Avoiding encryption in a deduplication storage

Abstract

Avoiding encryption in a deduplication vault. In one example embodiment, a method for avoiding encryption during a backup of a source storage into a deduplication storage may include analyzing an allocated plain text block stored in the source storage at the point in time to determine if the allocated plain text block is already duplicated in the deduplication storage, in response to the allocated plain text block already being duplicated in the deduplication storage, avoiding encryption of the allocated plain text block by skipping an encryption of the allocated plain text block and instead associating the location of the allocated plain text block in the source storage with the location of the duplicate block already duplicated in the deduplication storage.

1 . A method for avoiding encryption during a backup of a source storage into a deduplication storage, the method comprising:
 analyzing an allocated plain text block stored in the source storage at a point in time to determine if the allocated plain text block is already duplicated in the deduplication storage; and   in response to the allocated plain text block already being duplicated in the deduplication storage, avoiding encryption of the allocated plain text block by skipping an encryption of the allocated plain text block and instead associating the location of the allocated plain text block in the source storage with the location of the duplicate block already duplicated in the deduplication storage.   
     
     
         2 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising reading, from the deduplication storage, and storing, in a restore storage, each allocated block that was stored in the source storage at the point in time in the same position as stored in the source storage at the point in time, wherein each encrypted allocated block is decrypted prior to being stored in the restore storage and each plain text allocated block is not decrypted prior to being stored in the restore storage. 
     
     
         3 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising seeding the deduplication storage with common plain text blocks prior to the point in time. 
     
     
         4 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the analyzing the allocated plain text block includes compressing the allocated plain text block. 
     
     
         5 . The method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the analyzing the allocated plain text block includes:
 hashing the allocated plain text block to produce a hash value;   determining if the hash value matches a hash value of any plain text block already stored in the deduplication storage; and   if the hash value matches any hash value of any plain text block already stored in the deduplication storage, determining that the allocated plain text block is already stored in the deduplication storage.   
     
     
         6 . The method as recited in  claim 5 , wherein hash values associated with plain text blocks stored in the deduplication storage are stored in a database or hash table. 
     
     
         7 . A method for avoiding encryption during a backup of a source storage into a deduplication storage, the method comprising:
 seeding the deduplication storage with common plain text blocks;   analyzing an allocated plain text block stored in the source storage at a point in time to determine if the allocated plain text block is already duplicated in the deduplication storage; and   in response to the allocated plain text block already being duplicated in the deduplication storage, avoiding encryption of the allocated plain text block by skipping an encryption of the allocated plain text block and instead associating the location of the allocated plain text block in the source storage with the location of the duplicate block already duplicated in the deduplication storage.   
     
     
         8 . The method as recited in  claim 7 , wherein the common plain text blocks include blocks that make up files of a standard operating system and/or files of a standard software application and/or blocks that have been designated by an administrator or user of the deduplication storage as common blocks. 
     
     
         9 . The method as recited in  claim 7 , wherein the seeding the deduplication storage includes:
 identifying an encrypted block stored in the deduplication storage that corresponds to multiple source storages; and   replacing the encrypted block with a corresponding plain text block in the deduplication storage.   
     
     
         10 . The method as recited in  claim 7 , wherein the analyzing the allocated plain text block includes compressing the allocated plain text block. 
     
     
         11 . The method as recited in  claim 7 , wherein the analyzing the allocated plain text block includes:
 hashing the allocated plain text block to produce a hash value;   determining if the hash value matches a hash value of any plain text block already stored in the deduplication storage; and   if the hash value matches any hash value of any plain text block already stored in the deduplication storage, determining that the allocated plain text block is already stored in the deduplication storage.   
     
     
         12 . The method as recited in  claim 11 , wherein hash values associated with plain text blocks stored in the deduplication storage are stored in a database or hash table. 
     
     
         13 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing one or more programs that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform a method for avoiding encryption during a backup of a source storage into a deduplication storage, the method comprising:
 analyzing an allocated plain text block stored in the source storage at a point in time to determine if the allocated plain text block is already duplicated in the deduplication storage; and   in response to the allocated plain text block already being duplicated in the deduplication storage, avoiding encryption of the allocated plain text block by skipping an encryption of the allocated plain text block and instead associating the location of the allocated plain text block in the source storage with the location of the duplicate block already duplicated in the deduplication storage.   
     
     
         14 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in  claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises reading, from the deduplication storage, and storing, in a restore storage, each allocated block that was stored in the source storage at the point in time in the same position as stored in the source storage at the point in time, wherein each encrypted allocated block is decrypted prior to being stored in the restore storage and each plain text allocated block is not decrypted prior to being stored in the restore storage. 
     
     
         15 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in  claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises seeding the deduplication storage with common plain text blocks prior to the point in time. 
     
     
         16 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in  claim 13 , wherein the analyzing the allocated plain text block includes compressing the allocated plain text block. 
     
     
         17 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in  claim 13 , wherein the analyzing the allocated plain text block includes:
 hashing the allocated plain text block to produce a hash value;   determining if the hash value matches a hash value of any plain text block already stored in the deduplication storage; and   if the hash value matches any hash value of any plain text block already stored in the deduplication storage, determining that the allocated plain text block is already stored in the deduplication storage.   
     
     
         18 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media as recited in  claim 17 , wherein hash values associated with plain text blocks stored in the deduplication storage are stored in a database or hash table.