U.S. patent application number 16/129623 was filed with the patent office on 2019-04-11 for ransomware detection and data pruning management.
The applicant listed for this patent is Commvault Systems, Inc.. Invention is credited to Arun Prasad AMARENDRAN, Deepak Raghunath ATTARDE, Amit Bhaskar AUSARKAR, PurnaChandra Sekhar BEDHAPUDI, Sri Karthik BHAGI, Mrityunjay UPADHYAY.
Application Number | 20190108341 16/129623 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 65993983 |
Filed Date | 2019-04-11 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20190108341 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
BEDHAPUDI; PurnaChandra Sekhar ;
et al. |
April 11, 2019 |
RANSOMWARE DETECTION AND DATA PRUNING MANAGEMENT
Abstract
This application relates to ransomware detection and data
pruning management. Ransomware typically involves an I/O heavy
process of encrypting data files and/or deleting or renaming the
original files. Thus, ransomware attacks may be detected by
analyzing the I/O activity in a given file system. In some
embodiments, a software module running on a client machine manages
copying, archiving, migrating, and/or replicating of primary data
and restoring and/or pruning secondary data (e.g., backup copies of
the primary data). When a potential ransomware attack is detected,
the software module is immediately stopped so that the software
module does not prune any data that may need to be restored. Upon
receiving user input that indicates that the client machine is not
under a ransomware attack, the software module is allowed to resume
its operations, including pruning of the secondary data.
Inventors: |
BEDHAPUDI; PurnaChandra Sekhar;
(Eatontown, NJ) ; BHAGI; Sri Karthik;
(Morganville, NJ) ; ATTARDE; Deepak Raghunath;
(Marlboro, NJ) ; AMARENDRAN; Arun Prasad;
(Manalapan, NJ) ; AUSARKAR; Amit Bhaskar; (Ocean,
NJ) ; UPADHYAY; Mrityunjay; (Hyderabad, IN) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Commvault Systems, Inc. |
Tinton Falls |
NJ |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
65993983 |
Appl. No.: |
16/129623 |
Filed: |
September 12, 2018 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
62558752 |
Sep 14, 2017 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 2221/034 20130101;
G06F 2221/2101 20130101; G06F 16/1752 20190101; G06F 16/1734
20190101; G06F 21/566 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 21/56 20060101
G06F021/56; G06F 16/17 20060101 G06F016/17; G06F 16/174 20060101
G06F016/174 |
Claims
1. A computer-implemented method for detecting file activity
anomalies, the method comprising: causing a copy of primary data
associated with a client computing device to be stored in one or
more secondary storage devices as part of secondary data associated
with the client computing device; removing, at a first time, at
least some of the secondary data stored in the one or more
secondary storage devices according to a secondary data retention
policy associated with the client computing device; detecting, at a
second time subsequent to the first time, a file activity anomaly
based at least on one or more file system operations performed on
the client computing device satisfying one or more threshold
conditions associated with the client computing device; in response
to detecting the file activity anomaly, disabling removal of the
secondary data associated with the client computing device from the
one or more secondary storage devices according to the secondary
data retention policy; and outputting a notification indicating at
least the file activity anomaly.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:
monitoring file system operations performed on the client computing
device over a specific time period preceding the second time;
determining a baseline count of file system operations performed on
the client computing device over the specific time period; and
determining, based at least on the baseline count, at least one
threshold condition of the one or more threshold conditions.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the baseline
count is an average number of file system operations performed on
the client computing device for each sub-period of a plurality of
sub-periods within the specific time period.
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising
determining the at least one threshold condition at least by
multiplying the baseline count with a predetermined percentage
value, wherein the predetermined percentage value is greater than
100 percent.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising
periodically determining whether a current count of file system
operations satisfies the one or more threshold conditions for each
of a plurality of time periods subsequent to the specific time
period and each having a same length as the specific time
period.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or
more file system operations comprise at least one of write
operations, create operations, rename operations, or delete
operations.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the
secondary data retention policy specifies a retention period after
which the secondary data is to be removed from the one or more
secondary storage devices.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising
disabling, in response to detecting the file activity anomaly,
backup of the primary data from the client computing device to the
one or more secondary storage devices.
9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:
determining an indication of an input by a user of the client
computing device for clearing the file activity anomaly; and in
response to determining the indication of the input, re-enabling
removal of the secondary data associated with the client computing
device from the one or more secondary storage devices according to
the secondary data retention policy.
10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:
determining an indication of an input by a user of the client
computing device for clearing the file activity anomaly; and in
response to determining the indication of the input, updating the
one or more threshold conditions such that, subsequent to updating
the one or more threshold conditions, a file activity anomaly is
not detected for at least a specific type of file system
operations.
11. A system for detecting file activity anomalies, the system
comprising: a client computing device comprising computer hardware
and configured to perform one or more file system operations within
a file system residing on the client computing device; and one or
more secondary storage devices comprising computer hardware and
configured to store secondary data associated with the client
computing device, wherein the secondary data is a copy of primary
data stored on one or more primary storage devices associated with
the client computing device, wherein the client computing device
configured to: remove, at a first time, at least some of the
secondary data stored in the one or more secondary storage devices
according to a secondary data retention policy associated with the
client computing device; detect, at a second time subsequent to the
first time, a file activity anomaly based at least on the one or
more file system operations satisfying one or more threshold
conditions associated with the client computing device; in response
to detecting the file activity anomaly, disable removal of the
secondary data associated with the client computing device from the
one or more secondary storage devices according to the secondary
data retention policy; and output a notification indicating at
least the file activity anomaly.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the client computing device is
further configured to: monitor file system operations performed on
the client computing device over a second time period preceding the
first time period; determine a baseline count of file system
operations performed on the client computing device over the second
time period; and determine, based at least on the baseline count,
the threshold value for disabling the one or more data protection
operations.
13. The system of claim 12, wherein the baseline count is an
average number of file system operations performed on the client
computing device for each sub-period of a plurality of sub-periods
within the second time period.
14. The system of claim 12, wherein the client computing device is
further configured to determine the threshold value by multiplying
the baseline count with a predetermined percentage value, wherein
the predetermined percentage value is greater than 100 percent.
15. The system of claim 11, wherein the set of file system
operations comprises at least one of write operations, create
operations, rename operations, or delete operations.
16. The system of claim 11, wherein the client computing device is
further configured to periodically determine whether a current
count of file system operations exceeds the threshold value for
each of a plurality of time periods subsequent to the first time
period and each having a same length as the first time period.
17. The system of claim 11, wherein the client computing device is
further configured to disable a data aging operation such that the
secondary data associated with the client computing device is
preserved.
18. The system of claim 11, wherein the client computing device is
further configured to disable a backup operation associated with
the client computing device such that an additional backup copy
associated with the client computing device is not created on the
one or more secondary storage devices.
19. The system of claim 11, wherein the client computing device is
further configured to: determine an indication of an input by a
user of the client computing device for clearing the file activity
anomaly; and in response to determining the indication of the
input, re-enable the one or more data protection operations.
20. The system of claim 11, wherein the client computing device is
further configured to: determine an indication of an input by a
user of the client computing device for clearing the file activity
anomaly; and in response to determining the indication of the
input, update one or more rules for disabling the one or more data
protection operations such that, subsequent to updating the one or
more rules, a file activity anomaly is not detected for at least a
specific type of file system operations despite being associated
with a count exceeding the threshold value.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Patent Application No. 62/558,752, filed on Sep. 14, 2017 and
titled "RANSOMWARE DETECTION AND DATA PRUNING MANAGEMENT." Any and
all applications, if any, for which a foreign or domestic priority
claim is identified in the Application Data Sheet of the present
application are hereby incorporated by reference in their
entireties under 37 CFR 1.57.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
[0002] A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains
material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright
owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of
the patent document and/or the patent disclosure as it appears in
the United States Patent and Trademark Office patent file and/or
records, but otherwise reserves all copyrights whatsoever.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Businesses recognize the commercial value of their data and
seek reliable, cost-effective ways to protect the information
stored on their computer networks while minimizing impact on
productivity. A company might back up critical computing systems
such as databases, file servers, web servers, virtual machines, and
so on as part of a daily, weekly, or monthly maintenance schedule.
The company may similarly protect computing systems used by its
employees, such as those used by an accounting department,
marketing department, engineering department, and so forth. Given
the rapidly expanding volume of data under management, companies
also continue to seek innovative techniques for managing data
growth, for example by migrating data to lower-cost storage over
time, reducing redundant data, pruning lower priority data, etc.
Enterprises also increasingly view their stored data as a valuable
asset and look for solutions that leverage their data. For
instance, data analysis capabilities, information management,
improved data presentation and access features, and the like, are
in increasing demand.
SUMMARY
[0004] Certain embodiments described herein relate to automated
ransomware detection. Ransomware is a specific type of malware that
enters a file system by exploiting vulnerabilities within the file
system. Ransomware typically encrypts a user's files and leaves a
ransom note for the user, inviting the user to pay a sum of money
in exchange for a decryption key that can be used to decrypt the
user's files. Ransomware typically involves an input/output (I/O)
heavy process of encrypting data files and/or deleting or renaming
the original files. Thus, ransomware attacks may be detected by
analyzing the I/O activity in the file system. In some embodiments,
a software module running on a client machine monitors the I/O
activity in the file system. The software module records the number
of times the files in the file system are modified, created,
deleted, and/or renamed. The recorded number is compared against a
threshold. If the number exceeds the threshold, the software module
provides an alert to the user of the client machine that the client
machine may be under a ransomware attack. In some embodiments,
index data gathered as part of backup operations is utilized,
either alone or in combination with the continuously monitored I/O
activity data, to detect ransomware attacks.
[0005] As further described below, a data agent (e.g., a software
program executing on the client machine) is responsible for
managing, initiating, or otherwise assisting in the performance of
copying, archiving, migrating, and/or replicating of primary data
and restoring and/or pruning secondary data (e.g., backup copies of
the primary data). When a potential ransomware attack is detected,
the data agent running on the client machine is immediately stopped
so that the data agent does not prune any data that may need to be
restored. Upon receiving user input that indicates that the client
machine is not under a ransomware attack, the data agent is allowed
to resume its operations, including pruning of the secondary
data.
[0006] In addition, when a potential ransomware attack is detected,
a timestamp is recorded. If the client machine is indeed taken over
by the ransomware attack, an intelligent restore operation can be
performed such that the primary data is automatically restored to a
point in time prior to the infection by the ransomware attack using
the recorded timestamp.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary
information management system.
[0008] FIG. 1B is a detailed view of a primary storage device, a
secondary storage device, and some examples of primary data and
secondary copy data.
[0009] FIG. 1C is a block diagram of an exemplary information
management system including a storage manager, one or more data
agents, and one or more media agents.
[0010] FIG. 1D is a block diagram illustrating a scalable
information management system.
[0011] FIG. 1E illustrates certain secondary copy operations
according to an exemplary storage policy.
[0012] FIGS. 1F-1H are block diagrams illustrating suitable data
structures that may be employed by the information management
system.
[0013] FIG. 2A illustrates a system and technique for synchronizing
primary data to a destination such as a failover site using
secondary copy data.
[0014] FIG. 2B illustrates an information management system
architecture incorporating use of a network file system (NFS)
protocol for communicating between the primary and secondary
storage subsystems.
[0015] FIG. 2C is a block diagram of an example of a highly
scalable managed data pool architecture.
[0016] FIG. 3A is a block diagram illustrating some salient
portions of a system 300 for automated ransomware detection,
according to an illustrative embodiment of the present
invention.
[0017] FIG. 3B is a block diagram illustrating some salient
portions of a system 300 for automated ransomware detection,
according to another illustrative embodiment of the present
invention.
[0018] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating some salient portions
of a system 400 for automated ransomware detection, according to an
illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
[0019] FIG. 5 depicts some salient operations of a method 500
according to an illustrative embodiment of the present
invention.
[0020] FIG. 6 depicts some salient operations of a method 600
according to an illustrative embodiment of the present
invention.
[0021] FIG. 7 depicts some salient operations of a method 700
according to an illustrative embodiment of the present
invention.
[0022] FIG. 8 depicts some salient operations of a method 800
according to an illustrative embodiment of the present
invention.
[0023] FIG. 9 depicts some salient operations of a method 900
according to an illustrative embodiment of the present
invention.
[0024] FIG. 10 depicts some salient operations of a method 1000
according to an illustrative embodiment of the present
invention.
[0025] FIG. 11 depicts some salient operations of a method 1100
according to an illustrative embodiment of the present
invention.
[0026] FIG. 12 depicts an illustrative graphical user interface
showing detection of file activity anomaly in the illustrative
system.
[0027] FIG. 13 depicts an illustrative graphical user interface
showing disabling of data aging in the illustrative system.
[0028] FIG. 14 depicts an illustrative graphical user interface
showing a file activity anomaly alert in the illustrative
system.
[0029] FIG. 15 depicts an illustrative graphical user interface
showing creation of a custom report in the illustrative system.
[0030] FIG. 16 depicts an illustrative graphical user interface
showing clearing of detected file activity anomalies in the
illustrative system.
[0031] FIG. 17 depicts an illustrative graphical user interface
showing enabling of data agent activity in the illustrative
system.
[0032] FIG. 18 depicts an illustrative graphical user interface
showing enabling of data aging in the illustrative system.
[0033] FIG. 19 depicts an illustrative graphical user interface
showing an email notification in the illustrative system.
[0034] FIG. 20 depicts an illustrative graphical user interface
showing clients having more than an expected number of failures in
the illustrative system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0035] Detailed descriptions and examples of systems and methods
according to one or more illustrative embodiments of the present
invention may be found in the sections below, beginning with the
section entitled Introduction to Ransomware through the section
entitled Example Embodiments, and also in FIGS. 3A-20 herein.
Furthermore, components and functionality for automated ransomware
detection may be configured and/or incorporated into information
management systems such as those described herein in FIGS. 1A-1H
and 2A-2C.
[0036] Various embodiments described herein are intimately tied to,
enabled by, and would not exist except for, computer technology.
For example, automated ransomware detection described herein in
reference to various embodiments cannot reasonably be performed by
humans alone, without the computer technology upon which they are
implemented.
Information Management System Overview
[0037] With the increasing importance of protecting and leveraging
data, organizations simply cannot risk losing critical data.
Moreover, runaway data growth and other modern realities make
protecting and managing data increasingly difficult. There is
therefore a need for efficient, powerful, and user-friendly
solutions for protecting and managing data and for smart and
efficient management of data storage. Depending on the size of the
organization, there may be many data production sources which are
under the purview of tens, hundreds, or even thousands of
individuals. In the past, individuals were sometimes responsible
for managing and protecting their own data, and a patchwork of
hardware and software point solutions may have been used in any
given organization. These solutions were often provided by
different vendors and had limited or no interoperability. Certain
embodiments described herein address these and other shortcomings
of prior approaches by implementing scalable, unified,
organization-wide information management, including data storage
management.
[0038] FIG. 1A shows one such information management system 100 (or
"system 100"), which generally includes combinations of hardware
and software configured to protect and manage data and metadata
that are generated and used by computing devices in system 100.
System 100 may be referred to in some embodiments as a "storage
management system" or a "data storage management system." System
100 performs information management operations, some of which may
be referred to as "storage operations" or "data storage
operations," to protect and manage the data residing in and/or
managed by system 100. The organization that employs system 100 may
be a corporation or other business entity, non-profit organization,
educational institution, household, governmental agency, or the
like.
[0039] Generally, the systems and associated components described
herein may be compatible with and/or provide some or all of the
functionality of the systems and corresponding components described
in one or more of the following U.S. patents/publications and
patent applications assigned to Commvault Systems, Inc., each of
which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety herein:
[0040] U.S. Pat. No. 7,035,880, entitled "Modular Backup and
Retrieval System Used in Conjunction With a Storage Area Network";
[0041] U.S. Pat. No. 7,107,298, entitled "System And Method For
Archiving Objects In An Information Store"; [0042] U.S. Pat. No.
7,246,207, entitled "System and Method for Dynamically Performing
Storage Operations in a Computer Network"; [0043] U.S. Pat. No.
7,315,923, entitled "System And Method For Combining Data Streams
In Pipelined Storage Operations In A Storage Network"; [0044] U.S.
Pat. No. 7,343,453, entitled "Hierarchical Systems and Methods for
Providing a Unified View of Storage Information"; [0045] U.S. Pat.
No. 7,395,282, entitled "Hierarchical Backup and Retrieval System";
[0046] U.S. Pat. No. 7,529,782, entitled "System and Methods for
Performing a Snapshot and for Restoring Data"; [0047] U.S. Pat. No.
7,617,262, entitled "System and Methods for Monitoring Application
Data in a Data Replication System"; [0048] U.S. Pat. No. 7,734,669,
entitled "Managing Copies Of Data"; [0049] U.S. Pat. No. 7,747,579,
entitled "Metabase for Facilitating Data Classification"; [0050]
U.S. Pat. No. 8,156,086, entitled "Systems And Methods For Stored
Data Verification"; [0051] U.S. Pat. No. 8,170,995, entitled
"Method and System for Offline Indexing of Content and Classifying
Stored Data"; [0052] U.S. Pat. No. 8,230,195, entitled "System And
Method For Performing Auxiliary Storage Operations"; [0053] U.S.
Pat. No. 8,285,681, entitled "Data Object Store and Server for a
Cloud Storage Environment, Including Data Deduplication and Data
Management Across Multiple Cloud Storage Sites"; [0054] U.S. Pat.
No. 8,307,177, entitled "Systems And Methods For Management Of
Virtualization Data"; [0055] U.S. Pat. No. 8,364,652, entitled
"Content-Aligned, Block-Based Deduplication"; [0056] U.S. Pat. No.
8,578,120, entitled "Block-Level Single Instancing"; [0057] U.S.
Pat. No. 8,954,446, entitled "Client-Side Repository in a Networked
Deduplicated Storage System"; [0058] U.S. Pat. No. 9,020,900,
entitled "Distributed Deduplicated Storage System"; [0059] U.S.
Pat. No. 9,098,495, entitled "Application-Aware and Remote Single
Instance Data Management"; [0060] U.S. Pat. No. 9,239,687, entitled
"Systems and Methods for Retaining and Using Data Block Signatures
in Data Protection Operations"; [0061] U.S. Pat. Pub. No.
2006/0224846, entitled "System and Method to Support Single
Instance Storage Operations"; [0062] U.S. Pat. Pub. No.
2014/0201170, entitled "High Availability Distributed Deduplicated
Storage System"; [0063] U.S. patent application Ser. No.
14/721,971, entitled "Replication Using Deduplicated Secondary Copy
Data" (applicant docket no. 100.422.US1.145; attorney docket no.
COMMV.252A); [0064] U.S. Patent Application No. 62/265,339 entitled
"Live Synchronization and Management of Virtual Machines across
Computing and Virtualization Platforms and Using Live
Synchronization to Support Disaster Recovery" (applicant docket no.
100.487.USP1.160; attorney docket no. COMMV.277PR); [0065] U.S.
Patent Application No. 62/273,286 entitled "Redundant and Robust
Distributed Deduplication Data Storage System" (applicant docket
no. 100.489.USP1.135; attorney docket no. COMMV.279PR); [0066] U.S.
Patent Application No. 62/294,920, entitled "Data Protection
Operations Based on Network Path Information" (applicant docket no.
100.497.USP1.105; attorney docket no. COMMV.283PR); [0067] U.S.
Patent Application No. 62/297,057, entitled "Data Restoration
Operations Based on Network Path Information" (applicant docket no.
100.498.USP1.105; attorney docket no. COMMV.284PR); and [0068] U.S.
Patent Application No. 62/387,384, entitled "Application-Level Live
Synchronization Across Computing Platforms Including Synchronizing
Co-Resident Applications To Disparate Standby Destinations And
Selectively Synchronizing Some Applications And Not Others"
(applicant docket no. 100.500.USP1.105; attorney docket no.
COMMV.286PR).
[0069] System 100 includes computing devices and computing
technologies. For instance, system 100 can include one or more
client computing devices 102 and secondary storage computing
devices 106, as well as storage manager 140 or a host computing
device for it. Computing devices can include, without limitation,
one or more: workstations, personal computers, desktop computers,
or other types of generally fixed computing systems such as
mainframe computers, servers, and minicomputers. Other computing
devices can include mobile or portable computing devices, such as
one or more laptops, tablet computers, personal data assistants,
mobile phones (such as smartphones), and other mobile or portable
computing devices such as embedded computers, set top boxes,
vehicle-mounted devices, wearable computers, etc. Servers can
include mail servers, file servers, database servers, virtual
machine servers, and web servers. Any given computing device
comprises one or more processors (e.g., CPU and/or single-core or
multi-core processors), as well as corresponding non-transitory
computer memory (e.g., random-access memory (RAM)) for storing
computer programs which are to be executed by the one or more
processors. Other computer memory for mass storage of data may be
packaged/configured with the computing device (e.g., an internal
hard disk) and/or may be external and accessible by the computing
device (e.g., network-attached storage, a storage array, etc.). In
some cases, a computing device includes cloud computing resources,
which may be implemented as virtual machines. For instance, one or
more virtual machines may be provided to the organization by a
third-party cloud service vendor.
[0070] In some embodiments, computing devices can include one or
more virtual machine(s) running on a physical host computing device
(or "host machine") operated by the organization. As one example,
the organization may use one virtual machine as a database server
and another virtual machine as a mail server, both virtual machines
operating on the same host machine. A Virtual machine ("VM") is a
software implementation of a computer that does not physically
exist and is instead instantiated in an operating system of a
physical computer (or host machine) to enable applications to
execute within the VM's environment, i.e., a VM emulates a physical
computer. AVM includes an operating system and associated virtual
resources, such as computer memory and processor(s). A hypervisor
operates between the VM and the hardware of the physical host
machine and is generally responsible for creating and running the
VMs. Hypervisors are also known in the art as virtual machine
monitors or a virtual machine managers or "VMMs", and may be
implemented in software, firmware, and/or specialized hardware
installed on the host machine. Examples of hypervisors include ESX
Server, by VMware, Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif.; Microsoft Virtual
Server and Microsoft Windows Server Hyper-V, both by Microsoft
Corporation of Redmond, Wash.; Sun xVM by Oracle America Inc. of
Santa Clara, Calif.; and Xen by Citrix Systems, Santa Clara, Calif.
The hypervisor provides resources to each virtual operating system
such as a virtual processor, virtual memory, a virtual network
device, and a virtual disk. Each virtual machine has one or more
associated virtual disks. The hypervisor typically stores the data
of virtual disks in files on the file system of the physical host
machine, called virtual machine disk files ("VMDK" in VMware lingo)
or virtual hard disk image files (in Microsoft lingo). For example,
VMware's ESX Server provides the Virtual Machine File System (VMFS)
for the storage of virtual machine disk files. A virtual machine
reads data from and writes data to its virtual disk much the way
that a physical machine reads data from and writes data to a
physical disk. Examples of techniques for implementing information
management in a cloud computing environment are described in U.S.
Pat. No. 8,285,681. Examples of techniques for implementing
information management in a virtualized computing environment are
described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,307,177.
[0071] Information management system 100 can also include
electronic data storage devices, generally used for mass storage of
data, including, e.g., primary storage devices 104 and secondary
storage devices 108. Storage devices can generally be of any
suitable type including, without limitation, disk drives, storage
arrays (e.g., storage-area network (SAN) and/or network-attached
storage (NAS) technology), semiconductor memory (e.g., solid state
storage devices), network attached storage (NAS) devices, tape
libraries, or other magnetic, non-tape storage devices, optical
media storage devices, DNA/RNA-based memory technology,
combinations of the same, etc. In some embodiments, storage devices
form part of a distributed file system. In some cases, storage
devices are provided in a cloud storage environment (e.g., a
private cloud or one operated by a third-party vendor), whether for
primary data or secondary copies or both.
[0072] Depending on context, the term "information management
system" can refer to generally all of the illustrated hardware and
software components in FIG. 1C, or the term may refer to only a
subset of the illustrated components. For instance, in some cases,
system 100 generally refers to a combination of specialized
components used to protect, move, manage, manipulate, analyze,
and/or process data and metadata generated by client computing
devices 102. However, system 100 in some cases does not include the
underlying components that generate and/or store primary data 112,
such as the client computing devices 102 themselves, and the
primary storage devices 104. Likewise secondary storage devices 108
(e.g., a third-party provided cloud storage environment) may not be
part of system 100. As an example, "information management system"
or "storage management system" may sometimes refer to one or more
of the following components, which will be described in further
detail below: storage manager, data agent, and media agent.
[0073] One or more client computing devices 102 may be part of
system 100, each client computing device 102 having an operating
system and at least one application 110 and one or more
accompanying data agents executing thereon; and associated with one
or more primary storage devices 104 storing primary data 112.
Client computing device(s) 102 and primary storage devices 104 may
generally be referred to in some cases as primary storage subsystem
117.
