Hybrid garbage collection

摘要

Disclosed is a method for hybrid garbage collection of objects in a file system. An example method includes associating, with each object in the file system, a reference counter, an expiration time, and a version identifier. The object is can be kept in the file system while the reference counter of the object is non-zero. After determining that the reference counter of the object is zero, the object can be kept in the file system up to the expiration time associated with the object. When a reference referring to the object is deleted, the expiration time of the object is updated to the latest of the expiration times of the object and the reference. Furthermore, the object can be kept in the file system while the version identifier of the object is larger than a predetermined version number.

主权项

1. A computer-implemented method for hybrid garbage collection of objects in a file system, the method comprising:
associating a reference counter with an object in the file system; associating an expiration time with the object, the expiration time being a period of time for which the object is kept in the file system after the reference counter associated with the object becomes zero; associating a version identifier with the object; keeping the object in the file system while the reference counter of the object is non-zero; and wherein in response to determining that the reference counter of the object is zero, keeping the object in the file system up to the expiration time associated with the object.