Virtual Storage Device File System Upgrade
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current data backup and recovery systems prioritize performance over data invulnerability, making it difficult to upgrade or replace components without risking data loss or corruption, as they lack robust mechanisms for handling disk group removal or expansion within a single virtual storage device file system.
Innovation Solution
The conversion of a single virtual storage device file system to a multiple virtual storage device file system architecture, where each physical storage device is abstracted as a separate virtual device with its own logical address space, allowing for easy replacement and expansion of disks or shelves, and implementing an invulnerable data movement process to ensure data integrity during upgrades.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a single virtual storage device file system is used to organize disks into logical disk groups, then data storage capacity and organization are improved, but system upgradeability and component replaceability deteriorate because removing or replacing shelves creates holes in the file system address space that cannot be handled
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the single virtual storage device into multiple virtual storage devices, each corresponding to a physical shelf. This segmentation allows each shelf to be independently managed and replaced without affecting the entire file system, resolving the contradiction between organized storage and upgradeability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single linear address space to a multi-dimensional address space where each virtual storage device has its own address space. This dimensional change allows shelves to be added, removed, or replaced without creating holes in the overall file system, enabling seamless upgrades.
2Device complexity
If data is stored in a single virtual storage device with a linear address space, then storage organization is simplified, but data invulnerability deteriorates because the system lacks robust mechanisms to handle data integrity during shelf removal or system upgrades
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the storage system into multiple independent virtual storage devices, each with its own address space and metadata, the patent isolates data integrity issues to individual segments. This allows failed or removed shelves to be replaced without compromising the integrity of data in other shelves, enhancing data invulnerability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary layer (the file system with updated metadata structures) that manages the mapping between logical file system operations and physical shelf locations. This intermediary handles data movement and integrity verification during shelf operations, protecting data from corruption during upgrades.
3Device complexity
If the file system maintains a single linear address space across all disks, then address space management is simplified, but ease of operation deteriorates because shelf replacement requires manual data migration and file system recreation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the address space into multiple independent address spaces, one for each virtual storage device. This allows the file system to manage each shelf's address space independently, enabling automated shelf replacement without requiring manual data migration or file system recreation, thus improving ease of operation while maintaining manageable complexity through modular structures.
Data Source
AI summary
A single virtual storage device file system that abstracts multiple RAID groups of physical storage devices into one virtual device and one first blockset having a plurality of data blocks in a contiguous linear address space is converted into a multiple virtual device file system that abstracts the multiple RAID groups of physical storage devices as separate multiple virtual storage devices each having a separate second blockset and address space, by migrating data in allocated blocks at boundaries of the physical storage device groups to free blocks, partitioning the first blockset at the boundaries into the multiple second blocksets, updating the block metadata of each block, and rebuilding the file system using the block metadata to generate second blockset metadata.