System and method for scanning file systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12572425-B2
Application number	US-202318514193-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 20, 2023
Priority date	Nov 23, 2022
Publication date	Mar 10, 2026
Grant date	Mar 10, 2026

Abstract

A system for scanning a file system is presented. The system includes a memory storing one or more processor-executable routines; and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory. The processor is configured to execute the one or more processor-executable routines to execute a file system scan using a depth-first concurrent scan method; create one or more checkpoints during the file system scan based on one or more predefined time intervals; and restart a scan from a latest checkpoint of the plurality of checkpoints. A related method is also presented.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system for scanning a file system, the system comprising:
a memory storing one or more processor-executable routines; and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, the processor configured to execute the one or more processor-executable routines to: execute a file system scan using a depth-first concurrent scan method, the depth-first concurrent scan method comprising dividing a scan workload into a plurality of concurrent scan tracks, and assigning each scan track of the plurality of concurrent scan tracks to a corresponding scan worker; create one or more checkpoints during the file system scan based on one or more predefined time intervals; and restart a scan from a latest checkpoint of the one or more of checkpoints.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to execute the one or more processor-executable routines to execute the depth-first concurrent scan method comprising splitting a scan track to assign a portion of the scan track to a first idle worker from an idle worker collection.

3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to execute the one or more processor-executable routines to execute the depth-first concurrent scan method comprising:
creating a scan worker and assigning a root track in a directory to the scan worker; sorting contents of the directory in ascending order; checking if an idle worker is available from the idle worker collection; and assigning a portion of the root track to the first idle worker if available.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the one or more processor-executable routines to generate an array comprising a plurality of worker identifiers and corresponding scan track identifiers.

5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the processor is further configured to execute the one or more processor-executable routines to maintain and mutate scan tracks allocated to one or more scan workers in the array comprising worker identifiers and scan track identifiers.

6 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the processor is configured to execute the one or more processor-executable routines to create the one or more checkpoints based on a snapshot of the array at the one or more predefined time intervals.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to execute the one or more processor-executable routines to restart a scan from the latest checkpoint of the one or more checkpoints, wherein the latest checkpoint comprises a list of scan tracks that capture a state of each scan track worker of a plurality of scan track workers.

8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the processor is configured to restart the scan from the latest checkpoint of the one or more checkpoints by:
assigning a scan worker to a corresponding scan track based on an array comprising worker identifiers and scan track identifiers captured in a snapshot; assigning a scan worker to an idle worker collection if a scan track corresponding to a worker identifier is not present; and restarting a scan of a scan track from a track cursor if a scan track corresponding to a worker identifier is present.

9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to execute the one or more processor-executable routines to restart a scan from a latest checkpoint of the one or more checkpoints upon crash or pre-determined termination of the file system scan.

10 . A method for scanning a file system, the method comprising:
executing a file system scan using a depth-first concurrent scan method, wherein the depth-first concurrent scan method comprises dividing a scan workload into a plurality of concurrent scan tracks, and assigning each scan track of the plurality of concurrent scan tracks to a corresponding scan worker; creating one or more checkpoints during the file system scan based on one or more predefined time intervals; and restarting a scan from a latest checkpoint of the one or more checkpoints.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the depth-first concurrent scan method comprises splitting a scan track to assign a portion of the scan track to a first idle worker from an idle worker collection.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the depth-first concurrent scan method comprises:
creating a scan worker and assigning a root track in a directory to the scan worker; sorting contents of the directory in ascending order; checking if an idle worker is available from the idle worker collection; and assigning a portion of the root track to the first idle worker if available.

13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises generating an array comprising a plurality of worker identifiers and corresponding scan track identifiers.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises maintaining and mutating scan tracks allocated to one or more scan workers in the array comprising worker identifiers and scan track identifiers.

15 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the method comprises creating the one or more checkpoints based on a snapshot, at the one or more predefined time intervals, of an array comprising worker identifiers and scan track identifiers.

16 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the method comprises restarting a scan from the latest checkpoint of the one or more checkpoints, wherein the latest checkpoint comprises a list of scan tracks that capture a state of each scan track worker of a plurality of scan track workers.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the method comprises restarting the scan from the latest checkpoint of the one or more checkpoints by:
assigning a scan worker to a corresponding scan track based on an array comprising worker identifiers and scan track identifiers captured in a snapshot; assigning a scan worker to an idle worker collection if a scan track corresponding to a worker identifier is not present; and restarting a scan of a scan track from a track cursor if a scan track corresponding to a worker identifier is present.

18 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the method comprises restarting a scan from a latest checkpoint of the one or more checkpoints upon crash or pre-determined termination of the file system scan.

Assignees

• Druva Inc

Inventors

• Gottipati Srikiran
• Borate Milind Vithal
• Chitaliya Nishith

Classifications

• G06F11/1461

  Backup scheduling policy · CPC title

• G06F9/5083

  Techniques for rebalancing the load in a distributed system · CPC title

• G06F2201/84

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

• G06F11/1466

  to make the backup process non-disruptive · CPC title

• G06F2209/5011

  Pool · CPC title