Device and method for enabling long-lived snapshots
US8583598B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 29, 2008 |
| Grant date | Nov 12, 2013 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 13, 2029 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F16/2358
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Decreasing disk costs make it possible to take frequent snapshots of past storage system states and retain them for a long duration. Existing snapshot approaches offer no satisfactory solution to long-lived snapshots. Split snapshots are an approach that is promising because it does not disrupt the current state storage system in either the short or the long run. An unsolved problem has been how to maintain an efficient access method for long-lived split snapshots without imposing undesirable overhead on the storage system. Skippy is a new approach that inexpensively indexes long-lived snapshots in parallel with snapshot creation. An embodiment of Skippy uses append-only index data structures to optimize writes while simultaneously providing low-latency snapshot lookup. Performance evaluations of Skippy indicate that this new approach is effective and efficient. It provides close-to-optimal access to long-lived snapshots while incurring a minimal impact on the current-state storage system.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.