Distributed Object Storage Snapshot Branching Locking
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current storage systems lack efficient mechanisms for implementing snapshots, branches, and locking mechanisms, which are essential for managing and maintaining the integrity and accessibility of data across distributed storage systems.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution involves a distributed consistent database architecture that incorporates a Chord-like distributed hash table access mechanism, enabling intelligent routing, parallel access capabilities, and meta-data management, along with snapshot and locking functionalities to ensure data consistency and reliability across the storage system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional storage systems are used, then basic storage functionality is provided, but they lack efficient snapshot, branch, and locking mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a unified storage system that provides multiple functions including snapshots, branching, locking, and version control through a single coherent architecture. The object storage system integrates these diverse functionalities using common underlying mechanisms such as versioned object metadata and coordinated locking protocols, allowing the system to serve multiple purposes without requiring separate specialized systems for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments storage operations into distinct functional layers: object storage for data, metadata management for version tracking, and locking mechanisms for consistency control. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently while maintaining overall system coherence, enabling efficient snapshots by versioning objects without affecting the underlying storage structure.
2Reliability
If snapshot and locking mechanisms are added to storage systems, then data integrity and accessibility are improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces metadata as an intermediary layer between the object storage and the snapshot/locking operations. Version metadata tracks object states and enables snapshot creation without duplicating actual data, while locking metadata coordinates access control. This intermediary metadata layer absorbs the complexity of consistency management, allowing the underlying storage system to remain simple while providing sophisticated integrity controls.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses metadata copying rather than full data copying for snapshots. Instead of duplicating entire objects when creating snapshots, the system copies and version-tags the metadata pointers, allowing rapid snapshot creation with minimal storage overhead. The actual data remains in place and is shared across multiple versions, reducing complexity compared to full replication approaches.
3Adaptability or versatility
If version control and metadata management are implemented, then snapshot capability is improved, but storage overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements metadata copying instead of full data copying for version control. Each versioned object maintains a metadata record containing version information and pointers to the actual data, rather than duplicating the entire object for each version. This approach provides comprehensive version control and snapshot capability while keeping storage overhead proportional to the number of versions rather than the size of the objects.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges version control information with the object metadata structure, eliminating the need for separate version control systems. The metadata contains both object attributes and version tracking information in a unified structure, reducing overhead by combining what could be separate data structures into a single integrated metadata record per object.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus is described including a large scale distributed storage system. The large scale distributed storage system includes an object store. The large scale distributed storage system includes a plurality of connector nodes coupled to the object store. The connector nodes are to provide access to the object store for respective users that are respectively coupled to the connector nodes. The connector nodes are to provide the following services for the respective users: a snapshot of a storage system implemented within said object store; branching from a snapshot taken of said storage system implemented within said object store; locking of information kept within said storage system implemented within said object store.