1. A computer-implemented method for performing optimized backups of multiple independent volumes, at least a portion of the method being performed by a computing system comprising at least one processor, the method comprising:
identifying a plurality of independent volumes to be backed up to a backup server over a network, wherein:
each volume within the plurality of independent volumes corresponds to a different machine;
a deduplication subsystem that is external to the backup server creates and stores deduplicated versions of the plurality of independent volumes by identifying and storing shared regions of memory among the plurality of independent volumes a single time;
prior to transferring any data within, or any hashes of, the plurality of independent volumes to the backup server, obtaining information from the deduplication subsystem that indicates that at least one volume within the plurality of independent volumes comprises at least one shared region of memory that is identical to a region of memory on at least one other volume within the plurality of independent volumes;
when creating backups of the plurality of independent volumes, using the obtained information to:
transfer only a single copy of each shared region of memory to the backup server;
back up each shared region of memory a single time so that the backups of the plurality of independent volumes share a single copy of each shared region of memory.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein obtaining the information from the deduplication subsystem comprises:
obtaining the information directly from the deduplication subsystem;
obtaining the information from the deduplication subsystem via at least one volume within the plurality of independent volumes.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising, prior to obtaining the information, transmitting a query requesting the information to at least one of:
the deduplication subsystem;
at least one volume within the plurality of independent volumes.
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the deduplication subsystem comprises a deduplicated-snapshot subsystem programmed to create deduplicated snapshots of the plurality of independent volumes.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the deduplicated snapshots comprise copy-on-write snapshots.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the deduplication subsystem further comprises a deduplication engine that deduplicates data blocks received from the plurality of independent volumes.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein backing up each shared region of memory a single time comprises, for each shared region of memory, backing up a first volume that contains the shared region of memory to create a backup of the first volume.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein creating backups of the plurality of independent volumes comprises backing up additional volumes that contain the shared region of memory by:
only backing up regions of memory in the additional volumes that do not correspond to the shared region of memory;
referencing, in backups for the additional volumes, the shared region of memory in the backup of the first volume.
9. The computer-implemented of claim 8, wherein referencing, in the backups for the additional volumes, the shared region of memory in the backup of the first volume comprises storing, in the backups for the additional volumes, metadata that points to the shared region of memory in the backup of the first volume.
10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the shared region of memory comprises at least one data block.
11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of independent volumes comprise at least one of:
virtual-machine volumes;
physical-machine volumes.
12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of independent volumes are substantially identical to each other.
13. A system for performing optimized backups of multiple independent volumes, the system comprising: a volume-management module programmed to identify a plurality of independent volumes to be backed up to a backup server over a network, wherein: each volume within the plurality of independent volumes corresponds to a different machine; a deduplication subsystem that is external to the backup server creates and stores deduplicated versions of the plurality of independent volumes by identifying and storing shared regions of memory among the plurality of independent volumes a single time; a deduplication-information module programmed to obtain, prior to transferring any data within, or any hashes of, the plurality of independent volumes to the backup server, information from the deduplication subsystem that indicates that at least one volume within the plurality of independent volumes comprises at least one shared region of memory that is identical to a region of memory on at least one other volume within the plurality of independent volumes; a backup module programmed to use the obtained information when creating backups of the plurality of independent volumes to: transfer only a single copy of each shared region of memory to the backup server; back up each shared region of memory a single time so that the backups of the plurality of independent volumes share a single copy of each shared region of memory; at least one hardware processor configured to execute at least one of the volume-management module, the deduplication-information module, and the backup module.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein the deduplication-information module obtains the information from the deduplication subsystem by:
obtaining the information directly from the deduplication subsystem;
obtaining the information from the deduplication subsystem via at least one volume within the plurality of independent volumes.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein the deduplication-information module is further programmed to transmit, prior to obtaining the information, a query requesting the information to at least one of:
the deduplication subsystem;
at least one volume within the plurality of independent volumes.
16. The system of claim 13, wherein the backup module backs up each shared region of memory a single time by, for each shared region of memory, backing up a first volume that contains the shared region of memory to create a backup of the first volume.
17. The system of claim 16, wherein the backup module creates backups of the plurality of independent volumes by backing up additional volumes that contain the shared region of memory by:
only backing up regions of memory in the additional volumes that do not correspond to the shared region of memory;
referencing, in backups for the additional volumes, the shared region of memory in the backup of the first volume.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein the backup module references, in the backups for the additional volumes, the shared region of memory in the backup of the first volume by storing, in the backups for the additional volumes, metadata that points to the shared region of memory in the backup of the first volume.
