Technique for increasing the number of persistent consistency point images in a file system
US8122286B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 17, 2006 |
| Grant date | Feb 21, 2012 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 28, 2026 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S707/99953
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An on-disk storage arrangement increases the number of persistent consistency point images (PCPIs) that may be maintained for a volume of a storage system. The on-disk storage arrangement comprises a novel volume information (volinfo) block representing a root of the volume; the volinfo block is stored at predefined locations on disk and comprises various system wide configuration data. The volinfo block further comprises a data structure configured to provide a level of indirection that increases the number of PCPIs maintainable by a file system executing on the storage system. To that end, the data structure may be organized as an array of pointers, wherein each pointer references a block containing a snapshot root, thereby enabling efficient access to each PCPI maintained by the file system.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.