Client Computing Devices, Clients, and Subclients
[0074] Typically, a variety of sources in an organization produce
data to be protected and managed. As just one illustrative example,
in a corporate environment such data sources can be employee
workstations and company servers such as a mail server, a web
server, a database server, a transaction server, or the like. In
system 100, data generation sources include one or more client
computing devices 102. A computing device that has a data agent 142
installed and operating on it is generally referred to as a "client
computing device" 102, and may include any type of computing
device, without limitation. A client computing device 102 may be
associated with one or more users and/or user accounts.
[0075] A "client" is a logical component of information management
system 100, which may represent a logical grouping of one or more
data agents installed on a client computing device 102. Storage
manager 140 recognizes a client as a component of system 100, and
in some embodiments, may automatically create a client component
the first time a data agent 142 is installed on a client computing
device 102. Because data generated by executable component(s) 110
is tracked by the associated data agent 142 so that it may be
properly protected in system 100, a client may be said to generate
data and to store the generated data to primary storage, such as
primary storage device 104. However, the terms "client" and "client
computing device" as used herein do not imply that a client
computing device 102 is necessarily configured in the client/server
sense relative to another computing device such as a mail server,
or that a client computing device 102 cannot be a server in its own
right. As just a few examples, a client computing device 102 can be
and/or include mail servers, file servers, database servers,
virtual machine servers, and/or web servers.
[0076] Each client computing device 102 may have application(s) 110
executing thereon which generate and manipulate the data that is to
be protected from loss and managed in system 100. Applications 110
generally facilitate the operations of an organization, and can
include, without limitation, mail server applications (e.g.,
Microsoft Exchange Server), file system applications, mail client
applications (e.g., Microsoft Exchange Client), database
applications or database management systems (e.g., SQL, Oracle,
SAP, Lotus Notes Database), word processing applications (e.g.,
Microsoft Word), spreadsheet applications, financial applications,
presentation applications, graphics and/or video applications,
browser applications, mobile applications, entertainment
applications, and so on. Each application 110 may be accompanied by
an application-specific data agent 142, though not all data agents
142 are application-specific or associated with only application. A
file system, e.g., Microsoft Windows Explorer, may be considered an
application 110 and may be accompanied by its own data agent 142.
Client computing devices 102 can have at least one operating system
(e.g., Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, IBM z/OS, Linux, other
Unix-based operating systems, etc.) installed thereon, which may
support or host one or more file systems and other applications
110. In some embodiments, a virtual machine that executes on a host
client computing device 102 may be considered an application 110
and may be accompanied by a specific data agent 142 (e.g., virtual
server data agent).
[0077] Client computing devices 102 and other components in system
100 can be connected to one another via one or more electronic
communication pathways 114. For example, a first communication
pathway 114 may communicatively couple client computing device 102
and secondary storage computing device 106; a second communication
pathway 114 may communicatively couple storage manager 140 and
client computing device 102; and a third communication pathway 114
may communicatively couple storage manager 140 and secondary
storage computing device 106, etc. (see, e.g., FIG. 1A and FIG.
1C). A communication pathway 114 can include one or more networks
or other connection types including one or more of the following,
without limitation: the Internet, a wide area network (WAN), a
local area network (LAN), a Storage Area Network (SAN), a Fibre
Channel (FC) connection, a Small Computer System Interface (SCSI)
connection, a virtual private network (VPN), a token ring or TCP/IP
based network, an intranet network, a point-to-point link, a
cellular network, a wireless data transmission system, a two-way
cable system, an interactive kiosk network, a satellite network, a
broadband network, a baseband network, a neural network, a mesh
network, an ad hoc network, other appropriate computer or
telecommunications networks, combinations of the same or the like.
Communication pathways 114 in some cases may also include
application programming interfaces (APIs) including, e.g., cloud
service provider APIs, virtual machine management APIs, and hosted
service provider APIs. The underlying infrastructure of
communication pathways 114 may be wired and/or wireless, analog
and/or digital, or any combination thereof; and the facilities used
may be private, public, third-party provided, or any combination
thereof, without limitation.
[0078] A "subclient" is a logical grouping of all or part of a
client's primary data 112. In general, a subclient may be defined
according to how the subclient data is to be protected as a unit in
system 100. For example, a subclient may be associated with a
certain storage policy. A given client may thus comprise several
subclients, each subclient associated with a different storage
policy. For example, some files may form a first subclient that
requires compression and deduplication and is associated with a
first storage policy. Other files of the client may form a second
subclient that requires a different retention schedule as well as
encryption, and may be associated with a different, second storage
policy. As a result, though the primary data may be generated by
the same application 110 and may belong to one given client,
portions of the data may be assigned to different subclients for
distinct treatment by system 100. More detail on subclients is
given in regard to storage policies below.
Primary Data and Exemplary Primary Storage Devices
[0079] Primary data 112 is generally production data or "live" data
generated by the operating system and/or applications 110 executing
on client computing device 102. Primary data 112 is generally
stored on primary storage device(s) 104 and is organized via a file
system operating on the client computing device 102. Thus, client
computing device(s) 102 and corresponding applications 110 may
create, access, modify, write, delete, and otherwise use primary
data 112. Primary data 112 is generally in the native format of the
source application 110. Primary data 112 is an initial or first
stored body of data generated by the source application 110.
Primary data 112 in some cases is created substantially directly
from data generated by the corresponding source application 110. It
can be useful in performing certain tasks to organize primary data
112 into units of different granularities. In general, primary data
112 can include files, directories, file system volumes, data
blocks, extents, or any other hierarchies or organizations of data
objects. As used herein, a "data object" can refer to (i) any file
that is currently addressable by a file system or that was
previously addressable by the file system (e.g., an archive file),
and/or to (ii) a subset of such a file (e.g., a data block, an
extent, etc.). Primary data 112 may include structured data (e.g.,
database files), unstructured data (e.g., documents), and/or
semi-structured data. See, e.g., FIG. 1B.
[0080] It can also be useful in performing certain functions of
system 100 to access and modify metadata within primary data 112.
Metadata generally includes information about data objects and/or
characteristics associated with the data objects. For simplicity
herein, it is to be understood that, unless expressly stated
otherwise, any reference to primary data 112 generally also
includes its associated metadata, but references to metadata
generally do not include the primary data. Metadata can include,
without limitation, one or more of the following: the data owner
(e.g., the client or user that generates the data), the last
modified time (e.g., the time of the most recent modification of
the data object), a data object name (e.g., a file name), a data
object size (e.g., a number of bytes of data), information about
the content (e.g., an indication as to the existence of a
particular search term), user-supplied tags, to/from information
for email (e.g., an email sender, recipient, etc.), creation date,
file type (e.g., format or application type), last accessed time,
application type (e.g., type of application that generated the data
object), location/network (e.g., a current, past or future location
of the data object and network pathways to/from the data object),
geographic location (e.g., GPS coordinates), frequency of change
(e.g., a period in which the data object is modified), business
unit (e.g., a group or department that generates, manages or is
otherwise associated with the data object), aging information
(e.g., a schedule, such as a time period, in which the data object
is migrated to secondary or long term storage), boot sectors,
partition layouts, file location within a file folder directory
structure, user permissions, owners, groups, access control lists
(ACLs), system metadata (e.g., registry information), combinations
of the same or other similar information related to the data
object. In addition to metadata generated by or related to file
systems and operating systems, some applications 110 and/or other
components of system 100 maintain indices of metadata for data
objects, e.g., metadata associated with individual email messages.
The use of metadata to perform classification and other functions
is described in greater detail below.
[0081] Primary storage devices 104 storing primary data 112 may be
relatively fast and/or expensive technology (e.g., flash storage, a
disk drive, a hard-disk storage array, solid state memory, etc.),
typically to support high-performance live production environments.
Primary data 112 may be highly changeable and/or may be intended
for relatively short term retention (e.g., hours, days, or weeks).
According to some embodiments, client computing device 102 can
access primary data 112 stored in primary storage device 104 by
making conventional file system calls via the operating system.
Each client computing device 102 is generally associated with
and/or in communication with one or more primary storage devices
104 storing corresponding primary data 112. A client computing
device 102 is said to be associated with or in communication with a
particular primary storage device 104 if it is capable of one or
more of: routing and/or storing data (e.g., primary data 112) to
the primary storage device 104, coordinating the routing and/or
storing of data to the primary storage device 104, retrieving data
from the primary storage device 104, coordinating the retrieval of
data from the primary storage device 104, and modifying and/or
deleting data in the primary storage device 104. Thus, a client
computing device 102 may be said to access data stored in an
associated storage device 104.
[0082] Primary storage device 104 may be dedicated or shared. In
some cases, each primary storage device 104 is dedicated to an
associated client computing device 102, e.g., a local disk drive.
In other cases, one or more primary storage devices 104 can be
shared by multiple client computing devices 102, e.g., via a local
network, in a cloud storage implementation, etc. As one example,
primary storage device 104 can be a storage array shared by a group
of client computing devices 102, such as EMC Clariion, EMC
Symmetrix, EMC Celerra, Dell EqualLogic, IBM XIV, NetApp FAS, HP
EVA, and HP 3PAR.
[0083] System 100 may also include hosted services (not shown),
which may be hosted in some cases by an entity other than the
organization that employs the other components of system 100. For
instance, the hosted services may be provided by online service
providers. Such service providers can provide social networking
services, hosted email services, or hosted productivity
applications or other hosted applications such as
software-as-a-service (SaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS),
application service providers (ASPs), cloud services, or other
mechanisms for delivering functionality via a network. As it
services users, each hosted service may generate additional data
and metadata, which may be managed by system 100, e.g., as primary
data 112. In some cases, the hosted services may be accessed using
one of the applications 110. As an example, a hosted mail service
may be accessed via browser running on a client computing device
102.
[0084] Secondary Copies and Exemplary Secondary Storage Devices
[0085] Primary data 112 stored on primary storage devices 104 may
be compromised in some cases, such as when an employee deliberately
or accidentally deletes or overwrites primary data 112. Or primary
storage devices 104 can be damaged, lost, or otherwise corrupted.
For recovery and/or regulatory compliance purposes, it is therefore
useful to generate and maintain copies of primary data 112.
Accordingly, system 100 includes one or more secondary storage
computing devices 106 and one or more secondary storage devices 108
configured to create and store one or more secondary copies 116 of
primary data 112 including its associated metadata. The secondary
storage computing devices 106 and the secondary storage devices 108
may be referred to as secondary storage subsystem 118.
[0086] Secondary copies 116 can help in search and analysis efforts
and meet other information management goals as well, such as:
restoring data and/or metadata if an original version is lost
(e.g., by deletion, corruption, or disaster); allowing
point-in-time recovery; complying with regulatory data retention
and electronic discovery (e-discovery) requirements; reducing
utilized storage capacity in the production system and/or in
secondary storage; facilitating organization and search of data;
improving user access to data files across multiple computing
devices and/or hosted services; and implementing data retention and
pruning policies.
[0087] A secondary copy 116 can comprise a separate stored copy of
data that is derived from one or more earlier-created stored copies
(e.g., derived from primary data 112 or from another secondary copy
116). Secondary copies 116 can include point-in-time data, and may
be intended for relatively long-term retention before some or all
of the data is moved to other storage or discarded. In some cases,
a secondary copy 116 may be in a different storage device than
other previously stored copies; and/or may be remote from other
previously stored copies. Secondary copies 116 can be stored in the
same storage device as primary data 112. For example, a disk array
capable of performing hardware snapshots stores primary data 112
and creates and stores hardware snapshots of the primary data 112
as secondary copies 116. Secondary copies 116 may be stored in
relatively slow and/or lower cost storage (e.g., magnetic tape). A
secondary copy 116 may be stored in a backup or archive format, or
in some other format different from the native source application
format or other format of primary data 112.
[0088] Secondary storage computing devices 106 may index secondary
copies 116 (e.g., using a media agent 144), enabling users to
browse and restore at a later time and further enabling the
lifecycle management of the indexed data. After creation of a
secondary copy 116 that represents certain primary data 112, a
pointer or other location indicia (e.g., a stub) may be placed in
primary data 112, or be otherwise associated with primary data 112,
to indicate the current location of a particular secondary copy
116. Since an instance of a data object or metadata in primary data
112 may change over time as it is modified by application 110 (or
hosted service or the operating system), system 100 may create and
manage multiple secondary copies 116 of a particular data object or
metadata, each copy representing the state of the data object in
primary data 112 at a particular point in time. Moreover, since an
instance of a data object in primary data 112 may eventually be
deleted from primary storage device 104 and the file system, system
100 may continue to manage point-in-time representations of that
data object, even though the instance in primary data 112 no longer
exists. For virtual machines, the operating system and other
applications 110 of client computing device(s) 102 may execute
within or under the management of virtualization software (e.g., a
VMM), and the primary storage device(s) 104 may comprise a virtual
disk created on a physical storage device. System 100 may create
secondary copies 116 of the files or other data objects in a
virtual disk file and/or secondary copies 116 of the entire virtual
disk file itself (e.g., of an entire.vmdk file).
[0089] Secondary copies 116 are distinguishable from corresponding
primary data 112. First, secondary copies 116 can be stored in a
different format from primary data 112 (e.g., backup, archive, or
other non-native format). For this or other reasons, secondary
copies 116 may not be directly usable by applications 110 or client
computing device 102 (e.g., via standard system calls or otherwise)
without modification, processing, or other intervention by system
100 which may be referred to as "restore" operations. Secondary
copies 116 may have been processed by data agent 142 and/or media
agent 144 in the course of being created (e.g., compression,
deduplication, encryption, integrity markers, indexing, formatting,
application-aware metadata, etc.), and thus secondary copy 116 may
represent source primary data 112 without necessarily being exactly
identical to the source.
[0090] Second, secondary copies 116 may be stored on a secondary
storage device 108 that is inaccessible to application 110 running
on client computing device 102 and/or hosted service. Some
secondary copies 116 may be "offline copies," in that they are not
readily available (e.g., not mounted to tape or disk). Offline
copies can include copies of data that system 100 can access
without human intervention (e.g., tapes within an automated tape
library, but not yet mounted in a drive), and copies that the
system 100 can access only with some human intervention (e.g.,
tapes located at an offsite storage site).
Using Intermediate Devices for Creating Secondary Copies--Secondary
Storage Computing Devices
[0091] Creating secondary copies can be challenging when hundreds
or thousands of client computing devices 102 continually generate
large volumes of primary data 112 to be protected. Also, there can
be significant overhead involved in the creation of secondary
copies 116. Moreover, specialized programmed intelligence and/or
hardware capability is generally needed for accessing and
interacting with secondary storage devices 108. Client computing
devices 102 may interact directly with a secondary storage device
108 to create secondary copies 116, but in view of the factors
described above, this approach can negatively impact the ability of
client computing device 102 to serve/service application 110 and
produce primary data 112. Further, any given client computing
device 102 may not be optimized for interaction with certain
secondary storage devices 108.
[0092] Thus, system 100 may include one or more software and/or
hardware components which generally act as intermediaries between
client computing devices 102 (that generate primary data 112) and
secondary storage devices 108 (that store secondary copies 116). In
addition to off-loading certain responsibilities from client
computing devices 102, these intermediate components provide other
benefits. For instance, as discussed further below with respect to
FIG. 1D, distributing some of the work involved in creating
secondary copies 116 can enhance scalability and improve system
performance. For instance, using specialized secondary storage
computing devices 106 and media agents 144 for interfacing with
secondary storage devices 108 and/or for performing certain data
processing operations can greatly improve the speed with which
system 100 performs information management operations and can also
improve the capacity of the system to handle large numbers of such
operations, while reducing the computational load on the production
environment of client computing devices 102. The intermediate
components can include one or more secondary storage computing
devices 106 as shown in FIG. 1A and/or one or more media agents
144. Media agents are discussed further below (e.g., with respect
to FIGS. 1C-1E). These special-purpose components of system 100
comprise specialized programmed intelligence and/or hardware
capability for writing to, reading from, instructing, communicating
with, or otherwise interacting with secondary storage devices
108.
[0093] Secondary storage computing device(s) 106 can comprise any
of the computing devices described above, without limitation. In
some cases, secondary storage computing device(s) 106 also include
specialized hardware componentry and/or software intelligence
(e.g., specialized interfaces) for interacting with certain
secondary storage device(s) 108 with which they may be specially
associated.
[0094] To create a secondary copy 116 involving the copying of data
from primary storage subsystem 117 to secondary storage subsystem
118, client computing device 102 may communicate the primary data
112 to be copied (or a processed version thereof generated by a
data agent 142) to the designated secondary storage computing
device 106, via a communication pathway 114. Secondary storage
computing device 106 in turn may further process and convey the
data or a processed version thereof to secondary storage device
108. One or more secondary copies 116 may be created from existing
secondary copies 116, such as in the case of an auxiliary copy
operation, described further below.
Exemplary Primary Data and an Exemplary Secondary Copy
[0095] FIG. 1B is a detailed view of some specific examples of
primary data stored on primary storage device(s) 104 and secondary
copy data stored on secondary storage device(s) 108, with other
components of the system removed for the purposes of illustration.
Stored on primary storage device(s) 104 are primary data 112
objects including word processing documents 119A-B, spreadsheets
120, presentation documents 122, video files 124, image files 126,
email mailboxes 128 (and corresponding email messages 129A-C),
HTML/XML or other types of markup language files 130, databases 132
and corresponding tables or other data structures 133A-133C. Some
or all primary data 112 objects are associated with corresponding
metadata (e.g., "Meta1-11"), which may include file system metadata
and/or application-specific metadata. Stored on the secondary
storage device(s) 108 are secondary copy 116 data objects 134A-C
which may include copies of or may otherwise represent
corresponding primary data 112.
[0096] Secondary copy data objects 134A-C can individually
represent more than one primary data object. For example, secondary
copy data object 134A represents three separate primary data
objects 133C, 122, and 129C (represented as 133C', 122', and 129C',
respectively, and accompanied by corresponding metadata Meta11,
Meta3, and Meta8, respectively). Moreover, as indicated by the
prime mark ('), secondary storage computing devices 106 or other
components in secondary storage subsystem 118 may process the data
received from primary storage subsystem 117 and store a secondary
copy including a transformed and/or supplemented representation of
a primary data object and/or metadata that is different from the
original format, e.g., in a compressed, encrypted, deduplicated, or
other modified format. For instance, secondary storage computing
devices 106 can generate new metadata or other information based on
said processing, and store the newly generated information along
with the secondary copies. Secondary copy data object 1346
represents primary data objects 120, 133B, and 119A as 120', 133B',
and 119A', respectively, accompanied by corresponding metadata
Meta2, Meta10, and Meta1, respectively. Also, secondary copy data
object 134C represents primary data objects 133A, 1196, and 129A as
133A', 1196', and 129A', respectively, accompanied by corresponding
metadata Meta9, Meta5, and Meta6, respectively.
Exemplary Information Management System Architecture
[0097] System 100 can incorporate a variety of different hardware
and software components, which can in turn be organized with
respect to one another in many different configurations, depending
on the embodiment. There are critical design choices involved in
specifying the functional responsibilities of the components and
the role of each component in system 100. Such design choices can
impact how system 100 performs and adapts to data growth and other
changing circumstances. FIG. 1C shows a system 100 designed
according to these considerations and includes: storage manager
140, one or more data agents 142 executing on client computing
device(s) 102 and configured to process primary data 112, and one
or more media agents 144 executing on one or more secondary storage
computing devices 106 for performing tasks involving secondary
storage devices 108.
[0098] Storage Manager
[0099] Storage manager 140 is a centralized storage and/or
information manager that is configured to perform certain control
functions and also to store certain critical information about
system 100--hence storage manager 140 is said to manage system 100.
As noted, the number of components in system 100 and the amount of
data under management can be large. Managing the components and
data is therefore a significant task, which can grow unpredictably
as the number of components and data scale to meet the needs of the
organization. For these and other reasons, according to certain
embodiments, responsibility for controlling system 100, or at least
a significant portion of that responsibility, is allocated to
storage manager 140. Storage manager 140 can be adapted
independently according to changing circumstances, without having
to replace or re-design the remainder of the system. Moreover, a
computing device for hosting and/or operating as storage manager
140 can be selected to best suit the functions and networking needs
of storage manager 140. These and other advantages are described in
further detail below and with respect to FIG. 1D.
[0100] Storage manager 140 may be a software module or other
application hosted by a suitable computing device. In some
embodiments, storage manager 140 is itself a computing device that
performs the functions described herein. Storage manager 140
comprises or operates in conjunction with one or more associated
data structures such as a dedicated database (e.g., management
database 146), depending on the configuration. The storage manager
140 generally initiates, performs, coordinates, and/or controls
storage and other information management operations performed by
system 100, e.g., to protect and control primary data 112 and
secondary copies 116. In general, storage manager 140 is said to
manage system 100, which includes communicating with, instructing,
and controlling in some circumstances components such as data
agents 142 and media agents 144, etc.
[0101] As shown by the dashed arrowed lines 114 in FIG. 1C, storage
manager 140 may communicate with, instruct, and/or control some or
all elements of system 100, such as data agents 142 and media
agents 144. In this manner, storage manager 140 manages the
operation of various hardware and software components in system
100. In certain embodiments, control information originates from
storage manager 140 and status as well as index reporting is
transmitted to storage manager 140 by the managed components,
whereas payload data and metadata are generally communicated
between data agents 142 and media agents 144 (or otherwise between
client computing device(s) 102 and secondary storage computing
device(s) 106), e.g., at the direction of and under the management
of storage manager 140. Control information can generally include
parameters and instructions for carrying out information management
operations, such as, without limitation, instructions to perform a
task associated with an operation, timing information specifying
when to initiate a task, data path information specifying what
components to communicate with or access in carrying out an
operation, and the like. In other embodiments, some information
management operations are controlled or initiated by other
components of system 100 (e.g., by media agents 144 or data agents
142), instead of or in combination with storage manager 140.
[0102] According to certain embodiments, storage manager 140
provides one or more of the following functions: [0103]
communicating with data agents 142 and media agents 144, including
transmitting instructions, messages, and/or queries, as well as
receiving status reports, index information, messages, and/or
queries, and responding to same; [0104] initiating execution of
information management operations; [0105] initiating restore and
recovery operations; [0106] managing secondary storage devices 108
and inventory/capacity of the same; [0107] allocating secondary
storage devices 108 for secondary copy operations; [0108]
reporting, searching, and/or classification of data in system 100;
[0109] monitoring completion of and status reporting related to
information management operations and jobs; [0110] tracking
movement of data within system 100; [0111] tracking age information
relating to secondary copies 116, secondary storage devices 108,
comparing the age information against retention guidelines, and
initiating data pruning when appropriate; [0112] tracking logical
associations between components in system 100; [0113] protecting
metadata associated with system 100, e.g., in management database
146; [0114] implementing job management, schedule management, event
management, alert management, reporting, job history maintenance,
user security management, disaster recovery management, and/or user
interfacing for system administrators and/or end users of system
100; [0115] sending, searching, and/or viewing of log files; and
[0116] implementing operations management functionality.
[0117] Storage manager 140 may maintain an associated database 146
(or "storage manager database 146" or "management database 146") of
management-related data and information management policies 148.
Database 146 is stored in computer memory accessible by storage
manager 140. Database 146 may include a management index 150 (or
"index 150") or other data structure(s) that may store: logical
associations between components of the system; user preferences
and/or profiles (e.g., preferences regarding encryption,
compression, or deduplication of primary data or secondary copies;
preferences regarding the scheduling, type, or other aspects of
secondary copy or other operations; mappings of particular
information management users or user accounts to certain computing
devices or other components, etc.; management tasks; media
containerization; other useful data; and/or any combination
thereof. For example, storage manager 140 may use index 150 to
track logical associations between media agents 144 and secondary
storage devices 108 and/or movement of data to/from secondary
storage devices 108. For instance, index 150 may store data
associating a client computing device 102 with a particular media
agent 144 and/or secondary storage device 108, as specified in an
information management policy 148.
[0118] Administrators and others may configure and initiate certain
information management operations on an individual basis. But while
this may be acceptable for some recovery operations or other
infrequent tasks, it is often not workable for implementing
on-going organization-wide data protection and management. Thus,
system 100 may utilize information management policies 148 for
specifying and executing information management operations on an
automated basis. Generally, an information management policy 148
can include a stored data structure or other information source
that specifies parameters (e.g., criteria and rules) associated
with storage management or other information management operations.
Storage manager 140 can process an information management policy
148 and/or index 150 and, based on the results, identify an
information management operation to perform, identify the
appropriate components in system 100 to be involved in the
operation (e.g., client computing devices 102 and corresponding
data agents 142, secondary storage computing devices 106 and
corresponding media agents 144, etc.), establish connections to
those components and/or between those components, and/or instruct
and control those components to carry out the operation. In this
manner, system 100 can translate stored information into
coordinated activity among the various computing devices in system
100.
