Virtual Disk Shrinking via Bitmap Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for shrinking virtual disks require significant I/O operations, leading to performance issues and inefficient use of storage space, as they write zeros to unused areas and read the entire disk, consuming substantial computing resources.
Innovation Solution
A method that involves creating a temporary file to identify unused space in a dynamic virtual disk, copying only the relevant data to a new disk, and deleting the original disk, thereby reducing I/O operations and optimizing storage usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If conventional shrinking methods are used that write zeros to unused areas and read the entire disk, then storage space can be reclaimed, but I/O operations increase significantly and performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary action of identifying unused space through bitmap analysis, eliminating the unnecessary action of writing zeros to unused areas. By using the bitmap to directly identify and skip unused regions during the copy operation, the method reclaims storage space without performing redundant I/O write operations.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of reading and processing the entire disk as conventional methods do, the patent performs partial action by reading only the necessary portions of the virtual disk that contain actual data. The bitmap enables the system to skip unused areas entirely, performing only the minimal necessary I/O operations to achieve shrinking.
2Loss of substance
If conventional shrinking methods read the entire disk to identify unused space, then complete storage reclamation can be achieved, but computing resources are consumed excessively
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a bitmap as a copy or representation of the actual disk space usage pattern. Instead of analyzing the entire disk content directly, the system copies the space allocation information into the bitmap structure, which can then be efficiently queried to identify unused regions without examining every byte of the actual data.
Data Source
AI summary
Various systems and methods shrinking a storage object. For example, one method can involve receiving a request to shrink the storage object. The storage object can comprise multiple storage locations. The method can also involve receiving a list that identifies a set of the storage locations. The list can be generated in response to the request to shrink the storage object. The method can also involve reading data from a set of storage locations in the storage object that are not identified in the received list and copying the read data from the first storage object to a second storage object.