ELIMINATION OF REDUNDANT OBJECTS IN STORAGE SYSTEMS

• US 20110196845A1
• Filed: 04/22/2011
• Published: 08/11/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/17/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Western Digital Technologies Incorporated (Western Digital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dawson, Colin Scott, Cannon, David Maxwell, Edwards, Robert Clair JR.
• Granted Patent: US 8,554,744 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/687
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24556 Aggregation; Duplicate elimination

Abstract

Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture, wherein a data structure corresponding to a set of client nodes selected from a plurality of client nodes is generated. Objects from the selected set of client nodes are stored in the data structure. A determination is made that an object corresponding to a client node of the selected set of client nodes has to be stored. An additional determination is made as to whether the object has already been stored in the data structure by any client node of the selected set of client nodes. The object is stored in the data structure, in response to determining that the object has not already been stored in the data structure by any client node of the selected set of client nodes.

Claims

1. A method comprising,

storing, in a data structure, common objects from a selected set of client nodes of a plurality of client nodes, wherein the common objects are shared by the selected set of client nodes;

determining that an object corresponding to a client node of the selected set of client nodes has to be stored; and

storing the object in the data structure, in response to determining that the object has not already been stored in the data structure by any client node of the selected set of client nodes.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein redundant files are eliminated by storing the common objects that are shared by the selected set of client nodes in the data structure.

3. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

storing database entries for objects stored in the data structure, wherein the database entries include metadata corresponding to the objects; and

including in the metadata, insertion time for the objects and the number of client nodes that reference the objects, wherein the number of objects stored in the data structure is limited based on insertion times for the objects and the number of client nodes that reference the objects.

4. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

receiving, from one client, a request to delete one object;

dereferencing a pointer to the one object stored in the data structure, wherein the pointer is associated with inventory entries specific to the one client;

decrementing the number of client nodes that references the one object; and

deleting the one object from the data structure, in response to determining that no client nodes reference the one object.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the data structure is stored in a server node, and the set of client nodes and the server node communicate in a client server environment and in a peer to peer environment.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the data structure is stored in a storage coupled to a server node, wherein the storage, the server node, and the plurality of client nodes are included in a storage area network.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

deploying computing infrastructure, comprising integrating computer-readable code into a computing system, wherein the computer-readable code in combination with the computing system performs;

the storing of the common objects in the data structure;

the determining that the object corresponding to the client node of the selected set of client nodes has to be stored; and

the storing of the object in the data structure, in response to the determining that the object has not already been stored in the data structure by any client node of the selected set of client nodes.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the integrating of the computer-readable code into the computing system is performed by storing the computer-readable code in the computing system in a networked computing environment.

9. A storage system coupled to a plurality of client nodes, the storage system comprising,

a storage unit;

and

a server node coupled to the storage unit, the server node configured to perform operations, the operations comprising;

storing, in a data structure in storage included in the storage unit, common objects from a selected set of client nodes of the plurality of client nodes, wherein the common objects are shared by the selected set of client nodes;

determining that an object corresponding to a client node of the selected set of client nodes has to be stored; and

storing the object in the data structure, in response to determining that the object has not already been stored in the data structure by any client node of the selected set of client nodes.

10. The storage system of claim 9, wherein redundant files are eliminated by storing the common objects that are shared by the selected set of client nodes in the data structure.

11. The storage system of claim 9, the operations further comprising:

storing database entries for objects stored in the data structure, wherein the database entries include metadata corresponding to the objects; and

including in the metadata, insertion time for the objects and the number of client nodes that reference the objects, wherein the number of objects stored in the data structure is limited based on insertion times for the objects and the number of client nodes that reference the objects.

12. The storage system of claim 9, the operations further comprising:

receiving, from one client, a request to delete one object;

dereferencing a pointer to the one object stored in the data structure, wherein the pointer is associated with inventory entries specific to the one client;

decrementing the number of client nodes that references the one object; and

deleting the one object from the data structure, in response to determining that no client nodes reference the one object.

13. The storage system of claim 9, wherein the set of client nodes and the server node communicate in a client server environment and in a peer to peer environment.

14. The storage system of claim 9, wherein the storage unit, the server node, and the plurality of client nodes are included in a storage area network.

15. A computer readable storage medium, wherein code stored in the computer readable storage medium when executed by a server node coupled to a storage and a plurality of client nodes performs operations, the operations comprising:

storing, in a data structure in the storage, common objects from a selected set of client nodes of the plurality of client nodes, wherein the common objects are shared by the selected set of client nodes;

determining that an object corresponding to a client node of the selected set of client nodes has to be stored; and

storing the object in the data structure, in response to determining that the object has not already been stored in the data structure by any client node of the selected set of client nodes.

16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein redundant files are eliminated by storing the common objects that are shared by the selected set of client nodes in the data structure.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, the operations further comprising:

storing database entries for objects stored in the data structure, wherein the database entries include metadata corresponding to the objects; and

including in the metadata, insertion time for the objects and the number of client nodes that reference the objects, wherein the number of objects stored in the data structure is limited based on insertion times for the objects and the number of client nodes that reference the objects.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, the operations further comprising:

receiving, from one client, a request to delete one object;

dereferencing a pointer to the one object stored in the data structure, wherein the pointer is associated with inventory entries specific to the one client;

decrementing the number of client nodes that references the one object; and

deleting the one object from the data structure, in response to determining that no client nodes reference the one object.

19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the set of client nodes and the server node communicate in a client server environment and in a peer to peer environment.

20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the storage, the server node, and the plurality of client nodes are included in a storage area network.