Cloud Snapshot Tiering With Archival Storage Migration
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cloud storage systems incur high costs due to the use of primary cloud storage for snapshots, which are often mandated for long-term retention, and there is a need to efficiently manage storage tiering to reduce costs while maintaining data accessibility and compliance.
Innovation Solution
A data management system (DMS) orchestrates the movement of snapshots from primary to secondary cloud storage, converts them to compressed formats, and stores only updated data blocks, utilizing transient computing instances for efficient storage tiering.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If primary cloud storage is used for long-term snapshot retention, then data accessibility and compliance are maintained, but storage costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The storage system segments snapshots into different tiers based on their age and accessibility requirements. Recent snapshots remain in primary storage while older snapshots are moved to secondary storage, allowing the system to maintain fast access for active data while reducing overall storage costs through tiered architecture
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically moves snapshots between primary and secondary storage tiers based on their creation time and retention policies. This dynamic tiering allows the system to adapt storage costs to actual usage patterns, maintaining high availability for recent data while optimizing costs for older data that may rarely be accessed
2Ease of operation
If all snapshots are stored in primary cloud storage, then data accessibility is maintained, but resource utilization efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different storage qualities to different snapshots based on their characteristics. Recent snapshots with higher access probability remain in high-performance primary storage, while older snapshots with lower access probability are moved to cost-effective secondary storage, optimizing both accessibility and resource utilization
3Quantity of substance
If storage tiering is implemented to reduce costs, then storage costs decrease, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service tiering where snapshots automatically move between storage tiers based on predefined policies and metadata. This eliminates the need for manual intervention and complex management overhead, reducing operational complexity while achieving cost optimization through automated tiering
Data Source
AI summary
A data management system (DMS) may facilitate the storage tiering of snapshots on cloud environments. For example, the DMS may transmit snapshot signaling to a first cloud environment that instructs the first cloud environment to capture a first snapshot of a computing object and to store the first snapshot in a first type of cloud storage at the first cloud environment. The DMS may determine that the first snapshot has been stored in the first type of cloud storage for a duration of time that satisfies an archival threshold. Based on the archival threshold being satisfied, the DMS may transmit archival signaling that instructs the first cloud environment to store the first snapshot to a second type of cloud storage. The second type of cloud storage may be associated with a longer access latency than the first type of cloud storage.