Virtual Disk Snapshot and Revert with Distributed Storage Policies
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current data storage systems face challenges in scalability, management complexity, and provisioning speed, particularly in virtualized environments where numerous applications require flexible and efficient storage solutions that can handle diverse policies and replication across multiple nodes.
Innovation Solution
The system provides incremental scalability, a user-friendly management console for provisioning virtual disks with customizable policies, and the ability to define unique properties for each virtual disk, allowing for efficient data protection and replication across multiple nodes, including hybrid cloud awareness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a storage area network with a central storage node is used to improve storage manageability, then storage management becomes easier, but the storage node becomes overwhelmed by the sheer number of requests from multiple application servers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the monolithic storage node into multiple distributed storage nodes that work together as a peer-to-peer network. Each node handles a portion of the storage requests, distributing the load and preventing any single node from becoming overwhelmed while maintaining centralized management through software orchestration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single-dimension centralized storage architecture to a multi-dimensional distributed architecture where storage capacity and request handling scale by adding more nodes across the network, enabling horizontal scalability rather than vertical bottlenecks.
2Quantity of substance
If additional storage nodes are added to increase storage capacity, then storage capacity increases, but the nodes are expensive and must be managed individually, increasing management complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal management layer that works across all storage nodes regardless of their individual configurations. This software-based management system provides unified policies for replication, snapshots, and data protection that apply consistently across the entire distributed network, eliminating the need for individual node management.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a management interface and orchestration layer that acts as an intermediary between administrators and the distributed storage nodes. This intermediary provides simplified policy-based management while the underlying nodes operate autonomously, reducing management complexity.
3Reliability
If traditional storage provisioning methods are used, then data protection policies can be implemented, but provisioning a new storage disk for a virtual machine takes as long as four weeks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-configures storage templates with data protection policies, replication factors, and performance parameters in advance. When a virtual machine needs storage, the system rapidly provisions from these pre-configured templates rather than configuring everything from scratch, reducing provisioning time from weeks to minutes while maintaining full data protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables dynamic adjustment of storage parameters such as replication factor, snapshot frequency, and performance tiers without requiring complete re-provisioning. This allows rapid adaptation to changing requirements while maintaining data protection, accommodating different workloads through parameter modification rather than full reconfiguration.
4Reliability
If separate hardware boxes and products are purchased to implement storage functionalities, then data protection capabilities are provided, but the system complexity increases and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent consolidates multiple separate storage functionalities (replication, snapshots, compression, de-duplication, data protection) into a single integrated distributed storage platform. These capabilities are implemented as software services within the same system architecture, eliminating the need for separate hardware boxes and reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a multi-functional storage platform where a single distributed storage node can perform replication, snapshots, compression, de-duplication, and data protection simultaneously. This universal platform replaces multiple specialized devices while providing enhanced flexibility and easier management through unified policy control.
Data Source
AI summary
An administrator provisions a virtual disk in a remote storage platform and defines policies for that virtual disk. A virtual machine writes to and reads from the storage platform using any storage protocol. Virtual disk data within a failed storage pool is migrated to different storage pools while still respecting the policies of each virtual disk. Snapshot and revert commands are given for a virtual disk at a particular point in time and overhead is minimal. A virtual disk is cloned utilizing snapshot information and no data need be copied. Any number of Zookeeper clusters are executing in a coordinated fashion within the storage platform, thus increasing overall throughput. A timestamp is generated that guarantees a monotonically increasing counter, even upon a crash of a virtual machine. Any virtual disk has a “hybrid cloud aware” policy in which one replica of the virtual disk is stored in a public cloud.