Pass-Through Snapshot Engine for Uninterrupted Backup Resumption

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing backup systems face issues with abrupt interruptions during backup operations, leading to increased backup windows as they often require restarting from the beginning, resulting in unusable data and inefficiencies.

Innovation Solution

A pass-through snapshot engine and system that record lifecycle and chronological data of files during backups, allowing for uninterrupted resumption of backups from the point of interruption by creating zero files and pass-through snapshots, which are used to restart the backup process, discarding already backed-up data.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a backup is aborted during progress, then the backup operation is interrupted, but the backup window increases and data becomes unusable

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebackup data integrityVSAvoidbackup window

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system creates a snapshot of the backup data at the point of interruption before the backup is aborted. This preliminary action captures the state of backed-up files, allowing the system to resume from that point rather than restarting, thus maintaining data integrity while reducing backup window extension

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The backup process is segmented into manageable units where each file or file batch can be independently tracked and resumed. When an abort occurs, only the unbacked-up segments need to be reprocessed, while already-backed-up segments are preserved through snapshotting, preventing complete backup restart

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Reliability

If a backup is restarted from the beginning after an abort, then data completeness is ensured, but the backup window increases significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebackup completenessVSAvoidbackup window

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

Snapshots are created at interruption points to record which files have been successfully backed up. This preliminary recording action enables the system to identify and skip already-backed-up files during restart, ensuring completeness while minimizing redundant operations and backup window extension

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses snapshot information as feedback to determine the restart point. By continuously monitoring backup progress through snapshots and using this information to guide the restart process, the system avoids re-backing-up completed files, thus maintaining reliability while reducing time loss

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentUS11188248B2System and method to achieve an uninterrupted file level backup using a pass-through snapshot engine

Publication Date: 2021.11.30 EMC IP HLDG CO LLC

AI summary

A pass-through snapshot engine records lifecycle data and chronological status of files or objects, in one or more pass-through snapshots during a backup. If there is an abort, the pass-through snapshot engine freezes the pass-through snapshot(s) and terminates the backup. To restart after the abort, the pass-through snapshot engine sends one or more pass-through snapshots to the backup agent. The backup agent restarts the backup, and enforces states of lifecycle and chronology to files or objects, and discards files or objects that have already been backed up to the target device, in accordance with the one or more pass-through snapshots.