Mass Centralization System for Disk Image Cloning
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Full cloning of computer images into a central location is challenging due to the complexity of managing multiple desktop images, geographic dispersion of enterprises, and performance and scalability issues caused by traditional systems that require significant resources and time, especially over WAN links, leading to inefficiencies in migration projects and user experience.
Innovation Solution
A mass centralization approach that uses metadata to compute an optimal centralization plan, prioritizing the upload of important files from the fastest devices with minimal user interruption, and employing a hybrid scanning method that maps files to disk blocks for efficient sequential reading and uploading, reducing the need for redundant scanning and network traffic.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional full image cloning is performed by scanning and uploading all files from each computing device, then complete centralization is achieved, but the process requires significant time, network bandwidth, and CPU resources
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential file information (metadata including file path, size, modification time, and checksum) from the computing devices rather than transferring complete file contents. This extraction approach achieves complete centralization of file information while eliminating the time-consuming network transfer of actual file data, directly resolving the contradiction between centralization completeness and centralization time
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary scanning and metadata collection at each computing device before centralization. By pre-processing the file information locally and preparing the metadata for upload, the system reduces the subsequent centralization workload and time requirements while ensuring no file information is lost, thus resolving the time resource constraint
2Measurement precision
If traditional disk cloning reads entire file content to detect duplicates using checksum, then duplicate detection accuracy is improved, but network traffic increases due to reading all files
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the checksum metadata from files rather than reading and transmitting the entire file content. This allows duplicate detection to be performed on metadata alone, maintaining measurement precision for duplicate identification while dramatically reducing network traffic to minimal metadata transmission levels
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates and transmits a copy of only the file metadata (including checksum) rather than copying actual file contents. This metadata copy enables accurate duplicate detection through checksum comparison while the quantity of data transmitted remains minimal, resolving the contradiction between detection accuracy and network traffic
3Ease of operation
If file-system interfaces are used to enumerate files in arbitrary order, then file access flexibility is improved, but disk scanning efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary file enumeration and metadata extraction at each computing device using flexible file-system interfaces. By completing the flexible file access operations locally before centralization, the system maintains ease of operation for file access while the subsequent centralized processing deals only with compact metadata, improving overall productivity
Data Source
AI summary
A system for a mass centralization approach to full image cloning of multiple computing devices is provided. The system includes a server, and a computing device that includes a disk for data storage, wherein the disk includes a plurality of blocks within a plurality of regions. The system also includes a processor programmed to map each file stored on the disk to at least one of the plurality of blocks, for one or more of the plurality of regions of the disk, determine that a number of files appearing in sequential blocks exceeds a predefined threshold number of files, perform a continuous scan of the one or more of the plurality of regions of the disk occupied by the number of files appearing in sequential blocks exceeding the predefined threshold number of files, and send a copy of the files scanned from the one or more plurality of regions of the disk to the server.