Centralized Backup System with Version Control and Remote Deletion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing data storage systems face challenges in providing easily-accessible, versioned, secure, and redundant backup solutions, especially for diverse digital devices, and lack flexibility in design and use, including inadequate support for offline changes and secure deletion of data from stolen or lost devices.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing a software client that communicates with a central data storage facility via standard telecommunication protocols, enabling flexible data management, version control, secure encryption, and remote deletion, with features like delta compression, secure web access, and customizable policies for backup and deletion, including support for various devices like cell phones and PDAs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If data is stored on multiple devices and locations, then data redundancy and accessibility are improved, but difficulty in locating and version control worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a central backup server as an intermediary that mediates between multiple client devices and their data storage. The server maintains a unified index and version history of all files across devices, allowing users to locate and manage files through a single interface rather than navigating across multiple devices. This resolves the contradiction by providing centralized coordination that improves accessibility while maintaining redundancy.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments data storage into multiple independent locations (local devices and central server) while maintaining logical unity through versioning. Each device can store local copies, but the central server maintains segmented version history that tracks all changes across time and devices, making version control manageable despite distributed storage.
2Reliability
If comprehensive backup coverage is implemented, then data protection is improved, but system complexity and flexibility requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The backup system is designed with universal functionality that works across diverse devices (computers, smartphones, tablets) without requiring device-specific implementations. The central server provides unified backup management that adapts to different storage architectures, allowing comprehensive protection while maintaining simple, consistent operation across all device types through standardized protocols.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements self-service backup operations where the software client automatically detects changes, determines what needs backing up, and communicates with the server without requiring manual intervention. This automation handles the complexity of comprehensive backup coverage while keeping the user interface simple and flexible in deployment scenarios.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If secure deletion capabilities are added, then data security against theft is improved, but operational complexity worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms that automatically detect when a device is lost or stolen (through monitoring services) and trigger secure deletion operations. The user receives feedback about deletion status and can configure deletion policies without managing complex deletion procedures manually. This automation improves security while keeping operations simple through event-driven triggers rather than manual complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of easily-accessible, versioned, secure, redundant backup of digital information involves establishing a back-end data store connected to a world-wide telecommunications network. Users communicate with the data store using a variety of user a computing devices, each of which has installed thereon client software capable various operations, including communicating with the data store, monitoring a second data store, detecting and replicating changes in the second data store, and selecting data to be transmitted over the telecommunications network to and from the back-end data store. Users may establish policies for data backup and transmission, may monitor the status of data backup, may browsing the back-end data store, may review prior versions of data stored on the back-end data store. The data store is configured for remote management by a user, including deletion of data in the second data store if the computing device is lost or stolen.