Introduction to continuous data protection

Continuous data protection: continuous data protection, CDP for short.

CDP definition:

Continuous data protection (CDP) is a method that can continuously capture or track any changes of target data without affecting the operation of master data, and can be restored to any previous point in time. CDP system can provide block-level, file-level and application-level backups, as well as infinitely variable recovery points of recovery targets.

Continuous Data Protection (CDP) technology is a revolutionary breakthrough to the traditional data backup technology. The traditional data backup solution focuses on the periodic backup of data, so it is always accompanied by problems such as backup window, data consistency and impact on production system. Now, CDP provides users with a new means of data protection. System administrators do not need to pay attention to the data backup process (because CDP system will constantly monitor the changes of key data, thus automatically realizing data protection), and only need to select the time point that needs to be recovered after the disaster, so as to realize the rapid recovery of data.

CDP technology captures all file access operations in real time by implanting file filter drivers in the core layer of the operating system. For the files that need CDP continuous backup protection, when CDP management module intercepts its rewriting operation through the file filter driver, it will automatically back up the changed file data to the storage device in advance together with the current system timestamp. Theoretically, any changes in file data will be automatically recorded, so it is called continuous data protection.