Efficient file system scan for shared data blocks
US8589447B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 7, 2009 |
| Grant date | Nov 19, 2013 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 2, 2030 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F16/183
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A technique for efficiently scanning various datasets in a storage system to generate metadata for shared data blocks is provided. In one embodiment, data containers in an active file system of a storage object are first scanned. Remaining images (e.g., snapshots of the file system) are arranged in a chronological order based on the age of such images in the storage object. In some instances, to perform a metadata scan of a given image, the storage server compares each data container in the given image to a corresponding data container in a prior image (from the chronological order) to identify any non-identical data blocks (i.e., blocks that are not common between the data containers of the two images) in each data container. The metadata scanner then generates metadata only for the non-identical data blocks in each data container and skips metadata generation for any remaining data blocks.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.