Backup File Exclusion via Relational Database Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing backup technologies face challenges in reliably excluding specific files from backup data, particularly in block-based backups and incremental backups, where determining and omitting relevant blocks for excluded files is complex, especially when dealing with new, renamed, or relocated files.
Innovation Solution
A relational database with specific tables is used to track and manage excluded files, employing SQL querying capabilities and a lightweight RDBMS engine like SQLite to efficiently identify and exclude files from backups, ensuring consistency across backup processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If block-based backup is used to back up data at the volume level, then backup efficiency is improved, but it becomes complex to determine and omit blocks associated with excluded files
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary data structure (exclude set with path and file specification) that mediates between the block-based backup system and the file exclusion requirements. This intermediary layer allows the backup application to work with blocks while systematically identifying and omitting blocks associated with excluded files through structured querying and matching operations.
2Ease of operation
If a simple file list exclusion method is used, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability of excluding files is compromised in incremental and block-based backups
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by establishing a structured exclude set with path and file specification patterns before the backup process begins. This pre-configured exclusion framework enables the system to reliably identify and exclude relevant files and their associated blocks across full and incremental backups, maintaining consistency without requiring complex real-time decisions during the backup operation.
3Reliability
If all files are backed up to ensure data protection, then data integrity is improved, but storage space is wasted on operating system files and already-backed-up data
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the extraction principle by systematically removing unwanted elements (operating system files and already-backed-up data) from the backup set through the exclude set mechanism. By defining exclusion criteria based on path and file specification patterns, the system extracts and omits unnecessary blocks from the backup data, reducing storage space consumption while preserving important user data.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques to exclude files from backup are disclosed. In various embodiments, a database that includes an exclude set table configured to store data associated with one or more files identified to be excluded from backup is accessed. Data retrieved from the database is used to exclude one or more of said one or more files from a backup. In some embodiments, files are excluded from the backup at least in part by deleting the files from a shadow copy volume created in connection with said backup.