DSN Access Token Module for Secure Erasure-Coded Memory Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional computer storage systems face issues with data integrity and security due to the failure of physical movement-based memory devices, such as disc drives, which can lead to data loss and unauthorized access, especially as the amount of data grows and maintenance demands increase.
Innovation Solution
A dispersed storage network (DSN) system that uses error coding dispersal storage to distribute data across multiple geographically diverse locations, employing a distributed storage processing unit to encode data into slices, which are then stored on multiple DS units, ensuring data integrity and security through redundancy and error correction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If data is stored on physical movement-based memory devices like disc drives, then storage capacity and accessibility are improved, but data integrity and security deteriorate due to device failure and unauthorized access
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments data into multiple slices and distributes them across multiple DS units in different physical locations. This segmentation prevents single-point failure and enhances data integrity while maintaining storage capacity. The data is divided into fragments that can be reconstructed from a threshold number of slices, ensuring reliability even if some storage devices fail.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an access token module as an intermediary that mediates all access requests to the dispersed storage network. This token-based authentication system controls which computing devices can access which data slices, preventing unauthorized access while maintaining data availability for authorized users.
2Reliability
If multiple redundant disc drives are used to replicate data, then data security is improved, but maintenance demands and storage overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates multiple copies of data slices and distributes them across multiple DS units. However, unlike traditional RAID systems that require complex synchronization and management, the dispersed storage system uses error coding to create redundant copies that are independently stored and managed, reducing maintenance complexity while maintaining data security.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the redundancy parameter from exact replication (RAID) to erasure coding where data can be reconstructed from a threshold number of slices. This parameter change allows for more flexible redundancy levels and reduces the overhead associated with maintaining identical copies across multiple devices.
3Reliability
If data is distributed across multiple geographically diverse locations, then data security and integrity are improved, but system complexity and access coordination increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal access token system that works across all DS units regardless of their physical location. The access tokens provide a unified authentication mechanism that simplifies access coordination across geographically distributed storage units, reducing the complexity of managing location-specific access controls.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the access token module tracks and manages access requests, authentication status, and data slice locations. This centralized tracking provides real-time information about the state of the dispersed storage network, enabling efficient coordination and reducing the complexity of managing distributed access.
Data Source
AI summary
A method begins by a computing device determining that dispersed storage network (DSN) memory is to be accessed regarding data. The method continues when the computing device is paired with a DSN access token module with the DSN access token module retrieving a plurality of sets of at least a threshold number of dispersed storage (DS) error coding function slices from the DSN memory via the computing device. The method continues with at least one of the computing device and the DSN access token module decoding the plurality of sets of the at least a threshold number of DS error coding function slices using a default DS error coding function to recapture a DS error coding function and executing, by one or more of the computing device and the DSN access token module, the DS error coding function to access the DSN memory regarding the data.