Cloud Backup Agent Scaling via Segmentation and Universality
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cloud-based backup systems face challenges in scaling to large, distributed cloud deployments and providing reliable recovery for containerized applications like Kubernetes and OpenShift, with current solutions often relying on insufficient APIs and lacking comprehensive, policy-based automation.
Innovation Solution
A software-based backup system that operates at the workload level, using object storage and leveraging APIs like Ceph snapdiff for incremental backups, supporting multiple protocols, and integrating with container orchestration platforms like Kubernetes, to provide scalable and automated backup and recovery solutions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If cloud-based backup systems scale to large, distributed deployments, then backup coverage increases, but system complexity and management difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The backup system is segmented into independent backup agents deployed on individual nodes, each managing its own backup operations. These agents communicate with a centralized backup manager through standardized APIs, allowing the system to scale to large numbers of nodes without increasing overall system complexity. Each agent operates autonomously while contributing to the collective backup coverage.
2Reliability
If backup systems provide reliable recovery for containerized applications, then recovery reliability improves, but compatibility requirements and system adaptability increase
Solution Approach 1:
The backup system implements a universal backup agent that can operate across multiple container orchestration platforms (Kubernetes, OpenShift, and other cloud-native environments) through a common set of APIs. This multi-functional agent design allows the system to provide reliable recovery for containerized applications while maintaining broad platform compatibility without requiring platform-specific implementations.
3Productivity
If incremental backups use snapshot differences, then backup efficiency improves, but dependency on storage APIs increases
Solution Approach 1:
The backup agent acts as an intermediary layer between the storage system and the backup manager. It provides a standardized interface that implements snapshot and incremental backup functionality, shielding the backup manager from storage-specific API complexities. This intermediary design enables efficient incremental backups through snapshot differences while maintaining a consistent, manageable API surface.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented system and method of backing up and restoring a containerized application or a cloud-based application using a datamover service includes determining a stateful set of services of the containerized application or cloud-based application to be backed up. A persistent volume associated with the determined stateful set of services of the containerized application or cloud-based application is identified. Then, a snapshot of the identified persistent volume is created and a new persistent volume is created from the snapshot. The created new persistent volume is attached to a datamover service. Data from the created new persistent volume is then copied to a network file system or storage system using the datamover service, thereby creating backup data stored in a storage system.