Repurposing log files

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10474656-B1
Application number	US-201715438703-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Feb 21, 2017
Priority date	Feb 21, 2017
Publication date	Nov 12, 2019
Grant date	Nov 12, 2019

Abstract

Systems and methods for key-value pair management. A method embodiment commences upon receiving data records comprising key-value pairs. The key-value pairs are stored in two locations, (1) in an in-memory data structure in a first storage tier, and (2) in a log file in a second storage tier. At some moment in time, an event causes a flush of the in-memory data structure. The flush operations comprise renaming the log file to refer to it as a uniquely identifiable data file in the second storage tier, and populating an index file in the second storage tier. Requests for a value corresponding to a key is satisfied by using the index file to access the uniquely identifiable data file by byte or word offset to a location in the data file so as to retrieve the value of the corresponding key.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving a data record comprising a key-value pair;
storing the key-value pair in an in-memory data structure in a first storage tier, wherein the in-memory data structure is used to access the data record;
storing a log entry for the key-value pair in a log file in a second storage tier;
renaming the log file in place in the second storage tier, said renaming comprising assignment of a new filename to the log file, wherein an index file points to the log entry in the log file corresponding to the new filename, the index file being used to access the key-value pair; and
storing a new log entry in a new log file, the new log file storing the new log entry comprising a key-value pair.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of, the in-memory data structure, the log file, or the index file, is partitioned across a storage pool.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the in-memory data structure associates a value from the key-value pair or a pointer to the value with a key from the key-value pair.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein renaming the log file is responsive to a flush event invoked based at least in part on a memory utilization threshold or a search efficiency threshold.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the index file is configured to point to the log entry in the log file by populating the index file with a file pointer and offset to a data value in the log file corresponding to the new filename.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing a maintenance operation on an instance of the log file or the index file.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing a maintenance operation on an instance of the log file or the index file, and wherein the maintenance operation comprises at least one of, a sort operation, a merge operation, a delete operation, a compact operation, a compress operation, a partition operation, or a distribute operation.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising performing a partition operation on an instance of the log file or the index file, and wherein the partition operation comprises assigning a first portion of keys to a first node in a computing cluster and distributing a second portion of keys to a second node in the computing cluster.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the key-value pair is one of a plurality of key-value pairs organized in the in-memory data structure in a binary search tree structure.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the key-value pair is one of a plurality of key-value pairs in the in-memory data structure comprise heterogeneous key-value pairs.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a sequence of instructions which, when executed by a processor performs a set of acts, comprising:
receiving a data record comprising a key-value pair;
storing the key-value pair in an in-memory data structure in a first storage tier, wherein the in-memory data structure is used to access the data record;
storing a log entry for the key-value pair in a log file in a second storage tier;
renaming the log file in place in the second storage tier, said renaming comprising assignment of a new filename to the log file, wherein an index file points to the log entry in the log file corresponding to the new filename, the index file being used to access the key-value pair; and
storing a new log entry in a new log file, the new log file storing the new log entry comprising a key-value pair.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein at least one of, the in-memory data structure, the log file, or the index file, is partitioned across a storage pool.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the in-memory data structure associates a value from the key-value pair or a pointer to the value with a key from the key-value pair.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein renaming the log file is responsive to a flush event invoked based at least in part on a memory utilization threshold or a search efficiency threshold.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the index file is configured to point to the log entry in the log file by populating the index file with a file pointer and offset to a data value in the log file corresponding to the new filename.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 11 , the set of acts further comprising performing a maintenance operation on an instance of the log file or the index file.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 11 , the set of acts further comprising performing a maintenance operation on an instance of the log file or the index file, and wherein the maintenance operation comprises at least one of, a sort operation, a merge operation, a delete operation, a compact operation, a compress operation, a partition operation, or a distribute operation.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 11 , the set of acts further comprising performing a partition operation on an instance of the log file or the index file, and wherein the partition operation comprises assigning a first portion of keys to a first node in a computing cluster and distributing a second portion of keys to a second node in the computing cluster.

19. A system, comprising:
a storage medium having stored thereon a sequence of instructions; and
a processor that executes the sequence of instructions to cause a set of acts, comprising,
receiving a data record comprising a key-value pair;
storing the key-value pair in an in-memory data structure in a first storage tier, wherein the in-memory data structure is used to access the data record;
storing a log entry for the key-value pair in a log file in a second storage tier;
renaming the log file in place in the second storage tier, said renaming comprising assignment of a new filename to the log file, wherein an index file points to the log entry in the log file corresponding to the new filename, the index file being used to access the key-value pair; and

storing a new log entry in a new log file, the new log file storing the new log entry comprising a key-value pair.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein at least one of, the in-memory data structure, the log file, or the index file, is partitioned across a storage pool.

Assignees

• Nutanix Inc

Inventors

• Bronnikov Dmitri

Classifications

• G06F3/0685

  Hybrid storage combining heterogeneous device types, e.g. hierarchical storage, hybrid arrays · CPC title

• G06F3/0604

  Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. storage management · CPC title

• G06F3/0658

  Controller construction arrangements · CPC title

• G06F2212/466

  Metadata, control data · CPC title

• G06F2212/465

  Structured object, e.g. database record · CPC title