[0119] Management database 146 may maintain information management
policies 148 and associated data, although information management
policies 148 can be stored in computer memory at any appropriate
location outside management database 146. For instance, an
information management policy 148 such as a storage policy may be
stored as metadata in a media agent database 152 or in a secondary
storage device 108 (e.g., as an archive copy) for use in restore or
other information management operations, depending on the
embodiment. Information management policies 148 are described
further below. According to certain embodiments, management
database 146 comprises a relational database (e.g., an SQL
database) for tracking metadata, such as metadata associated with
secondary copy operations (e.g., what client computing devices 102
and corresponding subclient data were protected and where the
secondary copies are stored and which media agent 144 performed the
storage operation(s)). This and other metadata may additionally be
stored in other locations, such as at secondary storage computing
device 106 or on the secondary storage device 108, allowing data
recovery without the use of storage manager 140 in some cases.
Thus, management database 146 may comprise data needed to kick off
secondary copy operations (e.g., storage policies, schedule
policies, etc.), status and reporting information about completed
jobs (e.g., status and error reports on yesterday's backup jobs),
and additional information sufficient to enable restore and
disaster recovery operations (e.g., media agent associations,
location indexing, content indexing, etc.).
[0120] Storage manager 140 may include a jobs agent 156, a user
interface 158, and a management agent 154, all of which may be
implemented as interconnected software modules or application
programs. These are described further below.
[0121] Jobs agent 156 in some embodiments initiates, controls,
and/or monitors the status of some or all information management
operations previously performed, currently being performed, or
scheduled to be performed by system 100. A job is a logical
grouping of information management operations such as daily storage
operations scheduled for a certain set of subclients (e.g.,
generating incremental block-level backup copies 116 at a certain
time every day for database files in a certain geographical
location). Thus, jobs agent 156 may access information management
policies 148 (e.g., in management database 146) to determine when,
where, and how to initiate/control jobs in system 100.
[0122] Storage Manager User Interfaces
[0123] User interface 158 may include information processing and
display software, such as a graphical user interface (GUI), an
application program interface (API), and/or other interactive
interface(s) through which users and system processes can retrieve
information about the status of information management operations
or issue instructions to storage manager 140 and other components.
Via user interface 158, users may issue instructions to the
components in system 100 regarding performance of secondary copy
and recovery operations. For example, a user may modify a schedule
concerning the number of pending secondary copy operations. As
another example, a user may employ the GUI to view the status of
pending secondary copy jobs or to monitor the status of certain
components in system 100 (e.g., the amount of capacity left in a
storage device). Storage manager 140 may track information that
permits it to select, designate, or otherwise identify content
indices, deduplication databases, or similar databases or resources
or data sets within its information management cell (or another
cell) to be searched in response to certain queries. Such queries
may be entered by the user by interacting with user interface
158.
[0124] Various embodiments of information management system 100 may
be configured and/or designed to generate user interface data
usable for rendering the various interactive user interfaces
described. The user interface data may be used by system 100 and/or
by another system, device, and/or software program (for example, a
browser program), to render the interactive user interfaces. The
interactive user interfaces may be displayed on, for example,
electronic displays (including, for example, touch-enabled
displays), consoles, etc., whether direct-connected to storage
manager 140 or communicatively coupled remotely, e.g., via an
internet connection. The present disclosure describes various
embodiments of interactive and dynamic user interfaces, some of
which may be generated by user interface agent 158, and which are
the result of significant technological development. The user
interfaces described herein may provide improved human-computer
interactions, allowing for significant cognitive and ergonomic
efficiencies and advantages over previous systems, including
reduced mental workloads, improved decision-making, and the like.
User interface 158 may operate in a single integrated view or
console (not shown). The console may support a reporting capability
for generating a variety of reports, which may be tailored to a
particular aspect of information management.
[0125] User interfaces are not exclusive to storage manager 140 and
in some embodiments a user may access information locally from a
computing device component of system 100. For example, some
information pertaining to installed data agents 142 and associated
data streams may be available from client computing device 102.
Likewise, some information pertaining to media agents 144 and
associated data streams may be available from secondary storage
computing device 106.
[0126] Storage Manager Management Agent
[0127] Management agent 154 can provide storage manager 140 with
the ability to communicate with other components within system 100
and/or with other information management cells via network
protocols and application programming interfaces (APIs) including,
e.g., HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, REST, virtualization software APIs, cloud
service provider APIs, and hosted service provider APIs, without
limitation. Management agent 154 also allows multiple information
management cells to communicate with one another. For example,
system 100 in some cases may be one information management cell in
a network of multiple cells adjacent to one another or otherwise
logically related, e.g., in a WAN or LAN. With this arrangement,
the cells may communicate with one another through respective
management agents 154. Inter-cell communications and hierarchy is
described in greater detail in e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,453.
[0128] Information Management Cell
[0129] An "information management cell" (or "storage operation
cell" or "cell") may generally include a logical and/or physical
grouping of a combination of hardware and software components
associated with performing information management operations on
electronic data, typically one storage manager 140 and at least one
data agent 142 (executing on a client computing device 102) and at
least one media agent 144 (executing on a secondary storage
computing device 106). For instance, the components shown in FIG.
1C may together form an information management cell. Thus, in some
configurations, a system 100 may be referred to as an information
management cell or a storage operation cell. A given cell may be
identified by the identity of its storage manager 140, which is
generally responsible for managing the cell.
[0130] Multiple cells may be organized hierarchically, so that
cells may inherit properties from hierarchically superior cells or
be controlled by other cells in the hierarchy (automatically or
otherwise). Alternatively, in some embodiments, cells may inherit
or otherwise be associated with information management policies,
preferences, information management operational parameters, or
other properties or characteristics according to their relative
position in a hierarchy of cells. Cells may also be organized
hierarchically according to function, geography, architectural
considerations, or other factors useful or desirable in performing
information management operations. For example, a first cell may
represent a geographic segment of an enterprise, such as a Chicago
office, and a second cell may represent a different geographic
segment, such as a New York City office. Other cells may represent
departments within a particular office, e.g., human resources,
finance, engineering, etc. Where delineated by function, a first
cell may perform one or more first types of information management
operations (e.g., one or more first types of secondary copies at a
certain frequency), and a second cell may perform one or more
second types of information management operations (e.g., one or
more second types of secondary copies at a different frequency and
under different retention rules). In general, the hierarchical
information is maintained by one or more storage managers 140 that
manage the respective cells (e.g., in corresponding management
database(s) 146).
[0131] Data Agents
[0132] A variety of different applications 110 can operate on a
given client computing device 102, including operating systems,
file systems, database applications, e-mail applications, and
virtual machines, just to name a few. And, as part of the process
of creating and restoring secondary copies 116, the client
computing device 102 may be tasked with processing and preparing
the primary data 112 generated by these various applications 110.
Moreover, the nature of the processing/preparation can differ
across application types, e.g., due to inherent structural, state,
and formatting differences among applications 110 and/or the
operating system of client computing device 102. Each data agent
142 is therefore advantageously configured in some embodiments to
assist in the performance of information management operations
based on the type of data that is being protected at a
client-specific and/or application-specific level.
[0133] Data agent 142 is a component of information system 100 and
is generally directed by storage manager 140 to participate in
creating or restoring secondary copies 116. Data agent 142 may be a
software program (e.g., in the form of a set of executable binary
files) that executes on the same client computing device 102 as the
associated application 110 that data agent 142 is configured to
protect. Data agent 142 is generally responsible for managing,
initiating, or otherwise assisting in the performance of
information management operations in reference to its associated
application(s) 110 and corresponding primary data 112 which is
generated/accessed by the particular application(s) 110. For
instance, data agent 142 may take part in copying, archiving,
migrating, and/or replicating of certain primary data 112 stored in
the primary storage device(s) 104. Data agent 142 may receive
control information from storage manager 140, such as commands to
transfer copies of data objects and/or metadata to one or more
media agents 144. Data agent 142 also may compress, deduplicate,
and encrypt certain primary data 112, as well as capture
application-related metadata before transmitting the processed data
to media agent 144. Data agent 142 also may receive instructions
from storage manager 140 to restore (or assist in restoring) a
secondary copy 116 from secondary storage device 108 to primary
storage 104, such that the restored data may be properly accessed
by application 110 in a suitable format as though it were primary
data 112.
[0134] Each data agent 142 may be specialized for a particular
application 110. For instance, different individual data agents 142
may be designed to handle Microsoft Exchange data, Lotus Notes
data, Microsoft Windows file system data, Microsoft Active
Directory Objects data, SQL Server data, SharePoint data, Oracle
database data, SAP database data, virtual machines and/or
associated data, and other types of data. A file system data agent,
for example, may handle data files and/or other file system
information. If a client computing device 102 has two or more types
of data 112, a specialized data agent 142 may be used for each data
type. For example, to backup, migrate, and/or restore all of the
data on a Microsoft Exchange server, the client computing device
102 may use: (1) a Microsoft Exchange Mailbox data agent 142 to
back up the Exchange mailboxes; (2) a Microsoft Exchange Database
data agent 142 to back up the Exchange databases; (3) a Microsoft
Exchange Public Folder data agent 142 to back up the Exchange
Public Folders; and (4) a Microsoft Windows File System data agent
142 to back up the file system of client computing device 102. In
this example, these specialized data agents 142 are treated as four
separate data agents 142 even though they operate on the same
client computing device 102. Other examples may include archive
management data agents such as a migration archiver or a compliance
archiver, Quick Recovery.RTM. agents, and continuous data
replication agents. Application-specific data agents 142 can
provide improved performance as compared to generic agents. For
instance, because application-specific data agents 142 may only
handle data for a single software application, the design,
operation, and performance of the data agent 142 can be
streamlined. The data agent 142 may therefore execute faster and
consume less persistent storage and/or operating memory than data
agents designed to generically accommodate multiple different
software applications 110.
[0135] Each data agent 142 may be configured to access data and/or
metadata stored in the primary storage device(s) 104 associated
with data agent 142 and its host client computing device 102, and
process the data appropriately. For example, during a secondary
copy operation, data agent 142 may arrange or assemble the data and
metadata into one or more files having a certain format (e.g., a
particular backup or archive format) before transferring the
file(s) to a media agent 144 or other component. The file(s) may
include a list of files or other metadata. In some embodiments, a
data agent 142 may be distributed between client computing device
102 and storage manager 140 (and any other intermediate components)
or may be deployed from a remote location or its functions
approximated by a remote process that performs some or all of the
functions of data agent 142. In addition, a data agent 142 may
perform some functions provided by media agent 144. Other
embodiments may employ one or more generic data agents 142 that can
handle and process data from two or more different applications
110, or that can handle and process multiple data types, instead of
or in addition to using specialized data agents 142. For example,
one generic data agent 142 may be used to back up, migrate and
restore Microsoft Exchange Mailbox data and Microsoft Exchange
Database data, while another generic data agent may handle
Microsoft Exchange Public Folder data and Microsoft Windows File
System data.
[0136] Media Agents
[0137] As noted, off-loading certain responsibilities from client
computing devices 102 to intermediate components such as secondary
storage computing device(s) 106 and corresponding media agent(s)
144 can provide a number of benefits including improved performance
of client computing device 102, faster and more reliable
information management operations, and enhanced scalability. In one
example which will be discussed further below, media agent 144 can
act as a local cache of recently-copied data and/or metadata stored
to secondary storage device(s) 108, thus improving restore
capabilities and performance for the cached data.
[0138] Media agent 144 is a component of system 100 and is
generally directed by storage manager 140 in creating and restoring
secondary copies 116. Whereas storage manager 140 generally manages
system 100 as a whole, media agent 144 provides a portal to certain
secondary storage devices 108, such as by having specialized
features for communicating with and accessing certain associated
secondary storage device 108. Media agent 144 may be a software
program (e.g., in the form of a set of executable binary files)
that executes on a secondary storage computing device 106. Media
agent 144 generally manages, coordinates, and facilitates the
transmission of data between a data agent 142 (executing on client
computing device 102) and secondary storage device(s) 108
associated with media agent 144. For instance, other components in
the system may interact with media agent 144 to gain access to data
stored on associated secondary storage device(s) 108, (e.g., to
browse, read, write, modify, delete, or restore data). Moreover,
media agents 144 can generate and store information relating to
characteristics of the stored data and/or metadata, or can generate
and store other types of information that generally provides
insight into the contents of the secondary storage devices
108--generally referred to as indexing of the stored secondary
copies 116. Each media agent 144 may operate on a dedicated
secondary storage computing device 106, while in other embodiments
a plurality of media agents 144 may operate on the same secondary
storage computing device 106.
[0139] A media agent 144 may be associated with a particular
secondary storage device 108 if that media agent 144 is capable of
one or more of: routing and/or storing data to the particular
secondary storage device 108; coordinating the routing and/or
storing of data to the particular secondary storage device 108;
retrieving data from the particular secondary storage device 108;
coordinating the retrieval of data from the particular secondary
storage device 108; and modifying and/or deleting data retrieved
from the particular secondary storage device 108. Media agent 144
in certain embodiments is physically separate from the associated
secondary storage device 108. For instance, a media agent 144 may
operate on a secondary storage computing device 106 in a distinct
housing, package, and/or location from the associated secondary
storage device 108. In one example, a media agent 144 operates on a
first server computer and is in communication with a secondary
storage device(s) 108 operating in a separate rack-mounted
RAID-based system.
[0140] A media agent 144 associated with a particular secondary
storage device 108 may instruct secondary storage device 108 to
perform an information management task. For instance, a media agent
144 may instruct a tape library to use a robotic arm or other
retrieval means to load or eject a certain storage media, and to
subsequently archive, migrate, or retrieve data to or from that
media, e.g., for the purpose of restoring data to a client
computing device 102. As another example, a secondary storage
device 108 may include an array of hard disk drives or solid state
drives organized in a RAID configuration, and media agent 144 may
forward a logical unit number (LUN) and other appropriate
information to the array, which uses the received information to
execute the desired secondary copy operation. Media agent 144 may
communicate with a secondary storage device 108 via a suitable
communications link, such as a SCSI or Fibre Channel link.
[0141] Each media agent 144 may maintain an associated media agent
database 152. Media agent database 152 may be stored to a disk or
other storage device (not shown) that is local to the secondary
storage computing device 106 on which media agent 144 executes. In
other cases, media agent database 152 is stored separately from the
host secondary storage computing device 106. Media agent database
152 can include, among other things, a media agent index 153 (see,
e.g., FIG. 1C). In some cases, media agent index 153 does not form
a part of and is instead separate from media agent database
152.
[0142] Media agent index 153 (or "index 153") may be a data
structure associated with the particular media agent 144 that
includes information about the stored data associated with the
particular media agent and which may be generated in the course of
performing a secondary copy operation or a restore. Index 153
provides a fast and efficient mechanism for locating/browsing
secondary copies 116 or other data stored in secondary storage
devices 108 without having to access secondary storage device 108
to retrieve the information from there. For instance, for each
secondary copy 116, index 153 may include metadata such as a list
of the data objects (e.g., files/subdirectories, database objects,
mailbox objects, etc.), a logical path to the secondary copy 116 on
the corresponding secondary storage device 108, location
information (e.g., offsets) indicating where the data objects are
stored in the secondary storage device 108, when the data objects
were created or modified, etc. Thus, index 153 includes metadata
associated with the secondary copies 116 that is readily available
for use from media agent 144. In some embodiments, some or all of
the information in index 153 may instead or additionally be stored
along with secondary copies 116 in secondary storage device 108. In
some embodiments, a secondary storage device 108 can include
sufficient information to enable a "bare metal restore," where the
operating system and/or software applications of a failed client
computing device 102 or another target may be automatically
restored without manually reinstalling individual software packages
(including operating systems).
[0143] Because index 153 may operate as a cache, it can also be
referred to as an "index cache." In such cases, information stored
in index cache 153 typically comprises data that reflects certain
particulars about relatively recent secondary copy operations.
After some triggering event, such as after some time elapses or
index cache 153 reaches a particular size, certain portions of
index cache 153 may be copied or migrated to secondary storage
device 108, e.g., on a least-recently-used basis. This information
may be retrieved and uploaded back into index cache 153 or
otherwise restored to media agent 144 to facilitate retrieval of
data from the secondary storage device(s) 108. In some embodiments,
the cached information may include format or containerization
information related to archives or other files stored on storage
device(s) 108.
[0144] In some alternative embodiments media agent 144 generally
acts as a coordinator or facilitator of secondary copy operations
between client computing devices 102 and secondary storage devices
108, but does not actually write the data to secondary storage
device 108. For instance, storage manager 140 (or media agent 144)
may instruct a client computing device 102 and secondary storage
device 108 to communicate with one another directly. In such a
case, client computing device 102 transmits data directly or via
one or more intermediary components to secondary storage device 108
according to the received instructions, and vice versa. Media agent
144 may still receive, process, and/or maintain metadata related to
the secondary copy operations, i.e., may continue to build and
maintain index 153. In these embodiments, payload data can flow
through media agent 144 for the purposes of populating index 153,
but not for writing to secondary storage device 108. Media agent
144 and/or other components such as storage manager 140 may in some
cases incorporate additional functionality, such as data
classification, content indexing, deduplication, encryption,
compression, and the like. Further details regarding these and
other functions are described below.
Distributed, Scalable Architecture
[0145] As described, certain functions of system 100 can be
distributed amongst various physical and/or logical components. For
instance, one or more of storage manager 140, data agents 142, and
media agents 144 may operate on computing devices that are
physically separate from one another. This architecture can provide
a number of benefits. For instance, hardware and software design
choices for each distributed component can be targeted to suit its
particular function. The secondary computing devices 106 on which
media agents 144 operate can be tailored for interaction with
associated secondary storage devices 108 and provide fast index
cache operation, among other specific tasks. Similarly, client
computing device(s) 102 can be selected to effectively service
applications 110 in order to efficiently produce and store primary
data 112.
[0146] Moreover, in some cases, one or more of the individual
components of information management system 100 can be distributed
to multiple separate computing devices. As one example, for large
file systems where the amount of data stored in management database
146 is relatively large, database 146 may be migrated to or may
otherwise reside on a specialized database server (e.g., an SQL
server) separate from a server that implements the other functions
of storage manager 140. This distributed configuration can provide
added protection because database 146 can be protected with
standard database utilities (e.g., SQL log shipping or database
replication) independent from other functions of storage manager
140. Database 146 can be efficiently replicated to a remote site
for use in the event of a disaster or other data loss at the
primary site. Or database 146 can be replicated to another
computing device within the same site, such as to a higher
performance machine in the event that a storage manager host
computing device can no longer service the needs of a growing
system 100.
[0147] The distributed architecture also provides scalability and
efficient component utilization. FIG. 1D shows an embodiment of
information management system 100 including a plurality of client
computing devices 102 and associated data agents 142 as well as a
plurality of secondary storage computing devices 106 and associated
media agents 144. Additional components can be added or subtracted
based on the evolving needs of system 100. For instance, depending
on where bottlenecks are identified, administrators can add
additional client computing devices 102, secondary storage
computing devices 106, and/or secondary storage devices 108.
Moreover, where multiple fungible components are available, load
balancing can be implemented to dynamically address identified
bottlenecks. As an example, storage manager 140 may dynamically
select which media agents 144 and/or secondary storage devices 108
to use for storage operations based on a processing load analysis
of media agents 144 and/or secondary storage devices 108,
respectively.
[0148] Where system 100 includes multiple media agents 144 (see,
e.g., FIG. 1D), a first media agent 144 may provide failover
functionality for a second failed media agent 144. In addition,
media agents 144 can be dynamically selected to provide load
balancing. Each client computing device 102 can communicate with,
among other components, any of the media agents 144, e.g., as
directed by storage manager 140. And each media agent 144 may
communicate with, among other components, any of secondary storage
devices 108, e.g., as directed by storage manager 140. Thus,
operations can be routed to secondary storage devices 108 in a
dynamic and highly flexible manner, to provide load balancing,
failover, etc. Further examples of scalable systems capable of
dynamic storage operations, load balancing, and failover are
provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,246,207.
[0149] While distributing functionality amongst multiple computing
devices can have certain advantages, in other contexts it can be
beneficial to consolidate functionality on the same computing
device. In alternative configurations, certain components may
reside and execute on the same computing device. As such, in other
embodiments, one or more of the components shown in FIG. 1C may be
implemented on the same computing device. In one configuration, a
storage manager 140, one or more data agents 142, and/or one or
more media agents 144 are all implemented on the same computing
device. In other embodiments, one or more data agents 142 and one
or more media agents 144 are implemented on the same computing
device, while storage manager 140 is implemented on a separate
computing device, etc. without limitation.
Exemplary Types of Information Management Operations, Including
Storage Operations
[0150] In order to protect and leverage stored data, system 100 can
be configured to perform a variety of information management
operations, which may also be referred to in some cases as storage
management operations or storage operations. These operations can
generally include (i) data movement operations, (ii) processing and
data manipulation operations, and (iii) analysis, reporting, and
management operations.
[0151] Data Movement Operations, Including Secondary Copy
Operations
[0152] Data movement operations are generally storage operations
that involve the copying or migration of data between different
locations in system 100. For example, data movement operations can
include operations in which stored data is copied, migrated, or
otherwise transferred from one or more first storage devices to one
or more second storage devices, such as from primary storage
device(s) 104 to secondary storage device(s) 108, from secondary
storage device(s) 108 to different secondary storage device(s) 108,
from secondary storage devices 108 to primary storage devices 104,
or from primary storage device(s) 104 to different primary storage
device(s) 104, or in some cases within the same primary storage
device 104 such as within a storage array.
[0153] Data movement operations can include by way of example,
backup operations, archive operations, information lifecycle
management operations such as hierarchical storage management
operations, replication operations (e.g., continuous data
replication), snapshot operations, deduplication or
single-instancing operations, auxiliary copy operations,
disaster-recovery copy operations, and the like. As will be
discussed, some of these operations do not necessarily create
distinct copies. Nonetheless, some or all of these operations are
generally referred to as "secondary copy operations" for
simplicity, because they involve secondary copies. Data movement
also comprises restoring secondary copies.
[0154] Backup Operations
[0155] A backup operation creates a copy of a version of primary
data 112 at a particular point in time (e.g., one or more files or
other data units). Each subsequent backup copy 116 (which is a form
of secondary copy 116) may be maintained independently of the
first. A backup generally involves maintaining a version of the
copied primary data 112 as well as backup copies 116. Further, a
backup copy in some embodiments is generally stored in a form that
is different from the native format, e.g., a backup format. This
contrasts to the version in primary data 112 which may instead be
stored in a format native to the source application(s) 110. In
various cases, backup copies can be stored in a format in which the
data is compressed, encrypted, deduplicated, and/or otherwise
modified from the original native application format. For example,
a backup copy may be stored in a compressed backup format that
facilitates efficient long-term storage. Backup copies 116 can have
relatively long retention periods as compared to primary data 112,
which is generally highly changeable. Backup copies 116 may be
stored on media with slower retrieval times than primary storage
device 104. Some backup copies may have shorter retention periods
than some other types of secondary copies 116, such as archive
copies (described below). Backups may be stored at an offsite
location.
[0156] Backup operations can include full backups, differential
backups, incremental backups, "synthetic full" backups, and/or
creating a "reference copy." A full backup (or "standard full
backup") in some embodiments is generally a complete image of the
data to be protected. However, because full backup copies can
consume a relatively large amount of storage, it can be useful to
use a full backup copy as a baseline and only store changes
relative to the full backup copy afterwards.
[0157] A differential backup operation (or cumulative incremental
backup operation) tracks and stores changes that occurred since the
last full backup. Differential backups can grow quickly in size,
but can restore relatively efficiently because a restore can be
completed in some cases using only the full backup copy and the
latest differential copy.
[0158] An incremental backup operation generally tracks and stores
changes since the most recent backup copy of any type, which can
greatly reduce storage utilization. In some cases, however,
restoring can be lengthy compared to full or differential backups
because completing a restore operation may involve accessing a full
backup in addition to multiple incremental backups.
[0159] Synthetic full backups generally consolidate data without
directly backing up data from the client computing device. A
synthetic full backup is created from the most recent full backup
(i.e., standard or synthetic) and subsequent incremental and/or
differential backups. The resulting synthetic full backup is
identical to what would have been created had the last backup for
the subclient been a standard full backup. Unlike standard full,
incremental, and differential backups, however, a synthetic full
backup does not actually transfer data from primary storage to the
backup media, because it operates as a backup consolidator. A
synthetic full backup extracts the index data of each participating
subclient. Using this index data and the previously backed up user
data images, it builds new full backup images (e.g., bitmaps), one
for each subclient. The new backup images consolidate the index and
user data stored in the related incremental, differential, and
previous full backups into a synthetic backup file that fully
represents the subclient (e.g., via pointers) but does not comprise
all its constituent data.
[0160] Any of the above types of backup operations can be at the
volume level, file level, or block level. Volume level backup
operations generally involve copying of a data volume (e.g., a
logical disk or partition) as a whole. In a file-level backup,
information management system 100 generally tracks changes to
individual files and includes copies of files in the backup copy.
