Continuous Data Protection via Timestamped Modification Database
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional backup techniques and mirroring methods are inadequate for precise data recovery, as they either lose data granularity or cannot restore data to a specific point in time due to coarse intervals and loss of previous states, respectively.
Innovation Solution
A continuous data protection system maintains a database of all data modifications over a recovery interval, allowing for precise roll-back to any point in time by asynchronously mirroring data from a primary volume to a remote volume, using a time stamp mechanism to maintain proper order and enabling fine-grained recovery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional backup techniques are used with periodic full and incremental backups, then backup storage resources are conserved and backup operations are simpler, but data recovery precision is poor and data loss exposure is high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the backup process into multiple fine-grained incremental backups taken at regular intervals (e.g., every 5 minutes) rather than relying on periodic full backups. This segmentation enables precise recovery to any point in time within the backup retention period, transforming coarse periodic backups into fine-grained continuous protection without requiring complex real-time replication systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary incremental backups at regular intervals before any data loss or corruption event occurs. By maintaining a series of pre-computed backup copies at different time points, the system prepares recovery resources in advance, enabling precise restoration to any specific point in time without requiring complex real-time analysis or computation during the recovery operation.
2Reliability
If mirroring is used to continuously copy data to remote storage, then data protection against disaster is improved, but the ability to restore to earlier points in time is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent maintains multiple segmented backup copies at different time points within a retention period (e.g., hourly, daily, weekly backups) rather than a single continuous mirror. This segmentation enables the system to restore data to any specific point in time, providing both continuous protection and historical recovery capability simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary backups at multiple time points in the past, creating a timeline of recoverable states. This allows the system to adapt to different recovery scenarios - whether the user needs the most recent state or a specific historical state from earlier in the retention period, providing flexible recovery options that continuous mirroring alone cannot provide.
3Measurement precision
If incremental backups are taken at short intervals, then data recovery precision is improved, but backup operation frequency increases and storage resources are consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary incremental backups at predetermined intervals (e.g., every 5 minutes) to capture data changes before they become critical. By establishing this regular backup rhythm in advance, the system ensures that when data loss or corruption occurs, recovery can be performed efficiently without requiring real-time backup operations, balancing precision with operational efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements different backup frequencies for different data types and criticality levels. Critical data receives more frequent incremental backups, while less critical data receives less frequent backups. This parameter-based differentiation maintains high recovery precision for important data while optimizing overall backup operation efficiency and storage resource consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
Providing continuous data protection includes maintaining a database having substantially all data modifications made to a primary volume over a recovery interval. The database is maintained in conjunction with a copying operation where the data of the primary volume are mirrored to a remote volume to permit recovery of mirrored data in the event of loss of primary volume data. The contents of the remote volume generally lag behind the contents of the primary volume by substantially the recovery interval. Providing continuous data protection also includes providing data roll-back to a precise point in time within the recovery interval by applying, to the contents of the remote volume, all data modifications in the database that occurred between the latest data modification to the remote volume and the precise point in time within the recovery interval. A time stamp mechanism of sufficient precision and granularity may be used.