Multi-Target Mirroring for Tertiary Storage Consistency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing data mirroring systems in distributed computing face performance degradation due to cascade arrangements in tertiary storage, which can lead to data inconsistency and reduced system availability during failures.
Innovation Solution
Implementing multi-target mirroring in a bidirectional data copying system, where updates are written to both the secondary and tertiary storage units independently, avoiding cascade operations and maintaining data consistency without degrading performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If cascade arrangement is used for tertiary storage, then data consistency can be maintained through sequential copying, but system performance degrades due to sequential dependency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the tertiary storage copying process into independent parallel operations. Instead of a single sequential cascade copy path, multiple independent copy paths are created from the secondary storage to different tertiary storage units, allowing simultaneous execution of copy operations without mutual dependency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a one-dimensional sequential cascade arrangement to a multi-dimensional parallel structure. Multiple tertiary storage units are organized in a distributed manner, enabling copy operations to proceed along multiple dimensions simultaneously rather than following a single linear path.
2Device complexity
If cascade arrangement is used for tertiary storage, then storage structure is simplified, but system availability reduces during failures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making each tertiary storage unit independently accessible and functional. Each tertiary unit maintains its own copy relationship with the secondary storage, allowing local recovery operations without requiring the entire cascade structure to be intact. This distributed independence improves system availability during failures.
3Productivity
If multi-target mirroring is implemented, then performance degradation is reduced through parallel operations, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements multi-functionality by enabling the secondary storage unit to serve as a source for multiple tertiary storage units simultaneously. This universal copying capability allows the system to maintain multiple independent copy relationships without requiring separate dedicated pathways for each tertiary unit, managing complexity while preserving performance benefits.
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment of the present description, mirroring is provided for a pair of storage units in bidirectional synchronous mirror relationships, and a tertiary storage unit. The mirroring includes multi-target mirroring to write updates written to the first storage unit to both the second storage unit and to a third storage unit. Similarly, for updates written to the second storage unit, multi-target mirroring is employed to write those to both the first storage unit and to the third storage unit. Other aspects are described.