Continuous Log Backup via Secondary System Mediator

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current backup systems consume significant source system resources, leading to performance degradation when performing continuous backups at high frequencies, as they perform operations like chunking, deduplication, and encryption on the source system before backing up data, thereby reducing availability for high transaction volumes.

Innovation Solution

A continuous log backup system that uses native commands on the source system to back up data in its raw form to a secondary system, where these operations are performed, minimizing resource usage on the source system and allowing it to focus on processing transactions.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If backup operations (chunking, deduplication, encryption) are performed on the source system before backing up data, then data protection and backup quality are improved, but source system resource consumption increases and transaction processing performance degrades

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata protectionVSAvoidtransaction processing performance

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a secondary system as an intermediary between the source system and the backup destination. The source system only performs native commands to copy data in raw form to the secondary system, which then performs chunking, deduplication, and encryption operations. This mediator approach eliminates the performance impact of backup operations on the source system while maintaining data protection quality.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent extracts the resource-intensive backup operations (chunking, deduplication, encryption) from the source system and relocates them to the secondary system. This extraction allows the source system to focus solely on transaction processing without the burden of backup operations, thereby resolving the contradiction between data protection and processing performance.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

2Reliability

If continuous backup operations are performed at high frequencies, then data protection coverage is improved, but source system resource consumption increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata protection coverageVSAvoidsource system resource consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The secondary system acts as a mediator that handles all resource-intensive backup operations. The source system only performs lightweight native commands to copy data, enabling continuous high-frequency backups without significantly increasing source system resource consumption. The secondary system absorbs the resource burden of frequent backup operations.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent extracts resource-intensive operations from the source system and places them in the secondary system. This allows continuous backup operations to be performed at high frequencies with minimal impact on source system resources, as the secondary system is dedicated to handling the computational burden of chunking, deduplication, and encryption.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Reliability

If backup operations are performed on the source system, then data is protected, but source system availability for high transaction volumes is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata protectionVSAvoidsource system availability

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDuration of action of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The secondary system serves as a mediator that performs backup operations independently from the source system. The source system maintains full availability for transaction processing while the secondary system handles backup operations in parallel, ensuring continuous data protection without reducing source system availability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent extracts backup operations from the source system's operational timeline and relocates them to the secondary system. This extraction ensures that data protection operations do not interrupt or reduce source system availability, as backup operations occur on the secondary system rather than blocking the source system for transactions.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentUS12253977B2Continuously run log backup with minimal configuration and resource usage from the source machine

Publication Date: 2025.03.18 COMMVAULT SYSTEMS INC

AI summary

A system for performing continuous transaction log backups with minimal resource usage of the client computing devices that are processing the transactions is disclosed. The system detects at least one input/output (I/O) activity at a client computing device. The I/O activity can be associated with at least one database operation performed via the client computing device. The system then executes one or more native commands to backup transactions log data associated with the detected I/O activity to a virtualized location. Backing-up the transactions log data comprises dynamically identifying a mount path location corresponding to the virtualized location, and transferring the transactions log data to the dynamically identified mount path using the one or more native commands. The system can then perform data processing operations (for example, data chunking and deduplicating) on the transactions log data after it is received at the dynamically identified mount path location.