Patent ID: 8788913
Filing Date: 2014-07-22
Classification: G06F,H03M

Abstract:
1. A method of storing a set of data including at least one chunk of data, comprising: receiving a value that designates a desired retention period over which a chunk of the set of data is to be retained; selecting a pair of erasure coding parameters, N and K, wherein N represents a total number of fragments for storing the chunk and K represents a minimum number of the N fragments that are needed to ensure that the chunk can be recovered without data loss; calculating a mean time to data loss (MTTDL) of the chunk by applying N and K in an equation for MTTDL; testing whether the calculated MTTDL is at least as great as the designated retention period; repeating the selecting, calculating and testing for at least one different value pair of N and K until values of N and K are identified for which the calculated MTTDL is at least as great as the designated retention period; conducting, by a computing node on a network, an erasure coding operation on the chunk using erasure coding parameters N′ and K′, wherein N′ and K′ are each at least as great as the respective identified values of N and K; and storing the N′ fragments in multiple storage units, including at least one storage unit accessible to the computing node over the network.