Lightweight Mounting of Secondary File System Data

Solution Overview

Problem

The increasing volume of data stored in secondary storage systems makes it inefficient to search and restore data, as accessing secondary storage can be slow and resource-intensive, leading to burdensome demands on system resources and lengthy retrieval times.

Innovation Solution

A system that allows users to search and mount a selective, abbreviated version of a secondary copy of a file system using user-defined filtering criteria, reducing the need to retrieve all data objects from secondary storage, thereby improving performance and usability.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If all secondary copy data is retrieved from secondary storage for searching, then complete data search capability is achieved, but system resource demands increase and retrieval time lengthens

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata search capabilityVSAvoidretrieval time

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the necessary metadata (file names, paths, and other identifying information) from the secondary copy data stored in secondary storage, rather than retrieving the entire data set. This extracted metadata is then mounted to the client device, enabling search operations to be performed on a minimal data subset, thus dramatically reducing retrieval time while preserving complete search capability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the data access process into two distinct phases: (1) mounting a lightweight metadata representation of the secondary copy to the client device for searching, and (2) retrieving only the specific data objects that match search criteria from secondary storage. This segmentation allows search operations to be performed efficiently without the overhead of transferring large volumes of secondary copy data.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Measurement precision

If all secondary copy data is retrieved from secondary storage for searching, then complete data search capability is achieved, but system resource demands increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata search capabilityVSAvoidsystem resource demands

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the necessary metadata (file names, paths, and other identifying information) from the secondary copy data stored in secondary storage, rather than retrieving the entire data set. This extracted metadata is then mounted to the client device, enabling search operations to be performed on a minimal data subset, thus dramatically reducing retrieval time while preserving complete search capability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the data access process into two distinct phases: (1) mounting a lightweight metadata representation of the secondary copy to the client device for searching, and (2) retrieving only the specific data objects that match search criteria from secondary storage. This segmentation allows search operations to be performed efficiently without the overhead of transferring large volumes of secondary copy data.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

3Productivity

If selective mounting based on filtering criteria is implemented, then retrieval efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveretrieval efficiencyVSAvoidsystem complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent performs preliminary filtering of the secondary copy data during the metadata extraction phase, applying user-defined search criteria to identify and extract only the relevant data object identifiers before mounting. This preliminary action reduces the amount of data that needs to be processed and mounted, improving retrieval efficiency while keeping the additional complexity confined to the initial filtering step.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS11461016B2Lightweight mounting of a secondary file system data

Publication Date: 2022.10.04 COMMVAULT SYSTEMS INC

AI summary

A data storage system allows a user to search a secondary copy such as a back up, archive, or snapshot and receive an abbreviated version of the secondary copy of the file system as a result of the search. The abbreviated version of the secondary copy of the file system may include metadata such as a listing of secondary copy data that correspond with a search term or other filtering criteria provided by the user. An operating system of the user's computing device may mount the abbreviated version so that it can be displayed within a view of the file system of the computing device. Once a user selects one or more desired data objects listed in the abbreviated version, the selected actual one or more data objects are retrieved from secondary storage.