Sub-block Snapshot Management via Differential Indexing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing snapshot creation and management systems in cloud environments are inefficient due to the need to store and compare large amounts of unchanged data, leading to high resource consumption and unnecessary data duplication, especially when dealing with incremental snapshots of large data volumes.
Innovation Solution
The system allows clients to specify ancestral snapshots and individual blocks that have changed, enabling the creation of differential snapshots without storing unnecessary data, and uses a manifest index to efficiently identify metadata for snapshot blocks, reducing network and processing loads by comparing path structures instead of performing block-level data comparisons.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional snapshot systems store all data blocks for each snapshot, then snapshot reliability is improved, but storage resource consumption increases and data duplication occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments snapshot data into changed blocks and unchanged blocks. Only changed blocks are stored in the snapshot, while unchanged blocks reference the parent snapshot. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by storing only necessary data segments, reducing storage consumption while maintaining snapshot integrity through hierarchical referencing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements nested snapshot structures where child snapshots are nested within parent snapshots. Unchanged blocks in child snapshots reference blocks in parent snapshots, creating a nested hierarchy. This resolves the contradiction by eliminating data duplication across nested levels while preserving the complete data chain for reliability.
2Measurement precision
If block-level data comparison is performed to identify changed blocks, then snapshot accuracy is improved, but processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the block comparison operation from the snapshot creation process. A separate block comparison service performs the comparison between parent and child snapshots, identifying changed blocks independently. This extraction resolves the contradiction by enabling accurate block-level comparison without blocking the snapshot creation workflow, reducing processing time while maintaining accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a block comparison service as an intermediary between the snapshot creation system and the storage system. This intermediary service handles the computationally intensive block comparison task, allowing the main snapshot creation process to proceed efficiently. The intermediary resolves the contradiction by isolating the accurate but time-consuming comparison operation from the critical snapshot creation path.
3Loss of information
If complete snapshot data is transmitted over the network, then data completeness is improved, but network bandwidth consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the changed blocks from the snapshot data for network transmission. Instead of transmitting complete snapshot data, the system identifies and transmits only the differential blocks that contain new or modified information. This extraction resolves the contradiction by maintaining data completeness for changed portions while dramatically reducing network bandwidth consumption by eliminating transmission of unchanged data.
4Quantity of substance
If incremental snapshots are implemented to store only changed blocks, then storage efficiency is improved, but complexity of snapshot management increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a unified snapshot management system that handles both full and incremental snapshots through a common interface and architecture. The block comparison service and hierarchical referencing mechanism provide universal functionality that works across different snapshot types. This universality resolves the contradiction by enabling storage-efficient incremental snapshots while managing complexity through a standardized multi-functional framework.
Data Source
AI summary
Generally described, one or more aspects of the present application relate to a public snapshot service for creating and managing block-level snapshots. Snapshots can be configured to enable writing at the sub-block level. Subsequent modifications made to blocks storage volume that forms the basis of the snapshots can be backed up as a sub-block level operations.