Backup Manager Metadata Indexing for Efficient Search
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing backup systems require computationally expensive processes like crawling to search for data within backups, which is inefficient and resource-intensive, especially when dealing with large datasets or distributed environments.
Innovation Solution
A system that generates and stores backups with metadata, such as backup maps and hierarchies, using system metadata to organize and enable searching without directly crawling the backup contents, allowing for computationally efficient search functionality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If traditional backup systems use crawling processes to search for data within backups, then data search capability is achieved, but computational cost and resource consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by generating backup maps and hierarchies that index and organize backup data before actual search operations are needed. This pre-processing creates a structured representation of backup contents, enabling fast retrieval without crawling the entire backup data again when search requests occur.
Solution Approach 2:
The backup map and backup hierarchy serve as intermediary structures between the raw backup data and the search query. Instead of directly crawling the backup contents to find data, the system uses these intermediary index structures to quickly locate and retrieve the needed information, significantly reducing computational overhead.
2Productivity
If backup systems store only raw backup data without organization structures, then storage simplicity is maintained, but search efficiency and data retrieval performance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the backup data into organized structures by creating backup maps that reference specific data portions and backup hierarchies that establish organizational relationships. This segmentation allows the system to maintain simple raw backup storage while adding structured indexing layers that enable efficient searching without requiring complete reorganization of all backup data.
Solution Approach 2:
The system adds another dimension to backup storage by introducing metadata structures (backup maps and hierarchies) that operate alongside the raw backup data. This dimensional addition creates an indexing layer that enables fast search operations without modifying the fundamental backup data storage format, thus improving search efficiency while keeping the core storage structure relatively simple.
Data Source
AI summary
A backup manager for providing backup services includes persistent storage and a backup orchestrator. The persistent storage includes protection policies. The backup orchestrator generates a backup for a client based on the protection policies; obtains system metadata from the client; generates a backup map for the backup based on the system metadata; generates a backup hierarchy for the backup based on the backup map; and stores the backup and at least one selected from a group consisting of the backup hierarchy and the backup map.