Dispersed Storage Encoding Updates for Reliable Slice Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional data storage systems face challenges with memory device failures, particularly in commercial-grade devices using physical movement technologies, leading to data loss and security issues, as well as inefficiencies in RAID systems due to increased maintenance demands and unauthorized access risks.
Innovation Solution
A distributed storage network that employs error coding dispersal storage functions to partition and encode data into multiple slices, which are then stored across physically diverse locations, ensuring data integrity and security through redundant storage and error correction capabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If data is stored in commercial-grade memory devices with physical movement, then storage capacity is achieved, but data loss and security issues occur due to device failures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides data into multiple slices and distributes them across different storage locations. This segmentation ensures that no single point of failure can compromise the entire dataset, directly addressing the reliability issue while maintaining storage capacity through distributed architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements error correction coding and redundant storage of data slices before failures occur. By pre-distributing parity information and maintaining multiple copies across diverse locations, the system cushions against potential device failures, bit corruption, and unauthorized access.
2Reliability
If RAID systems are used to protect against data loss, then data redundancy is achieved, but maintenance demands and unauthorized access risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments data into distributed slices stored across independent locations rather than traditional RAID arrays. This eliminates the need for complex RAID controller maintenance while maintaining redundancy through geographic and physical distribution of data fragments.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements automatic error correction and data reconstruction capabilities that operate without manual intervention. Error correction codes automatically detect and repair corrupted slices, while the distributed architecture self-manages redundancy without requiring specialized maintenance procedures.
3Reliability
If data is replicated across multiple copies for redundancy, then data availability is improved, but security risks from unauthorized access increase
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing data into encrypted slices distributed across multiple secure locations, the patent ensures that unauthorized access to any single slice is insufficient for data recovery. This segmentation combined with distributed storage mitigates security risks while maintaining availability through redundant copies.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different security measures to different data slices based on their location and sensitivity. Each slice can have localized encryption and access controls tailored to its specific storage environment, providing customized security while maintaining overall data availability.
Data Source
AI summary
A method begins with a processing module determining that storage of data requires updating, wherein the data is stored as a plurality of sets of encoded data slices in DSN memory. For a first type of updating, the processing module increases the total number while maintaining the decode threshold number. The processing module then, for each set of encoded data slices, creates another encoded data slice in accordance with the dispersed storage error encoding function and the increased total number and sends the new encoded data slices to the DSN memory. For a second type of updating, the processing module increases the total number and the decode threshold number. The processing module then recovers the data and encodes it in accordance with the dispersed storage error encoding function using the increased total number and the increased decode threshold number to produce an updated plurality of sets of encoded data slices.