Backup View Maintenance via Change-Threshold Switching

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing backup systems face challenges in efficiently updating and maintaining a backup view of an application and its associated objects, particularly when objects have a high percentage of change since the last backup, leading to unpredictable and potentially lengthy incremental merge times.

Innovation Solution

The proposed technique determines whether an object has a percentage of change greater than a threshold percentage and performs either a full or incremental backup accordingly, allowing for more predictable backup times and ensuring that backups are completed within a finite window.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of substance

If incremental backup is performed for all objects, then storage efficiency is improved, but backup time becomes unpredictable and potentially excessive for objects with high change rates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestorage efficiencyVSAvoidbackup time

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of substanceVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system changes the backup parameter (incremental vs full) based on the change rate parameter of each object. When an object's change rate exceeds a threshold, the system switches from incremental backup to full backup, thereby adapting the backup strategy to the actual state of each object and avoiding excessive merge times.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Loss of time

If full backup is performed for objects with high change rates, then backup time becomes predictable, but storage efficiency decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebackup time predictabilityVSAvoidstorage efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of timeVSLoss of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies different backup qualities to different objects based on their individual characteristics. Objects with low change rates receive incremental backups (higher storage efficiency), while objects with high change rates receive full backups (predictable backup time), thereby optimizing the overall system performance through localized quality adjustments.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

3Loss of substance

If incremental backup is used, then storage resources are conserved, but the backup may not be completed within the scheduled window

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestorage resourcesVSAvoidbackup completion rate

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of substanceVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The backup strategy is made dynamic by continuously monitoring the change rate of each object and adjusting the backup type accordingly. This dynamic adaptation ensures that the backup process can be completed within the scheduled window by switching to full backup for high-change objects, while still conserving storage resources through incremental backup for low-change objects.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentUS12242353B2Maintaining and updating a backup view of an application and its associated objects

Publication Date: 2025.03.04 COHESITY INC

AI summary

A first backup of source data is performed. A second backup of the source data is determined to be performed at least in part by determining a plurality of objects that have changed since the first backup and determining a corresponding backup type for each of the plurality of objects that have changed since the first backup. Based on the determined corresponding backup types, a second backup of the source data is performed including by performing an incremental backup of a first portion of the plurality of objects that have changed since the first backup and a full backup of a second portion of the plurality of objects that have changed since the first backup.