Backup Entity Mirroring Operations to Reduce Backup Window
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing backup methods for computer systems face challenges in efficiently backing up data during operations that perform many I/O operations and changes, leading to longer backup windows and reduced performance, especially when operations like disk encryption, upgrades, and defragmentation occur, causing increased network traffic and longer data transfer times.
Innovation Solution
A backup entity and method that mirror upcoming operations on the production device by creating a first backup image, identifying the operation, and performing it on the image to obtain a second image, with chunking and hash value calculation to identify and transfer only new data changes, reducing the amount of data to be transferred and stored.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a full disk backup is performed after an operation that performs many I/O operations and changes disk data, then the backup completeness is improved, but the backup window is extended and system performance is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The backup system performs preliminary actions by creating a snapshot of the disk volume before the I/O-intensive operation executes, and prepares a backup image in advance. This allows the actual backup to be performed faster since the data structure is already captured, reducing the backup window while maintaining completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The backup process is segmented into distinct phases: snapshot creation, image preparation, and data transfer. By dividing the backup into these segments and using incremental updates, the system can maintain backup completeness while reducing the overall backup window through parallel processing and optimized data flow.
2Measurement precision
If all data changes are transferred to the backup repository during a long backup process, then the backup accuracy is improved, but the network traffic is increased and transfer time is extended
Solution Approach 1:
The backup system extracts only the essential data changes from the snapshot to the backup image, rather than transferring all data. By identifying and extracting only the modified blocks or segments, the system maintains backup accuracy while significantly reducing network traffic and transfer time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs partial backup actions by transferring only the necessary data changes rather than all data. This partial action approach maintains sufficient backup accuracy for recovery purposes while minimizing network traffic and transfer time.
3Reliability
If a VM snapshot is created to perform backup, then the backup reliability is improved, but the VM performance is reduced during the snapshot period
Solution Approach 1:
The snapshot is created as a preliminary action before the backup process begins, allowing the backup to proceed without continuously impacting VM performance. The snapshot captures the disk state once, and subsequent backup operations work from this static image, minimizing performance degradation to a brief initial period.
Solution Approach 2:
The system rushes through the snapshot creation process efficiently and then skips directly to backup operations on the captured image, minimizing the duration of performance impact. By completing the snapshot quickly and performing backups on the static image rather than live data, VM performance is restored sooner.
Data Source
AI summary
A backup entity and a method for backing up a disk volume of a production device are provided. The backup entity is configured to: create a first backup image of the disk volume, in a backup repository. Further, the backup entity is configured to obtain a first indication from the production device, wherein the first indication is indicative of a first operation to be performed by the production device on the disk volume. The backup entity is further configured to perform the first operation on the first backup image, to obtain a second backup image in the backup repository. According to the application, a solution to mimic an operation that changes data of a production storage, in a backup system, is provided, which can reduce the amount of data sent from the production storage to the backup system and thus reduce a backup window.