For block-level backups, files are broken into constituent blocks,
and changes are tracked at the block level. Upon restore, system
100 reassembles the blocks into files in a transparent fashion. Far
less data may actually be transferred and copied to secondary
storage devices 108 during a file-level copy than a volume-level
copy. Likewise, a block-level copy may transfer less data than a
file-level copy, resulting in faster execution. However, restoring
a relatively higher-granularity copy can result in longer restore
times. For instance, when restoring a block-level copy, the process
of locating and retrieving constituent blocks can sometimes take
longer than restoring file-level backups.
[0161] A reference copy may comprise copy(ies) of selected objects
from backed up data, typically to help organize data by keeping
contextual information from multiple sources together, and/or help
retain specific data for a longer period of time, such as for legal
hold needs. A reference copy generally maintains data integrity,
and when the data is restored, it may be viewed in the same format
as the source data. In some embodiments, a reference copy is based
on a specialized client, individual subclient and associated
information management policies (e.g., storage policy, retention
policy, etc.) that are administered within system 100.
[0162] Archive Operations
[0163] Because backup operations generally involve maintaining a
version of the copied primary data 112 and also maintaining backup
copies in secondary storage device(s) 108, they can consume
significant storage capacity. To reduce storage consumption, an
archive operation according to certain embodiments creates an
archive copy 116 by both copying and removing source data. Or, seen
another way, archive operations can involve moving some or all of
the source data to the archive destination. Thus, data satisfying
criteria for removal (e.g., data of a threshold age or size) may be
removed from source storage. The source data may be primary data
112 or a secondary copy 116, depending on the situation. As with
backup copies, archive copies can be stored in a format in which
the data is compressed, encrypted, deduplicated, and/or otherwise
modified from the format of the original application or source
copy. In addition, archive copies may be retained for relatively
long periods of time (e.g., years) and, in some cases are never
deleted. In certain embodiments, archive copies may be made and
kept for extended periods in order to meet compliance
regulations.
[0164] Archiving can also serve the purpose of freeing up space in
primary storage device(s) 104 and easing the demand on
computational resources on client computing device 102. Similarly,
when a secondary copy 116 is archived, the archive copy can
therefore serve the purpose of freeing up space in the source
secondary storage device(s) 108. Examples of data archiving
operations are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,107,298.
[0165] Snapshot Operations
[0166] Snapshot operations can provide a relatively lightweight,
efficient mechanism for protecting data. From an end-user
viewpoint, a snapshot may be thought of as an "instant" image of
primary data 112 at a given point in time, and may include state
and/or status information relative to an application 110 that
creates/manages primary data 112. In one embodiment, a snapshot may
generally capture the directory structure of an object in primary
data 112 such as a file or volume or other data set at a particular
moment in time and may also preserve file attributes and contents.
A snapshot in some cases is created relatively quickly, e.g.,
substantially instantly, using a minimum amount of file space, but
may still function as a conventional file system backup.
[0167] A "hardware snapshot" (or "hardware-based snapshot")
operation occurs where a target storage device (e.g., a primary
storage device 104 or a secondary storage device 108) performs the
snapshot operation in a self-contained fashion, substantially
independently, using hardware, firmware and/or software operating
on the storage device itself. For instance, the storage device may
perform snapshot operations generally without intervention or
oversight from any of the other components of the system 100, e.g.,
a storage array may generate an "array-created" hardware snapshot
and may also manage its storage, integrity, versioning, etc. In
this manner, hardware snapshots can off-load other components of
system 100 from snapshot processing. An array may receive a request
from another component to take a snapshot and then proceed to
execute the "hardware snapshot" operations autonomously, preferably
reporting success to the requesting component.
[0168] A "software snapshot" (or "software-based snapshot")
operation, on the other hand, occurs where a component in system
100 (e.g., client computing device 102, etc.) implements a software
layer that manages the snapshot operation via interaction with the
target storage device. For instance, the component executing the
snapshot management software layer may derive a set of pointers
and/or data that represents the snapshot. The snapshot management
software layer may then transmit the same to the target storage
device, along with appropriate instructions for writing the
snapshot. One example of a software snapshot product is Microsoft
Volume Snapshot Service (VSS), which is part of the Microsoft
Windows operating system.
[0169] Some types of snapshots do not actually create another
physical copy of all the data as it existed at the particular point
in time, but may simply create pointers that map files and
directories to specific memory locations (e.g., to specific disk
blocks) where the data resides as it existed at the particular
point in time. For example, a snapshot copy may include a set of
pointers derived from the file system or from an application. In
some other cases, the snapshot may be created at the block-level,
such that creation of the snapshot occurs without awareness of the
file system. Each pointer points to a respective stored data block,
so that collectively, the set of pointers reflect the storage
location and state of the data object (e.g., file(s) or volume(s)
or data set(s)) at the point in time when the snapshot copy was
created.
[0170] An initial snapshot may use only a small amount of disk
space needed to record a mapping or other data structure
representing or otherwise tracking the blocks that correspond to
the current state of the file system. Additional disk space is
usually required only when files and directories change later on.
Furthermore, when files change, typically only the pointers which
map to blocks are copied, not the blocks themselves. For example
for "copy-on-write" snapshots, when a block changes in primary
storage, the block is copied to secondary storage or cached in
primary storage before the block is overwritten in primary storage,
and the pointer to that block is changed to reflect the new
location of that block. The snapshot mapping of file system data
may also be updated to reflect the changed block(s) at that
particular point in time. In some other cases, a snapshot includes
a full physical copy of all or substantially all of the data
represented by the snapshot. Further examples of snapshot
operations are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,529,782. A snapshot copy
in many cases can be made quickly and without significantly
impacting primary computing resources because large amounts of data
need not be copied or moved. In some embodiments, a snapshot may
exist as a virtual file system, parallel to the actual file system.
Users in some cases gain read-only access to the record of files
and directories of the snapshot. By electing to restore primary
data 112 from a snapshot taken at a given point in time, users may
also return the current file system to the state of the file system
that existed when the snapshot was taken.
[0171] Replication Operations
[0172] Replication is another type of secondary copy operation.
Some types of secondary copies 116 periodically capture images of
primary data 112 at particular points in time (e.g., backups,
archives, and snapshots). However, it can also be useful for
recovery purposes to protect primary data 112 in a more continuous
fashion, by replicating primary data 112 substantially as changes
occur. In some cases a replication copy can be a mirror copy, for
instance, where changes made to primary data 112 are mirrored or
substantially immediately copied to another location (e.g., to
secondary storage device(s) 108). By copying each write operation
to the replication copy, two storage systems are kept synchronized
or substantially synchronized so that they are virtually identical
at approximately the same time. Where entire disk volumes are
mirrored, however, mirroring can require significant amount of
storage space and utilizes a large amount of processing
resources.
[0173] According to some embodiments, secondary copy operations are
performed on replicated data that represents a recoverable state,
or "known good state" of a particular application running on the
source system. For instance, in certain embodiments, known good
replication copies may be viewed as copies of primary data 112.
This feature allows the system to directly access, copy, restore,
back up, or otherwise manipulate the replication copies as if they
were the "live" primary data 112. This can reduce access time,
storage utilization, and impact on source applications 110, among
other benefits. Based on known good state information, system 100
can replicate sections of application data that represent a
recoverable state rather than rote copying of blocks of data.
Examples of replication operations (e.g., continuous data
replication) are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,617,262.
[0174] Deduplication/Single-Instancing Operations
[0175] Deduplication or single-instance storage is useful to reduce
the amount of non-primary data. For instance, some or all of the
above-described secondary copy operations can involve deduplication
in some fashion. New data is read, broken down into data portions
of a selected granularity (e.g., sub-file level blocks, files,
etc.), compared with corresponding portions that are already in
secondary storage, and only new/changed portions are stored.
Portions that already exist are represented as pointers to the
already-stored data. Thus, a deduplicated secondary copy 116 may
comprise actual data portions copied from primary data 112 and may
further comprise pointers to already-stored data, which is
generally more storage-efficient than a full copy.
[0176] In order to streamline the comparison process, system 100
may calculate and/or store signatures (e.g., hashes or
cryptographically unique IDs) corresponding to the individual
source data portions and compare the signatures to already-stored
data signatures, instead of comparing entire data portions. In some
cases, only a single instance of each data portion is stored, and
deduplication operations may therefore be referred to
interchangeably as "single-instancing" operations. Depending on the
implementation, however, deduplication operations can store more
than one instance of certain data portions, yet still significantly
reduce stored-data redundancy. Depending on the embodiment,
deduplication portions such as data blocks can be of fixed or
variable length. Using variable length blocks can enhance
deduplication by responding to changes in the data stream, but can
involve more complex processing. In some cases, system 100 utilizes
a technique for dynamically aligning deduplication blocks based on
changing content in the data stream, as described in U.S. Pat. No.
8,364,652.
[0177] System 100 can deduplicate in a variety of manners at a
variety of locations. For instance, in some embodiments, system 100
implements "target-side" deduplication by deduplicating data at the
media agent 144 after being received from data agent 142. In some
such cases, media agents 144 are generally configured to manage the
deduplication process. For instance, one or more of the media
agents 144 maintain a corresponding deduplication database that
stores deduplication information (e.g., datablock signatures).
Examples of such a configuration are provided in U.S. Pat. No.
9,020,900. Instead of or in combination with "target-side"
deduplication, "source-side" (or "client-side") deduplication can
also be performed, e.g., to reduce the amount of data to be
transmitted by data agent 142 to media agent 144. Storage manager
140 may communicate with other components within system 100 via
network protocols and cloud service provider APIs to facilitate
cloud-based deduplication/single instancing, as exemplified in U.S.
Pat. No. 8,954,446. Some other deduplication/single instancing
techniques are described in U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2006/0224846 and in
U.S. Pat. No. 9,098,495.
[0178] Information Lifecycle Management and Hierarchical Storage
Management
[0179] In some embodiments, files and other data over their
lifetime move from more expensive quick-access storage to less
expensive slower-access storage. Operations associated with moving
data through various tiers of storage are sometimes referred to as
information lifecycle management (ILM) operations.
[0180] One type of ILM operation is a hierarchical storage
management (HSM) operation, which generally automatically moves
data between classes of storage devices, such as from high-cost to
low-cost storage devices. For instance, an HSM operation may
involve movement of data from primary storage devices 104 to
secondary storage devices 108, or between tiers of secondary
storage devices 108. With each tier, the storage devices may be
progressively cheaper, have relatively slower access/restore times,
etc. For example, movement of data between tiers may occur as data
becomes less important over time. In some embodiments, an HSM
operation is similar to archiving in that creating an HSM copy may
(though not always) involve deleting some of the source data, e.g.,
according to one or more criteria related to the source data. For
example, an HSM copy may include primary data 112 or a secondary
copy 116 that exceeds a given size threshold or a given age
threshold. Often, and unlike some types of archive copies, HSM data
that is removed or aged from the source is replaced by a logical
reference pointer or stub. The reference pointer or stub can be
stored in the primary storage device 104 or other source storage
device, such as a secondary storage device 108 to replace the
deleted source data and to point to or otherwise indicate the new
location in (another) secondary storage device 108.
[0181] For example, files are generally moved between higher and
lower cost storage depending on how often the files are accessed.
When a user requests access to HSM data that has been removed or
migrated, system 100 uses the stub to locate the data and may make
recovery of the data appear transparent, even though the HSM data
may be stored at a location different from other source data. In
this manner, the data appears to the user (e.g., in file system
browsing windows and the like) as if it still resides in the source
location (e.g., in a primary storage device 104). The stub may
include metadata associated with the corresponding data, so that a
file system and/or application can provide some information about
the data object and/or a limited-functionality version (e.g., a
preview) of the data object.
[0182] An HSM copy may be stored in a format other than the native
application format (e.g., compressed, encrypted, deduplicated,
and/or otherwise modified). In some cases, copies which involve the
removal of data from source storage and the maintenance of stub or
other logical reference information on source storage may be
referred to generally as "online archive copies." On the other
hand, copies which involve the removal of data from source storage
without the maintenance of stub or other logical reference
information on source storage may be referred to as "off-line
archive copies." Examples of HSM and ILM techniques are provided in
U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,453.
[0183] Auxiliary Copy Operations
[0184] An auxiliary copy is generally a copy of an existing
secondary copy 116. For instance, an initial secondary copy 116 may
be derived from primary data 112 or from data residing in secondary
storage subsystem 118, whereas an auxiliary copy is generated from
the initial secondary copy 116. Auxiliary copies provide additional
standby copies of data and may reside on different secondary
storage devices 108 than the initial secondary copies 116. Thus,
auxiliary copies can be used for recovery purposes if initial
secondary copies 116 become unavailable. Exemplary auxiliary copy
techniques are described in further detail in U.S. Pat. No.
8,230,195.
[0185] Disaster-Recovery Copy Operations
[0186] System 100 may also make and retain disaster recovery
copies, often as secondary, high-availability disk copies. System
100 may create secondary copies and store them at disaster recovery
locations using auxiliary copy or replication operations, such as
continuous data replication technologies. Depending on the
particular data protection goals, disaster recovery locations can
be remote from the client computing devices 102 and primary storage
devices 104, remote from some or all of the secondary storage
devices 108, or both.
[0187] Data Manipulation, Including Encryption and Compression
[0188] Data manipulation and processing may include encryption and
compression as well as integrity marking and checking, formatting
for transmission, formatting for storage, etc. Data may be
manipulated "client-side" by data agent 142 as well as
"target-side" by media agent 144 in the course of creating
secondary copy 116, or conversely in the course of restoring data
from secondary to primary.
[0189] Encryption Operations
[0190] System 100 in some cases is configured to process data
(e.g., files or other data objects, primary data 112, secondary
copies 116, etc.), according to an appropriate encryption algorithm
(e.g., Blowfish, Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), Triple Data
Encryption Standard (3-DES), etc.) to limit access and provide data
security. System 100 in some cases encrypts the data at the client
level, such that client computing devices 102 (e.g., data agents
142) encrypt the data prior to transferring it to other components,
e.g., before sending the data to media agents 144 during a
secondary copy operation. In such cases, client computing device
102 may maintain or have access to an encryption key or passphrase
for decrypting the data upon restore. Encryption can also occur
when media agent 144 creates auxiliary copies or archive copies.
Encryption may be applied in creating a secondary copy 116 of a
previously unencrypted secondary copy 116, without limitation. In
further embodiments, secondary storage devices 108 can implement
built-in, high performance hardware-based encryption.
[0191] Compression Operations
[0192] Similar to encryption, system 100 may also or alternatively
compress data in the course of generating a secondary copy 116.
Compression encodes information such that fewer bits are needed to
represent the information as compared to the original
representation. Compression techniques are well known in the art.
Compression operations may apply one or more data compression
algorithms. Compression may be applied in creating a secondary copy
116 of a previously uncompressed secondary copy, e.g., when making
archive copies or disaster recovery copies. The use of compression
may result in metadata that specifies the nature of the
compression, so that data may be uncompressed on restore if
appropriate.
[0193] Data Analysis, Reporting, and Management Operations
[0194] Data analysis, reporting, and management operations can
differ from data movement operations in that they do not
necessarily involve copying, migration or other transfer of data
between different locations in the system. For instance, data
analysis operations may involve processing (e.g., offline
processing) or modification of already stored primary data 112
and/or secondary copies 116. However, in some embodiments data
analysis operations are performed in conjunction with data movement
operations. Some data analysis operations include content indexing
operations and classification operations which can be useful in
leveraging data under management to enhance search and other
features.
[0195] Classification Operations/Content Indexing
[0196] In some embodiments, information management system 100
analyzes and indexes characteristics, content, and metadata
associated with primary data 112 ("online content indexing") and/or
secondary copies 116 ("off-line content indexing"). Content
indexing can identify files or other data objects based on content
(e.g., user-defined keywords or phrases, other keywords/phrases
that are not defined by a user, etc.), and/or metadata (e.g., email
metadata such as "to," "from," "cc," "bcc," attachment name,
received time, etc.). Content indexes may be searched and search
results may be restored.
[0197] System 100 generally organizes and catalogues the results
into a content index, which may be stored within media agent
database 152, for example. The content index can also include the
storage locations of or pointer references to indexed data in
primary data 112 and/or secondary copies 116. Results may also be
stored elsewhere in system 100 (e.g., in primary storage device 104
or in secondary storage device 108). Such content index data
provides storage manager 140 or other components with an efficient
mechanism for locating primary data 112 and/or secondary copies 116
of data objects that match particular criteria, thus greatly
increasing the search speed capability of system 100. For instance,
search criteria can be specified by a user through user interface
158 of storage manager 140. Moreover, when system 100 analyzes data
and/or metadata in secondary copies 116 to create an "off-line
content index," this operation has no significant impact on the
performance of client computing devices 102 and thus does not take
a toll on the production environment. Examples of content indexing
techniques are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 8,170,995.
[0198] One or more components, such as a content index engine, can
be configured to scan data and/or associated metadata for
classification purposes to populate a database (or other data
structure) of information, which can be referred to as a "data
classification database" or a "metabase." Depending on the
embodiment, the data classification database(s) can be organized in
a variety of different ways, including centralization, logical
sub-divisions, and/or physical sub-divisions. For instance, one or
more data classification databases may be associated with different
subsystems or tiers within system 100. As an example, there may be
a first metabase associated with primary storage subsystem 117 and
a second metabase associated with secondary storage subsystem 118.
In other cases, metabase(s) may be associated with individual
components, e.g., client computing devices 102 and/or media agents
144. In some embodiments, a data classification database may reside
as one or more data structures within management database 146, may
be otherwise associated with storage manager 140, and/or may reside
as a separate component. In some cases, metabase(s) may be included
in separate database(s) and/or on separate storage device(s) from
primary data 112 and/or secondary copies 116, such that operations
related to the metabase(s) do not significantly impact performance
on other components of system 100. In other cases, metabase(s) may
be stored along with primary data 112 and/or secondary copies 116.
Files or other data objects can be associated with identifiers
(e.g., tag entries, etc.) to facilitate searches of stored data
objects. Among a number of other benefits, the metabase can also
allow efficient, automatic identification of files or other data
objects to associate with secondary copy or other information
management operations. For instance, a metabase can dramatically
improve the speed with which system 100 can search through and
identify data as compared to other approaches that involve scanning
an entire file system. Examples of metabases and data
classification operations are provided in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,734,669
and 7,747,579.
[0199] Management and Reporting Operations
[0200] Certain embodiments leverage the integrated ubiquitous
nature of system 100 to provide useful system-wide management and
reporting. Operations management can generally include monitoring
and managing the health and performance of system 100 by, without
limitation, performing error tracking, generating granular
storage/performance metrics (e.g., job success/failure information,
deduplication efficiency, etc.), generating storage modeling and
costing information, and the like. As an example, storage manager
140 or another component in system 100 may analyze traffic patterns
and suggest and/or automatically route data to minimize congestion.
In some embodiments, the system can generate predictions relating
to storage operations or storage operation information. Such
predictions, which may be based on a trending analysis, may predict
various network operations or resource usage, such as network
traffic levels, storage media use, use of bandwidth of
communication links, use of media agent components, etc. Further
examples of traffic analysis, trend analysis, prediction
generation, and the like are described in U.S. Pat. No.
7,343,453.
[0201] In some configurations having a hierarchy of storage
operation cells, a master storage manager 140 may track the status
of subordinate cells, such as the status of jobs, system
components, system resources, and other items, by communicating
with storage managers 140 (or other components) in the respective
storage operation cells. Moreover, the master storage manager 140
may also track status by receiving periodic status updates from the
storage managers 140 (or other components) in the respective cells
regarding jobs, system components, system resources, and other
items. In some embodiments, a master storage manager 140 may store
status information and other information regarding its associated
storage operation cells and other system information in its
management database 146 and/or index 150 (or in another location).
The master storage manager 140 or other component may also
determine whether certain storage-related or other criteria are
satisfied, and may perform an action or trigger event (e.g., data
migration) in response to the criteria being satisfied, such as
where a storage threshold is met for a particular volume, or where
inadequate protection exists for certain data. For instance, data
from one or more storage operation cells is used to dynamically and
automatically mitigate recognized risks, and/or to advise users of
risks or suggest actions to mitigate these risks. For example, an
information management policy may specify certain requirements
(e.g., that a storage device should maintain a certain amount of
free space, that secondary copies should occur at a particular
interval, that data should be aged and migrated to other storage
after a particular period, that data on a secondary volume should
always have a certain level of availability and be restorable
within a given time period, that data on a secondary volume may be
mirrored or otherwise migrated to a specified number of other
volumes, etc.). If a risk condition or other criterion is
triggered, the system may notify the user of these conditions and
may suggest (or automatically implement) a mitigation action to
address the risk. For example, the system may indicate that data
from a primary copy 112 should be migrated to a secondary storage
device 108 to free up space on primary storage device 104. Examples
of the use of risk factors and other triggering criteria are
described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,453.
[0202] In some embodiments, system 100 may also determine whether a
metric or other indication satisfies particular storage criteria
sufficient to perform an action. For example, a storage policy or
other definition might indicate that a storage manager 140 should
initiate a particular action if a storage metric or other
indication drops below or otherwise fails to satisfy specified
criteria such as a threshold of data protection. In some
embodiments, risk factors may be quantified into certain measurable
service or risk levels. For example, certain applications and
associated data may be considered to be more important relative to
other data and services. Financial compliance data, for example,
may be of greater importance than marketing materials, etc. Network
administrators may assign priority values or "weights" to certain
data and/or applications corresponding to the relative importance.
The level of compliance of secondary copy operations specified for
these applications may also be assigned a certain value. Thus, the
health, impact, and overall importance of a service may be
determined, such as by measuring the compliance value and
calculating the product of the priority value and the compliance
value to determine the "service level" and comparing it to certain
operational thresholds to determine whether it is acceptable.
Further examples of the service level determination are provided in
U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,453.
[0203] System 100 may additionally calculate data costing and data
availability associated with information management operation
cells. For instance, data received from a cell may be used in
conjunction with hardware-related information and other information
about system elements to determine the cost of storage and/or the
availability of particular data. Exemplary information generated
could include how fast a particular department is using up
available storage space, how long data would take to recover over a
particular pathway from a particular secondary storage device,
costs over time, etc. Moreover, in some embodiments, such
information may be used to determine or predict the overall cost
associated with the storage of certain information. The cost
associated with hosting a certain application may be based, at
least in part, on the type of media on which the data resides, for
example. Storage devices may be assigned to a particular cost
categories, for example. Further examples of costing techniques are
described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,453.
[0204] Any of the above types of information (e.g., information
related to trending, predictions, job, cell or component status,
risk, service level, costing, etc.) can generally be provided to
users via user interface 158 in a single integrated view or console
(not shown). Report types may include: scheduling, event
management, media management and data aging. Available reports may
also include backup history, data aging history, auxiliary copy
history, job history, library and drive, media in library, restore
history, and storage policy, etc., without limitation. Such reports
may be specified and created at a certain point in time as a system
analysis, forecasting, or provisioning tool. Integrated reports may
also be generated that illustrate storage and performance metrics,
risks and storage costing information. Moreover, users may create
their own reports based on specific needs. User interface 158 can
include an option to graphically depict the various components in
the system using appropriate icons. As one example, user interface
158 may provide a graphical depiction of primary storage devices
104, secondary storage devices 108, data agents 142 and/or media
agents 144, and their relationship to one another in system
100.
[0205] In general, the operations management functionality of
system 100 can facilitate planning and decision-making. For
example, in some embodiments, a user may view the status of some or
all jobs as well as the status of each component of information
management system 100. Users may then plan and make decisions based
on this data. For instance, a user may view high-level information
regarding secondary copy operations for system 100, such as job
status, component status, resource status (e.g., communication
pathways, etc.), and other information. The user may also drill
down or use other means to obtain more detailed information
regarding a particular component, job, or the like. Further
examples are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,453.
[0206] System 100 can also be configured to perform system-wide
e-discovery operations in some embodiments. In general, e-discovery
operations provide a unified collection and search capability for
data in the system, such as data stored in secondary storage
devices 108 (e.g., backups, archives, or other secondary copies
116). For example, system 100 may construct and maintain a virtual
repository for data stored in system 100 that is integrated across
source applications 110, different storage device types, etc.
According to some embodiments, e-discovery utilizes other
techniques described herein, such as data classification and/or
content indexing.
Information Management Policies
[0207] An information management policy 148 can include a data
structure or other information source that specifies a set of
parameters (e.g., criteria and rules) associated with secondary
copy and/or other information management operations.
