Dispersed Storage Data Obfuscation via Slice Name Security
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional computer storage systems face challenges with data integrity and security due to the failure of memory devices, particularly those using physical movement technologies, such as disc drives, which can lead to bit-level corruption and require redundant arrays like RAID to ensure data availability but increase maintenance demands and security risks with multiple copies of data.
Innovation Solution
A distributed storage system that employs error-coded data slices stored across multiple physically diverse locations, using a dispersed storage network with a processing unit that partitions data into segments, encodes them, and assigns unique slice names for secure and reliable data retrieval and storage, ensuring data integrity and security through redundancy without the need for frequent maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If redundant arrays (RAID) are used to ensure data availability, then data reliability is improved, but device complexity and maintenance demands increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides data into multiple segments and disperses them across different storage locations. Each segment is independently stored, and the system can retrieve data by accessing a threshold number of segments. This segmentation approach provides redundancy and fault tolerance without requiring complex RAID array structures, thereby improving data availability while reducing device complexity and maintenance demands.
2Reliability
If multiple copies of data are stored for redundancy, then data reliability is improved, but security risks increase due to multiple access points
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments data into multiple pieces and disperses them across different storage locations. To access the data, a threshold number of segments must be retrieved and reassembled. This segmentation approach maintains data availability while improving security, as unauthorized access requires compromising multiple distributed segments rather than a single centralized copy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements location-specific storage where each data segment is stored in geographically or physically diverse locations. This local quality differentiation ensures that even if one location is compromised, other locations remain secure and can provide the necessary threshold for data reconstruction, thereby balancing reliability and security.
3Reliability
If error-coded data slices are distributed across multiple locations, then data integrity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides data into segments and applies error correction coding to each segment independently. The coded segments are then dispersed across multiple storage locations. This approach provides robust error detection and correction capabilities, improving data integrity while avoiding the overhead of complex centralized RAID controllers by distributing the encoding function across simple storage nodes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements self-healing capabilities where the system can automatically detect and correct errors in stored data segments using the error correction codes. The distributed architecture allows any node to participate in error correction without requiring centralized control, thereby improving data integrity while minimizing system overhead and complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method begins by a processing module receiving a data segment for dispersed storage. The method continues with the processing module encoding the data segment in accordance with an error coding dispersed storage function to produce a plurality of error coded data slices. The method continues with the processing module generating a slice name for an error coded data slice of the plurality of error coded data slices, wherein the slice name includes a dispersed storage routing information section and a data identification section. The method continues with the processing module performing a securing function on at least the data identification section to produce a secure data identification section. The method continues with the processing module replacing, within the slice name, the data identification section with the secure data identification section to produce a secure slice name.