Reverse Chronological Backup Restoration for Non-Volatile Storage
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional data restoration methods involving incremental backups often result in multiple writes to the same sector, leading to increased restoration time and reduced lifespan of non-volatile storage due to unnecessary writes, especially with frequently changing data blocks like the Master File Table in NTFS.
Innovation Solution
Restoring data blocks in reverse chronological order, where the content of each block from the last incremental backup is written first, and subsequent backups are applied only if the block has not already been restored, potentially reducing writes to a single occurrence per block.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If forward chronological restoration is performed, then data blocks are restored in sequence from last full backup, but multiple writes occur to the same sector increasing restoration time and reducing storage lifespan
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies reverse chronological order restoration instead of the conventional forward chronological order. By starting with the most recent incremental backup and working backward to the full backup, the system ensures that each sector is written only once to its final state, eliminating redundant writes and significantly reducing restoration time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary identification of sectors that need restoration by analyzing the incremental backup chain before actual restoration begins. This allows the system to prepare a restoration plan that minimizes writes by determining the final state of each sector in advance, preventing unnecessary writes during the restoration process.
2Ease of operation
If forward chronological restoration is performed, then data blocks are restored sequentially, but unnecessary repeated writes reduce the operating lifetime of non-volatile storage
Solution Approach 1:
By inverting the restoration sequence to work backward from the most recent backup, the patent eliminates redundant writes to sectors that have been updated in newer incremental backups. This approach preserves storage lifespan by minimizing write operations while maintaining operational simplicity through automated sector tracking.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms that track which sectors have been restored and their current state. By monitoring restoration progress and comparing sector states across incremental backups, the system intelligently determines which sectors require writes and which are already in their final state, preventing unnecessary writes that would reduce storage lifespan.
Data Source
AI summary
Restoring of content of data blocks to non-volatile storage as the content existed at a particular instant in time. After accessing the last backup representing the most recent backup of the plurality of data blocks prior to the particular instant in time, the content of each data block represented in the last backup is written to a corresponding position in the non-volatile storage. This last backup may be an incremental backup in which only those data blocks that had changed since the immediate prior backup were actually backed up. Then, restoration occurs through each prior backup in reverse chronologic order until the full backup is encountered and restored. When restoring a backup, a data block is not restored if the data block had already been restored proceeding in reverse chronological order.