Server State Replication via Incremental File Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current data replication and server recovery techniques fail to provide real-time backup of entire servers, including system state information, leading to downtime and manual rebuilding processes, and are not feasible for large networks due to hardware and configuration disparities.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for replicating files and system state between source and target servers in near real-time, allowing for asynchronous data transfer, failover, and automatic rebuilding, while supporting diverse hardware and operating systems, and enabling bandwidth management and compression.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If full backup of system state and data is performed periodically, then data integrity is ensured, but backup time and system downtime increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs continuous incremental backups in the background without stopping the server operations. The backup process runs continuously, capturing changes as they occur, rather than requiring periodic full backups that interrupt service. This ensures data integrity while maintaining continuous server availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system prepares backup infrastructure and configurations in advance, including pre-configuring the backup server with necessary system state templates and pre-allocating storage resources. This preliminary setup eliminates the need for time-consuming configurations during actual backup operations.
2Quantity of substance
If incremental backup of changed files is performed, then backup storage space is reduced, but backup validity period is shortened
Solution Approach 1:
The incremental backup process runs continuously in the background, constantly capturing and transferring changed files. This continuous operation ensures that the backup remains valid and up-to-date without requiring periodic full backups, maintaining both storage efficiency and backup validity simultaneously.
3Reliability
If all files are closed before backup, then backup integrity is ensured, but network operations are interrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The backup system operates continuously in the background without requiring files to be closed or servers to be taken offline. It captures changes as they occur and transfers them to the backup server, ensuring backup integrity while maintaining continuous network operations and server availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses an intermediary backup server that receives and stores backup data independently from the production server. This intermediary approach allows the production server to continue operations without interruption while the backup process proceeds separately, eliminating the need to close files or interrupt network operations.
4Ease of operation
If pre-image caching is used for open files, then backup of open files is enabled, but backup validity is still limited by file changes
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs continuous incremental backups that constantly monitor and capture file changes as they occur. This continuous process ensures that the backup remains valid and up-to-date, overcoming the limitation of pre-image caching which only captures snapshots at specific moments. The continuous backup approach maintains backup validity while enabling backup of open files.
5Reliability
If real-time backup is implemented, then backup currency is improved, but hardware resources are doubled
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the changed portions of files and transfers them to the backup server, rather than copying entire files or requiring duplicate hardware infrastructure. This incremental approach achieves real-time backup currency while using minimal additional hardware resources, as it leverages the existing storage capacity on the backup server.
Solution Approach 2:
The backup server is designed to serve multiple functions: it stores backup data, manages incremental transfers, and can restore systems. This multi-functional approach eliminates the need for dedicated hardware for each function, reducing overall hardware complexity while maintaining real-time backup capabilities.
6Reliability
If disk mirroring is performed, then failover capability is provided, but disk requirements are doubled
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and transfers only changed file portions to the backup server rather than maintaining complete mirrored copies of all disks. This approach provides failover capability by maintaining up-to-date backup copies while using significantly less disk space than full mirroring, as it only stores incremental changes rather than complete duplicates.
7Extent of automation
If system state replication is implemented, then automatic rebuilding is enabled, but network bandwidth is consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and transfers only the changed system state information and configuration data to the backup server, rather than replicating entire system images. This selective replication enables automatic rebuilding capability while consuming minimal network bandwidth, as it transmits only the essential configuration data needed for restoration rather than complete system states.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention generally describes a system and method for data backup and recovery, in particular for backing up an entire server (i.e., system state and data) in substantially real-time. The invention provides high availability by failing a source server over to a target server if the source server fails, where the target server is reconfigured nearly identically to the source server. The invention does not require the source and target servers to have identical hardware or operating system versions. The invention further allows for rapid, automatic, restoration of a source server.