Method, electronic device and computer program product for storage management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11656950-B2
Application number	US-202017018058-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 11, 2020
Priority date	Mar 13, 2020
Publication date	May 23, 2023
Grant date	May 23, 2023

Abstract

Techniques involve: acquiring a first source snapshot for a source storage object stored in a source storage device; determining first difference data between the first source snapshot and the source storage object or a second source snapshot for the source storage object, creation time of the first source snapshot being associated with creation time of the second source snapshot; and sending the first difference data to a destination storage device to enable the destination storage device to create a first destination snapshot for a destination storage object stored in the destination storage device based on the first difference data. Such techniques can migrate snapshots more efficiently to improve storage management efficiency.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A storage management method, comprising:
receiving a request to copy a first source snapshot to the destination storage device, the first source snapshot having a latest creation time of all source snapshots of a set of source snapshots to be copied for the source storage object;
in response to receiving the request to copy the first source snapshot, acquiring the first source snapshot for a source storage object stored in a source storage device;
determining first difference data between the first source snapshot and the source storage object or a second source snapshot for the source storage object, creation time of the first source snapshot being associated with creation time of the second source snapshot, wherein determining the first difference data includes calculating, in response to acquiring the first source snapshot, the first difference data between the first source snapshot and the source storage object;
sending the first difference data to a destination storage device to enable the destination storage device to create a first destination snapshot for a destination storage object stored in the destination storage device based on the first difference data; and
creating, as a copy of the first source snapshot and based on the first difference data and the destination storage object, the first destination snapshot.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of acquiring the first source snapshot comprises:
determining whether the first source snapshot is to be copied into the destination storage device; and
acquiring the first source snapshot in response to determining that the first source snapshot is to be copied into the destination storage device.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of determining the first difference data comprises:
determining whether the creation time of the first source snapshot is later than a predetermined time point; and
determining the first difference data between the first source snapshot and the source storage object in response to determining that the creation time of the first source snapshot is later than the predetermined time point.

4. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising:
acquiring a second source snapshot in response to determining that the creation time of a third source snapshot of the set of source snapshots is earlier than the predetermined time point, the creation time of the second source snapshot being later than the creation time of the third source snapshot; and
determining second difference data between the third source snapshot and the second source snapshot.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first difference data is determined based on the first source snapshot and the source storage object, and the method further comprises:
sending an identifier of the source storage object to the destination storage device to instruct the destination storage device to create the first destination snapshot based on the first difference data and the destination storage object corresponding to the identifier of the source storage object.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein second difference data is determined based on a third source snapshot of the set of source snapshots and the second source snapshot, and the method further comprises:
sending an identifier of the second source snapshot to the destination storage device to instruct the destination storage device to create a third destination snapshot based on the second difference data and a second destination snapshot corresponding to the identifier of the second source snapshot.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the snapshot for the source storage object is stored in a dendritic structure, and the method further comprises:
based on the dendritic structure, determining whether a sub source snapshot stored in association with the first source snapshot exists;
determining second difference data between the first source snapshot and the sub source snapshot in response to determining that the sub source snapshot exists; and
sending the second difference data to the destination storage device to enable the destination storage device to create a sub destination snapshot for the destination storage object based on the second difference data.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein acquiring the first source snapshot includes choosing the first source snapshot from a plurality of source snapshots for the source storage object; and
wherein the method further comprises:
making, based on creation times of the plurality of source snapshots, a selection between at least: (i) the source storage object and (ii) a second source snapshot; and

wherein determining first difference data includes:
calculating, as the first difference data and in response to choosing the first source snapshot, differences between (i) data corresponding to the first source snapshot and (ii) data corresponding the selection.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein acquiring the first source snapshot includes:
retrieving the first source snapshot according to a processing order of source snapshots to be copied to the destination storage device, the processing order being based on a storage structure of the source snapshots; and
wherein determining the first difference data including calculating the first difference data based on a position of the first source snapshot in the storage structure relative to the source storage object.

10. An electronic device, comprising:
at least one processing unit;
at least one memory, the at least one memory being coupled to the at least one processing unit and storing a set of instructions utilized to be executed by the at least one processing unit, wherein the set of instructions, when executed by the at least one processing unit, causes the device to perform actions, and the actions comprise:
receiving a request to copy a first source snapshot to the destination storage device, the first source snapshot having a latest creation time of all source snapshots of a set of source snapshots to be copied for the source storage object;
in response to receiving the request to copy the first source snapshot, acquiring the first source snapshot for a source storage object stored in a source storage device;
determining first difference data between the first source snapshot and the source storage object or a second source snapshot for the source storage object, creation time of the first source snapshot being associated with creation time of the second source snapshot, wherein determining the first difference data includes calculating, in response to acquiring the first source snapshot, the first difference data between the first source snapshot and the source storage object;
sending the first difference data to a destination storage device to enable the destination storage device to create a first destination snapshot for a destination storage object stored in the destination storage device based on the first difference data; and
creating, as a copy of the first source snapshot and based on the first difference data and the destination storage object, the first destination snapshot.

11. The device according to claim 10 , wherein the action of acquiring the first source snapshot comprises:
determining whether the first source snapshot is to be copied into the destination storage device; and
acquiring the first source snapshot in response to determining that the first source snapshot is to be copied into the destination storage device.

12. The device according to claim 10 , wherein the action of determining the first difference data comprises

Assignees

• Emc Ip Holding Co Llc

Inventors

• Kang Jian
• Li Chenglin
• Zhang Ruiyang
• Luo Mingyi
• Zeng Hongyuan

Classifications

• G06F2201/84

  Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data · CPC title

• G06F3/0604

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

• G06F11/1446 Primary

  Point-in-time backing up or restoration of persistent data · CPC title

• G06F11/1458 Primary

  Management of the backup or restore process · CPC title

• G06F3/0647

  Migration mechanisms · CPC title