Patent ID: 7290087

Claim:
A method of performing data redundancy, said method comprising: storing a variably sized object capable of changing a number of bytes of data included therein in a first object storage device, wherein said variably sized object experiences a period of changing size followed by a period of having a stable size; temporarily storing a duplicate of said variably sized object in a second object storage device separate from said first object storage device; converting said variably sized object into any of a grouped object Redundant Affay of Independent Disks (RAID) layout and an individual RAID layout as said variably sized object changes in size, which occurs only after a size of said variably sized object has previously remained dormant for a predetermined period of time; wherein said step of converting further comprises determining which of said grouped object RAID layout or individual RAID layout to convert said variably sized object into based on a size of the variably sized object being converted; wherein said step of converting into a grouped object RAID layout further comprises selecting a group based on whether said group comprises other objects similarly sized to said variably sized object; wherein the similarly sized objects comprise variably sized objects capable of changing a number of bytes of data included therein; recomputing a parity of said group to include said variably sized object; and discarding the duplicate variably size object.