Live Backup Snapshot Queue for Storage Space and I/O Performance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional copy-on-write techniques for live backups are inefficient, consuming significant resources and causing interference with I/O performance and storage space, potentially leading to backup failures due to lack of space for copied blocks.
Innovation Solution
Copying original data blocks directly to a backup queue in volatile memory during copy-on-write operations, rather than caching them locally, allows for efficient live backups by managing snapshots and reducing storage consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional copy-on-write techniques are used to maintain snapshots during live backups, then snapshot consistency is achieved, but storage space is consumed and I/O performance is interfered with
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the copied data blocks from the source volume and stores them in a separate backup queue in volatile memory. This separation removes the storage burden from the source volume while maintaining snapshot consistency, directly resolving the contradiction between reliability and storage space consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a backup queue as an intermediary component between the source volume and the backup destination. This intermediary temporarily holds copied blocks in volatile memory, enabling snapshot operations without consuming source volume space and minimizing I/O interference, thus resolving both storage space and performance issues.
2Reliability
If copy-on-write operations are performed during live backups, then data consistency is maintained, but I/O performance of live applications is interfered with
Solution Approach 1:
The backup queue serves as an intermediary that decouples the copy-on-write operations from the source volume I/O path. By routing copied blocks through this intermediary in volatile memory, the system maintains data consistency while minimizing the performance impact on live applications, as the copying operations no longer directly contend for source volume resources.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical copy-on-write operations that write to the source volume with a memory-based copying mechanism using volatile memory for the backup queue. This substitution reduces the mechanical I/O overhead and interference with live applications while maintaining the essential copy-on-write functionality for data consistency.
3Reliability
If entire volume snapshots are copied, then complete backup is achieved, but time and computing resources are consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the backup process into two distinct phases: a rapid snapshot phase that captures the volume state using copy-on-write in volatile memory, and a subsequent transfer phase that moves data to the backup destination. This segmentation enables complete backup reliability while significantly reducing the time cost of the snapshot operation itself, as the heavy lifting is deferred to the second phase.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary actions by creating the snapshot structure and setting up the backup queue in volatile memory before the actual data transfer begins. This preliminary setup enables rapid snapshot creation, and the system then efficiently transfers only the necessary data blocks, reducing overall backup time while maintaining completeness.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented method for performing live backups may include identifying a request to perform a live backup on a volume of data. The computer-implemented method may also include creating a snapshot of the volume. The computer-implemented method may further include identifying each attempt to write to the volume during the live backup. The computer-implemented method may additionally include, for each write attempt, identifying a block of data that the write attempt will overwrite and copying the block of data to a backup queue before allowing the write attempt. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.