Hierarchical Slice Metadata for Backup Restoration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional data protection and management solutions for client/server architectures are inefficient in backing up and restoring data, as they require crawling the entire backup to locate assets, consuming significant time and system resources.
Innovation Solution
The proposed method organizes backup data in a hierarchical structure based on the file system, using metadata to efficiently identify and restore selected assets by mapping slices to containers, thereby reducing the need for extensive crawling and optimizing resource utilization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional methods are used to backup and restore data, then data protection is provided, but the restoration process is inefficient, slow, and consumes excessive network bandwidth
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the backup data into discrete slices organized in a hierarchical structure that mirrors the file system. Each slice represents a portion of the backup that can be independently located and restored. This segmentation enables the system to retrieve only the specific slices containing requested assets rather than restoring entire backup sets, dramatically improving restoration speed and reducing network bandwidth consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary organization of backup data into a hierarchical slice structure during the backup process itself. Metadata is pre-generated that maps assets to their corresponding slices and containers. When restoration is needed, this pre-established structure allows for immediate identification and retrieval of required data without time-consuming searches, thus reducing restoration time while maintaining data protection.
2Ease of operation
If traditional backup methods are used, then data is protected, but extensive crawling is required to locate assets which consumes significant system resources
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces metadata as an intermediary layer between the backup storage and the restoration process. This metadata contains pre-computed mappings that directly link assets to their storage locations in the hierarchical slice structure. Instead of crawling through backup data to locate assets, the system queries the metadata which provides immediate location information, significantly improving asset location efficiency while reducing system resource consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary generation of metadata during the backup process, creating an index that maps assets to slices and containers before restoration is needed. This preliminary action eliminates the need for resource-intensive crawling operations during restoration, as all location information is pre-calculated and stored in the metadata structure.
3Productivity
If hierarchical slice organization is implemented, then restoration efficiency is improved, but backup structure complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies homogeneity by organizing backup slices in a hierarchical structure that mirrors the familiar file system hierarchy. This creates a consistent and predictable organization pattern where assets, directories, and files are arranged in the same hierarchical manner as they exist in the source file system. The metadata structure also follows homogeneous patterns with consistent mapping relationships. This homogeneous organization simplifies the complexity by making the backup structure intuitive and easier to navigate, thereby improving data recovery speed without overwhelming complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the invention relate to methods and systems for efficiently restoring a production host. Selected assets are restored from a plurality of slices stored on a plurality of containers in a backup storage system. In order to restore the selected assets, a hierarchical mapping of the slices is produced by analyzing a backup's metadata, from which the assets are to be restored. The hierarchical mapping is then searched for highest level slice containing the assets and then searching the lower-level slices associated with the highest-level slice to efficiently discover the slices containing the selected assets. This invention reduces and/or eliminates the need to crawl the entire slice list once the highest level is discovered; only its children need to be searched for the asset. Once the slices associated with an asset are found, they can be quickly restored from the corresponding containers which hold the assets.