Native File System Backup Mounting for Instant Restore
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing backup and restore applications face challenges in quickly transmitting and restoring backup files across different file systems, as they are typically stored in proprietary formats that clients' native file systems cannot read, leading to delays in achieving instant uptime.
Innovation Solution
The creation of a native file system for backup files involves generating a virtual disk template in the client's native format, combining it with file data to create a backup file that can be mounted as a virtual disk, allowing instant restoration of data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If backup files are stored in proprietary formats to enable deduplication and compression, then storage efficiency is improved, but the ability of clients' native file systems to read these files directly is lost, requiring time-consuming restoration processes
Solution Approach 1:
The backup file is segmented into two distinct components: a proprietary format portion containing deduplicated and compressed data blocks, and a native file system format portion containing file system structures. This segmentation allows each component to serve its specialized function while enabling the native file system portion to be mounted directly for fast restoration of individual files without requiring full decompression or conversion of the entire backup file.
2Reliability
If full backup files are created to ensure complete data restoration capability, then data protection is improved, but the time and storage required for backup creation increases
Solution Approach 1:
A native file system format portion is created preliminarily during the backup process, containing the complete file system structure and metadata in a format that can be immediately mounted by clients. This preliminary action enables fast restoration of individual files without requiring time-consuming processing of the entire proprietary format backup file, while the proprietary portion maintains complete data protection through deduplication and compression.
3Quantity of substance
If incremental backup files are used to reduce storage space, then storage efficiency is improved, but the complexity of combining multiple backup files to restore complete data sets increases
Solution Approach 1:
The native file system format portion serves multiple functions: it enables direct mounting by clients for fast file access, provides a unified interface for restoring individual files or complete data sets, and works consistently across incremental and full backup types. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for complex combination logic when restoring from incremental backups, as the native file system portion can be mounted directly to access any required data.
Data Source
AI summary
Native file system creation for backup files is described. A system creates a virtual disk template corresponding to a disk associated with a client device. The system sends a copy of the virtual disk template as template data. The system sends a copy of a file on the disk as file data. The system stores a backup file in a file system format that is native to the client device by combining the template data and the file data. The system restores a file in the backup file to the disk via mounting the backup file as a virtual disk on the client device.