REDUCING OCCUPANCY OF DIGITAL STORAGE DEVICES
First Claim
1. A method for managing digital data storage, the method comprising steps of:
- segmenting a computer-readable, tangible storage device into a reference area and a block storage area and segmenting the block storage area into storage blocks of a common length storing data information in respective storage blocks of the block storage area;
generating respective reference information for the blocks of data, the reference information including respective fingerprint information based on bit patterns of respective first blocks stored on said computer-readable, tangible storage medium and a linked list of other first blocks having different bit patterns but equal fingerprint values;
storing the first blocks in the block storage area and the reference information in the reference area with reference information pointing to each corresponding first block, said reference information for the respective first blocks including respective fingerprint values for the first blocks based on respective bit pattern'"'"'s for said first blocks and said linked list of other first blocks having different bit patterns but equal fingerprint values,determining a bit pattern of a subsequent block and a fingerprint value in accordance with said bit pattern of said subsequent block and checking said bit pattern of said subsequent block for being identical to a bit pattern of any of the first blocks previously stored at any location in said block storage area and having the same fingerprint value as said subsequent block, andstoring said subsequent block and corresponding reference information in said block storage area and said reference area, respectively, of the computer-readable, tangible storage device if the bit pattern of said subsequent block is different from the bit pattern of all previously stored first blocks having the same fingerprint value but is stored in said storage medium only as a reference referring to the corresponding first block if the bit pattern of said second block is identical to any first block having the same fingerprint value.
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Abstract
A digital data storage device physically stores blocks of identical data only once on its storage medium wherein a second or even further identical blocks are stored only as reference referring to the first block of these identical blocks. By this technique, storage of duplicate data is most effectively avoided on the lowest storage level of the disk storage device, even in cases where identical blocks are written by different operating Systems. In the preferred embodiment, the underlying storage medium (magnetic hard disk, optical disk, tape, or M-RAM) is segmented into two areas, the first area particularly comprising a relatively small block reference table and the remaining physical storage area for storing real blocks of information.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method for managing digital data storage, the method comprising steps of:
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segmenting a computer-readable, tangible storage device into a reference area and a block storage area and segmenting the block storage area into storage blocks of a common length storing data information in respective storage blocks of the block storage area; generating respective reference information for the blocks of data, the reference information including respective fingerprint information based on bit patterns of respective first blocks stored on said computer-readable, tangible storage medium and a linked list of other first blocks having different bit patterns but equal fingerprint values; storing the first blocks in the block storage area and the reference information in the reference area with reference information pointing to each corresponding first block, said reference information for the respective first blocks including respective fingerprint values for the first blocks based on respective bit pattern'"'"'s for said first blocks and said linked list of other first blocks having different bit patterns but equal fingerprint values, determining a bit pattern of a subsequent block and a fingerprint value in accordance with said bit pattern of said subsequent block and checking said bit pattern of said subsequent block for being identical to a bit pattern of any of the first blocks previously stored at any location in said block storage area and having the same fingerprint value as said subsequent block, and storing said subsequent block and corresponding reference information in said block storage area and said reference area, respectively, of the computer-readable, tangible storage device if the bit pattern of said subsequent block is different from the bit pattern of all previously stored first blocks having the same fingerprint value but is stored in said storage medium only as a reference referring to the corresponding first block if the bit pattern of said second block is identical to any first block having the same fingerprint value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A data storage architecture for managing digital data storage comprising:
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a computer configured to provide an arrangement for segmenting a computer-readable, tangible storage device into a reference area and a block storage area and segmenting the block storage area into storage blocks of a common length; storing data information in respective storage blocks of the block storage area; an arrangement for generating respective reference information for the blocks of data, the reference information including respective fingerprint information based on bit patterns of respective first blocks stored on said computer-readable, tangible storage medium and a linked list of other first blocks having different bit patterns but equal fingerprint values; an arrangement for storing the first blocks in the block storage area and the reference information in the reference area with reference information pointing to each corresponding first block, said reference information for the respective first blocks including respective fingerprint values for the first blocks based on respective bit patterns for said first blocks and said linked list of other first blocks having different bit patterns but equal fingerprint values, an arrangement for determining a bit pattern of a subsequent block and a fingerprint value in accordance with said bit pattern of said subsequent block and checking said bit pattern of said subsequent block for being identical to a bit pattern of any of the first blocks previously stored at any location in said block storage area and having the same fingerprint value as said subsequent block, and an arrangement for storing said subsequent block and corresponding reference information in said block storage area and said reference area, respectively, of the computer-readable, tangible storage device if the bit pattern of said subsequent block is different from the bit pattern of all previously stored first blocks having the same fingerprint value but is stored in said storage medium only as a reference referring to the corresponding first block if the bit pattern of said second block is identical to any first block having the same fingerprint value. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification