System and method for slice distribution of network attached storage assets based on slice metadata

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12210779-B2
Application number	US-202318157762-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 20, 2023
Priority date	Jan 20, 2023
Publication date	Jan 28, 2025
Grant date	Jan 28, 2025

Abstract

A method for managing network attached storage (NAS) assets obtaining, by a backup manager, a backup request for backing up the NAS assets, in response to the backup request: determining a number of streams available to be performed in parallel by a set of backup agents, obtaining a set of slices associated with the NAS assets, performing a categorization on the set of slices based on metadata associated with the set of slices to obtain a set of batches, initiating a slice distribution of the set of slices to the set of backup agents based on the set of batches and the number of streams, and storing the set of slices in a backup storage system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for managing network attached storage (NAS) assets, the method comprising:
obtaining a backup request for backing up the NAS assets;
in response to the backup request:
determining a number of streams available to be performed in parallel by a set of backup agents;
obtaining a set of slices associated with the NAS assets, wherein each slice of the set of slices is a portion of data associated with the NAS assets, and wherein each slice comprises multiple files;
performing a categorization on the set of slices based on metadata associated with the set of slices to obtain a set of batches,
wherein the set of batches is generated based on a batching performed using the metadata to group the slices based on one of a list consisting of: an average file size of the slices, a number of files in each slice, and a total size of the slices;

initiating a slice distribution of the set of slices to the set of backup agents based on the set of batches and the number of streams; and
storing the set of slices in a backup storage system.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metadata specifies a number of files in each slice of the set of slices.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metadata specifies an average size of files in each of the set of slices.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein initiating the slice distribution comprises assigning a first batch to a first stream of the streams and assigning a second batch to a second stream of the streams.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein after assigning the first batch to the first stream and the second batch to the second stream, the first stream and the second stream transmit the first batch and the second batch in parallel.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of slices is generated based on the number of streams.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the NAS assets are stored in a NAS system, and wherein the set of backup agents are operatively connected to the NAS system and the backup storage system.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the set of backup agents comprises a NAS container that provides at least one of the streams.

9. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable program code, which when executed by a computer processor enables the computer processor to perform a method for managing network attached storage (NAS) assets, the method comprising:
obtaining a backup request for backing up the NAS assets;
in response to the backup request:
determining a number of streams available to be performed in parallel by a set of backup agents;
obtaining a set of slices associated with the NAS assets, wherein each slice of the set of slices is a portion of data associated with the NAS assets, and wherein each slice comprises multiple files;
performing a categorization on the set of slices based on metadata associated with the set of slices to obtain a set of batches,
wherein the set of batches is generated based on a batching performed using the metadata to group the slices based on one of a list consisting of: an average file size of the slices, a number of files in each slice, and a total size of the slices;

initiating a slice distribution of the set of slices to the set of backup agents based on the set of batches and the number of streams; and
storing the set of slices in a backup storage system.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the metadata specifies a number of files in each slice of the set of slices.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the metadata specifies an average size of files in each of the set of slices.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein initiating the slice distribution comprises assigning a first batch to a first stream of the streams and assigning a second batch to a second stream of the streams.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein after assigning the first batch to the first stream and the second batch to the second stream, the first stream and the second stream transmit the first batch and the second batch in parallel.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the set of slices is generated based on the number of streams.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the NAS assets are stored in a NAS system, and wherein the set of backup agents are operatively connected to the NAS system and the backup storage system.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein each of the set of backup agents comprises a NAS container that provides at least one of the streams.

17. A system comprising:
a processor; and
a backup manager comprising the processor, programmed to:
obtain a backup request for backing up NAS assets;
in response to the backup request:
determine a number of streams available to be performed in parallel by a set of backup agents;
obtain a set of slices associated with the NAS assets, wherein each slice of the set of slices is a portion of data associated with the NAS assets, and wherein each slice comprises multiple files;
perform a categorization on the set of slices based on metadata associated with the set of slices to obtain a set of batches,
wherein the set of batches is generated based on a batching performed using the metadata to group the slices based on one of a list consisting of: an average file size of the slices, a number of files in each slice, and a total size of the slices;

initiate a slice distribution of the set of slices to the set of backup agents based on the set of batches and the number of streams; and
store the set of slices in a backup storage system.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the metadata specifies a number of files in each slice of the set of slices.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein the metadata specifies an average size of files in each of the set of slices.

20. The system of claim 17 , wherein initiating the slice distribution comprises assigning a first batch to a first stream of the streams and assigning a second batch to a second stream of the streams.

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Singhal Upanshu
• Kumar Ashish
• Kumar Nitin

Classifications

• G06F3/0604 Primary

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

• G06F3/0655

  Vertical data movement, i.e. input-output transfer; data movement between one or more hosts and one or more storage devices · CPC title

• G06F16/1824

  implemented using Network-attached Storage [NAS] architecture (distributed or networked storage systems G06F3/067; protocols for distributed storage of data in a network H04L67/1097) · CPC title

• G06F11/0727

  in a storage system, e.g. in a DASD or network based storage system (drivers for digital recording or reproducing units G06F3/06; circuits for error detection or correction within digital recording or reproducing units G11B20/18; for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS], H04L67/1097) · CPC title

• G06F3/067 Primary

  Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS] · CPC title