Block-Level Data Replication for Storage Efficiency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current data replication and storage systems face challenges in efficiently managing and synchronizing disk image backups, particularly in providing real-time block-level changes and maintaining multiple restore points without rapid storage or bandwidth constraints, while also ensuring data integrity and compliance with regulatory requirements.
Innovation Solution
The proposed system, BDR, utilizes block-based backups and snapshotting capabilities to store ready-to-run disk images, allowing for incremental updates and efficient storage, enabling real-time replication and synchronization across storage nodes, with a management engine that regulates offsite transfer and retention policies to optimize storage and bandwidth usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If full disk image transfers are used for backups, then data integrity is ensured, but storage and bandwidth requirements increase rapidly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the changed blocks from full disk images and transfers only those differential blocks to backup storage. This allows maintaining complete data integrity while significantly reducing the quantity of data that needs to be stored and transferred, directly resolving the contradiction between reliability and storage requirements
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments disk images into block-level units and tracks changes at the block level. By segmenting the backup process into individual block transfers rather than full image transfers, the system maintains data integrity through complete block replication while reducing overall storage requirements through incremental updates
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple restore points are maintained, then data recovery flexibility is improved, but storage and bandwidth constraints increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple disk images into a single consolidated backup file, with each image represented as a section or chapter within the unified file. This merging approach maintains the ability to restore to any point in time while using a single storage location, thereby maintaining restore flexibility without proportionally increasing bandwidth and storage requirements
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a nested structure where multiple disk images are contained within a single backup file, with each image nested as a separate recoverable unit. This nested organization allows the system to maintain multiple restore points with full flexibility while efficiently managing storage and bandwidth through a unified backup structure
3Productivity
If real-time block-level changes are implemented, then backup efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service mechanisms where the backup system automatically identifies changed blocks, tracks their locations, and performs incremental transfers without requiring complex external coordination. The system serves itself by maintaining its own change logs and synchronization state, improving backup efficiency while managing complexity through automation rather than manual processes
Data Source
AI summary
The MANAGEMENT OF DATA REPLICATION AND STORAGE APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS (“BDR”) transform machine datasets using BDR components into replications over a network distributing redundant ready-to-use backup files. In some implementations, the disclosure provides a processor-implemented method for managing the replication and storage of data sets.