Method and apparatus for object storage

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10089338-B2
Application number	US-201514941932-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 16, 2015
Priority date	Dec 12, 2014
Publication date	Oct 2, 2018
Grant date	Oct 2, 2018

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for object storage are disclosed. The method includes, in response to an update to metadata of an object in an object storage region to produce updated metadata of the object, recording a metadata object associated with the object in a metadata change storage region separated from the object storage region. The metadata object includes the updated metadata of the object and pointer information. The pointer information points to a first storage location representing a storage location of the object in the object storage region. The method also includes modifying index information associated with the object to produce modified index information. The modified index information indicates the update to the metadata and a second storage location representing a storage location of the metadata object in the metadata change storage region.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for object storage, comprising:
in response to an update to metadata of an object in an object storage region to produce updated metadata of the object, recording, by a processor coupled to a memory, a metadata object associated with the object in a metadata change storage region separated from the object storage region,
the metadata object including the updated metadata of the object and pointer information,
the pointer information pointing to a first storage location representing a storage location of the object in the object storage region;
modifying, by the processor, index information associated with the object to produce modified index information indicating the update to the metadata and a second storage location representing a storage location of the metadata object in the metadata change storage region, the index information comprising status information of the object and location information indicating the first storage location, the status information comprising a first status indicating an existence of the object, a second status indicating a deletion of the object, and a third status indicating the update to the metadata of the object,
in response to a request for compacting the object storage region, replacing the metadata of the object stored in the object storage region with the updated metadata in the metadata object stored in the metadata change storage region;
performing a compaction operation on the object storage region; and
modifying the index information of the object in the object storage region.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the object storage region log structured data store utilizes a log structured data store to implement the object storage.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the updated metadata is included in the metadata object with non-updated metadata of the object.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first storage location and the second storage location are represented by a start address and a length.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the object storage region and the metadata change storage region are on a disk of an object storage device, and the index information is stored in a memory of the object storage device.

6. A computer program product, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions for object storage embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform:
in response to an update to metadata of an object in an object storage region to produce updated metadata of the object, recording a metadata object associated with the object in a metadata change storage region separated from the object storage region,
the metadata object including the updated metadata of the object and pointer information,
the pointer information pointing to a first storage location representing a storage location of the object in the object storage region;
modifying index information associated with the object to produce modified index information indicating the update to the metadata and a second storage location representing a storage location of the metadata object in the metadata change storage region, the index information comprising status information of the object and location information indicating the first storage location, the status information comprising a first status indicating an existence of the object, a second status indicating a deletion of the object, and a third status indicating the update to the metadata of the object,
in response to a request for compacting the object storage region, replacing the metadata of the object stored in the object storage region with the updated metadata in the metadata object stored in the metadata change storage region;
performing a compaction operation on the object storage region; and
modifying the index information of the object in the object storage region.

7. The computer program product according to claim 6 , wherein the object storage region log structured data store utilizes a log structured data store to implement the object storage.

8. The computer program product according to claim 6 , wherein the updated metadata is included in the metadata object with non-updated metadata of the object.

9. The computer program product according to claim 6 , wherein the first storage location and the second storage location are represented by a start address and a length.

10. The computer program product according to claim 6 , wherein the object storage region and the metadata change storage region are on a disk of an object storage device, and the index information is stored in a memory of the object storage device.

11. An apparatus comprising a processor and a computer readable storage medium having program instructions for object storage embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by the processor, the apparatus comprising”
a record module configured to, in response to an update to metadata of the object storage region to produce updated metadata of the object, record a metadata object associated with the object in a metadata change storage region separated from the object storage region,
the metadata object including the updated metadata of the object and pointer information,
the pointer information pointing to a first storage location representing a storage location of the object in the object storage region; and
a modification module configured to modify index information associated with the object to produce modified index information indicating the update to the metadata and a second storage location representing a storage location of the metadata object in the metadata change storage region, the index information comprising status information of the object and location information indicating the first storage location, the status information comprising a first status indicating an existence of the object, a second status indicating a deletion of the object, and a third status indicating the update to the metadata of the object,
a replacement module configured to, in response to a request for compacting the object storage region, replace the metadata of the object stored in the object storage region with the updated metadata in the metadata object stored in the metadata change storage region; and
a compaction module configured to perform a compaction operation on the object storage region;
wherein the modification module is further configured to modify the index information of the object in the object storage region.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the object storage region utilizes a log structured data store log structured data store to implement the object storage.

13. The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the updated metadata is included in the metadata object with non-updated metadata of the object.

14. The apparatus according to claim 11 , wherein the first storage location and the second storage location are represented by a start address and a length.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Ji Hai
• Li yuan yuan
• Yang xiao yang
• Zheng Chun Guang

Classifications

• G06F16/235

  Update request formulation · CPC title

• G06F16/22 Primary

  Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures · CPC title

• G06F16/289

  Object oriented databases · CPC title

• G06F17/30312 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/30607

  Physics · mapped topic