Database System Management via Discovery and Metadata
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current database systems lack comprehensive system management capabilities for performing discovery, backup, restore, and clone operations efficiently, particularly in ensuring high availability and fault tolerance across diverse storage configurations.
Innovation Solution
A centralized system management system that includes a System Management Service (SMS) and System Management Core (SM Core) components, which perform discovery operations to map system layouts, execute backup and restore operations with metadata management, and facilitate clone operations using NetApp's FlexClone technology, enabling application-consistent and crash-consistent backups across various storage types and configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a centralized system management system is implemented to provide comprehensive system management capabilities, then system management efficiency and data protection are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system management system implements a universal platform that handles multiple database types (Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL) and storage configurations through a single integrated interface. The SMS and SM Core components provide multi-functional capabilities including discovery, backup, restore, and clone operations across diverse systems, eliminating the need for separate management tools for each database type.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary system management layer (SMS and SM Core) that mediates between the database systems and storage systems. This intermediary handles the complexity of communication and coordination, allowing database administrators to manage diverse systems through a simplified interface while the intermediary manages the underlying complexity of different storage configurations and database protocols.
2Adaptability or versatility
If comprehensive system management capabilities are provided across diverse storage configurations, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system management system provides universal adaptability to work with diverse storage configurations including SAN, NAS, and virtualized storage through a single platform. The discovery operations automatically detect and adapt to different storage types, while the backup and restore mechanisms handle various configurations without requiring separate specialized systems for each storage type.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts its operation parameters based on the detected storage configuration type. The discovery operations identify storage parameters (SAN, NAS, virtualized) and the system modifies its subsequent backup, restore, and clone operations accordingly, allowing seamless adaptation to different storage environments without manual configuration.
3Productivity
If automated discovery and metadata management operations are performed, then productivity is improved, but use of energy increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs discovery operations and collects metadata in advance before backup operations are initiated. By pre-discovering database layouts, storage configurations, and file structures, and by pre-collecting necessary metadata, the system reduces the computational load during actual backup operations, improving overall efficiency while managing energy consumption through staged processing.
Data Source
AI summary
Various embodiments are generally directed an apparatus and method for performing a discovery operation to determine a system layout for a database and one or more files for a dataset stored in the database and performing a backup operation on the dataset to cause storage of a backup copy of each of the one or more files and collect metadata associated with the backup copy of each of the one or more files, the metadata to enable restoration of the one or more files.