Complementary Space Reduction for Backup Systems
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current backup systems face challenges in efficiently backing up data from clients with intermittent network connections and servers that are unavailable or busy, as they do not account for client connectivity or server availability, and struggle with global space reduction when clients are disconnected from the network.
Innovation Solution
The system allows clients to perform space reduction opportunistically by storing data in intermediate shared storage when connected, and intermediate servers or backup servers can retrieve and further reduce data when convenient, using methods like delta-based deduplication and commonality factoring, enabling asynchronous data storage and global space reduction without relying on continuous network connections or server availability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If backup applications store copies of client data in remote data warehouses, then data security is improved, but network dependency increases and backup reliability deteriorates when network connections are intermittent
Solution Approach 1:
The backup system is segmented into multiple independent components: local backup copies on client devices, intermediate shared storage locations, and remote data warehouses. This segmentation allows each component to operate semi-independently, so that network interruptions at one level do not completely prevent backup operations at other levels.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary backup actions locally on the client device before network transfer is required. Clients can initiate and complete local backup operations independently, storing data in local backup copies without requiring immediate network connectivity, thereby ensuring backup reliability even when network connections are intermittent.
2Reliability
If backup applications perform remote backup operations, then data redundancy is improved, but storage space efficiency deteriorates due to inability to perform global space reduction
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges data from multiple clients into intermediate shared storage locations before final remote storage. This consolidation enables the backup server to perform global space reduction operations across all client data, identifying and eliminating redundant data blocks that exist across multiple clients, thereby improving storage space efficiency while maintaining data redundancy.
Solution Approach 2:
Intermediate shared storage locations serve as intermediary components between client devices and remote data warehouses. These intermediaries consolidate data from multiple clients, enabling the backup server to perform comprehensive global space reduction operations that would be impossible if each client backed up independently to remote storage, thus improving storage efficiency without compromising redundancy.
3Quantity of substance
If backup applications wait for server availability to perform space reduction, then global space reduction completeness is improved, but backup time increases and productivity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary space reduction operations at intermediate shared storage locations before data is transferred to remote data warehouses. This preliminary action reduces the volume of data that needs to be stored remotely and allows the backup process to complete faster, improving productivity while still achieving significant global space reduction completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements dynamic space reduction operations that can occur at multiple stages and locations throughout the backup process. Space reduction is not a single static operation but a dynamic process that occurs locally on clients, at intermediate shared storage locations, and at the backup server, allowing the system to adapt to varying server availability and network conditions while maintaining both completeness and productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method, article of manufacture, and apparatus for efficiently backing up information are disclosed. In an embodiment, this may comprise using a first space reduction method to space reduce data in a client, transmitting the first space reduced data from a client to an intermediate shared storage at a time convenient for the client, using a second space reduction method to space reduce data from the intermediate shared storage, transferring the second space reduced data to a server, and storing the data in a server storage.