Instant refresh of a data volume copy
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is a method and apparatus for refreshing a copy of a data volume. In one embodiment of the method first and second data portions of a data volume are copied to first and second memory blocks, respectively, of a memory coupled to a computer system. First and second bits of a first map stored in memory are then set, wherein the first and second bits correspond to the first and second memory blocks, respectively. The first data portion of the data volume is modified after the first data portion is copied to the first memory block. A first bit in a second map stored in memory is set after data of the first data portion is modified. An instruction is generated to refresh the data contents of the first and second memory blocks. The first bit of the first map is cleared in response to generation of the refresh instruction.
21 Citations
36 Claims
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1-20. -20. (canceled)
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21. A method comprising:
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creating a first virtual point-in-time (PIT) copy of a data volume;
modifying first data within the data volume after creation of the first PIT virtual copy;
refreshing the first PIT virtual copy to create a second PIT virtual copy of the data volume, wherein the first PIT virtual copy is refreshed after modification of the first data within the data volume. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method comprising:
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storing data in a plurality of first memory blocks;
copying data from several of the first memory blocks to several of a plurality of second memory blocks, respectively;
switching the state of several second bits in memory in response to copying data from the several first memory blocks to the several second memory blocks, respectively, wherein each of the second bits corresponds to a respective second memory block;
modifying data stored in one of the several first memory blocks after copying data from the several first memory blocks to the several second memory blocks, respectively;
switching the state of a first bit in memory in response to modifying data stored in the one of the several first memory blocks, wherein the first bit corresponds to the one of the several first memory blocks;
generating a refresh instruction, wherein the refresh instruction is generated after modifying data stored in the one of the several first memory blocks;
switching the state of the one of the several second bits in response to the generation of the refresh instruction. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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29. A computer readable medium comprising instructions executable by a computer system to implement a method, the method comprising:
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copying first and second data portions of a data volume to first and second memory blocks, respectively, of a memory coupled to the computer system;
setting first and second bits stored of a first map in memory, wherein the first and second bits correspond to the first and second memory blocks, respectively;
modifying data of the first data portion of the data volume after the first data portion is copied to the first memory block;
setting a first bit in a second map stored in memory after data of the first data portion is modified;
generating an instruction to refresh;
clearing the first bit of the first map in response to generation of the refresh instruction. - View Dependent Claims (30)
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31. A computer readable medium comprising instructions executable by a computer system to implement a method, the method comprising:
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creating a first virtual point-in-time (PIT) copy of a data volume;
refreshing the first PIT virtual copy to create a second PIT virtual copy of the data volume, wherein the first PIT virtual copy is refreshed after modification of first data within the data volume. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification