Recovery Driver On-Demand Data Restoration

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current disk-to-disk backup systems take several hours to complete disaster recovery, resulting in significant out-of-service time for production environments due to the need for data transfer and reboot processes, which can be lengthy and inconvenient for users.

Innovation Solution

A system and method that employs a recovery driver to intercept disk access requests, initiate on-demand recovery requests to a backup server for unrecovered data blocks, and restore them dynamically, allowing the system to become available sooner without requiring a reboot, by using a bitmap to track recovered data blocks and managing data access efficiently.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If traditional disk-to-disk backup systems complete full data recovery before system availability, then data完整性 is ensured, but out-of-service time increases significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata integrityVSAvoidout-of-service time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by booting the production machine and making the file system accessible before the backup image is fully recovered. The recovery driver intercepts disk access requests and initiates on-demand recovery operations in the background, allowing the system to become available while recovery continues concurrently.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system dynamically adapts the recovery process by intercepting disk access requests in real-time and selectively recovering only the requested data blocks on-demand. The bitmap is dynamically updated to track recovered blocks, and the system transitions from a static full-recovery model to a dynamic partial-recovery model that responds to actual user access patterns.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

2Quantity of substance

If the system waits for complete data recovery before becoming available, then all data is restored, but user productivity decreases due to extended downtime

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveamount of recovered dataVSAvoiduser productivity
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies partial action by recovering only the specific data blocks that are actually requested by users, rather than waiting for complete recovery of all data. The recovery driver intercepts access requests and triggers on-demand recovery of individual blocks, allowing users to access and work with available data while the rest of the backup recovers in the background.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Stability of the object's composition

If traditional systems require a reboot after backup restoration, then system stability is improved, but the additional reboot time extends the recovery window

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesystem stabilityVSAvoidrecovery window
Core Design Contradiction:
Stability of the object's compositionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary actions by booting the production machine and loading the recovery driver into the operating system kernel before complete data recovery is finished. This preliminary boot allows the system to become stable and operational while the recovery driver continues to manage on-demand recovery operations in the background, eliminating the need for a second reboot after recovery completes.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS9229822B2Data disaster recovery
Publication Date: 2016.01.05 CA TECH INC

AI summary

A system includes a production computer machine that includes an operating system and a driver stack. The driver stack includes a file system layer, a recovery driver, a storage layer, a driver layer, a bus driver layer, and a storage device. The system also includes a backup computer processor coupled to the production computer machine via the recovery driver. The recovery driver is configured to commence a recovery of data from the backup computer processor, receive a disk access request from the file system layer, determine if the disk access request accesses data that has not yet been recovered from the backup computer processor, and initiate an on-demand recovery request from the backup computer processor when the data has not been recovered from the backup computer processor.