DMS Cluster Snapshot Replication for Disaster Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current data management and storage systems face challenges in ensuring reliable data backup and disaster recovery, particularly in complex compute infrastructures, where efficient failover and failback processes are needed to minimize downtime and ensure business continuity.
Innovation Solution
A data management and storage (DMS) cluster with peer nodes manages data backup and disaster recovery using service level agreements (SLAs), replicating primary snapshots to a secondary infrastructure, allowing seamless failover and failback of applications by initializing the secondary compute infrastructure with replicated data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If data is replicated from primary to secondary compute infrastructure, then reliability of disaster recovery is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the compute infrastructure into primary and secondary independent clusters, each capable of autonomous operation. Data is segmented into snapshots that can be independently replicated and restored, allowing the secondary infrastructure to function as a standalone recovery environment without requiring continuous connection to the primary system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements complete copying of primary infrastructure snapshots to the secondary infrastructure, creating identical replicas that can be activated immediately upon failure. This copying approach ensures the secondary environment is an exact replicate of the primary, eliminating complexity in configuring recovery environments while maintaining high reliability.
2Reliability
If snapshots are replicated to secondary infrastructure, then data integrity is improved, but loss of time during replication increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs periodic snapshot replication at scheduled intervals rather than continuously, balancing data integrity with time efficiency. Snapshots are captured and replicated at defined frequencies, ensuring data is current without requiring constant replication operations that would consume excessive time and resources.
Solution Approach 2:
Snapshots are prepared and staged in advance before actual replication occurs. The system pre-processes data into snapshot formats and stages them for replication, so when replication is triggered, the actual data transfer begins immediately with minimal delay, reducing the perceived replication time while maintaining integrity.
3Productivity
If secondary infrastructure is initialized with replicated data, then productivity during failover is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The secondary infrastructure is designed to be self-initializing, automatically detecting and applying replicated snapshots without requiring complex manual configuration. When failover is triggered, the secondary system autonomously restores from stored snapshots and begins operation, eliminating the need for complex orchestration and reducing management overhead while maintaining rapid failover capability.
4Reliability
If multiple peer DMS nodes are used to manage backup, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple peer DMS nodes are merged into a unified cluster that operates as a single logical unit. The nodes share a common namespace, coordinated job scheduling, and distributed storage management, presenting a simplified interface to users while internally distributing workload across multiple nodes. This merging approach maintains high reliability through redundancy while reducing perceived complexity through unified management.
Data Source
AI summary
A data management and storage (DMS) cluster of peer DMS nodes manages data backup and disaster recovery using a service level agreement. The backup data can be replicated from a primary compute infrastructure to the secondary compute infrastructure. For example, primary snapshots of virtual machines of the application in the primary compute infrastructure are generated, and provided to the secondary compute infrastructure. If the primary compute infrastructure is lost, the secondary compute infrastructure is initialized to replicate the primary compute infrastructure. Applications that were running in the primary compute infrastructure can failover to run in the secondary compute infrastructure. The replicated backup data is used to facilitate the migration. During a failover, the primary snapshots are deployed in the secondary compute infrastructure as virtual machines.