Indirection-Based Storage System Backups

A method comprising:

• receiving a first marker as part of a backup request, the first marker encapsulating a state of a storage device at a first time, the first marker including a first set of serial numbers, the first set of serial numbers being associated with a first set of segments, and the first marker being based on a translation table of a storage logic associated with the storage device at the first time;
• generating a second marker encapsulating a state of the storage device at a second time, the second marker including a second set of serial numbers, the second set of serial numbers being associated with a second set of segments, and the second marker being based on the translation table at the second time;
• calculating a difference between the first marker and the second marker;
• and
• generating a backup of data stored in the storage device based on the calculated difference between the first marker and the second marker.

A data storage system comprising:

• means for storing data having addressable segments;
• means for translating logical data storage addresses to physical storage addresses;
• means for receiving a first marker, the first marker encapsulating a state of the storage device at a first time;
• means for generating a second marker based on the means for translating logical data storage addresses to physical storage addresses;
• means for calculating a difference between the first marker and the second marker;
• and
• means for generating a backup of data based on the calculated difference between the first marker and the second marker.