Hybrid Cloud Storage Segmentation for Scalability and Cost

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current cloud storage solutions face challenges in balancing accessibility, cost, and performance, with public cloud storage offering ease of use but high costs and on-premise storage requiring upfront investments and maintenance, while lacking scalability.

Innovation Solution

A hybrid cloud storage arrangement that combines a private data center with a public cloud, where data objects are stored locally in the private center and metadata and policies are managed in the public cloud, allowing for scalable and cost-effective data management.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If public cloud storage is used, then accessibility and ease of use are improved, but cost increases

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveaccessibilityVSAvoidcost

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The storage system is segmented into two parts: frequently accessed data is stored locally in the private data center for fast access, while less frequently accessed data is stored in the public cloud for cost efficiency. This segmentation allows the system to optimize both accessibility and cost by placing data in the most appropriate location based on access patterns.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Different storage locations are assigned different qualities: the private data center provides high-speed local access for critical data, while the public cloud provides scalable, cost-effective storage for archival data. This local quality differentiation resolves the contradiction by matching storage characteristics to data requirements.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

2Quantity of substance

If on-premise storage is used, then cost and performance are improved, but scalability deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

ImprovecostVSAvoidscalability

Core Design Contradiction:

Quantity of substanceVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The system merges on-premise private cloud storage with public cloud storage into a unified hybrid architecture. This combination allows the organization to maintain control over local storage resources while gaining the scalability of public cloud infrastructure, effectively resolving the contradiction between cost performance and scalability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The hybrid cloud system dynamically adjusts storage allocation between private and public clouds based on demand. When storage capacity is needed, the system can automatically provision additional space in the public cloud without requiring upfront hardware investments, enabling scalable growth while maintaining cost efficiency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

3Adaptability or versatility

If public cloud storage is used, then scalability is improved, but performance deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

ImprovescalabilityVSAvoidperformance

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSSpeed

Solution Approach 1:

Data is segmented based on access frequency and performance requirements. Hot data that requires high performance is stored locally in the private data center, while cold data with lower performance requirements is stored in the public cloud. This segmentation ensures that scalability is achieved without compromising the performance of critical data.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The private data center acts as an intermediary between the public cloud and end users. It caches frequently accessed data and handles local storage operations, reducing the need for data to traverse the public cloud infrastructure and thereby maintaining high performance while leveraging public cloud scalability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

4Speed

If on-premise storage is used, then performance is improved, but device complexity and maintenance burden increase

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveperformanceVSAvoidmaintenance burden

Core Design Contradiction:

SpeedVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The maintenance and management functions are extracted from the private data center and offloaded to the public cloud provider. The public cloud handles software updates, security patches, and infrastructure maintenance, while the private data center focuses on local data access and caching. This extraction reduces the maintenance burden on the organization while preserving local performance benefits.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentUS11533377B2Hybrid cloud

Publication Date: 2022.12.20 SPECTRA LOGIC CORP

AI summary

A cloud environment is provided generally having at least one private data center possessing a controller/routing system and nonvolatile mass storage, a plurality of data objects retained in the nonvolatile mass storage, and a public cloud storage service provider linked to the controller/routing system. The public cloud storage service provider possessing a database containing policy decisions and metadata of the plurality of data objects. The private data center is not in possession of the policy decisions and the metadata for the plurality of data objects, rather the public cloud storage service provider is. The private data center in possession of the plurality of data objects, whereas the public cloud storage provider is not. The public cloud storage service provider adapted to be communicatively linked to an end-user computing system by way of the controller/routing system. The data center is independent of the public cloud storage provider.