Backup File Browsability via Data Storage Partitioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional backup systems lack browsability and efficient deduplication, requiring custom UIs and excessive storage resources due to inability to maintain both container-based backup and browsable file versions.
Innovation Solution
A backup system that stores files in a browsable location with differential backup logic, allowing only changed chunks to be copied to a container, maintaining a single copy of the most recent file version and utilizing reverse deduplication to save storage space and time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If traditional backup systems store all backup data in containerized format, then deduplication efficiency is improved, but browsability and native OS access are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The backup system divides backup data into two distinct storage paths: containerized storage for deduplication efficiency and a browsable file system for native OS access. This segmentation allows each storage method to serve its specific purpose without compromising the other, resolving the contradiction between storage efficiency and browsability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a file system as an intermediary layer between the containerized backup storage and the user interface. This intermediary maintains browsable copies of backup files in native file formats, enabling OS-level access while the actual backup data remains efficiently stored in containerized format with deduplication applied.
2Reliability
If backup systems maintain multiple copies of backup data for redundancy, then reliability is improved, but storage space consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates selective copies of backup data in different formats and locations: containerized copies for deduplication efficiency and browsable copies for access. The copying is intelligent and selective, maintaining only necessary redundancies rather than duplicating all data multiple times, thus balancing reliability with storage efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a mechanism where full backup copies are discarded after incremental backups are performed, and only necessary data is retained. This allows the system to maintain reliability through incremental redundancy while significantly reducing storage space consumption by eliminating unnecessary full copies.
3Reliability
If backup systems perform full backup of all files, then completeness is improved, but backup time and processing resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The backup system implements periodic incremental backups instead of continuous full backups. By performing backups at scheduled intervals and only transferring changed data blocks, the system maintains backup completeness while dramatically reducing processing time and resource consumption for each backup operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary hashing of files to identify changed blocks before initiating the backup process. This preliminary action allows the system to prepare incremental backups efficiently by pre-identifying only the data that needs to be transferred, reducing overall backup processing time while maintaining completeness.
Data Source
AI summary
A data storage system includes non-volatile data storage including a container partition and a browsable partition and control circuitry configured to backup a file in the non-volatile data storage at least in part by receiving the file from a host, the file including a plurality of chunks of data, storing the plurality of chunks of data in the browsable partition of the non-volatile data storage, determining that one or more of the plurality of chunks has been modified, storing the one or more modified chunks in a container partition of the non-volatile data storage, determining a new chunk associated with each of the one or more modified chunks, and storing the one or more new chunks in the browsable partition of the non-volatile data storage.