Transport Path Selection for Backup Data Duplication
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Solution Overview
Problem
In enterprise backup systems, administrators face a significant burden in scheduling data duplication to distribute loads across devices and media servers efficiently due to the complexity and size of the environment, requiring manual management of I/O paths.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for automatically selecting a transport path for data duplication jobs by enumerating possible components, determining rankings and availability, and selecting the most suitable path based on runtime loading and performance capabilities, including options like shared memory, fibre channel, LAN, and WAN transport.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If administrators manually schedule data duplication to distribute loads, then load distribution across devices and media servers is improved, but administrative burden and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically performs transport path selection and load distribution without administrator intervention. The media server autonomously evaluates multiple transport paths, determines optimal routes based on current system state, and executes duplication jobs accordingly, eliminating the need for manual scheduling while maintaining efficient load distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adapts transport path selection based on real-time conditions. It continuously monitors the state of media servers, storage devices, and transport mechanisms, then adjusts path selection to optimize load distribution under varying system conditions, ensuring efficient resource utilization without fixed manual schedules.
2Productivity
If administrators manually manage I/O paths, then I/O path optimization is improved, but time consumption and operational complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically selects optimal transport paths for data duplication without administrator intervention. It evaluates multiple possible paths, considers current system conditions, and determines the best route autonomously, eliminating the time administrators would spend manually optimizing I/O paths while maintaining or improving optimization quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-evaluates multiple transport paths and their characteristics before executing duplication jobs. By preparing and ranking possible transport options in advance based on system capabilities and current state, it ensures optimal I/O path selection is ready when needed, eliminating the need for real-time manual path management.
3Measurement precision
If multiple transport paths are enumerated and ranked, then transport path selection accuracy is improved, but computational overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different evaluation criteria and ranking methods to different transport path components. Instead of uniformly analyzing all paths with equal detail, it focuses computational resources on evaluating the most promising paths and their critical components, achieving accurate selection while reducing overall computational overhead by varying the depth of analysis locally.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media are disclosed for a computer system determining a transport path for a data duplication job. A data duplication job request, being a request that data stored on a source device be duplicated, may be received. A plurality of possible transport path components may be enumerated. The plurality of possible transport path components may include one or more possible destination devices, one or more possible means of transport, and one or more possible media servers. A ranking may be determined for at least a subset of the possible transport path components. An availability may be determined for at least a subset of the possible transport path components. A transport path may be selected based on the determined rankings and the determined availabilities. The data duplication job may be performed using the selected transport path.