Patent · US Active

Tracking storage capacity usage by snapshot lineages using metadata in a multi-level tree structure

US11199985B2 · kind B2 · utility

4Cited by
12References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 10, 2020
Grant dateDec 14, 2021
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 28, 2040

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F2201/84
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An apparatus comprises a processing device configured to identify a snapshot lineage comprising snapshots of a storage volume and to maintain, for the snapshot lineage, a multi-level tree structure comprising (i) a first level comprising a primary volume object representing the storage volume and snapshot volume objects representing the snapshots of the storage volume and (ii) additional levels comprising data objects, where the primary and snapshot volume objects comprise pointers to the data objects, the data objects comprising data of the storage volume and snapshots. The processing device is also configured to determine storage capacity usage by the snapshot lineage based on a collective size of the data objects pointed to by the primary and snapshot volume objects, to store the determined storage capacity usage as metadata associated with the primary volume object, and to dynamically update the metadata responsive to changes in the snapshot lineage.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.