A protocol for disaster data evacuation

Abstract

Data is the basis of the modern information society. However, recent natural catastrophes have shown that it is not possible to definitively secure a data storage location. Even if the storage location is not destroyed itself the access may quickly become impossible, due to the breakdown of connections or power supply. However, this rarely happens without any warning. While floods have hours or days of warning time, tsunamis usually leave only minutes for reaction and for earthquakes there are only seconds. In such situations, timely evacuation of important data is the key challenge. Consequently, the focus lies on minimizing the time to move away all data from the storage location whereas the actual time to arrival remains less (but still) important. This demonstration presents the dynamic fast send protocol (DFSP), a new bulk data transfer protocol. It employs striping to dynamic intermediate nodes in order to minimize sending time and to utilize the sender's resources to a high extent.