Patent · US Active

Storage system implementing snapshot longevity ranking for efficient management of snapshots

US11372810B2 · kind B2 · utility

6Cited by
8References
18Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 18, 2020
Grant dateJun 28, 2022
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 11, 2040

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F16/9027
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Techniques are provided for utilizing snapshot longevity information to manage snapshots of storage volumes in a snapshot-enabled storage system. A snapshot management system maintains a snapshot volume tree which comprises a plurality of snapshots having respective longevity ranking values. The longevity ranking value of a given snapshot represents an expected life span of the given snapshot as compared to expected life spans of other snapshots as indicated by their respective longevity ranking values. When a snapshot is deleted, the snapshot management system determines a set of candidate snapshots which can assume ownership of uniquely-written data of the deleted snapshot, evaluates the longevity ranking values of the candidate snapshots to select a candidate snapshot to assume ownership of the uniquely-written data of the deleted snapshot, and modifies metadata of the selected snapshot to transfer the ownership of the uniquely-written data from the deleted snapshot to the selected snapshot.

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