International Business Machines Corporation

Robert S Elder

David Maxwell Cannon

Matthew Joseph Anglin

Colin Scott Dawson

Avishai Haim Hochberg

Eran Raichstein

David Gregory Van Hise

Michael Sternberg

Embodiments of the present invention provide a scalable, efficient way to backup data in a block-level incremental-forever backup system such that backup and expiration of data can be achieved at the granularity of a single backup version, without having to read or move data that is stored in backup storage.

Creation and expiration of backup objects in block-level incremental-forever backup systems

In one aspect of the present description, in connection with storing a first deduplicated data object in a primary storage pool, described operations include determining the duration of time that the first data object has resided in the primary storage pool, and comparing the determined duration of time to a predetermined time interval. In addition, described operations include, after the determined duration of time meets or exceeds the predetermined time interval, determining if the first data object has an extent referenced by another data object, and determining whether to move the first data object from the primary storage pool to a secondary storage pool as a function of whether the first data object has an extent referenced by another data object after the determined duration of time meets or exceeds the predetermined time interval. Other features and aspects may be realized, depending upon the particular application.

Data selection for movement from a source to a target

A chunk index has information on chunks in a storage space referenced in objects in the storage space. The chunk index includes a reference count for each chunk indicating a number of objects in which the chunk is referenced and a reference measurement representing a level of data object references to the chunk. One chunk is selected to remove from the storage space based on a criteria applied to the reference measurements of chunks having reference counts indicating that the chunks are not referenced in one object in the storage space.

Managing dereferenced chunks in a deduplication system

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Tucson, AZ, United States of America

Robert S Elder