Hard Link Backup for Malware Data Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing malware protection tools face inefficiencies in storage utilization and processing resources when using copy-on-write techniques for data protection, leading to noticeable delays and impact on user experience during malware attacks.
Innovation Solution
Implementing the use of hard links to create backup and recovery mechanisms, where a backup hard link is created for target files before deletion, allowing for efficient data restoration without duplicating file data, thus reducing storage consumption and processing overhead.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If copy-on-write techniques are used for data protection, then data reliability is improved, but storage utilization deteriorates and processing resources are consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses hard links instead of traditional copy-on-write methods. Hard links create additional directory entries that point to the same file data on disk, allowing multiple references to the same data without duplicating the actual file content. This provides data protection through reference tracking while avoiding the storage overhead of creating actual copies of file data.
2Reliability
If copy-on-write techniques are used for data protection, then data reliability is improved, but processing speed deteriorates due to noticeable delays
Solution Approach 1:
Hard link creation is an instantaneous operation that merely updates directory metadata rather than copying actual file data. This eliminates the time-consuming data duplication process inherent in copy-on-write techniques, providing rapid backup creation and file recovery while maintaining data protection reliability.
3Quantity of substance
If hard links are used for backup, then storage utilization is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a backup manager component that automatically manages hard link creation, maintenance, and recovery operations. This intermediary software layer handles the complexity of hard link management, providing automated backup and recovery functionality while keeping the underlying file system operations simple and efficient.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture to perform backup and recovery of data files using hard links are disclosed. Example methods disclosed herein include determining whether a first operation to be performed on a target file by a thread of a process is a file deletion operation, wherein the target file is referenced by a first hard link. Disclosed example methods also include creating, in response to the first operation being a file deletion operation, a second hard link to the target file, where the creation of the target hard link occurs while the thread of the process performing the deletion is blocked. Disclosed example methods further include returning control to the thread of the process performing the deletion after the second hard link is created to enable the operation to be performed on the target file.