Backup Deduplication for Shared Memory Regions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional volume-management technologies require significant storage space and processing bandwidth for snapshot volumes and backup copies of multiple machines, often containing redundant data due to identical modifications across machines.
Innovation Solution
The system identifies shared regions of memory across multiple volumes using deduplication information from a deduplication subsystem, allowing each shared region to be backed up only once, reducing bandwidth and storage requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If individual snapshot volumes and backup copies are created for each machine, then complete backup coverage is achieved, but storage space and processing bandwidth requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges identical data regions from multiple machine volumes into a single shared backup copy. By identifying and consolidating duplicate data blocks across different volumes, the system achieves complete backup coverage while significantly reducing total storage space requirements. Multiple volumes share common backup regions rather than each requiring separate full backups.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates reference copies instead of physical duplicates. Backup volumes contain metadata pointers that reference shared data regions rather than actual data copies. This allows complete backup coverage through logical copying while minimizing physical storage consumption.
2Reliability
If individual snapshot volumes are created for each machine, then complete data protection is achieved, but processing bandwidth and memory bandwidth requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines processing operations for multiple volumes by identifying shared regions beforehand. Instead of processing each volume independently through full snapshot creation and backup operations, the system merges processing tasks by handling common data regions once and referencing them across multiple volumes, thereby reducing total processing bandwidth and memory bandwidth requirements.
3Reliability
If full backup copies are created for each volume, then data integrity is ensured, but backup window time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary identification of shared data regions before the actual backup process. By pre-analyzing which regions are identical across volumes and preparing a deduplication plan in advance, the system avoids redundant processing during the backup window. This preliminary action significantly reduces the time required to execute backups while maintaining complete data integrity through proper referencing of shared regions.
Data Source
AI summary
Computer-implemented methods, systems, and computer-readable media for performing optimized backups of multiple volumes are disclosed. In one example, an exemplary method for performing such a task may comprise: 1) identifying a plurality of volumes, 2) prior to backing up the plurality of volumes, obtaining information that indicates that at least one volume within the plurality of volumes comprises at least one shared region of memory that is identical to a region of memory on at least one other volume within the plurality of volumes, and 3) when creating backups of the plurality of volumes, backing up each shared region of memory a single time so that the backups of the plurality of volumes share a single copy of each shared region of memory.