19. A non-transitory computer-readable-storage medium comprising one or more computer executable instructions that, when executed by a computing device comprising at least one processor, cause the computing device to:
identify a plurality of independent volumes to be backed up to a backup server over a network, wherein:
each volume within the plurality of independent volumes corresponds to a different machine;
a deduplication subsystem that is external to the backup server creates and stores deduplicated versions of the plurality of independent volumes by identifying and storing shared regions of memory among the plurality of independent volumes a single time;
prior to transferring any data within, or any hashes of, the plurality of independent volumes to the backup server, obtain information from the deduplication subsystem that indicates that at least one volume within the plurality of independent volumes comprises at least one shared region of memory that is identical to a region of memory on at least one other volume within the plurality of independent volumes;
when creating backups of the plurality of independent volumes, using the obtained information to:
transfer only a single copy of each shared region of memory to the backup server;
back up each shared region of memory a single time so that the backups of the plurality of independent volumes share a single copy of each shared region of memory.
20. The non-transitory computer-readable-storage medium of claim 19, wherein the one or more computer executable instructions cause the computing device to obtain the information from the deduplication subsystem by: obtaining the information directly from the deduplication subsystem; obtaining the information from the deduplication subsystem via at least one volume within the plurality of independent volumes.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An image reading apparatus comprising:
an illumination unit including a lamp to incorporate a change in temperature conditions to the emitting light amount, the lamp extending in a predetermined direction and having a predetermined length, the lamp illuminating a reading object to obtain the reflected light from the reading object;
a first control unit which changes the capacity of the lamp of the illumination unit to illuminate the reading object;
an image signal generation unit which generates an image signal by opto-electrically converting the reflected light;
an optical unit which inputs the reflected light to the image signal generation unit;
a second control unit which operates the image signal generation unit;
a white reference marker which provides a reference for shading correction and illuminance of an illumination light to illuminate the reading object;
an image processing unit which compensates a fluctuation in an image signal caused by any one of or all of the image signal generation unit, the illumination unit and the optical unit, and performs shading correction of the output of the image signal generation unit to set a reference for the output level of the image signal generation unit;
a cooling unit which cools the lamp of the illumination unit;
a third control unit which operates the cooling unit; and
a control amount setting unit which sets the cooling amount when operating the cooling unit by the third control unit, and gives an instruction to the third control unit.
2. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cooling unit includes at least two fans, the fans provided at the positions satisfying the predetermined conditions concerning the length direction of the illumination unit; and each of the fans can be changed independently in the distance to the lamp andor the number of revolution.
3. The image reading apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising an uniformalizing member which prevents the wind generated by the fan from applying directly to the lamp of the illumination unit.
4. The image reading apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the uniformalizing member is made of metal with high thermal conductivity.
5. The image reading apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising an uniformalizing member which prevents the wind generated by the fan from applying directly to the lamp of the illumination unit and the first control unit.
6. The image reading apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the uniformalizing member is made of metal with high thermal conductivity.
7. An image reading apparatus comprising:
an illumination unit including a lamp to incorporate a change in temperature conditions to the emitting light amount, the lamp extending in a predetermined direction and having the distribution of the emitting light amount in the length direction, the lamp illuminating a reading object to obtain the reflected light from the reading object;
a lamp lighting circuit which changes the capacity of the lamp of the illumination unit to illuminate the reading object;
a line CCD sensor which generates an image signal by opto-electrically changing the reflected light;
an optical unit which transmits the reflected light to the light receiving surface of the line CCD sensor;
a CCD sensor driving unit which operates the line CCD sensor;
a white reference marker which provides a reference for shading correction and illuminance of an illumination light to illuminate the reading object;
an image processing unit which compensates a fluctuation in an image signal caused by any one of or all of the line CCD sensor, the illumination unit and the optical unit, and performs shading correction of the output of the line CCD sensor to set a reference for the output level of the line CCD sensor;
a cooling fan which generates a cooling wind for cooling the lamp of the illumination unit;
an illuminance comparing unit which compares the image signal outputted from both ends in the length direction of the line CCD sensor and the image signal outputted from the part close to the center in the length direction of the line CCD sensor, among the reflected lights obtained when the white reference marker is illuminated by the lamp, and sets the wind amount of the cooling wind to be outputted by the cooling fan;
a motor driving unit which operates the cooling fan; and
a control amount setting unit which sets a value to be instructed to the motor driving unit, to achieve the wind amount of the cooling wind to be outputted by the cooling fan.
8. The image reading apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the cooling fan is provided at least two at predetermined positions in the length direction of the lamp of the illumination unit, operable independently each other.
9. The image reading apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the control amount setting unit sets a value to be instructed to the motor driving unit to achieve the wind amount of the cooling wind to be outputted by the cooling fan, until the difference obtained by the illuminance comparing unit by comparing the outputs at the center in the length direction of the line CCD sensor and at both ends in the length direction of the line CCD sensor comes in \xb15%.