accessing different application types, runtime environments (C, Python, etc.), and backup utilities, thereby enabling comprehensive data protection while keeping application containers simple.
3Adaptability or versatility
If manual intervention is increased for backup operations, then backup feature completeness is improved, but operational efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The backup services container is designed to autonomously perform backup operations with minimal manual intervention. It automatically discovers containerized applications, selects appropriate backup scripts based on application type, executes backup procedures, and manages recovery operations. The container includes self-configuring capabilities that adapt to different applications without requiring manual setup, thereby providing complete backup features while maintaining high operational efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The backup services container includes pre-configured backup scripts and execution environments for multiple application types (databases, file servers, web servers, etc.). These scripts are prepared in advance and automatically selected and executed based on the target application, eliminating the need for manual configuration and intervention during backup operations. This preliminary preparation enables comprehensive backup features to be delivered efficiently without manual overhead.
4Manufacturing precision
If backup toolkits are customized for each application type, then backup precision is improved, but system complexity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The backup services container implements a universal toolkit architecture that can handle multiple application types through a standardized framework. Instead of creating separate complex systems for each application, it uses a single multi-functional container that automatically selects and applies the appropriate backup scripts based on the target application type. This approach maintains high backup precision for different applications while avoiding the complexity of multiple customized systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The backup services container applies the principle of local quality by having different backup scripts and configurations available for different application types (databases, file servers, web servers, etc.), but only activating the specific script needed for each target application. This allows precise, customized backup treatment for each application type while maintaining a unified, manageable system structure rather than requiring separate complex systems for each application.
Data Source
AI summary
A “backup services container” comprises “backup toolkits,” which include scripts for accessing containerized applications plus enabling utilities/environments for executing the scripts. The backup services container is added to Kubernetes pods comprising containerized applications without changing other pod containers. For maximum value and advantage, the backup services container is “over-equipped” with toolkits. The backup services container selects and applies a suitable backup toolkit to a containerized application to ready it for a pending backup. Interoperability with a proprietary data storage management system provides features that are not possible with third-party backup systems. Some embodiments include one or more components of the proprietary data storage management within the illustrative backup services container. Some embodiments include one or more components of the proprietary data storage management system in a backup services pod configured in a Kubernetes node. All configurations and embodiments are suitable for cloud and/or non-cloud computing environments.