Management of redundant objects in storage systems

• US 20070043841A1
• Filed: 08/17/2005
• Published: 02/22/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/17/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Zaremba, Christopher, Edwards, Robert, Kaczmarski, Michael, Cannon, David, Dawson, Colin
• Granted Patent: US 7,747,577 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1451 by selection of backup contents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1464 for networked environments
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes

Abstract

Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture wherein one client node is selected from a plurality of client nodes. A determination is made that an object corresponding to a client node has to be stored. A determination is made as to whether the object has already been stored in the server node by the one selected client node. The object is stored at the server node, in response to determining that the object has not already been stored in the server node by the one selected client node.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

selecting one client node from a plurality of client nodes;

determining that an object corresponding to a client node has to be stored;

determining whether the object has already been stored in a server node by the one selected client node; and

storing the object at the server node, in response to determining that the object has not already been stored in the server node by the one selected client node.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one selected client node is a first computational device, wherein the server node is a second computational device, wherein the selected client node that is the first computational device is more likely to have backed up objects in comparison to other client nodes in the plurality of client nodes, wherein the backed up objects can be used by the other clients nodes.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing database entries corresponding to objects of the plurality of client nodes in the server node, wherein the database entries include metadata corresponding to the objects; and

including in the database entries references directed at those objects that are stored in the server node by the one selected client node.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining whether the object has already been stored in the server node by the one selected client node further comprises:

computing a checksum for the object that is requested to be stored by the client node, in response to determining from the database entries that the one selected client node has stored at least one object with the same metadata as the object that is requested to be stored by the client node; and

determining that the object has already been stored in the server node if the computed checksum for the object is the same as a previously computed checksum for the at least one object stored by the one selected client.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the time complexity for determining for the plurality of client nodes whether objects included in the plurality of client nodes have already been stored in the server node by the one selected client node is linear with respect to the number of the plurality of client nodes.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the server node stores data backed up by the one selected client node in a first storage medium that is accessible faster in comparison to a second storage medium in which data backed up by client nodes that are different from the one selected client node are stored.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the server node and the one selected client node are implemented in a single computational device, wherein the server and the plurality of client nodes can communicate in a client server environment and in a peer to peer environment.

8. A system, wherein a server node is coupled to a plurality of client nodes having one selected client node, the system comprising:

memory; and

processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is operable to;

(i) determine that an object corresponding to a client node of the plurality of client nodes has to be stored;

(ii) determine whether the object has already been stored in the server node by the one selected client node; and

(iii) store the object at the server node, in response to determining that the object has not already been stored in the server node by the one selected client node.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the one selected client node is a first computational device, wherein the server node is a second computational device, wherein the selected client node that is the first computational device is more likely to have backed up objects in comparison to other client nodes in the plurality of client nodes, wherein the backed up objects can be used by the other clients nodes.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the processor is further operable to:

store database entries corresponding to objects of the plurality of client nodes in the server node, wherein the database entries include metadata corresponding to the objects; and

include in the database entries references directed at those objects that are stored in the server node by the one selected client node.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein to determine whether the object has already been stored in the server node by the one selected client node the processor performs:

computing a checksum for the object that is requested to be stored by the client node, in response to determining from the database entries that the one selected client node has stored at least one object with the same metadata as the object that is requested to be stored by the client node; and

determining that the object has already been stored in the server node if the computed checksum for the object is the same as a previously computed checksum for the at least one object stored by the one selected client.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the time complexity for determining for the plurality of client nodes whether objects included in the plurality of client nodes have already been stored in the server node by the one selected client node is linear with respect to the number of the plurality of client nodes.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the server node stores data backed up by the one selected client node in a first storage medium that is accessible faster in comparison to a second storage medium in which data backed up by client nodes that are different from the one selected client node are stored.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the server node and the one selected client node are implemented in a single computational device, wherein the server and the plurality of client nodes can communicate in a client server environment and in a peer to peer environment.

