Techniques for time-dependent storage management with a portable application programming interface
View Patent ↗Techniques for time-dependent storage management with a portable application programming interface are disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the techniques may be realized as a method for time-dependent storage management. The method may comprise interfacing with a host and a storage system having one or more storage devices. The method may also comprise intercepting all write commands that the host issues to the storage system. The method may additionally comprise performing a copy-on-write operation for each intercepted write command, wherein copy-on-write data and metadata associated with each intercepted write command are recorded, the metadata including at least a timestamp associated with each intercepted write command.
1. A method for time-dependent storage management, the method comprising:
interfacing with a host and a storage system having one or more storage devices;
intercepting all write commands that the host issues to the storage system; and
recording data and metadata associated with each intercepted write command, the metadata including at least a timestamp associated with each intercepted write command;
wherein interfacing with the host and the storage system is performed via an application programming interface comprising a plurality of software objects that provide a plurality of I/O sources representing the host and the one or more storage devices;
wherein the plurality of software objects further provide a control plane object to provide an inter-process communication mechanism, a data buffer object representing a source from which to request data buffers, a data plane object to provide a mechanism for manipulation of the data buffers, and an I/O router object to execute I/O requests against the one or more storage devices represented by at least one of the I/O sources.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the application programming interface is implemented on a computing platform that provides one or more libraries selected from a group consisting of: POSIX thread library, POSIX C library, and ANSI C++ library.
3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the application programming interface is implemented on a computing platform that provides an ANSI compliant C/C++ compiler.
4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the ANSI compliant C/C++ compiler is part of a GNU compiler collection.
5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the application programming interface is implemented on a computing platform that supports a Berkeley database.
6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the application programming interface supports high availability by causing at least one of the plurality of I/O sources to replay an I/O request that has been interrupted due to a failover.
7. At least one non-transitory processor readable storage medium for storing a computer program of instructions configured to be readable by at least one processor for instructing the at least one processor to execute a computer process for performing the method as recited in claim 1 .
8. An article of manufacture for time-dependent storage management, the article of manufacture comprising:
at least one non-transitory processor readable storage medium; and
instructions carried on the at least one non-transitory processor readable storage medium;
wherein the instructions are configured to be readable from the at least one non-transitory processor readable storage medium by at least one processor and thereby cause the at least one processor to operate so as to:
interface with a host and a storage system having one or more storage devices;
intercept all write commands that the host issues to the storage system; and
record data and metadata associated with each intercepted write command, the metadata including at least a timestamp associated with each intercepted write command;
wherein interfacing with the host and the storage system is performed via an application programming interface comprising a plurality of software objects that provide a plurality of I/O sources representing the host and the one or more storage devices;
wherein the plurality of software objects further provide a control plane object to provide an inter-process communication mechanism, a data buffer object representing a source from which to request data buffers, a data plane object to provide a mechanism for manipulation of the data buffers, and an I/O router object to execute I/O requests against the one or more storage devices represented by at least one of the I/O sources.
9. The article of manufacture according to claim 8 , wherein the application programming interface is implemented on a computing platform that provides one or more libraries selected from a group consisting of: POSIX thread library, POSIX C library, and ANSI C++ library.
10. The article of manufacture according to claim 8 , wherein the application programming interface is implemented on a computing platform that provides an ANSI compliant C/C++ compiler.
11. The article of manufacture according to claim 10 , wherein the ANSI compliant C/C++ compiler is part of a GNU compiler collection.
12. The article of manufacture according to claim 8 , wherein the application programming interface is implemented on a computing platform that supports a Berkeley database.
13. The article of manufacture according to claim 8 , wherein the application programming interface supports high availability by causing at least one of the plurality of I/O sources to replay an I/O request that has been interrupted due to a failover.