Dynamic Rule-Based Storage Validation for Data Placement

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Solution Overview

Problem

Storage systems become imbalanced due to factors like compression and deduplication operations, making it challenging to efficiently manage and place new data across storage units, as some units become full while others remain underutilized.

Innovation Solution

A data protection system uses a rule-based approach to validate and rank target storage units based on user-defined criteria, ensuring data is placed or migrated to units with sufficient available storage, thereby optimizing storage system utilization.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If data is placed in storage units without validation rules, then data placement speed is improved, but storage system balance deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata placement speedVSAvoidstorage system balance

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary validation of storage units against user-defined rules before data placement occurs. This advance checking ensures that data is only placed in storage units that meet specified criteria (such as capacity thresholds, performance requirements, or policy constraints), thereby maintaining storage system balance while enabling rapid data placement execution.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback mechanisms where validation results from checking storage units against rules are used to determine appropriate data placement decisions. This feedback loop ensures that placement actions are continuously adjusted based on current storage unit states and rule compliance, maintaining system balance dynamically.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

2Manufacturing precision

If user-defined rules are validated against all storage units, then storage placement accuracy is improved, but validation time increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestorage placement accuracyVSAvoidvalidation time

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The validation process is segmented into distinct phases: first, storage units are pre-filtered based on basic criteria; then, user-defined rules are applied only to the filtered subset of candidate storage units. This segmentation reduces the number of units requiring full rule validation, thereby maintaining placement accuracy while reducing overall validation time.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system applies validation rules selectively rather than universally - only to storage units that pass preliminary filtering criteria. This partial action approach ensures that full validation accuracy is maintained for relevant candidates while avoiding unnecessary validation overhead for clearly unsuitable storage units.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentUS20240303510A1Method for dynamic rule-based recommendation validation

Publication Date: 2024.09.12 DELL PROD LP

AI summary

Dynamic rule-based recommendations are disclosed. A rule-base, which includes rules, is received for a data-related operation. Potential targets of the data-related operation are validated against the rule-base. Targets that are eligible or validated using the rule-base may be returned and/or ranked. The data-relation operation may be performed using one of the validated targets.