Method and apparatus for maintaining an amount of reserve space using virtual placeholders
View Patent ↗A method and apparatus for maintaining an amount of reserve space using virtual placeholders. In one embodiment, a method of using placeholders for log files to maintain an amount of reserve storage space comprises determining a first required log file, wherein the first required log file is to be used to recover a database volume, generating at least one placeholder for representing at least one required log file in a log volume and storing the first required log file and the at least one placeholder in a portion of the log volume, wherein the at least one placeholder is used to control a size of the portion of the log volume.
1. A method of using placeholders for log files to maintain an amount of reserve storage space, comprising:
determining a first required log file from at least one backup set for a database, wherein the first required log file is to be used to recover a database volume;
generating at least one file as at least one placeholder referencing at least one required log file in the at least one backup set; and
storing the first required log file and the at least one placeholder with a portion of a log volume, wherein the at least one placeholder is used to control a size of the portion of the log volume.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
storing a last required log file with the portion of the log volume.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the first required log file further comprises analyzing a database file to determine the first required log file.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein storing the first required log file and the at least one placeholder further comprises arranging the at least one placeholder in the portion of the log volume.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
performing a recovery process on the log volume.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
replacing a first placeholder of the at least one placeholder with data associated with a current required log file.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
replacing a second log file with a second placeholder.
8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
replacing a third log file with a third placeholder, wherein the third log file is prior to a current required log file.
9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
throttling a plurality of input/output operations associated with the log volume.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein throttling the plurality of input/output operations further comprises delaying the plurality of input/output operations if a defined number of unprocessed log files is reached.
11. The method of claim 9 , wherein throttling the plurality of input/output operations further comprises replacing a fourth log file on the log volume with a fourth placeholder if a defined size of the at least one log file is reached.
12. An apparatus for using placeholders for log files to maintain an amount of reserve storage space, comprising:
a memory comprising a log volume for storing at least one required log file from at least one backup set for a database;
a filter driver for determining a first required log file, wherein the first required log file is to be used to recover a database volume, generating at least one file as at least one placeholder referencing the at least one required log file in the at least one backup set, and storing the first required log file and the at least one placeholder in the memory, wherein the at least one placeholder is used to control a size of the memory allocated to the log volume.
13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the filter driver replaces a first placeholder of the at least one placeholder with data associated with a current required log file.
14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the filter driver replaces a second log file with a second placeholder.
15. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the filter driver replaces a third log file with a third placeholder, wherein the third log file is prior to a current required log file.
16. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the filter driver throttles a plurality of input/output operations associated with the log volume.
17. A system for using placeholders for log files to maintain an amount of reserve storage space, comprising:
a storage subsystem, comprising:
a plurality of backup sets comprising a plurality of database files and a plurality of log files;
a server, comprising:
a memory comprising a log volume for storing at least one required log file from the plurality of backup sets,
a filter driver for determining a first required log file, wherein the first required log file is to be used to recover a database volume, generating at least one file as at least one placeholder referencing the at least one required log file in the plurality of backup sets, and storing the first required log file from an associated backup set of the plurality of backup sets and the at least one placeholder in the memory, wherein the at least one placeholder is used to control a size of the memory allocated to the log volume.
18. The system of claim 17 , further comprising:
analyzing a database file of the plurality of database files to determine the first required log file.
19. The system of claim 17 further comprising:
a database application for performing a recovery process on the plurality of database files and the plurality of log files.
20. The system of claim 17 , wherein the plurality of backup sets are stored within at least one of a tape drive or a disk drive.