[0208] One type of information management policy 148 is a "storage
policy." According to certain embodiments, a storage policy
generally comprises a data structure or other information source
that defines (or includes information sufficient to determine) a
set of preferences or other criteria for performing information
management operations. Storage policies can include one or more of
the following: (1) what data will be associated with the storage
policy, e.g., subclient; (2) a destination to which the data will
be stored; (3) datapath information specifying how the data will be
communicated to the destination; (4) the type of secondary copy
operation to be performed; and (5) retention information specifying
how long the data will be retained at the destination (see, e.g.,
FIG. 1E). Data associated with a storage policy can be logically
organized into subclients, which may represent primary data 112
and/or secondary copies 116. A subclient may represent static or
dynamic associations of portions of a data volume. Subclients may
represent mutually exclusive portions. Thus, in certain
embodiments, a portion of data may be given a label and the
association is stored as a static entity in an index, database or
other storage location. Subclients may also be used as an effective
administrative scheme of organizing data according to data type,
department within the enterprise, storage preferences, or the like.
Depending on the configuration, subclients can correspond to files,
folders, virtual machines, databases, etc. In one exemplary
scenario, an administrator may find it preferable to separate
e-mail data from financial data using two different subclients.
[0209] A storage policy can define where data is stored by
specifying a target or destination storage device (or group of
storage devices). For instance, where the secondary storage device
108 includes a group of disk libraries, the storage policy may
specify a particular disk library for storing the subclients
associated with the policy. As another example, where the secondary
storage devices 108 include one or more tape libraries, the storage
policy may specify a particular tape library for storing the
subclients associated with the storage policy, and may also specify
a drive pool and a tape pool defining a group of tape drives and a
group of tapes, respectively, for use in storing the subclient
data. While information in the storage policy can be statically
assigned in some cases, some or all of the information in the
storage policy can also be dynamically determined based on criteria
set forth in the storage policy. For instance, based on such
criteria, a particular destination storage device(s) or other
parameter of the storage policy may be determined based on
characteristics associated with the data involved in a particular
secondary copy operation, device availability (e.g., availability
of a secondary storage device 108 or a media agent 144), network
status and conditions (e.g., identified bottlenecks), user
credentials, and the like.
[0210] Datapath information can also be included in the storage
policy. For instance, the storage policy may specify network
pathways and components to utilize when moving the data to the
destination storage device(s). In some embodiments, the storage
policy specifies one or more media agents 144 for conveying data
associated with the storage policy between the source and
destination. A storage policy can also specify the type(s) of
associated operations, such as backup, archive, snapshot, auxiliary
copy, or the like. Furthermore, retention parameters can specify
how long the resulting secondary copies 116 will be kept (e.g., a
number of days, months, years, etc.), perhaps depending on
organizational needs and/or compliance criteria.
[0211] When adding a new client computing device 102,
administrators can manually configure information management
policies 148 and/or other settings, e.g., via user interface 158.
However, this can be an involved process resulting in delays, and
it may be desirable to begin data protection operations quickly,
without awaiting human intervention. Thus, in some embodiments,
system 100 automatically applies a default configuration to client
computing device 102. As one example, when one or more data
agent(s) 142 are installed on a client computing device 102, the
installation script may register the client computing device 102
with storage manager 140, which in turn applies the default
configuration to the new client computing device 102. In this
manner, data protection operations can begin substantially
immediately. The default configuration can include a default
storage policy, for example, and can specify any appropriate
information sufficient to begin data protection operations. This
can include a type of data protection operation, scheduling
information, a target secondary storage device 108, data path
information (e.g., a particular media agent 144), and the like.
[0212] Another type of information management policy 148 is a
"scheduling policy," which specifies when and how often to perform
operations. Scheduling parameters may specify with what frequency
(e.g., hourly, weekly, daily, event-based, etc.) or under what
triggering conditions secondary copy or other information
management operations are to take place. Scheduling policies in
some cases are associated with particular components, such as a
subclient, client computing device 102, and the like.
[0213] Another type of information management policy 148 is an
"audit policy" (or "security policy"), which comprises preferences,
rules and/or criteria that protect sensitive data in system 100.
For example, an audit policy may define "sensitive objects" which
are files or data objects that contain particular keywords (e.g.,
"confidential," or "privileged") and/or are associated with
particular keywords (e.g., in metadata) or particular flags (e.g.,
in metadata identifying a document or email as personal,
confidential, etc.). An audit policy may further specify rules for
handling sensitive objects. As an example, an audit policy may
require that a reviewer approve the transfer of any sensitive
objects to a cloud storage site, and that if approval is denied for
a particular sensitive object, the sensitive object should be
transferred to a local primary storage device 104 instead. To
facilitate this approval, the audit policy may further specify how
a secondary storage computing device 106 or other system component
should notify a reviewer that a sensitive object is slated for
transfer.
[0214] Another type of information management policy 148 is a
"provisioning policy," which can include preferences, priorities,
rules, and/or criteria that specify how client computing devices
102 (or groups thereof) may utilize system resources, such as
available storage on cloud storage and/or network bandwidth. A
provisioning policy specifies, for example, data quotas for
particular client computing devices 102 (e.g., a number of
gigabytes that can be stored monthly, quarterly or annually).
Storage manager 140 or other components may enforce the
provisioning policy. For instance, media agents 144 may enforce the
policy when transferring data to secondary storage devices 108. If
a client computing device 102 exceeds a quota, a budget for the
client computing device 102 (or associated department) may be
adjusted accordingly or an alert may trigger.
[0215] While the above types of information management policies 148
are described as separate policies, one or more of these can be
generally combined into a single information management policy 148.
For instance, a storage policy may also include or otherwise be
associated with one or more scheduling, audit, or provisioning
policies or operational parameters thereof. Moreover, while storage
policies are typically associated with moving and storing data,
other policies may be associated with other types of information
management operations. The following is a non-exhaustive list of
items that information management policies 148 may specify: [0216]
schedules or other timing information, e.g., specifying when and/or
how often to perform information management operations; [0217] the
type of secondary copy 116 and/or copy format (e.g., snapshot,
backup, archive, HSM, etc.); [0218] a location or a class or
quality of storage for storing secondary copies 116 (e.g., one or
more particular secondary storage devices 108); [0219] preferences
regarding whether and how to encrypt, compress, deduplicate, or
otherwise modify or transform secondary copies 116; [0220] which
system components and/or network pathways (e.g., preferred media
agents 144) should be used to perform secondary storage operations;
[0221] resource allocation among different computing devices or
other system components used in performing information management
operations (e.g., bandwidth allocation, available storage capacity,
etc.); [0222] whether and how to synchronize or otherwise
distribute files or other data objects across multiple computing
devices or hosted services; and [0223] retention information
specifying the length of time primary data 112 and/or secondary
copies 116 should be retained, e.g., in a particular class or tier
of storage devices, or within the system 100.
[0224] Information management policies 148 can additionally specify
or depend on historical or current criteria that may be used to
determine which rules to apply to a particular data object, system
component, or information management operation, such as: [0225]
frequency with which primary data 112 or a secondary copy 116 of a
data object or metadata has been or is predicted to be used,
accessed, or modified; [0226] time-related factors (e.g., aging
information such as time since the creation or modification of a
data object); [0227] deduplication information (e.g., hashes, data
blocks, deduplication block size, deduplication efficiency or other
metrics); [0228] an estimated or historic usage or cost associated
with different components (e.g., with secondary storage devices
108); [0229] the identity of users, applications 110, client
computing devices 102 and/or other computing devices that created,
accessed, modified, or otherwise utilized primary data 112 or
secondary copies 116; [0230] a relative sensitivity (e.g.,
confidentiality, importance) of a data object, e.g., as determined
by its content and/or metadata; [0231] the current or historical
storage capacity of various storage devices; [0232] the current or
historical network capacity of network pathways connecting various
components within the storage operation cell; [0233] access control
lists or other security information; and [0234] the content of a
particular data object (e.g., its textual content) or of metadata
associated with the data object.
[0235] Exemplary Storage Policy and Secondary Copy Operations
[0236] FIG. 1E includes a data flow diagram depicting performance
of secondary copy operations by an embodiment of information
management system 100, according to an exemplary storage policy
148A. System 100 includes a storage manager 140, a client computing
device 102 having a file system data agent 142A and an email data
agent 142B operating thereon, a primary storage device 104, two
media agents 144A, 144B, and two secondary storage devices 108: a
disk library 108A and a tape library 108B. As shown, primary
storage device 104 includes primary data 112A, which is associated
with a logical grouping of data associated with a file system
("file system subclient"), and primary data 112B, which is a
logical grouping of data associated with email ("email subclient").
The techniques described with respect to FIG. 1E can be utilized in
conjunction with data that is otherwise organized as well.
[0237] As indicated by the dashed box, the second media agent 144B
and tape library 108B are "off-site," and may be remotely located
from the other components in system 100 (e.g., in a different city,
office building, etc.). Indeed, "off-site" may refer to a magnetic
tape located in remote storage, which must be manually retrieved
and loaded into a tape drive to be read. In this manner,
information stored on the tape library 108B may provide protection
in the event of a disaster or other failure at the main site(s)
where data is stored.
[0238] The file system subclient 112A in certain embodiments
generally comprises information generated by the file system and/or
operating system of client computing device 102, and can include,
for example, file system data (e.g., regular files, file tables,
mount points, etc.), operating system data (e.g., registries, event
logs, etc.), and the like. The e-mail subclient 112B can include
data generated by an e-mail application operating on client
computing device 102, e.g., mailbox information, folder
information, emails, attachments, associated database information,
and the like. As described above, the subclients can be logical
containers, and the data included in the corresponding primary data
112A and 112B may or may not be stored contiguously.
[0239] The exemplary storage policy 148A includes backup copy
preferences or rule set 160, disaster recovery copy preferences or
rule set 162, and compliance copy preferences or rule set 164.
Backup copy rule set 160 specifies that it is associated with file
system subclient 166 and email subclient 168. Each of subclients
166 and 168 are associated with the particular client computing
device 102. Backup copy rule set 160 further specifies that the
backup operation will be written to disk library 108A and
designates a particular media agent 144A to convey the data to disk
library 108A. Finally, backup copy rule set 160 specifies that
backup copies created according to rule set 160 are scheduled to be
generated hourly and are to be retained for 30 days. In some other
embodiments, scheduling information is not included in storage
policy 148A and is instead specified by a separate scheduling
policy.
[0240] Disaster recovery copy rule set 162 is associated with the
same two subclients 166 and 168. However, disaster recovery copy
rule set 162 is associated with tape library 108B, unlike backup
copy rule set 160. Moreover, disaster recovery copy rule set 162
specifies that a different media agent, namely 144B, will convey
data to tape library 108B. Disaster recovery copies created
according to rule set 162 will be retained for 60 days and will be
generated daily. Disaster recovery copies generated according to
disaster recovery copy rule set 162 can provide protection in the
event of a disaster or other catastrophic data loss that would
affect the backup copy 116A maintained on disk library 108A.
[0241] Compliance copy rule set 164 is only associated with the
email subclient 168, and not the file system subclient 166.
Compliance copies generated according to compliance copy rule set
164 will therefore not include primary data 112A from the file
system subclient 166. For instance, the organization may be under
an obligation to store and maintain copies of email data for a
particular period of time (e.g., 10 years) to comply with state or
federal regulations, while similar regulations do not apply to file
system data. Compliance copy rule set 164 is associated with the
same tape library 108B and media agent 144B as disaster recovery
copy rule set 162, although a different storage device or media
agent could be used in other embodiments. Finally, compliance copy
rule set 164 specifies that the copies it governs will be generated
quarterly and retained for 10 years.
[0242] Secondary Copy Jobs
[0243] A logical grouping of secondary copy operations governed by
a rule set and being initiated at a point in time may be referred
to as a "secondary copy job" (and sometimes may be called a "backup
job," even though it is not necessarily limited to creating only
backup copies). Secondary copy jobs may be initiated on demand as
well. Steps 1-9 below illustrate three secondary copy jobs based on
storage policy 148A.
[0244] Referring to FIG. 1E, at step 1, storage manager 140
initiates a backup job according to the backup copy rule set 160,
which logically comprises all the secondary copy operations
necessary to effectuate rules 160 in storage policy 148A every
hour, including steps 1-4 occurring hourly. For instance, a
scheduling service running on storage manager 140 accesses backup
copy rule set 160 or a separate scheduling policy associated with
client computing device 102 and initiates a backup job on an hourly
basis. Thus, at the scheduled time, storage manager 140 sends
instructions to client computing device 102 (i.e., to both data
agent 142A and data agent 142B) to begin the backup job.
[0245] At step 2, file system data agent 142A and email data agent
142B on client computing device 102 respond to instructions from
storage manager 140 by accessing and processing the respective
subclient primary data 112A and 112B involved in the backup copy
operation, which can be found in primary storage device 104.
Because the secondary copy operation is a backup copy operation,
the data agent(s) 142A, 142B may format the data into a backup
format or otherwise process the data suitable for a backup
copy.
[0246] At step 3, client computing device 102 communicates the
processed file system data (e.g., using file system data agent
142A) and the processed email data (e.g., using email data agent
142B) to the first media agent 144A according to backup copy rule
set 160, as directed by storage manager 140. Storage manager 140
may further keep a record in management database 146 of the
association between media agent 144A and one or more of: client
computing device 102, file system subclient 112A, file system data
agent 142A, email subclient 112B, email data agent 142B, and/or
backup copy 116A.
[0247] The target media agent 144A receives the
data-agent-processed data from client computing device 102, and at
step 4 generates and conveys backup copy 116A to disk library 108A
to be stored as backup copy 116A, again at the direction of storage
manager 140 and according to backup copy rule set 160. Media agent
144A can also update its index 153 to include data and/or metadata
related to backup copy 116A, such as information indicating where
the backup copy 116A resides on disk library 108A, where the email
copy resides, where the file system copy resides, data and metadata
for cache retrieval, etc. Storage manager 140 may similarly update
its index 150 to include information relating to the secondary copy
operation, such as information relating to the type of operation, a
physical location associated with one or more copies created by the
operation, the time the operation was performed, status information
relating to the operation, the components involved in the
operation, and the like. In some cases, storage manager 140 may
update its index 150 to include some or all of the information
stored in index 153 of media agent 144A. At this point, the backup
job may be considered complete. After the 30-day retention period
expires, storage manager 140 instructs media agent 144A to delete
backup copy 116A from disk library 108A and indexes 150 and/or 153
are updated accordingly.
[0248] At step 5, storage manager 140 initiates another backup job
for a disaster recovery copy according to the disaster recovery
rule set 162. Illustratively this includes steps 5-7 occurring
daily for creating disaster recovery copy 1166. Illustratively, and
by way of illustrating the scalable aspects and off-loading
principles embedded in system 100, disaster recovery copy 116B is
based on backup copy 116A and not on primary data 112A and
112B.
[0249] At step 6, illustratively based on instructions received
from storage manager 140 at step 5, the specified media agent 1446
retrieves the most recent backup copy 116A from disk library
108A.
[0250] At step 7, again at the direction of storage manager 140 and
as specified in disaster recovery copy rule set 162, media agent
144B uses the retrieved data to create a disaster recovery copy
116B and store it to tape library 108B. In some cases, disaster
recovery copy 116B is a direct, mirror copy of backup copy 116A,
and remains in the backup format. In other embodiments, disaster
recovery copy 116B may be further compressed or encrypted, or may
be generated in some other manner, such as by using primary data
112A and 1126 from primary storage device 104 as sources. The
disaster recovery copy operation is initiated once a day and
disaster recovery copies 1166 are deleted after 60 days; indexes
153 and/or 150 are updated accordingly when/after each information
management operation is executed and/or completed. The present
backup job may be considered completed.
[0251] At step 8, storage manager 140 initiates another backup job
according to compliance rule set 164, which performs steps 8-9
quarterly to create compliance copy 116C. For instance, storage
manager 140 instructs media agent 144B to create compliance copy
116C on tape library 108B, as specified in the compliance copy rule
set 164.
[0252] At step 9 in the example, compliance copy 116C is generated
using disaster recovery copy 1166 as the source. This is efficient,
because disaster recovery copy resides on the same secondary
storage device and thus no network resources are required to move
the data. In other embodiments, compliance copy 116C is instead
generated using primary data 112B corresponding to the email
subclient or using backup copy 116A from disk library 108A as
source data. As specified in the illustrated example, compliance
copies 116C are created quarterly, and are deleted after ten years,
and indexes 153 and/or 150 are kept up-to-date accordingly.
[0253] Exemplary Applications of Storage Policies--Information
Governance Policies and Classification
[0254] Again referring to FIG. 1E, storage manager 140 may permit a
user to specify aspects of storage policy 148A. For example, the
storage policy can be modified to include information governance
policies to define how data should be managed in order to comply
with a certain regulation or business objective. The various
policies may be stored, for example, in management database 146. An
information governance policy may align with one or more compliance
tasks that are imposed by regulations or business requirements.
Examples of information governance policies might include a
Sarbanes-Oxley policy, a HIPAA policy, an electronic discovery
(e-discovery) policy, and so on.
[0255] Information governance policies allow administrators to
obtain different perspectives on an organization's online and
offline data, without the need for a dedicated data silo created
solely for each different viewpoint. As described previously, the
data storage systems herein build an index that reflects the
contents of a distributed data set that spans numerous clients and
storage devices, including both primary data and secondary copies,
and online and offline copies. An organization may apply multiple
information governance policies in a top-down manner over that
unified data set and indexing schema in order to view and
manipulate the data set through different lenses, each of which is
adapted to a particular compliance or business goal. Thus, for
example, by applying an e-discovery policy and a Sarbanes-Oxley
policy, two different groups of users in an organization can
conduct two very different analyses of the same underlying physical
set of data/copies, which may be distributed throughout the
information management system.
[0256] An information governance policy may comprise a
classification policy, which defines a taxonomy of classification
terms or tags relevant to a compliance task and/or business
objective. A classification policy may also associate a defined tag
with a classification rule. A classification rule defines a
particular combination of criteria, such as users who have created,
accessed or modified a document or data object; file or application
types; content or metadata keywords; clients or storage locations;
dates of data creation and/or access; review status or other status
within a workflow (e.g., reviewed or un-reviewed); modification
times or types of modifications; and/or any other data attributes
in any combination, without limitation. A classification rule may
also be defined using other classification tags in the taxonomy.
The various criteria used to define a classification rule may be
combined in any suitable fashion, for example, via Boolean
operators, to define a complex classification rule. As an example,
an e-discovery classification policy might define a classification
tag "privileged" that is associated with documents or data objects
that (1) were created or modified by legal department staff, or (2)
were sent to or received from outside counsel via email, or (3)
contain one of the following keywords: "privileged" or "attorney"
or "counsel," or other like terms. Accordingly, all these documents
or data objects will be classified as "privileged."
[0257] One specific type of classification tag, which may be added
to an index at the time of indexing, is an "entity tag." An entity
tag may be, for example, any content that matches a defined data
mask format. Examples of entity tags might include, e.g., social
security numbers (e.g., any numerical content matching the
formatting mask XXX-XX-XXXX), credit card numbers (e.g., content
having a 13-16 digit string of numbers), SKU numbers, product
numbers, etc. A user may define a classification policy by
indicating criteria, parameters or descriptors of the policy via a
graphical user interface, such as a form or page with fields to be
filled in, pull-down menus or entries allowing one or more of
several options to be selected, buttons, sliders, hypertext links
or other known user interface tools for receiving user input, etc.
For example, a user may define certain entity tags, such as a
particular product number or project ID. In some implementations,
the classification policy can be implemented using cloud-based
techniques. For example, the storage devices may be cloud storage
devices, and the storage manager 140 may execute cloud service
provider API over a network to classify data stored on cloud
storage devices.
Restore Operations from Secondary Copies
[0258] While not shown in FIG. 1E, at some later point in time, a
restore operation can be initiated involving one or more of
secondary copies 116A, 116B, and 116C. A restore operation
logically takes a selected secondary copy 116, reverses the effects
of the secondary copy operation that created it, and stores the
restored data to primary storage where a client computing device
102 may properly access it as primary data. A media agent 144 and
an appropriate data agent 142 (e.g., executing on the client
computing device 102) perform the tasks needed to complete a
restore operation. For example, data that was encrypted,
compressed, and/or deduplicated in the creation of secondary copy
116 will be correspondingly rehydrated (reversing deduplication),
uncompressed, and unencrypted into a format appropriate to primary
data. Metadata stored within or associated with the secondary copy
116 may be used during the restore operation. In general, restored
data should be indistinguishable from other primary data 112.
Preferably, the restored data has fully regained the native format
that may make it immediately usable by application 110.
[0259] As one example, a user may manually initiate a restore of
backup copy 116A, e.g., by interacting with user interface 158 of
storage manager 140 or with a web-based console with access to
system 100. Storage manager 140 may accesses data in its index 150
and/or management database 146 (and/or the respective storage
policy 148A) associated with the selected backup copy 116A to
identify the appropriate media agent 144A and/or secondary storage
device 108A where the secondary copy resides. The user may be
presented with a representation (e.g., stub, thumbnail, listing,
etc.) and metadata about the selected secondary copy, in order to
determine whether this is the appropriate copy to be restored,
e.g., date that the original primary data was created. Storage
manager 140 will then instruct media agent 144A and an appropriate
data agent 142 on the target client computing device 102 to restore
secondary copy 116A to primary storage device 104. A media agent
may be selected for use in the restore operation based on a load
balancing algorithm, an availability based algorithm, or other
criteria. The selected media agent, e.g., 144A, retrieves secondary
copy 116A from disk library 108A. For instance, media agent 144A
may access its index 153 to identify a location of backup copy 116A
on disk library 108A, or may access location information residing
on disk library 108A itself.
[0260] In some cases a backup copy 116A that was recently created
or accessed, may be cached to speed up the restore operation. In
such a case, media agent 144A accesses a cached version of backup
copy 116A residing in index 153, without having to access disk
library 108A for some or all of the data. Once it has retrieved
backup copy 116A, the media agent 144A communicates the data to the
requesting client computing device 102. Upon receipt, file system
data agent 142A and email data agent 142B may unpack (e.g., restore
from a backup format to the native application format) the data in
backup copy 116A and restore the unpackaged data to primary storage
device 104. In general, secondary copies 116 may be restored to the
same volume or folder in primary storage device 104 from which the
secondary copy was derived; to another storage location or client
computing device 102; to shared storage, etc. In some cases, the
data may be restored so that it may be used by an application 110
of a different version/vintage from the application that created
the original primary data 112.
Exemplary Secondary Copy Formatting
[0261] The formatting and structure of secondary copies 116 can
vary depending on the embodiment. In some cases, secondary copies
116 are formatted as a series of logical data units or "chunks"
(e.g., 512 MB, 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, or 8 GB chunks). This can
facilitate efficient communication and writing to secondary storage
devices 108, e.g., according to resource availability. For example,
a single secondary copy 116 may be written on a chunk-by-chunk
basis to one or more secondary storage devices 108. In some cases,
users can select different chunk sizes, e.g., to improve throughput
to tape storage devices. Generally, each chunk can include a header
and a payload. The payload can include files (or other data units)
or subsets thereof included in the chunk, whereas the chunk header
generally includes metadata relating to the chunk, some or all of
which may be derived from the payload. For example, during a
secondary copy operation, media agent 144, storage manager 140, or
other component may divide files into chunks and generate headers
for each chunk by processing the files. Headers can include a
variety of information such as file and/or volume identifier(s),
offset(s), and/or other information associated with the payload
data items, a chunk sequence number, etc. Importantly, in addition
to being stored with secondary copy 116 on secondary storage device
108, chunk headers can also be stored to index 153 of the
associated media agent(s) 144 and/or to index 150 associated with
storage manager 140. This can be useful for providing faster
processing of secondary copies 116 during browsing, restores, or
other operations. In some cases, once a chunk is successfully
transferred to a secondary storage device 108, the secondary
storage device 108 returns an indication of receipt, e.g., to media
agent 144 and/or storage manager 140, which may update their
respective indexes 153, 150 accordingly. During restore, chunks may
be processed (e.g., by media agent 144) according to the
information in the chunk header to reassemble the files.
[0262] Data can also be communicated within system 100 in data
channels that connect client computing devices 102 to secondary
storage devices 108. These data channels can be referred to as
"data streams," and multiple data streams can be employed to
parallelize an information management operation, improving data
transfer rate, among other advantages. Example data formatting
techniques including techniques involving data streaming, chunking,
and the use of other data structures in creating secondary copies
are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,315,923, 8,156,086, and
8,578,120.
[0263] FIGS. 1F and 1G are diagrams of example data streams 170 and
171, respectively, which may be employed for performing information
management operations. Referring to FIG. 1F, data agent 142 forms
data stream 170 from source data associated with a client computing
device 102 (e.g., primary data 112). Data stream 170 is composed of
multiple pairs of stream header 172 and stream data (or stream
payload) 174. Data streams 170 and 171 shown in the illustrated
example are for a single-instanced storage operation, and a stream
payload 174 therefore may include both single-instance (SI) data
and/or non-SI data. A stream header 172 includes metadata about the
stream payload 174. This metadata may include, for example, a
length of the stream payload 174, an indication of whether the
stream payload 174 is encrypted, an indication of whether the
stream payload 174 is compressed, an archive file identifier (ID),
an indication of whether the stream payload 174 is single
instanceable, and an indication of whether the stream payload 174
is a start of a block of data.