15. An article of manufacture for controlling a server node that is coupled to a plurality of client nodes having one selected client node, wherein the article of manufacture is capable of causing operations, the operations comprising:

determining that an object corresponding to a client node has to be stored;

determining whether the object has already been stored in the server node by the one selected client node; and

storing the object at the server node, in response to determining that the object has not already been stored in the server node by the one selected client node.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 15, wherein the article of manufacture is a computer readable medium, wherein the one selected client node is a first computational device, wherein the server node is a second computational device, wherein the selected client node that is the first computational device is more likely to have backed up objects in comparison to other client nodes in the plurality of client nodes, wherein the backed up objects can be used by the other clients nodes.

17. The article of manufacture of claim 15, the operations further comprising:

storing database entries corresponding to objects of the plurality of client nodes in the server node, wherein the database entries include metadata corresponding to the objects; and

including in the database entries references directed at those objects that are stored in the server node by the one selected client node.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 17, wherein determining whether the object has already been stored in the server node by the one selected client node further comprises:

computing a checksum for the object that is requested to be stored by the client node, in response to determining from the database entries that the one selected client node has stored at least one object with the same metadata as the object that is requested to be stored by the client node; and

determining that the object has already been stored in the server node if the computed checksum for the object is the same as a previously computed checksum for the at least one object stored by the one selected client.

19. The article of manufacture of claim 15, wherein the time complexity for determining for the plurality of client nodes whether objects included in the plurality of client nodes have already been stored in the server node by the one selected client node is linear with respect to the number of the plurality of client nodes.

20. The article of manufacture of claim 15, wherein the server node stores data backed up by the one selected client node in a first storage medium that is accessible faster in comparison to a second storage medium in which data backed up by client nodes that are different from the one selected client node are stored.

21. The article of manufacture of claim 15, wherein the server node and the one selected client node are implemented in a single computational device, wherein the server and the plurality of client nodes can communicate in a client server environment and in a peer to peer environment.

22. A method for deploying computing infrastructure, comprising integrating computer-readable code into a computing system, wherein the code in combination with the computing system is capable of performing:

selecting one client node from a plurality of client nodes;

determining that an object corresponding to a client node has to be stored;

determining whether the object has already been stored in a server node by the one selected client node; and

storing the object at the server node, in response to determining that the object has not already been stored in the server node by the one selected client node.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the code in combination with the computing system is further capable of performing:

(i) storing database entries corresponding to objects of the plurality of client nodes in the server node, wherein the database entries include metadata corresponding to the objects; and

(ii) including in the database entries references directed at those objects that are stored in the server node by the one selected client node, wherein determining whether the object has already been stored in the server node by the one selected client node further comprises;

(a) computing a checksum for the object that is requested to be stored by the client node, in response to determining from the database entries that the one selected client node has stored at least one object with the same metadata as the object that is requested to be stored by the client node; and

(b) determining that the object has already been stored in the server node if the computed checksum for the object is the same as a previously computed checksum for the at least one object stored by the one selected client.

24. A system, comprising:

a server node;

a plurality of client nodes coupled to the server node;

means for selecting one client node from the plurality of client nodes;

means for determining that an object corresponding to a client node has to be stored;

means for determining whether the object has already been stored in the server node by the one selected client node; and

means for storing the object at the server node, in response to determining that the object has not already been stored in the server node by the one selected client node.

25. The system of claim 24 further comprising:

means for storing database entries corresponding to objects of the plurality of client nodes in the server node, wherein the database entries include metadata corresponding to the objects; and

means for including in the database entries references directed at those objects that are stored in the server node by the one selected client node, wherein the means for determining whether the object has already been stored in the server node by the one selected client node further performs;

(a) computing a checksum for the object that is requested to be stored by the client node, in response to determining from the database entries that the one selected client node has stored at least one object with the same metadata as the object that is requested to be stored by the client node; and

(b) determining that the object has already been stored in the server node if the computed checksum for the object is the same as a previously computed checksum for the at least one object stored by the one selected client.