Secondary Pools for Data Backup Storage Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing data backup systems face inefficiencies in storage management, particularly as the size of the primary pool grows over time, with older data retaining little value for retrieval, leading to a need for an improved mechanism to store data associated with safesets.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a system that includes primary and secondary storage pools, where the primary pool stores incremental data and a seed representing all data blocks, and the secondary pool is generated by transferring older data from the primary pool, allowing for efficient archiving of older data without duplication, using a pool reader to recreate safesets and an incremental pool reader to identify differential data for transfer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of stationary object
If a single primary pool stores all backup data over time, then data retention capability is improved, but storage efficiency deteriorates due to duplication of common segments across multiple safesets
Solution Approach 1:
The storage system is segmented into two distinct pools: a primary pool for recent incremental data and a secondary pool for older archived data. This segmentation allows each pool to be optimized for its specific function - the primary pool maintains high retrieval efficiency for recent backups while the secondary pool provides cost-effective long-term retention, thereby resolving the contradiction between data retention and storage efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
Older data that has low retrieval value is extracted from the primary pool and transferred to the secondary pool. This extraction eliminates the duplication problem in the primary pool while preserving the data in the secondary pool, thus improving storage efficiency without sacrificing data retention capability.
2Duration of action of stationary object
If the primary pool grows to store numerous safesets over an extended period, then data retention is improved, but retrieval efficiency deteriorates as the pool size increases
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the storage system into primary and secondary pools with a defined retention threshold, recent data requiring fast retrieval remains in the primary pool while older data is moved to the secondary pool. This segmentation maintains retrieval efficiency for active data while preserving long-term data retention capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes the parameter of data location based on age and retrieval value. Data transitions from the primary pool to the secondary pool when it exceeds a certain age threshold, optimizing the balance between retrieval efficiency and data retention by placing data in the appropriate storage pool based on its temporal characteristics.
3Quantity of substance
If incremental data management is used to reduce storage requirements, then storage efficiency is improved, but system complexity increases due to the need to track and manage multiple generations of data
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments data management operations into two distinct modes: incremental data management for the primary pool and archival management for the secondary pool. This segmentation simplifies the overall system complexity by providing clear rules for when to use incremental backups (primary pool) versus when to archive data (secondary pool), reducing the cognitive and operational burden of managing multiple data generations.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus for generating a secondary pool of data are disclosed. A primary pool of data is obtained or identified, where the primary pool of data includes a primary seed and one or more generations of data, wherein each of the generations of data in the primary pool of data includes one or more data blocks that have changed with reference to a safeset corresponding to a previous backup, the safeset corresponding to the previous backup including (e.g., referencing) the primary seed. A secondary pool of data is generated and at least a portion of the data in the primary pool of data is transferred to the secondary pool of data.