[0264] Referring to FIG. 1G, data stream 171 has the stream header
172 and stream payload 174 aligned into multiple data blocks. In
this example, the data blocks are of size 64 KB. The first two
stream header 172 and stream payload 174 pairs comprise a first
data block of size 64 KB. The first stream header 172 indicates
that the length of the succeeding stream payload 174 is 63 KB and
that it is the start of a data block. The next stream header 172
indicates that the succeeding stream payload 174 has a length of 1
KB and that it is not the start of a new data block. Immediately
following stream payload 174 is a pair comprising an identifier
header 176 and identifier data 178. The identifier header 176
includes an indication that the succeeding identifier data 178
includes the identifier for the immediately previous data block.
The identifier data 178 includes the identifier that the data agent
142 generated for the data block. The data stream 171 also includes
other stream header 172 and stream payload 174 pairs, which may be
for SI data and/or non-SI data.
[0265] FIG. 1H is a diagram illustrating data structures 180 that
may be used to store blocks of SI data and non-SI data on a storage
device (e.g., secondary storage device 108). According to certain
embodiments, data structures 180 do not form part of a native file
system of the storage device. Data structures 180 include one or
more volume folders 182, one or more chunk folders 184/185 within
the volume folder 182, and multiple files within chunk folder 184.
Each chunk folder 184/185 includes a metadata file 186/187, a
metadata index file 188/189, one or more container files
190/191/193, and a container index file 192/194. Metadata file
186/187 stores non-SI data blocks as well as links to SI data
blocks stored in container files. Metadata index file 188/189
stores an index to the data in the metadata file 186/187. Container
files 190/191/193 store SI data blocks. Container index file
192/194 stores an index to container files 190/191/193. Among other
things, container index file 192/194 stores an indication of
whether a corresponding block in a container file 190/191/193 is
referred to by a link in a metadata file 186/187. For example, data
block B2 in the container file 190 is referred to by a link in
metadata file 187 in chunk folder 185. Accordingly, the
corresponding index entry in container index file 192 indicates
that data block B2 in container file 190 is referred to. As another
example, data block B1 in container file 191 is referred to by a
link in metadata file 187, and so the corresponding index entry in
container index file 192 indicates that this data block is referred
to.
[0266] As an example, data structures 180 illustrated in FIG. 1H
may have been created as a result of separate secondary copy
operations involving two client computing devices 102. For example,
a first secondary copy operation on a first client computing device
102 could result in the creation of the first chunk folder 184, and
a second secondary copy operation on a second client computing
device 102 could result in the creation of the second chunk folder
185. Container files 190/191 in the first chunk folder 184 would
contain the blocks of SI data of the first client computing device
102. If the two client computing devices 102 have substantially
similar data, the second secondary copy operation on the data of
the second client computing device 102 would result in media agent
144 storing primarily links to the data blocks of the first client
computing device 102 that are already stored in the container files
190/191. Accordingly, while a first secondary copy operation may
result in storing nearly all of the data subject to the operation,
subsequent secondary storage operations involving similar data may
result in substantial data storage space savings, because links to
already stored data blocks can be stored instead of additional
instances of data blocks.
[0267] If the operating system of the secondary storage computing
device 106 on which media agent 144 operates supports sparse files,
then when media agent 144 creates container files 190/191/193, it
can create them as sparse files. A sparse file is a type of file
that may include empty space (e.g., a sparse file may have real
data within it, such as at the beginning of the file and/or at the
end of the file, but may also have empty space in it that is not
storing actual data, such as a contiguous range of bytes all having
a value of zero). Having container files 190/191/193 be sparse
files allows media agent 144 to free up space in container files
190/191/193 when blocks of data in container files 190/191/193 no
longer need to be stored on the storage devices. In some examples,
media agent 144 creates a new container file 190/191/193 when a
container file 190/191/193 either includes 100 blocks of data or
when the size of the container file 190 exceeds 50 MB. In other
examples, media agent 144 creates a new container file 190/191/193
when a container file 190/191/193 satisfies other criteria (e.g.,
it contains from approx. 100 to approx. 1000 blocks or when its
size exceeds approximately 50 MB to 1 GB). In some cases, a file on
which a secondary copy operation is performed may comprise a large
number of data blocks. For example, a 100 MB file may comprise 400
data blocks of size 256 KB. If such a file is to be stored, its
data blocks may span more than one container file, or even more
than one chunk folder. As another example, a database file of 20 GB
may comprise over 40,000 data blocks of size 512 KB. If such a
database file is to be stored, its data blocks will likely span
multiple container files, multiple chunk folders, and potentially
multiple volume folders. Restoring such files may require accessing
multiple container files, chunk folders, and/or volume folders to
obtain the requisite data blocks.
Using Backup Data for Replication and Disaster Recovery ("Live
Synchronization")
[0268] There is an increased demand to off-load resource intensive
information management tasks (e.g., data replication tasks) away
from production devices (e.g., physical or virtual client computing
devices) in order to maximize production efficiency. At the same
time, enterprises expect access to readily-available up-to-date
recovery copies in the event of failure, with little or no
production downtime.
[0269] FIG. 2A illustrates a system 200 configured to address these
and other issues by using backup or other secondary copy data to
synchronize a source subsystem 201 (e.g., a production site) with a
destination subsystem 203 (e.g., a failover site). Such a technique
can be referred to as "live synchronization" and/or "live
synchronization replication." In the illustrated embodiment, the
source client computing devices 202a include one or more virtual
machines (or "VMs") executing on one or more corresponding VM host
computers 205a, though the source need not be virtualized. The
destination site 203 may be at a location that is remote from the
production site 201, or may be located in the same data center,
without limitation. One or more of the production site 201 and
destination site 203 may reside at data centers at known geographic
locations, or alternatively may operate "in the cloud."
[0270] The synchronization can be achieved by generally applying an
ongoing stream of incremental backups from the source subsystem 201
to the destination subsystem 203, such as according to what can be
referred to as an "incremental forever" approach. FIG. 2A
illustrates an embodiment of a data flow which may be orchestrated
at the direction of one or more storage managers (not shown). At
step 1, the source data agent(s) 242a and source media agent(s)
244a work together to write backup or other secondary copies of the
primary data generated by the source client computing devices 202a
into the source secondary storage device(s) 208a. At step 2, the
backup/secondary copies are retrieved by the source media agent(s)
244a from secondary storage. At step 3, source media agent(s) 244a
communicate the backup/secondary copies across a network to the
destination media agent(s) 244b in destination subsystem 203.
[0271] As shown, the data can be copied from source to destination
in an incremental fashion, such that only changed blocks are
transmitted, and in some cases multiple incremental backups are
consolidated at the source so that only the most current changed
blocks are transmitted to and applied at the destination. An
example of live synchronization of virtual machines using the
"incremental forever" approach is found in U.S. Patent Application
No. 62/265,339 entitled "Live Synchronization and Management of
Virtual Machines across Computing and Virtualization Platforms and
Using Live Synchronization to Support Disaster Recovery." Moreover,
a deduplicated copy can be employed to further reduce network
traffic from source to destination. For instance, the system can
utilize the deduplicated copy techniques described in U.S. Pat. No.
9,239,687, entitled "Systems and Methods for Retaining and Using
Data Block Signatures in Data Protection Operations."
[0272] At step 4, destination media agent(s) 244b write the
received backup/secondary copy data to the destination secondary
storage device(s) 208b. At step 5, the synchronization is completed
when the destination media agent(s) and destination data agent(s)
242b restore the backup/secondary copy data to the destination
client computing device(s) 202b. The destination client computing
device(s) 202b may be kept "warm" awaiting activation in case
failure is detected at the source. This synchronization/replication
process can incorporate the techniques described in U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 14/721,971, entitled "Replication Using
Deduplicated Secondary Copy Data."
[0273] Where the incremental backups are applied on a frequent,
on-going basis, the synchronized copies can be viewed as mirror or
replication copies. Moreover, by applying the incremental backups
to the destination site 203 using backup or other secondary copy
data, the production site 201 is not burdened with the
synchronization operations. Because the destination site 203 can be
maintained in a synchronized "warm" state, the downtime for
switching over from the production site 201 to the destination site
203 is substantially less than with a typical restore from
secondary storage. Thus, the production site 201 may flexibly and
efficiently fail over, with minimal downtime and with relatively
up-to-date data, to a destination site 203, such as a cloud-based
failover site. The destination site 203 can later be reverse
synchronized back to the production site 201, such as after repairs
have been implemented or after the failure has passed.
Integrating with the Cloud Using File System Protocols
[0274] Given the ubiquity of cloud computing, it can be
increasingly useful to provide data protection and other
information management services in a scalable, transparent, and
highly plug-able fashion. FIG. 2B illustrates an information
management system 200 having an architecture that provides such
advantages, and incorporates use of a standard file system protocol
between primary and secondary storage subsystems 217, 218. As
shown, the use of the network file system (NFS) protocol (or any
another appropriate file system protocol such as that of the Common
Internet File System (CIFS)) allows data agent 242 to be moved from
the primary storage subsystem 217 to the secondary storage
subsystem 218. For instance, as indicated by the dashed box 206
around data agent 242 and media agent 244, data agent 242 can
co-reside with media agent 244 on the same server (e.g., a
secondary storage computing device such as component 106), or in
some other location in secondary storage subsystem 218.
[0275] Where NFS is used, for example, secondary storage subsystem
218 allocates an NFS network path to the client computing device
202 or to one or more target applications 210 running on client
computing device 202. During a backup or other secondary copy
operation, the client computing device 202 mounts the designated
NFS path and writes data to that NFS path. The NFS path may be
obtained from NFS path data 215 stored locally at the client
computing device 202, and which may be a copy of or otherwise
derived from NFS path data 219 stored in the secondary storage
subsystem 218.
[0276] Write requests issued by client computing device(s) 202 are
received by data agent 242 in secondary storage subsystem 218,
which translates the requests and works in conjunction with media
agent 244 to process and write data to a secondary storage
device(s) 208, thereby creating a backup or other secondary copy.
Storage manager 240 can include a pseudo-client manager 217, which
coordinates the process by, among other things, communicating
information relating to client computing device 202 and application
210 (e.g., application type, client computing device identifier,
etc.) to data agent 242, obtaining appropriate NFS path data from
the data agent 242 (e.g., NFS path information), and delivering
such data to client computing device 202.
[0277] Conversely, during a restore or recovery operation client
computing device 202 reads from the designated NFS network path,
and the read request is translated by data agent 242. The data
agent 242 then works with media agent 244 to retrieve, re-process
(e.g., re-hydrate, decompress, decrypt), and forward the requested
data to client computing device 202 using NFS.
[0278] By moving specialized software associated with system 200
such as data agent 242 off the client computing devices 202, the
illustrative architecture effectively decouples the client
computing devices 202 from the installed components of system 200,
improving both scalability and plug-ability of system 200. Indeed,
the secondary storage subsystem 218 in such environments can be
treated simply as a read/write NFS target for primary storage
subsystem 217, without the need for information management software
to be installed on client computing devices 202. As one example, an
enterprise implementing a cloud production computing environment
can add VM client computing devices 202 without installing and
configuring specialized information management software on these
VMs. Rather, backups and restores are achieved transparently, where
the new VMs simply write to and read from the designated NFS path.
An example of integrating with the cloud using file system
protocols or so-called "infinite backup" using NFS share is found
in U.S. Patent Application No. 62/294,920, entitled "Data
Protection Operations Based on Network Path Information." Examples
of improved data restoration scenarios based on network-path
information, including using stored backups effectively as primary
data sources, may be found in U.S. Patent Application No.
62/297,057, entitled "Data Restoration Operations Based on Network
Path Information."
Highly Scalable Managed Data Pool Architecture
[0279] Enterprises are seeing explosive data growth in recent
years, often from various applications running in geographically
distributed locations. FIG. 2C shows a block diagram of an example
of a highly scalable, managed data pool architecture useful in
accommodating such data growth. The illustrated system 200, which
may be referred to as a "web-scale" architecture according to
certain embodiments, can be readily incorporated into both open
compute/storage and common-cloud architectures.
[0280] The illustrated system 200 includes a grid 245 of media
agents 244 logically organized into a control tier 231 and a
secondary or storage tier 233. Media agents assigned to the storage
tier 233 can be configured to manage a secondary storage pool 208
as a deduplication store, and be configured to receive client write
and read requests from the primary storage subsystem 217, and
direct those requests to the secondary tier 233 for servicing. For
instance, media agents CMA1-CMA3 in the control tier 231 maintain
and consult one or more deduplication databases 247, which can
include deduplication information (e.g., data block hashes, data
block links, file containers for deduplicated files, etc.)
sufficient to read deduplicated files from secondary storage pool
208 and write deduplicated files to secondary storage pool 208. For
instance, system 200 can incorporate any of the deduplication
systems and methods shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,020,900,
entitled "Distributed Deduplicated Storage System," and U.S. Pat.
Pub. No. 2014/0201170, entitled "High Availability Distributed
Deduplicated Storage System."
[0281] Media agents SMA1-SMA6 assigned to the secondary tier 233
receive write and read requests from media agents CMA1-CMA3 in
control tier 231, and access secondary storage pool 208 to service
those requests. Media agents CMA1-CMA3 in control tier 231 can also
communicate with secondary storage pool 208, and may execute read
and write requests themselves (e.g., in response to requests from
other control media agents CMA1-CMA3) in addition to issuing
requests to media agents in secondary tier 233. Moreover, while
shown as separate from the secondary storage pool 208,
deduplication database(s) 247 can in some cases reside in storage
devices in secondary storage pool 208.
[0282] As shown, each of the media agents 244 (e.g., CMA1-CMA3,
SMA1-SMA6, etc.) in grid 245 can be allocated a corresponding
dedicated partition 251A-2511, respectively, in secondary storage
pool 208. Each partition 251 can include a first portion 253
containing data associated with (e.g., stored by) media agent 244
corresponding to the respective partition 251. System 200 can also
implement a desired level of replication, thereby providing
redundancy in the event of a failure of a media agent 244 in grid
245. Along these lines, each partition 251 can further include a
second portion 255 storing one or more replication copies of the
data associated with one or more other media agents 244 in the
grid.
[0283] System 200 can also be configured to allow for seamless
addition of media agents 244 to grid 245 via automatic
configuration. As one illustrative example, a storage manager (not
shown) or other appropriate component may determine that it is
appropriate to add an additional node to control tier 231, and
perform some or all of the following: (i) assess the capabilities
of a newly added or otherwise available computing device as
satisfying a minimum criteria to be configured as or hosting a
media agent in control tier 231; (ii) confirm that a sufficient
amount of the appropriate type of storage exists to support an
additional node in control tier 231 (e.g., enough disk drive
capacity exists in storage pool 208 to support an additional
deduplication database 247); (iii) install appropriate media agent
software on the computing device and configure the computing device
according to a pre-determined template; (iv) establish a partition
251 in the storage pool 208 dedicated to the newly established
media agent 244; and (v) build any appropriate data structures
(e.g., an instance of deduplication database 247). An example of
highly scalable managed data pool architecture or so-called
web-scale architecture for storage and data management is found in
U.S. Patent Application No. 62/273,286 entitled "Redundant and
Robust Distributed Deduplication Data Storage System."
[0284] The embodiments and components thereof disclosed in FIGS.
2A, 2B, and 2C, as well as those in FIGS. 1A-1H, may be implemented
in any combination and permutation to satisfy data storage
management and information management needs at one or more
locations and/or data centers.
Introduction to Ransomware
[0285] Ransomware has become one of the most widespread and
damaging threats that Internet users face. It is a specific type of
malware that enters a file system by exploiting vulnerabilities
within the file system. Ransomware typically holds a user's data
hostage by locking the desktop of the user or encrypting the user's
files. For example, one type of ransomware may encrypt the user's
files and leave a ransom note for the user, inviting the user to
pay a sum of money (e.g., via anonymous payment mechanisms such as
Bitcoin) in exchange for a decryption key that can be used to
decrypt the user's files. Some examples of file-encrypting
ransomware include Locky, CryptoWall, TorrentLocker, CTB-Locker,
and TeslaCrypt, to name a few. Such ransomware may delete backup
copies, snapshots, and/or shadow copies in order to prevent the
user from recovering the encrypted files.
[0286] Further, other existing backup solutions may create a backup
of the encrypted files without realizing that the file system has
been attacked by ransomware. Such backup solutions may even prune
prior versions of the backup that can potentially be used to
recover the encrypted files. Without a safe backup copy that has
not been infected by ransomware, recovering the encrypted files may
be impossible without paying for the encryption key. Thus, an
improved method for detecting ransomware and providing data
protection is desired.
Automated Ransomware Detection
[0287] Ransomware typically involves an input/output (I/O) heavy
process of encrypting data files and/or deleting or renaming the
original files. Thus, ransomware attacks may be detected by
analyzing the I/O activity in a given file system. For example, one
type of file system operation that may be used to distinguish
harmful ransomware from other harmless applications is file
renaming. File renaming operations performed by ransomware (e.g.,
CryptoWall 4.0 or Locky) can be unusual. Most types of ransomware
rename encrypted files with their own extensions (e.g., ".crypt",
".crypto", etc.). In some cases, the ransomware encrypts the entire
file name instead of just changing the extension (e.g., the latest
CryptoWall 4.0). These file renaming behaviors and other file
system operations may make ransomware attacks stand out from file
system operations performed by other safe applications running on
the user's computer.
[0288] To keep track of which files in the file system are being
created, modified, deleted, renamed, overwritten, etc., a software
module running on a client machine may monitor the I/O activity in
a file system. The monitored I/O activity may be analyzed to
determine whether the I/O activity is normal or whether the I/O
activity qualifies as an anomaly. If the I/O activity qualifies as
an anomaly, the software module may preserve any backups created
prior to the occurrence of the I/O activity and provide an alert to
the user of the client machine that the client machine may be under
a ransomware attack. An example system for automatically detecting
such a ransomware attack is described below with reference to FIG.
3A.
[0289] FIG. 3A is a block diagram illustrating an example system
300 configured to implement an automated ransomware detection
process in accordance with one or more embodiments disclosed
herein. As illustrated, the example 300 includes a client computing
device 302, a storage manager 304, a secondary computing device
306, and a secondary storage device 308. The client computing
device 302 may sometimes be referred to in some cases as a primary
storage subsystem 300A, and some or all of the storage manager 304,
the secondary computing device 306, and the secondary storage
device 308 may sometimes be referred to as a secondary storage
subsystem 300B. In some embodiments, the storage manager 304 may be
part of the primary storage subsystem 300A instead of the secondary
storage subsystem 300B, or may be part of neither the primary
storage subsystem 300A nor the secondary storage subsystem
300B.
[0290] The client computing device 302 includes application(s) 310,
data agent(s) 312, a filter driver 314, a file system 316, and a
primary storage device 318. In some embodiments, the client
computing device 302 may be a virtual machine running the
application(s) 310. Although not illustrated in FIG. 3A, the client
computing device 302 may further include one or more additional
applications and/or data agents.
[0291] As previously described, for example with respect to FIG.
1C, the client computing device 302 may include one or more
applications 310 and one or more data agents 312. At least some of
the data agents 312 may correspond to one or more of the
applications 310 and, as previously described, may facilitate data
operations with respect to the corresponding application(s).
Further, one or more of the data agents 312 may facilitate managing
and/or interacting with the file system 316 of the client computing
device 302. The file system 316 may include any type of file system
that can be used by a client computing device 302. For example, the
file system 316 may include a Microsoft Windows file system (e.g.,
FAT, NTFS, etc.), a Linux based file system, a Unix based file
system, an Apple Macintosh file system (e.g., HFS Plus), and the
like. In some instances, the client computing device 302 may
include multiple file systems 316 of the same type or of a
different type.
[0292] In addition to the previously described systems, the client
computing device 302 may include a filter driver 314 that can
interact with data (e.g., production data) associated with the
applications 310. For instance, the filter driver 314 may comprise
a file system filter driver, an operating system driver, a
filtering program, a data trapping program, an application, a
module of one or more of the applications 310, an application
programming interface ("API"), or other like software module or
process that, among other things, monitors and/or intercepts
particular application requests targeted at a file system, another
file system filter driver, a network attached storage ("NAS"), a
storage area network ("SAN"), mass storage and/or other memory or
raw data. In some embodiments, the filter driver 314 may reside in
the I/O stack of an application 310 and may intercept, analyze,
and/or copy certain data traveling to or from the application 310
from or to a file system.
[0293] In certain embodiments, the filter driver 314 may intercept
data modification operations that include changes, updates, and/or
new information (e.g., file creation, file deletion, file
modification, file renaming, etc.) with respect to one or more of
the application(s) 310. For example, the filter driver 314 may
locate, monitor, and/or process one or more of the following with
respect to a particular application 310, application type, or group
of applications (e.g., some or all of the application(s) 310): file
system operations (e.g., file creation, file deletion, file
modification, file renaming), data management operations (e.g.,
data write operations, file attribute modifications), logs or
journals (e.g., NTFS change journal), configuration files, file
settings, control files, other files used by one or more of the
application(s) 310, combinations of the same or the like. In
certain embodiments, such data may also be gathered from files
across multiple storage systems within the client computing device
302. Furthermore, the filter driver 314 may be configured to
monitor changes to particular volumes, directories, and/or files
within the file system 316.
[0294] The filter driver 314 may include a number of modules or
subsystems that can facilitate performing various operations
described herein with respect to the file system 316. For example,
the filter driver 314 may include a number of modules or subsystems
to facilitate automatic detection of ransomware and/or detection of
other file system anomalies. In some embodiments, the filter driver
314 includes an anomaly detection engine 320 and a file monitor
322.
[0295] Using the file monitor 322, the filter driver 314 can
monitor interactions with a file. This interaction can include
accessing the file via the file system 316, one or more
applications 310, one or more data agents 312, or through any other
method of accessing or interacting with a file. In some cases, the
file monitor 322 identifies when a file is modified and/or created.
Monitoring the creation of a file can include identifying a "new"
file operation, a "save as" operation, a "copy" operation, or any
other operation that can result in a new file or a new copy of an
existing file.
[0296] The anomaly detection engine 320 can determine, based on the
interactions monitored by the file monitor 322, whether a file
activity anomaly is detected. The operations of the anomaly
detection engine 320 are described in greater detail below with
reference to FIGS. 5-11. Otherwise, the components shown in FIG. 3A
may be substantially similar to those described above with
reference to FIGS. 1A-1G.
[0297] Another example of the system 300 is described below with
reference to FIG. 3B. As shown in FIG. 3B, the system 300 may
include a plurality of client computing devices 302. The client
computing devices 302 may be similar to the client computing device
302 or any other client computing device described above. The
plurality of client computing devices 302A-302N may each push the
I/O data 338 collected on the respective client computing devices
to a cloud service 336. The cloud service 336 may also store the
index data 340 comprising information captured at the time of each
backup associated with the respective client computing device
302.
[0298] The system 300 of FIG. 3B includes client computing devices
302A-N in communication with a cloud service 336 for storing I/O
data 338 and index data 340 of the client computing devices 302A-N.
For example, every time the I/O data 326 and the index data 330 are
stored in the respective primary storage devices 318, the I/O data
326 and the index data 330 may also be transmitted to the cloud
service 336 for storage. As another example, the I/O data 326 and
the index data 330 stored in the respective primary storage devices
318 may be periodically pushed to the cloud service 336 for
storage. The I/O data 338 and index data 340 of the client
computing devices 302A-N may be accessed by individual client
computing devices and utilized to detect file activity anomalies
based on, for example, company-wide trends. For example, the
anomaly detection engine 320 may determine that a given I/O
activity is not an anomaly (or is an anomaly) in view of similar
I/O activity (e.g., similar types of file system operations and/or
over similar time periods) occurring on other client computing
devices, even though without access to the I/O activity of other
client computing devices, the anomaly detection engine 320 would
have determined that the given I/O activity was an anomaly.
[0299] The anomaly detection engine 320 may determine that a given
I/O activity is not an anomaly (e.g., even though the given I/O
activity would qualify as an anomaly if considered by itself) based
on a determination that (i) same or similar types of operations are
performed on other client computing devices, (ii) same or similar
number of operations are performed on other client computing
devices, (iii) the number of operations performed on other client
computing devices exceed their baseline numbers by the same or
similar amount (e.g., absolute amount or percentage), or any
combinations thereof.
[0300] Alternatively, the anomaly detection engine 320 may
determine that a given I/O activity is an anomaly (e.g., even
though the given I/O activity would not qualify as an anomaly if
considered by itself) based on a determination that (i) same or
similar types of operations are performed on other client computing
devices, (ii) same or similar number of operations are performed on
other client computing devices, (iii) the number of operations
performed on other client computing devices exceed their baseline
numbers by the same or similar amount (e.g., absolute amount or
percentage), or any combinations thereof. Otherwise, the components
shown in FIG. 3B may be substantially similar to those described
above with reference to FIGS. 1A-1G and 3A.
