Method and apparatus for data retention in a storage system
First Claim
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1. A method for use in a computer system comprising at least one host and at least one storage system, the method comprising acts of:
- (A) receiving a request, from the host, to delete a first unit of content stored on the storage system, wherein a retention period for the first unit of content is stored in the first unit of content, wherein the request identifies the first unit of content using a first content address generated, at least in part, from the retention period and at least some other content in the first unit of content such that, if the retention period is modified, a second unit of content with a second content address is generated and stored in a different location from the first unit of content;
(B) determining whether the retention period for the first unit of content has expired;
(C) when it is determined in the act (B) that the retention period for the first unit of content has not expired, denying the request to delete the first unit of content; and
(D) when it is determined in the act (B) that the retention period for the first unit of content has expired, directly deleting the first unit of content in response to the request.
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Abstract
A system and method are provided for retention of data on a storage system. An application program provides the storage system with data to be stored on the storage system. The application program also provides the storage system with a retention period that indicates a period of time for which the data may not be deleted. When the storage system receives a request to delete the data, it first evaluates the retention period associated with that data to determine if the retention period has expired. If the retention period has not expired, the storage system denies the request to delete the data.
26 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for use in a computer system comprising at least one host and at least one storage system, the method comprising acts of:
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(A) receiving a request, from the host, to delete a first unit of content stored on the storage system, wherein a retention period for the first unit of content is stored in the first unit of content, wherein the request identifies the first unit of content using a first content address generated, at least in part, from the retention period and at least some other content in the first unit of content such that, if the retention period is modified, a second unit of content with a second content address is generated and stored in a different location from the first unit of content; (B) determining whether the retention period for the first unit of content has expired; (C) when it is determined in the act (B) that the retention period for the first unit of content has not expired, denying the request to delete the first unit of content; and (D) when it is determined in the act (B) that the retention period for the first unit of content has expired, directly deleting the first unit of content in response to the request. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. At least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium encoded with instructions that, when executed on a computer system, perform a method for use in the computer system, wherein the computer system comprises at least one host and at least one storage system, and wherein the method comprises acts of:
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(A) receiving a request, from the host, to delete a first unit of content stored on the storage system, wherein a retention period for the first unit of content is stored in the first unit of content, wherein the request identifies the first unit of content using a content address generated, at least in part, from the retention period and at least some other content in the first unit of content such that, if the retention period is modified, a second unit of content with a second content address is generated and stored in a different location from the first unit of content; (B) determining whether the retention period for the first unit of content has expired; (C) when it is determined in the act (B) that the retention period for the first unit of content has not expired, denying the request to delete the first unit of content; and (D) when it is determined in the act (B) that the retention period for the first unit of content has expired, directly deleting the first unit of content in response to the request. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A storage system for use in a computer system comprising at least one host and the storage system, the storage system comprising:
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at least one storage device, comprising at least one physical storage medium to store data received from the at least one host; and at least one controller that; receives a request, from the host, to delete a first unit of content stored on the storage system, wherein a retention period for the first unit of content is stored in the first unit of content, wherein the request identifies the first unit of content using a content address generated, at least in part, from the retention period such that, if the retention period is modified, a second unit of content with a second content address is generated and stored in a different location from the first unit of content; determines whether the retention period for the unit of content has expired; when it is determined that the retention period for the unit of content has not expired, denies the request to delete the unit of content and at least some other content in the first unit of content; and when it is determined that the retention period for the first unit of content has expired, directly deletes the first unit of content in response to the request. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification