Reference Recovery Point Selection Across Cloud Storage Tiers
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In multi-site data replication environments, efficiently organizing and retrieving data across different storage tiers in cloud storage systems is challenging due to varying costs and retrieval speeds, especially in disaster recovery and archival storage deployments, where retention policies and storage tiers differ among sites.
Innovation Solution
A site and storage tier aware technique that utilizes a control plane service and a data plane service to manage data replication and retrieval, incorporating a storage tier aware reference resolver to determine optimal data transfer and retrieval based on factors like time and cost, and a site aware reference resolver to select the best recovery point for data restoration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If data is stored in cloud storage tiers with different cost and retrieval speed characteristics, then storage cost and retrieval performance can be optimized, but it becomes difficult to organize when and in what tier data should be stored and retrieved
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically determines optimal storage tiers and retrieval strategies without manual intervention. The reference resolver and replication manager autonomously analyze data characteristics, storage tier attributes (cost, retrieval speed), and make decisions about where to store and retrieve data based on predefined policies and constraints.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes data storage parameters dynamically by selecting different cloud storage tiers based on data age, access patterns, and cost considerations. The replication manager adjusts replication strategies based on storage tier characteristics, transitioning data between tiers as needed to optimize the cost-performance ratio.
2Reliability
If all incremental snapshots are replicated to the secondary site, then data synchronization is ensured, but data transfer cost and storage cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and retains only the necessary subset of incremental snapshots at the secondary site based on retention policies specific to each storage tier and site. The reference resolver determines which snapshots are needed for disaster recovery scenarios, filtering out redundant data that would increase transfer and storage costs without providing additional protection.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of replicating all incremental snapshots, the system implements partial replication by retaining only a subset of snapshots according to retention policies. This partial action approach balances data synchronization requirements with cost constraints, keeping enough snapshots for meaningful recovery while avoiding excessive data transfer and storage expenses.
3Loss of time
If data is retrieved from storage tiers with different retrieval speeds, then recovery time can be optimized, but retrieval cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically selects retrieval strategies based on the specific disaster recovery scenario and data characteristics. The reference resolver analyzes the situation and determines whether to retrieve data from faster (more expensive) or slower (cheaper) storage tiers, adjusting the retrieval approach in real-time based on urgency and cost considerations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes retrieval parameters by selecting different storage tiers based on the balance between recovery time requirements and cost constraints. The replication manager and reference resolver adjust retrieval strategies dynamically, transitioning between speed-oriented and cost-oriented retrieval modes as needed.
Data Source
AI summary
A site and storage tier aware technique replicates data as one or more recovery points (RPs) from a primary site to a secondary site in a multi-site data replication environment. A storage tier aware reference resolver determines (i) an amount of RP data transfer associated with the replication and (ii) location information associated with a cloud storage tier storing the RP data in an object store. The storage tier aware reference resolution aspect provides two additional factors to consider when retrieving data of a reference RP from cloud storage: (iii) the time (duration) needed to retrieve the data and (iv) the cost (financial expense) needed to retrieve the data. In addition, a site aware reference resolution aspect of the technique determines an optimal RP to use as the reference RP and involves consideration of (v) which RPs have been replicated from the primary site to the secondary site and (vi) which RPs have been retained for storage at the sites.