Ransomware I/O Access Patterns
[0301] In some cases, different ransomware attacks may exhibit
different I/O access patterns. One type of ransomware may attack a
specific targeted file (.doc, .pdf, etc.) following a specific
pattern. For example, the ransomware goes through the entire file
system of a volume, finds the targeted files, and encrypts one of
the targeted files. The ransomware may enumerate the existing
directories and files and filter the files based on their
extensions (e.g., by selecting only those files with specific
extensions such as .doc, .pdf, .txt, .jpg, and etc., or those
associated with specific applications, for encryption, and not
selecting the other files in the system). The ransomware may then
sequentially open and read the selected files, encrypting them one
at a time. The ransomware may rewrite the selected files with high
entropy buffers (e.g., encryption). For example, the filter driver
314 may determine the entropy difference in the data buffers before
and after the write.
[0302] For example, the ransomware may read the first 1 MB of a
file, encrypt the 1 MB of data, overwrite the original 1 MB of data
with the encrypted data, and continue to encrypt the remaining
portions of the file until the entire file is encrypted.
Alternatively, the ransomware may create an encrypted version of
the file in a temporary location and overwrite the file using the
encrypted version (e.g., by moving the encrypted version to the
original file location with a flag ReplacelfExists having a true
value). Then, the ransomware moves onto the remaining ones of the
selected target files and encrypts them in the same manner. The
ransomware may further rename the encrypted files (e.g., by
changing the file name, the extension, or both).
[0303] Another type of ransomware may encrypt the data of an
original file to a temporary file. After the ransomware finishes
encrypting the original file, the ransomware may delete the
original file and keep only the temporary file. In some cases, the
ransomware may further rename the temporary file such that the
temporary file has the file name of the original file.
[0304] Based on these I/O access patterns (e.g., high number of
renames, renames to known ransomware extensions, high number of
writes with high entropy value data buffers, high number of
deletes, etc.), the anomaly detection engine 320 may determine that
the client computing device 302 may be under attack and take
appropriate remedial action, which is described in greater detail
below.
[0305] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 4, a kernel mode file
system filter driver may intercept I/O requests of processes and
send I/O information to the user mode service, which builds process
contexts in order to isolate the malicious behaviour.
Alternatively, in a directory change scan approach, a file system
scan may be run periodically, and the process contexts may be built
based on the information obtained by the file system scan. The I/O
requests can be tracked by the file system filter driver, and
encryption of the files in the file system can be predicted by
calculating the entropy on data buffers.
[0306] Entropy is an indicator that provides information about the
uncertainty of data. Some types of data, such as encrypted or
compressed data, has a high entropy value. A ransomware attack may
result in consistently high entropy output due to the data
encryption performed by the ransomware. File types such as the
binary, or pdf, or compressed files also have high entropy values,
but additional methods such as mime type check, file header check,
and sdhash can be utilized to reduce the number of false positives.
Sdhash is a tool that allows two arbitrary blobs of data to be
compared for similarity based on common strings of binary data.
Sdhash is designed to provide quick results during triage and
initial investigation phases. If a file modification is legitimate,
the sdhash comparison of the files before and after is unlikely to
indicate a significant change in the file content. Further, if a
file modification is legitimate, the modified file should have a
known Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) type (e.g.,
identifies a file on the Internet based on their nature and
format). Further, if a file modification is legitimate, the
modified file is likely to have a low entropy value. When a file is
being encrypted, all three of these conditions may be false.
Real-Time Ransomware Detection
[0307] The most real-time approach would involve intercepting the
I/O access of the processes running on the user's computer and
identifying patterns that could be used to differentiate regular
I/O access from ransomware I/O access. Such an approach can, for
example, utilize a kernel mode file system filter driver (e.g.,
filter driver 314) installed on the user's computer to identify
such patterns. An example method for detecting such a ransomware
attack in real time is described below with reference to FIG.
5.
[0308] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrative of one embodiment of a
method 500 for intercepting I/O access requests of the processes
running on the client computing device 302 and identifying a file
activity anomaly in real time. The method 500 is described with
respect to the system 300 of FIG. 3A. However, one or more of the
steps of method 500 may be implemented by other information
management systems, such as those described in greater detail above
with reference to FIG. 1D. The method 500 can be implemented by any
one of, or a combination of, of a client computing device, a
storage manager, a data agent, a media agent, and the like.
Although the steps in the method 500 are described as being
performed by the filter driver 314 of the system 300, the
embodiments discussed herein are not limited as such, and one or
more of the steps in the method 500 may be performed by other
components of the system 300, either alone or in combination.
[0309] At block 502, the filter driver 314 monitors the I/O access
of one or more processes running on the client computing device
302. For example, the filter driver 314 may intercept I/O requests
to the file system 316 and keep track of what kind of and how many
file system operations are being performed by which process. As
discussed herein, the file system operations may include file
creations, modifications, deletes, renames, writes, overwrites, to
name a few.
[0310] At block 504, the filter driver 314 generates process
contexts based on the I/O access. The process contexts may include
a process ID corresponding to the given process, an entropy value
indicative of the degree of uncertainty of the files, an sdhash
value indicative of the degree of change (e.g., for writes and
rewrites), the number of file opens, reads, creates, writes,
rewrites, deletes, renames, etc., the pattern of such file opens,
reads, creates, writes, rewrites, deletes, renames, etc., and/or
the timestamps associated with such file opens, reads, creates,
writes, rewrites, deletes, renames, etc.
[0311] At block 506, the filter driver 314 compares the process
contexts to a threshold for detecting a file activity anomaly. The
threshold may comprise a baseline number of file system operations
for the specific client computing device 302 (e.g., average number
of file opens, reads, creates, writes, rewrites, deletes, renames,
etc. performed on the client computing device 302). For example,
the threshold may be a multiple or fraction of the average number
of file operations (e.g., 110%, 150%, 200%, etc.). In some
embodiments, the process contexts may include a running count or
variable that is continuously and/or periodically compared to the
threshold. The running count may sometimes not include file system
operations that are older than a specific time period (e.g., 5
seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, etc.). For example, 100
renaming operations performed over 5 minutes may not trigger the
anomaly detection, whereas 100 renaming operations performed over 5
seconds may trigger the anomaly detection.
[0312] One or more thresholds described herein may be machine- or
user-specific such that the thresholds are based on the historical
I/O activity for the specific user or for the specific client
computing device 302 (e.g., 110% of the average number of file
creations, deletions, etc. performed on behalf of the specific user
or on the specific client computing device 302). For example, such
thresholds may change over time as the I/O activity pattern changes
for the specific user or for the specific client computing device
302. In some embodiments, one or more thresholds described herein
may be machine-type-specific such that the thresholds are based on
whether the machine is a dial-up machine, a developer machine, a
sales machine, a desktop machine, a laptop machine, and/or which
geographical area the machine is located. For example, the
threshold number of file creations for a sales machine (or another
machine type associated with a lower number of file operations) may
be 50 for a period of 5 minutes, whereas the threshold number of
file creations for a developer machine (or another machine type
associated with a higher number of file operations) may be 500 for
a period of 5 minutes.
[0313] At block 508, the filter driver 314 determines, based on the
comparison, whether a file activity anomaly is detected. For
example, upon determining that the number of renames is greater
than the baseline number of renames associated with the client
computing device 302 by 10%, the filter driver 314 may determine
that the rename operations qualify as a file activity anomaly. As
another example, upon determining that the difference the entropy
value of the file buffer prior to a rewrite operation and the
entropy value of the file buffer after the rewrite operation is
greater than a threshold value, the filter driver 314 may determine
that the rewrite operation qualifies as a file activity anomaly. As
another example, upon determining that the sdhash value associated
with a given file system operation is greater than a threshold
value, the filter driver 314 may determine that the given file
system operation qualifies as a file activity anomaly. In some
cases, the threshold may be associated with a specific time window,
where file system operations outside the specific time window are
not considered in the determination of whether a file activity is
detected. In such cases, 100 renaming operations performed over 5
minutes may not trigger the anomaly detection, whereas 100 renaming
operations performed over 5 seconds may trigger the anomaly
detection. Upon determining that one or more file system operations
qualify as a file activity anomaly, the method 500 proceeds to
block 510. Otherwise, the method 500 proceeds to block 502, where
the filter driver 314 continues to monitor the I/O access pattern
associated with the file system 316.
[0314] At block 510, the filter driver 314 causes a warning to be
output (e.g., via a user interface, email, or another notification
service). For example, the filter driver 314 may cause the client
computing device 302 to display a file activity anomaly alert 1400
shown in FIG. 14. The filter driver 314 may further cause a report
to be stored in a page accessible by the user (e.g., as illustrated
by the user interface 1500 of FIG. 15). Further, as illustrated by
the user interface 1600 of FIG. 16, the report may include user
interface elements (e.g., the button labeled "Clear" in FIG. 16)
for clearing or ignoring the detected file activity anomalies. As
shown in FIG. 16, file activity anomalies detected in multiple
client computing devices 302 may be presented via a single user
interface and provide an indication of the file system operations
that triggered the anomaly detection.
[0315] The method 500 can include fewer, more, or different blocks
than those illustrated in FIG. 5 and/or one or more blocks
illustrated in FIG. 5 may be modified, omitted, or switched without
departing from the spirit and scope of the description. For
example, the method 500 may include performing additional remedial
actions such as disabling some or all of the operations (e.g., data
backup, data pruning, data restores, data archiving, data
migration, etc.) of the data agent 312. Further, one or more of the
operations described as being performed by the filter driver 314
may be performed by the data agent 312 or another component of the
client computing device 302 not illustrated in FIG. 3A. Moreover,
it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art and others that
some or all of the functions described in this disclosure may be
embodied in software executed by one or more processors of the
disclosed components and mobile communication devices. The software
may be persistently stored in any type of non-volatile storage.
Ransomware Detection Based on Directory Change Information
[0316] Another approach that may be used to detect ransomware
attacks is to track the data transformation using a directory
change callback. In such an approach, tracking of the individual
processes (e.g., as described in connection with FIG. 5) may not be
available. The operating system running on the client computing
device 302 may provide a notification interface that can be
utilized to determine directory change information (e.g., the I/O
operations that have been performed on the file system 316). An
example method for detecting such a ransomware attack based on such
directory change information is described below with reference to
FIG. 6.
[0317] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrative of one embodiment of a
method 600 for performing file activity anomaly detection based on
a directory change callback. The method 600 is described with
respect to the system 300 of FIG. 3A. However, one or more of the
steps of method 600 may be implemented by other information
management systems, such as those described in greater detail above
with reference to FIG. 1D. The method 600 can be implemented by any
one of, or a combination of, of a client computing device, a
storage manager, a data agent, a media agent, and the like.
Although the steps in the method 600 are described as being
performed by the anomaly detection engine 320 of the system 300,
the embodiments discussed herein are not limited as such, and one
or more of the steps in the method 600 may be performed by other
components of the system 300, either alone or in combination.
Although the anomaly detection engine 320 is illustrated in FIG. 3A
as being part of the filter driver 314, alternatively, the anomaly
detection engine 320 may be separate from the filter driver 314 in
one or more embodiments described in the present disclosure. In
some cases, the anomaly detection engine 320 does not have access
to the I/O requests from other processes running on the client
computing device 302 to the file system 316.
[0318] At block 602, the anomaly detection engine 320 obtains
directory change information from a notification interface (e.g.,
ReadDirectoryChangeW). The directory change information may include
information relating to one or more file system operations
associated with a given directory or directory-tree in the file
system 316. For example, the directory change information may
include file name changes, directory name changes, file attribute
changes, file size changes, last write time changes, last access
time changes, creation time changes, and/or any other changes in
the directory or the files in the directory. In some cases, the
directory change information is received in multiple iterations
(e.g., for multiple directories, multiple instances of changes,
and/or multiple time periods).
[0319] The directory change information received from the
notification service may identify which files were modified at what
time, but may not include information necessary to determine the
entropy change or sdhash value. Thus, without using the entropy
change or sdhash value, the anomaly detection engine 320 may
utilize the MIME type information, file header information, and/or
file entropy information associated with a given file to determine
whether the file is encrypted. For example, every document begins
with a magic number (e.g., MIME type) that uniquely identifies the
file type, and if ransomware encrypts this portion of the file, a
check for this magic number would reveal that the file has been
encrypted by ransomware (e.g., if the magic number does not
correspond to a known file type). For example, TorrentLocker
encrypts the first few MBs of a file instead of the entire file,
and whether a file is infected by TorrentLocker can be determined
by checking the MIME type of the file. Additionally or
alternatively, the entropy value of the file may be utilized to
determine whether the file is encrypted by ransomware.
[0320] At block 604, the anomaly detection engine 320 determines
the number of file system operations performed for a given
directory or volume (e.g., the number of file opens, reads,
creates, writes, rewrites, deletes, renames, etc., the pattern of
such file opens, reads, creates, writes, rewrites, deletes,
renames, etc., and/or the timestamps associated with such file
opens, reads, creates, writes, rewrites, deletes, renames, etc.).
Additionally or alternatively, the anomaly detection engine 320
may, in order to improve or facilitate detection of a file activity
anomaly, perform any of the following operations: (1) determine the
number of file renames, (2) check for known file extensions, (3)
detect unknown operating system scheduler jobs, (4) detect unknown
programs in the start-up task list, (5) detect Volume Shadow Copy
Service (VSS) shadow deletes, (6) detect a large number of new file
extensions not previously seen in the file system 316, (7) detect
disabling of operating system start-up repair, (8) detect disabling
of system restore, (9) detect desktop image change, and/or (10)
determine MIME type.
[0321] At block 606, the anomaly detection engine 320 stores the
determined number of file system operations in a local database
(e.g., a SQL database that is protected from ransomware attacks).
For example, the anomaly detection engine 320 may store, among
other things, information regarding file modifications, file
creations (e.g., temporary files), file deletions (e.g., original
files), and/or file renaming (e.g., deleting and/or renaming
original files) associated with one or more directories in the file
system 316. In some cases, such a local database is not accessible
by any process or application running on the client computing
device 302 other than that performing the file activity anomaly
detection. For example, the local database is machine-specific and
may be hidden from all processes other than that performing the
file activity anomaly detection (e.g., filter driver 314 or anomaly
detection engine 320). In other cases, processes or applications
other than that performing the file activity anomaly detection may
have read-only access to the local database. In some embodiments,
the filter driver 314 blocks any I/O requests to the local database
originating from an unknown process or application. In some cases,
the database is not local and is remotely located from the client
computing device 302.
[0322] At block 608, the anomaly detection engine 320 runs an
anomaly detection algorithm. For example, such an algorithm may
compare the data stored in the local database with one or more
thresholds for triggering a file activity anomaly detection, as
described in connection with block 506. The anomaly detection
engine 320 may run the anomaly detection algorithm on the local
database periodically (e.g., every 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 6
hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, 7 days, etc.). The anomaly detection
algorithm may determine, based on the historical data stored in the
local database, a baseline number of file system operations and
detect any spikes in the number of file system operations based on
the baseline number. For example, if 100 file deletes were
performed during the past 10 days, and the anomaly detection engine
320 determines that 2000 file deletes occurred today, the anomaly
detection engine 320 may flag the 2000 file deletes as a file
activity anomaly and alert the user and/or take remedial action. In
some embodiments, file system operations associated with temporary
files are excluded from consideration by the anomaly detection
engine 320 for file activity anomaly detection. Alternatively, in
some other embodiments, file system operations associated with
temporary files are not excluded from consideration by the anomaly
detection engine 320 for file activity anomaly detection.
[0323] At block 610, the anomaly detection engine 320 determines
whether a file activity anomaly is detected. For example, upon
determining that the number of renames is greater than the baseline
number of renames associated with the client computing device 302
by 10%, the anomaly detection engine 320 may determine that the
rename operations qualify as a file activity anomaly. In some
cases, the threshold may be associated with a specific time window,
where file system operations outside the specific time window are
not considered in the determination of whether a file activity is
detected. In such cases, 100 renaming operations performed over 5
minutes may not trigger the anomaly detection, whereas 100 renaming
operations performed over 5 seconds may trigger the anomaly
detection. Although rename operation is used as an example, file
deletions exceeding a threshold, file creations exceeding a
threshold, file modifications exceeding a threshold, any
combinations of file system operations exceeding one or more
thresholds (e.g., file renames exceeding 100 and file creations
exceeding 70 for a given cycle at which the anomaly detection is
performed).
[0324] As another example, the anomaly detection engine 320 may
detect a file activity anomaly based on any one or more of the
following: (1) the number of file renames exceeding a threshold,
(2) the file extension being one of known ransomware extensions,
(3) file system operations initiated by an unknown operating system
scheduler, (4) detect unknown programs in the start-up task list,
(5) one or more VSS shadow deletes, (6) the number of new file
extensions not previously seen in the file system 316 exceeding a
threshold, (7) the operating system start-up repair being disabled,
(8) the system restore being disabled, (9) change in the desktop
image, and/or (10) the MIME type being unknown, the MIME type being
one of specific MIME types, or not being one of specific MIME
types.
[0325] In some embodiments, the anomaly detection engine 320
determines that files associated with certain file types or certain
file extensions are not being accessed or modified while files
associated with other file types or other file extensions are being
accessed or modified (e.g., beyond a threshold level). If the file
types/extensions not being accessed or modified are not associated
with ransomware (e.g., not part of a list of common file
types/extensions targeted by ransomware) and the file
types/extensions being accessed or modified are associated with
ransomware (e.g., part of a list of common file types/extensions
targeted by ransomware), the anomaly detection engine 320 may
determine that a file activity anomaly is detected. By analyzing
which file types/extensions are being ignored by the
process/application that is heavily accessing or modifying specific
file types/extensions, the anomaly detection engine 320 may
determine that a file activity anomaly is detected. Upon
determining that one or more file system operations qualify as a
file activity anomaly, the method 600 proceeds to block 612.
Otherwise, the method 600 proceeds to block 602, where the anomaly
detection engine 320 continues to obtain additional directory
change information associated with one or more directories in the
file system 316.
[0326] At block 612, the anomaly detection engine 320 causes a
warning to be output (e.g., via a user interface, email, or another
notification service). For example, the anomaly detection engine
320 may cause the client computing device 302 to display a file
activity anomaly alert 1400 shown in FIG. 14. The anomaly detection
engine 320 may further cause a report to be stored in a page
accessible by the user (e.g., as illustrated by the user interface
1500 of FIG. 15). Further, as illustrated by the user interface
1600 of FIG. 16, the report may include user interface elements
(e.g., the button labeled "Clear" in FIG. 16) for clearing or
ignoring the detected file activity anomalies. As shown in FIG. 16,
file activity anomalies detected in multiple client computing
devices 302 may be presented via a single user interface and
provide an indication of the file system operations that triggered
the anomaly detection.
[0327] The method 600 can include fewer, more, or different blocks
than those illustrated in FIG. 6 and/or one or more blocks
illustrated in FIG. 6 may be modified, omitted, or switched without
departing from the spirit and scope of the description. For
example, the method 600 may include performing additional remedial
actions such as disabling some or all of the operations (e.g., data
backup, data pruning, data restores, data archiving, data
migration, etc.) of the data agent 312. Further, one or more of the
operations described as being performed by the anomaly detection
engine 320 may be performed by the data agent 312 or another
component of the client computing device 302 not illustrated in
FIG. 3A. In some cases, anomaly detection based on directory change
information may result in a reduced number of false positives since
the amount of information available to the anomaly detection engine
320 may be greater (e.g., anomaly detection based on directory
change information may be performed every 5 minutes based on the
I/O activity information over those 5 minutes, whereas the
real-time detection by the filter driver 314 may be continuously
performed or performed at a shorter cycle, e.g., 5 seconds, 15
seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, etc.). Moreover, it will be
appreciated by those skilled in the art and others that some or all
of the functions described in this disclosure may be embodied in
software executed by one or more processors of the disclosed
components and mobile communication devices. The software may be
persistently stored in any type of non-volatile storage.
Ransomware Detection Based on Honeypot Files
[0328] In some embodiments, the anomaly detection engine 320 may
create honeypot files 328 (or canary files). For example, since the
honeypot files 328 serve no purpose other than to bait ransomware,
any access to the honeypot files 328 can automatically trigger
ransomware or file activity anomaly detection. The honeypot files
328 may have specific file extensions known to be targeted by
ransomware (e.g., .doc, .xls, pdf, etc.). The filter driver 314
and/or the anomaly detection engine 320 may monitor I/O access to
the honeypot files 328, and any modification (e.g., writes or
deletes) to the honeypot files 328 may automatically trigger
ransomware or file activity anomaly detection.
Ransomware Protection Based on Copy-On-Write
[0329] Ransomware attacks usually run for a few minutes. Once the
encryption phase of the ransomware attack is finished, the
ransomware copies the ransom note to as many places as possible to
let the user know about the attack. Thus, the user is likely to
find out about any successful ransomware attacks within less than a
day. In some embodiments, copy-on-write is utilized by the client
computing device 302 to protect against possible ransomware
attacks. In such embodiments, any modification of a file would
trigger the file to be copied and stored in a separate location for
the duration of a retention period. The filter driver 314 and/or
the anomaly detection engine 320 may cause any modified files to be
copied and stored in a safe location prior to the modification, and
upon detecting a ransomware attack or after the ransomware has
encrypted or locked certain files in the file system 316, the
filter driver 314 and/or the anomaly detection engine 320 may
restore the copies of the files from the safe location. For
example, the safe location may be hidden from any processes or
applications other than the filter driver 314 and/or the anomaly
detection engine 320, or any I/O access to the safe location from
processes or applications other than the filter driver 314 and/or
the anomaly detection engine 320 may be blocked. The retention
period may be set to 1 day (or longer) so that the copies remain in
the safe location at least for a period longer than the time it
takes the ransomware to encrypt the files and present the ransom
note.
Ransomware Detection Based on Media Agent Index Data
[0330] As discussed above with reference to FIG. 1C, the mediate
agent(s) 332 may store media agent index data 334 comprising
information about backup operations or other secondary copy
operations. The media agent index data 334 may include at least
some of the information stored in the local database of the client
computing device 302 at block 606 of FIG. 6. For example, the media
agent index data 334 may indicate, for each backup job, how many
files were created and how many files were deleted since the most
recent backup job. In some cases, the media agent index data 334 is
stored locally in the primary storage device 318 as the index data
330. In some embodiments, the media agent index data 334 includes
index data corresponding to multiple client computing devices 302,
whereas index data 330 includes index data corresponding to only
the client computing device 302 on which the index data 330 is
stored. In some cases, the media agent index data 334 and/or the
index data 330 do not include data relating to file renames. The
media agent(s) 332 may update the media agent index data 334 upon
every backup operation or other data protection operation.
[0331] In some embodiments, the anomaly detection engine 320
detects a file activity anomaly based on both the I/O data 326
stored in the local database and the media agent index data 334
stored in association with the media agent(s) 332. Alternatively,
the anomaly detection engine 320 may detect a file activity anomaly
based on both the I/O data 326 and the index data 330 stored in the
local database. In other embodiments, the anomaly detection engine
320 detects a file activity anomaly based on only one of the I/O
data 326 or the index data 330 stored in the local database. In
other embodiments, the anomaly detection engine 320 detects a file
activity anomaly based on the I/O data 326 for a specific time
period for which the I/O data 326 is available and the index data
330 for time periods other than the specific time period. For
example, the index data 330 may include data corresponding to a
longer time period (e.g., 1 year, 5 years, etc.) than the I/O data
326 (e.g., 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 24 hours, etc., and the anomaly
detection engine 320 may utilize the I/O data 326, which may be
more comprehensive, if the I/O data 326 is available, and for time
periods for which the I/O data 326 is not available, the anomaly
detection engine 320 may utilize the index data 330. In some cases,
the anomaly detection engine 320 only utilizes the index data 330
and not the I/O data 326. Alternatively, the anomaly detection
engine 320 may only utilize the I/O data 326 and not the index data
330.
[0332] In some embodiments, the anomaly detection engine 320
preliminarily determines that an I/O activity pattern qualifies as
a file activity anomaly based on the I/O data 326 associated with
the file system 316 (or the client computing device 302) and
subsequently determines that, in view of the index data 330
associated with the file system 316 (or the client computing device
302), the I/O activity pattern does not qualify as a file activity
anomaly. For example, the anomaly detection engine 320 may
determine that the 1000 file creations that occurred in the last 5
minutes exceed a threshold number for triggering detection of a
file activity anomaly. However, the anomaly detection engine 320
may further determine, based on the index data 330, that the 1000
file creations coincide with the file creations that occur around
or at the same time every year for the past 10 years. Based on this
determination, the anomaly detection engine 320 may refrain from
triggering detection of a file activity anomaly or flagging the I/O
activity pattern to the user.
