RAIN Storage Parity Group Naming Convention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional Redundant Array of Independent Nodes (RAIN) systems face inefficiencies due to excessive storage space consumption and time-consuming metadata queries, leading to performance issues and increased system risks from parity group membership information management.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method where files within the same parity group are configured with the same or partially same file names, reducing metadata maintenance and eliminating the need for storing parity group membership information, thereby saving storage space and reducing unnecessary I/O operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional RAIN systems store parity group membership information in metadata, then data redundancy and fault tolerance are provided, but storage space is excessively consumed and metadata query operations become time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the parity group membership information from the metadata of data files and parity files. Instead of storing this information in the file metadata, the system uses a separate mapping mechanism where the filename itself (without extension) directly indicates the parity group membership. This extraction eliminates the need to store and query membership information within the file metadata, significantly reducing metadata query time while maintaining fault tolerance capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes the filename serve multiple functions: it identifies the file itself, indicates the parity group membership, and enables direct location of related files for data recovery. By encoding the parity group information in the filename structure (e.g., using prefixes or suffixes to denote parity group identifiers), the system eliminates the need for separate metadata storage and query operations, reducing both storage overhead and query time while maintaining reliability.
2Reliability
If traditional RAIN systems maintain parity group membership information in metadata, then data protection is ensured, but storage space is wasted and system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the parity group membership information from the file metadata, eliminating the storage space required for this redundant information. The membership information is instead inferred from the filename structure or maintained through a separate efficient mapping mechanism, thereby reducing the quantity of stored data while preserving data protection capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of storing metadata about file membership in the file structure itself, the patent inverts the approach by encoding membership information in the filename or using the filename as a key to lookup membership. This inversion eliminates the need for separate metadata storage, reducing storage space consumption while maintaining the ability to track and protect data through parity groups.
3Ease of operation
If traditional RAIN systems store complete metadata for each file, then file management is facilitated, but I/O operations increase and performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the parity group membership information from the file metadata, reducing the size and complexity of the metadata that needs to be read and written during I/O operations. This extraction maintains file management capabilities through the filename structure while significantly reducing the I/O overhead associated with metadata operations, thereby improving system performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary organization of files into parity groups with naming conventions that encode group information in the filenames themselves. This preliminary action eliminates the need for runtime metadata queries to determine group membership, as the information is immediately available from the filename. This pre-organization maintains ease of file management while improving performance by eliminating unnecessary I/O operations during normal operations.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method, device and computer program product for storing data. The method comprises creating a first data file having a naming identification at a first node in a Redundant Array of Independent Nodes (RAIN), and creating a second data file having the naming identification at a second node in the RAIN. The method further comprises creating, at a third node in the RAIN, a parity file having the naming identification, wherein the parity file is a parity result of a plurality of data files. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, files in the same parity group are configured with the same or partially the same file name.