SYSTEM FOR ON-LINE ARCHIVING OF CONTENT IN AN OBJECT STORE

• US 20140040211A1
• Filed: 05/03/2013
• Published: 02/06/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Avery, Kenytt D., Bader, Edward L., Trinh, Kevin N.
• Granted Patent: US 9,195,667 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/662
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/113 Details of archiving lifecycle management in storage systems G06F3/0649; backup systems G06F11/1446
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/13 File access structures, e.g. distributed indices arrangements of input from, or output to, record carriers G06F3/06

Abstract

Method, system, and computer program product to archive data objects, by providing an object store and a shadow object store each configured to store one or more data objects, the object store and the shadow object store residing in different storage devices, creating a first object stored in the object store, the first object having at least one attribute, and responsive to receiving a request to archive the first object, transferring the first object to the shadow object store, and creating, in the object store, a reference to a location of the first object in the shadow object store, the first object remaining accessible through the object store and the shadow object store following the transfer.

Claims

1. A method to archive data objects, comprising:

providing an object store and a shadow object store each configured to store one or more data objects, wherein the object store and the shadow object store reside in different storage devices;

storing a first object in the object store, wherein the first object has at least one attribute; and

responsive to receiving a request to archive the first object;

transferring the first object to the shadow object store; and

creating, in the object store and by operation of one or more computer processors, a reference to a location of the first object in the shadow object store,

wherein the first object remains accessible through the object store and the shadow object store following the transfer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first object remains visible in an enumeration of objects the object store.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one attribute of the first object is stored in the reference to the location of the first object in the shadow object store.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

responsive to receiving a request to delete the first object;

deleting the first object from the shadow object store; and

deleting, from the object store, the reference to the location of the first object in the shadow object store.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

responsive to receiving a request to restore the first object from the shadow object store;

transferring the first object to the object store; and

deleting, from the object store, the reference to the location of the first object in the shadow object store.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

responsive to receiving a request to search for the first object;

searching the object store for one of;

(i) an object having an attribute associated with the first object, and (ii) a reference to an object in the shadow object store having an attribute associated with the first object; and

upon determining that the first object was not found, searching the shadow object store for an object having an attribute associated with the first object.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

responsive to receiving an indication that the first object in the shadow object store has been modified, modifying the reference to the first object in the object store.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the object store resides on a first storage device, wherein the shadow object store resides on a second storage device, wherein the first storage device is faster than the second storage device, wherein a user makes the request to archive the first object based on at least one factor comprising cost and needs, wherein an application attempting to access the first object residing on the shadow object store follows the reference in the object store to the location of the first object on the shadow object store to access the first object.