How to Keep Data Safe During a Site Failover
A method for keeping data backups synchronized and accessible even when a primary data center goes offline and systems must switch to a backup location.
Original patent title: “Method and system for star replication using multiple replication technologies”
A method for keeping data backups synchronized and accessible even when a primary data center goes offline and systems must switch to a backup location. Granted to EMC IP Holding Co LLC in 2017 with 22 claims and 21 forward citations.
Key facts
Coverage
What does this patent actually cover?
This patent describes a way to manage data recovery when a primary production site fails. It uses a star-like topology where data is replicated to a secondary site and backed up to a separate storage location. When a failover occurs, the system reverses the flow of data, treating the replication site as the new production site. It uses a delta marker stream to track differences between storage locations, ensuring that the backup site remains consistent with the new production state even during complex recovery operations.
The gap
What does this patent NOT cover?
- Does not cover simple data mirroring without a failover mechanism.
- Does not cover data backup methods that lack a delta marker stream for tracking changes.
- Does not cover cloud-native object storage replication that does not involve a site-based failover.
- Does not cover hardware-agnostic data recovery that ignores the state of the production site storage.
These exclusions are unique to PatentBrief — derived from the actual claim language, not patent-office boilerplate.
What made this novel
The system uses a unified delta marker stream to manage differences across multiple storage tiers during a failover, effectively 'reversing' the replication logic to maintain data integrity without manual intervention.
Schematic visualization of the patent's claim structure. Hand-drawn diagrams in progress for each landmark patent.
Where you've seen this
Real-world examples
Dell EMC RecoverPoint
Enterprise disaster recovery storage clusters
Multi-site data center synchronization systems
Why it matters
The bigger picture
In enterprise IT, maintaining business continuity is critical. This patent provides a specific orchestration logic for EMC's (now Dell Technologies) data protection ecosystem, ensuring that when a disaster occurs, the backup chain does not break. It is a foundational piece of logic for high-availability storage arrays used by large corporations to prevent data loss during site outages.
Filed
December 29, 2014
Granted
June 6, 2017
Market context
Who's building on this
Companies in this space
Dell Technologies remains the primary entity building on this intellectual property through their data protection and storage divisions. Other major storage vendors like NetApp and Pure Storage utilize similar concepts of orchestrated failover and delta-based synchronization to compete in the enterprise data management market.
Market impact
This patent helped solidify the technical requirements for automated disaster recovery in enterprise storage. It enabled vendors to offer 'push-button' failover solutions, which reduced the complexity and downtime risks previously associated with manual data center recovery procedures.
Claim 1 — Plain English
What this patent covers
This patent describes a way to manage data recovery when a primary production site fails. It uses a star-like topology where data is replicated to a secondary site and backed up to a separate storage location. When a failover occurs, the system reverses the flow of data, treating the replication site as the new production site. It uses a delta marker stream to track differences between storage locations, ensuring that the backup site remains consistent with the new production state even during complex recovery operations.
The clever bit
The system uses a unified delta marker stream to manage differences across multiple storage tiers during a failover, effectively 'reversing' the replication logic to maintain data integrity without manual intervention.
What it does not cover
- Does not cover simple data mirroring without a failover mechanism.
- Does not cover data backup methods that lack a delta marker stream for tracking changes.
- Does not cover cloud-native object storage replication that does not involve a site-based failover.
- Does not cover hardware-agnostic data recovery that ignores the state of the production site storage.
Patent timeline
Application submitted to the patent office
Application published, typically 18 months after filing
Patent officially issued
PatentBrief Score
Impact Score
Moderate
Citation count
27/40
Moderately cited
Claim breadth
15/20
Broad claimsclaimsThe numbered statements at the end of a patent that legally define what the inventor owns.Read more →
Recency
10/20
Granted 5–10 years ago
Assignee scale
0/20
Independent or smaller assigneeassigneeThe entity that owns the patent — usually the inventor's employer or a company.Read more →
PatentBrief Impact Score — based on citation count, claim breadth, recency, and assignee scale. Not a legal assessment.
Heuristic Value Estimate
What this patent might be worth
$187K – $599K
Midpoint $374K · 8.5 yr remaining · industry ×1.6
Heuristic only — blends forward/backward citation counts, claim scope, time remaining, litigation history, and CPC-derived industry baseline. Real valuations need a professional appraisal.
The original legal language
Original claims
22 claims as filed with the patent office.
Concepts involved
Citations
Patent lineage
Cite this patent
Natanzon, A., Cohen, S., & Panidis, A. (2017). How to Keep Data Safe During a Site Failover (U.S. Patent No. 9,672,117). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/9672117/aws-codedeploy
Auto-generated from the patent record. Double-check author order and the issue date against the official USPTO document before submitting.
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Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What does How to Keep Data Safe During a Site Failover cover?
A method for keeping data backups synchronized and accessible even when a primary data center goes offline and systems must switch to a backup location.
Who owns patent US 9672117?
EMC IP Holding Co LLC owns this patent, granted in 2017.
When does this patent expire?
This patent is expected to expire on June 6, 2037, when the invention enters the public domain.
What is patent US 9672117 cited by?
This patent has been cited by 21 later patents that build on its ideas.
What problem does this patent solve?
In enterprise IT, maintaining business continuity is critical. This patent provides a specific orchestration logic for EMC's (now Dell Technologies) data protection ecosystem, ensuring that when a disaster occurs, the backup chain does not break. It is a foundational piece of logic for high-availability storage arrays used by large corporations to prevent data loss during site outages.
What does this patent NOT cover?
Does not cover simple data mirroring without a failover mechanism.
Same assignee
More from EMC IP Holding Co LLC
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