Dispersed Storage Network Access Policy Updates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current dispersed storage systems face challenges in maintaining data integrity and availability across multiple storage units, particularly in scenarios where a significant number of storage units fail, and they lack efficient mechanisms for secure, long-term data storage and retrieval without redundant copies.
Innovation Solution
A dispersed storage network (DSN) is implemented, utilizing a managing unit, integrity processing unit, and computing devices with error encoding and decoding capabilities, employing Cauchy Reed-Solomon encoding to distribute data across multiple storage units, ensuring data recovery even with failures, and managing access policies for secure and efficient data storage and retrieval.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If data is distributed across multiple storage units without redundant copies, then storage efficiency is improved, but data reliability deteriorates when storage units fail
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments data into multiple slices and distributes them across different storage units. Each slice is a portion of the original data, and the segmentation allows efficient storage while maintaining the ability to reconstruct the full data set from any sufficient subset of slices, thus resolving the contradiction between storage efficiency and data reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs error correction codes that transform data parameters by adding redundant information in an encoded form. This parameter change allows the system to tolerate storage unit failures while maintaining storage efficiency, as the redundant information is integrated into the data structure rather than being separate copies.
2Reliability
If error correction codes are used to maintain data integrity, then data reliability is improved, but processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses error correction coding which creates encoded copies of data segments. These codes are mathematical transformations that allow reconstruction of original data even when some segments are lost or corrupted, providing data integrity while using systematic processing algorithms that manage complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical redundancy (physical backup copies) with mathematical error correction mechanisms. This substitution uses algebraic and cryptographic operations instead of physical duplication, maintaining data integrity while reducing the overhead associated with managing multiple complete copies.
3Reliability
If access policies are updated frequently to maintain security, then security is improved, but system performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary authentication and authorization checks where access policies are evaluated before data access operations. By performing security verification in advance and caching policy decisions, the system maintains strong security while avoiding repeated policy evaluation overhead during actual data access, thus preserving system performance.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for execution in a dispersed storage network operates to determine one or more slice names of one or more slices and determine whether to establish a new access policy corresponding to the one or more slices. When the new access policy is to be established, the method determines a timestamp; determines a new access policy; and sends the new access policy and the timestamp to one or more storage units that store the one or more slices.