LAN and Dispersed Storage Memory for Threshold-Based Data Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional computer storage systems face challenges with data integrity and security due to the failure of memory devices, particularly those using physical movement technologies like disc drives, which can lead to bit-level corruption and require redundant arrays to ensure data availability, but these solutions increase maintenance demands and security risks.
Innovation Solution
A dispersed storage network system that uses error-coded data slices distributed across multiple physically diverse locations, allowing for reliable and secure data storage and retrieval, with a management unit that oversees data distribution, integrity verification, and maintenance, utilizing error correction coding to reconstruct data even if slices are lost or corrupted.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If redundant arrays of disc drives are used to ensure data availability, then data reliability is improved, but maintenance demands and security risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments data into multiple slices and distributes them across different storage locations (local and remote). This segmentation allows the system to achieve redundancy and reliability without requiring complex RAID arrays, as each slice can be independently stored and retrieved, reducing maintenance complexity while maintaining data availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a file system layer as an intermediary that manages data slicing, encoding, and distribution. This intermediary handles the complexity of redundancy management, allowing the underlying storage infrastructure to remain simple while still providing high data availability through distributed storage across multiple locations.
2Reliability
If multiple copies of data are stored to protect against loss, then data reliability is improved, but security risks increase due to multiple access points
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting data into slices and distributing them across multiple locations with different access credentials required, the patent reduces security risks. Even if one location is compromised, the segmented nature of the data prevents complete data recovery without multiple slices, thus protecting against unauthorized access while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different access credentials and security policies to different slices stored at different locations. Each slice can have customized access controls based on its location and importance, allowing fine-grained security management that protects data while enabling reliable access through multiple secure pathways.
3Ease of operation
If data is stored in a centralized location for easy management, then ease of operation is improved, but vulnerability to single point of failure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments data and distributes it across multiple storage locations (local device and remote storage), eliminating the single point of failure inherent in centralized storage. The file system manages this distributed storage transparently, maintaining ease of operation while significantly improving reliability through geographic and physical distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single-dimensional centralized storage model to a multi-dimensional distributed storage model, where data exists across multiple spatial dimensions (local/remote, different devices). This dimensional expansion provides redundancy and fault tolerance while the file system maintains operational simplicity through unified access interfaces.
Data Source
AI summary
A method begins by a processing module encoding data based on a decode threshold parameter and a pillar width parameter to produce a set of encoded data slices and selecting a local area network (LAN) pillar width value of encoded data slices of the set of encoded data slices for storage in LAN available memories, wherein the LAN pillar width value is based on the decode threshold parameter, the pillar width parameter, and quantities of the LAN available memories. The method continues with the processing module selecting a wide area network (WAN) pillar width value of encoded data slices of the set of encode data slices for storage in a dispersed storage network (DSN) memory of a wide area network, wherein the WAN pillar width value is based on the decode threshold parameter and the pillar width parameter.