Virtual Data Files for Rapid Unstructured Data Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current data storage and backup solutions incur high costs and extended recovery times due to inefficient handling of inactive unstructured data, which delays access to active data during disasters or ransomware attacks, leading to lost revenue and damaged customer relationships.
Innovation Solution
Implementing Virtual Data Files (VDFs) that provide on-demand access to unstructured data, allowing for rapid restoration by storing VDFs instead of inactive data, which can be quickly transferred and accessed, reducing storage needs and recovery times.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional backup solutions store all unstructured data including inactive data, then data completeness is improved, but recovery time deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments unstructured data into active and inactive portions, storing only active data in the primary backup location while storing inactive data in archival storage. This segmentation allows rapid recovery of active data without the time penalty of restoring entire data sets, directly resolving the contradiction between data completeness and recovery time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary classification of data into active and inactive categories before a disaster occurs. Inactive data is pre-archived to cost-effective storage while active data remains in primary backup storage. This preliminary action ensures that during recovery, only essential active data needs rapid restoration, eliminating the time loss associated with restoring inactive data.
2Ease of operation
If high-cost storage solutions are used to store all unstructured data, then data accessibility is improved, but storage cost deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing different storage quality levels for different data types. Active unstructured data that requires frequent access is stored in high-cost, high-accessibility storage. Inactive data is stored in low-cost archival storage with reduced accessibility. This localized quality differentiation maintains data accessibility where needed while dramatically reducing overall storage costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a copy of inactive data in archival storage while maintaining the ability to retrieve it when needed. This copying approach allows the original high-cost storage to be freed for active data, reducing storage costs while preserving data accessibility through the archival copy mechanism.
3Reliability
If all backed-up data is restored during a disaster, then data completeness is improved, but operational efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements partial action by restoring only the necessary portion of backed-up data (active unstructured data) during disaster recovery, rather than restoring all data. This partial restoration approach maintains data completeness for essential operations while avoiding the excessive time and resource consumption of restoring inactive data, thereby preserving operational efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
A data access recovery apparatus includes: a transceiver; a memory; and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory and configured to: receive a request to restore backed-up unstructured data files associated with the request; send active data files, of the backed-up unstructured data files, to a data-access server in response to receiving the request; receive an indication of a particular data file of the backed-up unstructured data files; and send, in response to receiving the indication, the particular data file to the data-access server before the particular data file would be sent, if at all, absent receiving the indication.