Containerized Application Data Protection via Secondary Storage Extraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current data storage systems for containerized applications on cloud provider systems face challenges in efficient backup and data protection, including limited access to cloud-stored data, high maintenance costs, and inability to perform operations like compression, deduplication, and encryption, due to the lack of platform-agnostic solutions for managing data objects associated with container orchestration systems.
Innovation Solution
A secondary storage computing device is introduced that communicates with container orchestration systems and cloud providers to create snapshots, access data within these snapshots, and store it on lower-cost secondary storage devices, while also launching applications to perform operations like compression, deduplication, and encryption, thereby facilitating more efficient backups and data protection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If cloud provider system stores snapshots of cloud storage volume, then data backup is achieved, but storage cost increases and data accessibility decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts data from cloud provider storage and transfers it to secondary storage devices. The system creates snapshots of cloud storage volumes and extracts the contained data objects, then stores them locally on secondary storage devices, separating the backup function from the cloud provider system to reduce costs while maintaining accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a secondary storage computing device as an intermediary between the cloud provider system and the container orchestration system. This mediator captures data objects from cloud storage, performs processing operations, and stores them locally, enabling cost-effective backup while maintaining data accessibility through a intermediate layer.
2Reliability
If cloud provider system stores snapshots, then data protection is achieved, but ability to perform compression, deduplication, and encryption operations is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs data processing operations such as compression, deduplication, and encryption on data objects before storing them in snapshots. By applying these operations in advance during the backup process rather than requiring them to be performed on already-stored cloud snapshots, the system enables versatile data protection while maintaining adaptability for various processing requirements.
3Reliability
If snapshot operation is performed on cloud storage volume, then point-in-time backup is achieved, but accessibility to data inside snapshot is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts data objects from cloud storage volume snapshots and stores them on secondary storage devices where they can be more easily accessed. By taking the data out of the cloud provider's snapshot format and storing it in a locally accessible format on secondary storage, the system maintains point-in-time backup capability while significantly improving data accessibility for restoration operations.
4Reliability
If all data objects relevant to pod execution are backed up, then complete data protection is achieved, but complexity of managing multiple data objects increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal backup mechanism that handles multiple types of data objects (cloud storage volumes, persistent volume claims, pod specifications, configurations, credentials) through a single integrated system. The secondary storage computing device provides multi-functional capabilities to capture, process, and store various data object types uniformly, reducing management complexity while achieving complete data protection for all pod-related objects.
Data Source
AI summary
Certain embodiments described herein relate to an improved information management system that can perform platform-agnostic containerized application data protection. In one embodiment, the information management system receives a user's credentials to a container orchestrator along with an indication of whether or not to deploy a backup pod. Using the user credentials, the information management system accesses the container orchestrator, and if the user has requested deployment of a backup pod on the user's cluster, the information management system may do so using a backup pod specification and allow the backup pod to perform data protection operations, using a platform-agnostic interface (e.g., container storage interface), for application data accessible by the user applications on the user's pod on the user's cluster. Alternatively, if the user has not requested deployment of a backup pod, the information management system may perform data protection operations using provider-specific interface.