Mirroring metadata in a continuous data protection environment
First Claim
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1. A method comprising:
- providing data protection to data in a first volume at a first data protection appliance by storing a copy of the data in a second volume using a second data protection appliance;
tracking changes between data locations in the first volume and the second volume using a delta marking stream (DMS), the DMS comprising a stream of metadata comprising input/output requests (I/Os) completed to the first volume which have not yet been applied to a replication journal and I/Os applied to the replication journal which have not been completed to the second volume, the replication journal comprising a DO stream, an UNDO stream, a DO metadata stream and an UNDO metadata stream;
receiving, at the first data protection appliance, metadata not yet committed to the DMS; and
mirroring the metadata at a third data protection appliance,wherein mirroring the metadata at the third data protection appliance comprises mirroring the metadata at a third data protection appliance in a same cluster as the first data protection appliance, wherein the same cluster comprises the first data protection appliance and the third data protection appliance.
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Abstract
In one aspect, a method includes providing data protection to data in a first volume at a first data protection appliance by storing a copy of the data in a second volume using a second data protection appliance, tracking changes between data locations in the first volume and the second volume using a delta marking stream (DMS) and receiving, at the first data protection appliance, metadata. The metadata is intended to be committed to the DMS. The method further includes mirroring the metadata at a third data protection appliance.
126 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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providing data protection to data in a first volume at a first data protection appliance by storing a copy of the data in a second volume using a second data protection appliance; tracking changes between data locations in the first volume and the second volume using a delta marking stream (DMS), the DMS comprising a stream of metadata comprising input/output requests (I/Os) completed to the first volume which have not yet been applied to a replication journal and I/Os applied to the replication journal which have not been completed to the second volume, the replication journal comprising a DO stream, an UNDO stream, a DO metadata stream and an UNDO metadata stream; receiving, at the first data protection appliance, metadata not yet committed to the DMS; and mirroring the metadata at a third data protection appliance, wherein mirroring the metadata at the third data protection appliance comprises mirroring the metadata at a third data protection appliance in a same cluster as the first data protection appliance, wherein the same cluster comprises the first data protection appliance and the third data protection appliance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An article comprising:
a non-transitory machine-readable medium that stores executable instructions to perform mirroring, the instructions causing a machine to; provide data protection to data in a first volume at a first data protection appliance by storing a copy of the data in a second volume using a second data protection appliance; track changes between data locations in the first volume and the second volume using a delta marking stream (DMS), the DMS comprising a stream of metadata comprising input/output requests (I/Os) completed to the first volume which have not yet been applied to a replication journal and I/Os applied to the replication journal which have not been completed to the second volume, the replication journal comprising a DO stream, an UNDO stream, a DO metadata stream and an UNDO metadata stream; receive, at the first data protection appliance, metadata, the metadata intended to be committed to the DMS; mirror the metadata at a third data protection appliance in a same cluster as the first data protection appliance, the mirroring comprises storing the initial set of metadata at the third data protection appliance until at least one of a predefined amount of time has elapsed or the initial set of metadata reaches a predefined size, wherein the same cluster comprises the first data protection appliance and the third data protection appliance; commit the metadata to the DMS; and remove the metadata from the third data protection appliance if the initial set of metadata is committed to the DMS. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. An apparatus to perform mirroring, comprising:
circuitry to; provide data protection to data in a first volume at a first data protection appliance by storing a copy of the data in a second volume using second data protection appliance; track changes between data locations in the first volume and the second volume using a delta marking stream (DMS), the DMS comprising a stream of metadata comprising input/output requests (I/Os) completed to the first volume which have not yet been applied to a replication journal and I/Os applied to the replication journal which have not been completed to the second volume, the replication journal comprising a DO stream, an UNDO stream, a DO metadata stream and an UNDO metadata stream; receive, at the first data protection appliance, metadata, the metadata intended to be committed to the DMS; mirror the metadata at a third data protection appliance, the mirroring comprises storing the metadata at the third data protection appliance until at least one of a predefined amount of time has elapsed or the initial set of metadata reaches a predefined size, wherein the same cluster comprises the first data protection appliance and the third data protection appliance; commit the metadata to the DMS; and remove the metadata from the third data protection appliance if metadata is committed to the DMS. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
Specification