[0333] In some embodiments, the anomaly detection engine 320
preliminarily determines that an I/O activity pattern qualifies as
a file activity anomaly based on the I/O data 326 associated with
the client computing device 302 (or the file system 316) and
subsequently determines that, in view of the I/O data 338
associated with multiple client computing devices 302 (or the file
systems thereof), the I/O activity pattern does not qualify as a
file activity anomaly. For example, the anomaly detection engine
320 may determine that the 1000 file creations that occurred in the
last 5 minutes exceed a threshold number for triggering detection
of a file activity anomaly. However, the anomaly detection engine
320 may further determine, based on the I/O data 338, that the 1000
file creations coincide with the file creations that are occurring
on multiple client computing devices (e.g., company-wide addition
of new files). Based on this determination, the anomaly detection
engine 320 may refrain from triggering detection of a file activity
anomaly or flagging the I/O activity pattern to the user.
Improving Anomaly Detection Engine Based on User Feedback
[0334] As discussed above with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6,
potential ransomware attacks may be detected based on the number of
file system operations performed exceeding a given threshold.
However, there are tasks that are not related to ransomware and
still result in a high number of file system operations such as
transferring a large number of photos from his or her smartphone,
or syncing cloud data created/modified after a long business trip.
These tasks can falsely trigger the remedial measures associated
with ransomware (e.g., alert to the user, disabling of data aging,
automatic restore of backup data, etc.). To reduce such false
positives, user feedback can be utilized. An example method for
improving the anomaly detection engine 320 based on user feedback
is described below with reference to FIG. 7.
[0335] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrative of one embodiment of a
method 700 for improving the anomaly detection engine 320 based on
user feedback. The method 700 is described with respect to the
system 300 of FIG. 3A. However, one or more of the steps of method
700 may be implemented by other information management systems,
such as those described in greater detail above with reference to
FIG. 1D. The method 700 can be implemented by any one of, or a
combination of, of a client computing device, a storage manager, a
data agent, a media agent, and the like. Although the steps in the
method 700 are described as being performed by the anomaly
detection engine 320 of the system 300, the embodiments discussed
herein are not limited as such, and one or more of the steps in the
method 700 may be performed by other components of the system 300,
either alone or in combination.
[0336] At block 702, the anomaly detection engine 320 detects a
file activity anomaly. For example, the anomaly detection engine
320 may detect the file activity anomaly using any one of the file
activity anomaly detection techniques described herein.
[0337] At block 704, the anomaly detection engine 320 alerts the
user that a ransomware attack has been detected. For example, the
anomaly detection engine 320 may cause a warning to be output
(e.g., via a user interface, email, or another notification
service). For example, the client computing device 302 may display
a file activity anomaly alert 1400 shown in FIG. 14.
[0338] At block 706, the anomaly detection engine 320 determines,
based on user feedback (or the lack thereof), whether the detection
of the file activity anomaly was appropriate. For example, the
user, upon receiving the alert, may provide an indication that the
detected file activity anomaly was not appropriate. As shown in
FIG. 16, the user interface 1600 may provide a list of file
activity anomalies and corresponding user interface elements for
clearing the respective file activity anomalies (e.g., to indicate
that the respective file activity anomalies were not appropriate).
In some embodiments, the alert provided to the user at block 704 is
an email, a text message, or another form of notification that
includes a link for clearing the detected file activity anomaly.
When the user activates the link, the anomaly detection engine 320
may receive an indication that the detected file activity anomaly
corresponding to the activated link was not appropriate. In some
embodiments, the user interface element or link for clearing the
detected file activity anomaly remains available indefinitely. In
other embodiments, if the user interface element or link is not
activated within a specific time period, the anomaly detection
engine 320 automatically determines that the detection of the
corresponding file activity anomaly was appropriate without further
user input or feedback. Alternatively, in some other embodiments,
if the user interface element or link is not activated within a
specific time period, the anomaly detection engine 320
automatically determines that the detection of the corresponding
file activity anomaly was not appropriate without further user
input or feedback.
[0339] Upon determining that the detection of the file activity
anomaly was appropriate, the method 700 proceeds to block 708,
where the anomaly detection engine 320 takes further remedial
action (e.g., disable data aging, perform an automatic restore,
etc.). Otherwise, the method 700 proceeds to block 710, where the
anomaly detection engine 320 updates the anomaly detection
threshold based on the feedback. For example, as discussed above,
the feedback may comprise, for example, (i) user activation of the
user interface element or link for clearing the detected file
activity anomaly, or (ii) the absence of such user activation for a
specific time period (e.g., a predetermined time period such as 1
hour, 12 hours, 24 hours, 7 days, etc.). In some embodiments, the
feedback may also include user activation of a user interface
element or link for confirming that the detected file activity
anomaly was appropriate.
[0340] At block 710, the anomaly detection engine 320 may update
the anomaly detection threshold such that the same or similar
conditions that triggered the detection of the cleared file
activity anomaly at block 702 would not result in the file activity
anomaly detection in another instance in the future. For example,
if the anomaly detection engine 320 detected, at block 702, a file
activity anomaly based on 1000 file creations performed on December
31st and the detected file activity anomaly was subsequently
cleared by the user, the anomaly detection engine 320 may create a
rule that prevents the anomaly detection engine 320 from (i)
detecting a file activity anomaly based on 1000 file creations
performed on December 31st, (ii) detecting a file activity anomaly
based on 1000 file creations, (iii) detecting a file activity
anomaly based on file creations performed on December 31st, or (iv)
any combinations thereof. As another example, the anomaly detection
engine 320 may ignore, in its future file activity anomaly
detection, file system operations originating from the process or
application associated with the cleared file activity anomaly.
[0341] In some embodiments, the anomaly detection engine 320
identifies two or more instances of clearing file activity
anomalies triggered based on the same or similar conditions. Based
on such identification, the anomaly detection engine 320 may create
a rule that file system operations having the same or similar
conditions as the cleared file activity anomalies are not to result
in a file activity anomaly. For example, if the anomaly detection
engine 320 determines three consecutive instances of the user
clearing file activity anomalies detected based on the number of
file creations performed in a 5-minute window exceeding 500, the
anomaly detection engine 320 may create a rule that the number of
file creations exceeding 500 cannot serve as a basis for detecting
a file activity anomaly.
[0342] In some embodiments, the anomaly detection engine 320
determines that a threshold percentage of file activity anomalies
detected based on the same or similar conditions have been cleared
by the user. Based on such determination, the anomaly detection
engine 320 may create a rule that file system operations having the
same or similar conditions as the cleared file activity anomalies
are not to result in a file activity anomaly. For example, if the
anomaly detection engine 320 determines that 90% of the file
activity anomalies detected based on the number of file renames
performed in a 5-minute window exceeding 500, the anomaly detection
engine 320 may create a rule that the number of file renames
exceeding 500 cannot serve as a basis for detecting a file activity
anomaly.
[0343] The method 700 can include fewer, more, or different blocks
than those illustrated in FIG. 7 and/or one or more blocks
illustrated in FIG. 7 may be modified, omitted, or switched without
departing from the spirit and scope of the description. For
example, block 708 may be performed prior to block 706, and upon a
positive determination (e.g., YES) at block 706, the method 700 may
proceed to the end block. Further, one or more of the operations
described as being performed by the anomaly detection engine 320
may be performed by the data agent 312 or another component of the
client computing device 302 not illustrated in FIG. 3A. Moreover,
it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art and others that
some or all of the functions described in this disclosure may be
embodied in software executed by one or more processors of the
disclosed components and mobile communication devices. The software
may be persistently stored in any type of non-volatile storage.
Disabling Data Agent Upon File Activity Anomaly Detection
[0344] As described above (e.g., with reference to FIG. 1C), a data
agent (e.g., a software program executing on the client machine) is
responsible for managing, initiating, or otherwise assisting in the
performance of copying, archiving, migrating, and/or replicating of
primary data and restoring and/or pruning secondary data (e.g.,
backup copies of the primary data). When a potential ransomware
attack is detected, the data agent running on the client computing
device 302 may need to be disabled in order to prevent the data
agent from backing up infected data and/or removing backup copies
according to the retention policy. An example method for disabling
the data agent upon detection of a potential ransomware attack is
described below with reference to FIG. 8.
[0345] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrative of one embodiment of a
method 800 for disabling a data agent upon detecting a file
activity anomaly. The method 800 is described with respect to the
system 300 of FIG. 3A. However, one or more of the steps of method
800 may be implemented by other information management systems,
such as those described in greater detail above with reference to
FIG. 1D. The method 800 can be implemented by any one of, or a
combination of, of a client computing device, a storage manager, a
data agent, a media agent, and the like. Although the steps in the
method 800 are described as being performed by the anomaly
detection engine 320 of the system 300, the embodiments discussed
herein are not limited as such, and one or more of the steps in the
method 800 may be performed by other components of the system 300,
either alone or in combination.
[0346] At block 802, the anomaly detection engine 320 detects a
file activity anomaly. For example, the anomaly detection engine
320 may detect the file activity anomaly using any one of the file
activity anomaly detection techniques described herein.
[0347] At block 804, the anomaly detection engine 320 disables a
data agent running on the client computing device 302. For example,
the anomaly detection engine 320 may disable all data protection
operations performed (or scheduled or configured to be performed)
by the data agent. In some embodiments, the anomaly detection
engine 320 disables only one or a subset of the data protection
operations performed (or scheduled or configured to be performed)
by the data agent.
[0348] At block 806, the anomaly detection engine 320 determines,
based on user feedback (or the lack thereof), whether the detection
of the file activity anomaly was appropriate. For example, the
user, upon receiving the alert associated with the detected file
activity anomaly, may provide an indication that the detected file
activity anomaly was not appropriate (e.g., by activating the user
interface element "Clear" shown in FIG. 16). Upon determining
(e.g., based on user feedback or the lack thereof) that the
detection of the file activity anomaly was appropriate, the method
800 ends. Otherwise, the method 800 proceeds to block 808, where
the anomaly detection engine 320 updates the anomaly detection
threshold based on the feedback and enables (or re-enables) the
data agent. For example, the anomaly detection engine 320 may
update the anomaly detection threshold or other rules for detecting
a file activity anomaly using any of the techniques described
herein (e.g., with reference to FIG. 7). Further, the anomaly
detection engine 320 may enable (or re-enable) all data protection
operations disabled at block 804.
[0349] The method 800 can include fewer, more, or different blocks
than those illustrated in FIG. 8 and/or one or more blocks
illustrated in FIG. 8 may be modified, omitted, or switched without
departing from the spirit and scope of the description. Further,
one or more of the operations described as being performed by the
anomaly detection engine 320 may be performed by the data agent 312
or another component of the client computing device 302 not
illustrated in FIG. 3A. Moreover, it will be appreciated by those
skilled in the art and others that some or all of the functions
described in this disclosure may be embodied in software executed
by one or more processors of the disclosed components and mobile
communication devices. The software may be persistently stored in
any type of non-volatile storage.
Disabling Data Pruning Upon File Activity Anomaly Detection
[0350] Upon detecting a potential ransomware attack, it may be
beneficial to disable certain data protection operations such as
data aging or pruning (e.g., deletion of old backup data from
secondary storage) since such backup data may be needed for recover
the data encrypted by ransomware. An example method for disabling
the data agent upon detection of a potential ransomware attack is
described below with reference to FIG. 9.
[0351] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrative of one embodiment of a
method 900 for disabling data pruning upon detecting a file
activity anomaly. The method 900 is described with respect to the
system 300 of FIG. 3A. However, one or more of the steps of method
900 may be implemented by other information management systems,
such as those described in greater detail above with reference to
FIG. 1D. The method 900 can be implemented by any one of, or a
combination of, of a client computing device, a storage manager, a
data agent, a media agent, and the like. Although the steps in the
method 900 are described as being performed by the client computing
device 302 of the system 300, the embodiments discussed herein are
not limited as such, and one or more of the steps in the method 900
may be performed by other components of the system 300, either
alone or in combination.
[0352] At block 902, the client computing device 302 creates a
backup of the primary data associated with the client computing
device 302 (e.g., primary data 324). For example, the client
computing device 302 may perform the backup according to any of the
techniques described herein (e.g., with reference to FIG. 1C).
[0353] At block 904, the client computing device 302 prunes one or
more backup copies of the primary data associated with the client
computing device 302 that were previously created and stored in
secondary storage (e.g., secondary storage device 308). For
example, a data pruning policy associated with the client computing
device 302 may specify that backup copies older than a threshold
time period should be deleted in order to free up space in the
secondary storage device 308. For example, the backup copies may be
kept for only 1 year, after a year has elapsed since the creation
of a given backup copy, the given backup copy may be deleted.
[0354] At block 906, the client computing device 302 determines
whether a given file I/O activity qualifies as a file activity
anomaly. For example, the client computing device 302 may detect
the file activity anomaly using any one of the file activity
anomaly detection techniques described herein. Upon detecting a
file activity anomaly, the method 900 proceeds to block 908.
Otherwise, the method 900 proceeds to block 902 to continue to
create additional backup copies (e.g., according to a backup policy
or schedule associated with the client computing device 302).
[0355] At block 908, the client computing device 302 disables data
pruning in response to detecting a file activity anomaly. For
example, disabling data pruning may prevent any additional backup
copies associated with the client computing device 302 from being
deleted from the secondary storage device 308.
[0356] At block 910, the client computing device 302 determines,
based on user feedback (or the lack thereof), whether the detection
of the file activity anomaly was appropriate. For example, the
user, upon receiving the alert associated with the detected file
activity anomaly, may provide an indication that the detected file
activity anomaly was not appropriate (e.g., by activating the user
interface element "Clear" shown in FIG. 16). Upon determining
(e.g., based on user feedback or the lack thereof) that the
detection of the file activity anomaly was appropriate, the method
900 proceeds to block 914, where client computing device 302 may
perform additional remedial actions. Otherwise, the method 900
proceeds to block 912, where the client computing device 302
updates the anomaly detection threshold based on the feedback and
enables (or re-enables) data pruning. For example, the client
computing device 302 may update the anomaly detection threshold or
other rules for detecting a file activity anomaly using any of the
techniques described herein (e.g., with reference to FIG. 7).
Further, the client computing device 302 may enable (or re-enable)
data pruning such that backup copies associated with the client
computing device 302 can be deleted from the secondary storage
device 308 according to a data retention policy associated with the
client computing device 302.
[0357] The method 900 can include fewer, more, or different blocks
than those illustrated in FIG. 9 and/or one or more blocks
illustrated in FIG. 9 may be modified, omitted, or switched without
departing from the spirit and scope of the description. Further,
one or more of the operations described as being performed by the
client computing device 302 may be performed by the anomaly
detection engine 320, the data agent 312, or another component of
the client computing device 302 not illustrated in FIG. 3A.
Moreover, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art and
others that some or all of the functions described in this
disclosure may be embodied in software executed by one or more
processors of the disclosed components and mobile communication
devices. The software may be persistently stored in any type of
non-volatile storage.
Automated Point-in-Time Restore Upon File Activity Anomaly
Detection
[0358] Once the files in a file system have been encrypted by
ransomware, the user can no longer access the content of the files
without the encryption key used by the ransomware. In such a case,
if a backup copy of the files are available in secondary storage,
restoring the backup copy may allow the user to regain access to
the files. An example method for performing an automated
point-in-time restore upon detection of a potential ransomware
attack is described below with reference to FIG. 10.
[0359] FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrative of one embodiment of
a method 1000 for performing an automated point-in-time restore
upon detecting a file activity anomaly. The method 1000 is
described with respect to the system 300 of FIG. 3A. However, one
or more of the steps of method 1000 may be implemented by other
information management systems, such as those described in greater
detail above with reference to FIG. 1D. The method 1000 can be
implemented by any one of, or a combination of, of a client
computing device, a storage manager, a data agent, a media agent,
and the like. Although the steps in the method 1000 are described
as being performed by the client computing device 302 of the system
300, the embodiments discussed herein are not limited as such, and
one or more of the steps in the method 1000 may be performed by
other components of the system 300, either alone or in
combination.
[0360] At block 1002, the client computing device 302 detects a
file activity anomaly. For example, the client computing device 302
may detect the file activity anomaly using any one of the file
activity anomaly detection techniques described herein.
[0361] At block 1004, the client computing device 302 records a
timestamp associated with the detected file activity anomaly. For
example, the timestamp may specify the time at which the file
activity anomaly was detected. Alternatively, the timestamp may be
a time prior to the time at which the file activity anomaly was
detected. In some embodiments, the timestamp may specify the time
at which the initial (e.g., first in time) file system operation
that was used for detecting the file activity anomaly was
performed. For example, if the file activity anomaly was detected
based on 1,109 file creations performed on the client computing
device 302, the timestamp may specify the time at which the very
first one of the 1,109 files was created in the file system 316.
Alternatively, in such an example, the timestamp may specify the
time at which the very last one of the 1,109 files was created in
the file system 316.
[0362] At block 1006, the client computing device 302 causes a
warning to be output (e.g., via a user interface, email, or another
notification service). For example, the client computing device 302
may display a file activity anomaly alert 1400 shown in FIG.
14.
[0363] At block 1008, the client computing device 302 determines
whether the detected file activity anomaly is proper based on user
feedback. For example, the client computing device 302 may
determine that the detected file activity anomaly is proper based
on a user input indicating that the detected file activity anomaly
is proper. Alternatively, the client computing device 302 may
determine that the detected file activity anomaly is not proper
based on a user input indicating that the detected file activity
anomaly is not proper. Based on a determination that the detected
file activity anomaly is not proper, the method 1000 proceeds to
block 1010. Otherwise, the method 1000 proceeds to block 1012.
[0364] At block 1010, the client computing device 302 determines,
based on user feedback (or the lack thereof), whether the detection
of the file activity anomaly was appropriate. For example, the
user, upon receiving the alert associated with the detected file
activity anomaly, may provide an indication that the detected file
activity anomaly was not appropriate (e.g., by activating the user
interface element "Clear" shown in FIG. 16). Upon determining
(e.g., based on user feedback or the lack thereof) that the
detection of the file activity anomaly was appropriate, the method
1000 proceeds to block 1012. Otherwise, the method 1000 proceeds to
block 1010, where the client computing device 302 updates the
anomaly detection threshold based on the feedback. For example, the
client computing device 302 may update the anomaly detection
threshold or other rules for detecting a file activity anomaly
using any of the techniques described herein (e.g., with reference
to FIG. 7).
[0365] At block 1012, the client computing device 302 performs a
point-in-time restore to cause at least a portion of the file
system 316 to be in a state prior to the time specified by the
recorded timestamp. For example, the client computing device 302
may cause a backup copy associated with the client computing device
302 that is most recently stored in the secondary storage device
308 prior to the time specified by the recorded timestamp. In some
embodiments, the client computing device 302 identifies a portion
of the file system 316 (or a portion of the primary data 324)
affected by the potential ransomware attack, and restores only a
portion of the backup copy that corresponds to the affected portion
of the file system 316 (or the primary data 324).
[0366] The method 1000 can include fewer, more, or different blocks
than those illustrated in FIG. 10 and/or one or more blocks
illustrated in FIG. 10 may be modified, omitted, or switched
without departing from the spirit and scope of the description.
Further, one or more of the operations described as being performed
by the client computing device 302 may be performed by the anomaly
detection engine 320, the data agent 312, or another component of
the client computing device 302 not illustrated in FIG. 3A.
Moreover, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art and
others that some or all of the functions described in this
disclosure may be embodied in software executed by one or more
processors of the disclosed components and mobile communication
devices. The software may be persistently stored in any type of
non-volatile storage.
Ransomware Detection on a Central Server
[0367] In some cases, the file activity anomaly detection described
herein may utilize I/O activity on other client machines in order
to better determine whether certain file system operations qualify
as an anomaly. An example method for performing file activity
anomaly detection based on data from multiple client machines is
described below with reference to FIG. 11.
[0368] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrative of one embodiment of
a method 1100 for performing file activity anomaly detection based
on data from multiple client machines. The method 1100 is described
with respect to the system 300 of FIG. 3B. However, one or more of
the steps of method 1100 may be implemented by other information
management systems, such as those described in greater detail above
with reference to FIG. 1D. The method 1100 can be implemented by
any one of, or a combination of, of a client computing device, a
storage manager, a data agent, a media agent, and the like.
Although the steps in the method 1100 are described as being
performed by the client computing device 302 of the system 300, the
embodiments discussed herein are not limited as such, and one or
more of the steps in the method 1100 may be performed by other
components of the system 300 (e.g., the cloud service 336), either
alone or in combination.
[0369] At block 1102, the client computing device 302 obtains I/O
data associated with multiple client computing devices. For
example, the client computing device 302 may access the I/O data
338 stored by the cloud service 336. Alternatively, the client
computing device 302 may receive the I/O data from the other client
computing devices or from another device storing the I/O data
associated with the multiple client computing devices. As described
herein, the I/O data may include information indicative of the file
opens, reads, creates, writes, rewrites, deletes, renames, etc.
performed on the respective client computing devices.
[0370] At block 1104, the client computing device 302 identifies
one or more group trends based on the I/O data. For example, the
client computing device 302 may determine that two or more client
computing devices are experiencing the same or similar kinds of
file operations (e.g., the same or similar number of file opens,
reads, creates, writes, rewrites, deletes, and/or renames).
[0371] At block 1106, the client computing device 302 updates the
anomaly detection threshold based on the identified group trends.
For example, the client computing device 302 may create a rule that
causes the client computing device 302 to ignore a specific type of
file system operations for file activity anomaly detection. For
example, if the client computing device 302 determines that a set
of file system operations, while sufficient to trigger an anomaly
detection by itself, constitutes harmless operations performed also
on one or more other client computing devices within the network,
the client computing device 302 may create a rule that causes the
client computing device 302 to ignore such operations when
performing a file activity anomaly detection. Additionally or
alternatively, the client computing device 302 may create a rule
that causes the client computing device 302 to identify a specific
type of file system operations as a file activity anomaly. For
example, if the client computing device 302 determines that a set
of file system operations, while insufficient to trigger an anomaly
detection by itself, constitutes harmful operations performed also
on one or more other client computing devices within the network,
the client computing device 302 may create a rule that causes the
client computing device 302 to identify such operations as a file
activity anomaly.
[0372] At block 1108, the client computing device 302 determines
whether a given file I/O activity qualifies as a file activity
anomaly. For example, the client computing device 302 may detect
the file activity anomaly using any one of the file activity
anomaly detection techniques described herein. Upon detecting a
file activity anomaly, the method 900 proceeds to block 1110.
Otherwise, the method 900 proceeds to block 1102 to continue to
obtain or monitor the I/O data associated with multiple client
computing devices.
[0373] At block 1110, the client computing device 302 takes further
remedial action (e.g., disable data aging, perform an automatic
restore, etc.). In some embodiments, the client computing device
302 causes the same or similar remedial actions to be taken on
other client computing device experiencing I/O activity that is the
same or similar to the given file I/O activity determined to
qualify as a file activity anomaly.
[0374] The method 1100 can include fewer, more, or different blocks
than those illustrated in FIG. 11 and/or one or more blocks
illustrated in FIG. 11 may be modified, omitted, or switched
without departing from the spirit and scope of the description.
Further, one or more of the operations described as being performed
by the client computing device 302 may be performed by the anomaly
detection engine 320, the data agent 312, or another component not
illustrated in FIG. 3B. Moreover, it will be appreciated by those
skilled in the art and others that some or all of the functions
described in this disclosure may be embodied in software executed
by one or more processors of the disclosed components and mobile
communication devices. The software may be persistently stored in
any type of non-volatile storage.
Examples of Graphical User Interface
[0375] Once a client machine is detected to have a potential
ransomware attack, a series of remedial actions and notifications
may be performed. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, a file activity
anomaly event may be generated for the detected file activity
anomaly. FIG. 13 shows that data aging has been automatically
disabled in response to the detection of the file activity anomaly.
Further, as shown in FIG. 14, a file activity anomaly alert may be
provided to the user or administrator associated with the client
machine on which the file activity anomaly was detected. In
addition to the alert, a file activity anomaly report may provided
as shown in FIGS. 15 and 16. FIG. 16 further illustrates the
details provided along with each file activity anomaly and the user
interface elements for clearing the respective file activity
anomalies. Upon ensuring that client machine is safe (e.g., the
user activating the "Clear" button on the user interface 1600 of
FIG. 16), a process to re-enable the disabled modules and/or
operations is initiated, as shown in FIG. 17. FIG. 18 shows that
data aging has been automatically enabled in response to the
clearing of the detected file activity anomaly, and a notification
indicating that data aging (or other modules/operations) has been
enabled can be provided, as shown in FIG. 19.
[0376] FIG. 20 shows a graph indicating, for each client computing
machine, the number of failures (e.g., failed data protection
operations such as backups, archives, snapshots, auxiliary copies,
or the like, or failed file system operations such as file opens,
reads, creates, writes, rewrites, deletes, renames, or the like)
over time. In the graph shown in FIG. 20, each segment
corresponding to a specific client computing machine for a specific
time period is assigned a visual indication of the level of
failures with respect to a threshold value (e.g., an average number
of failures or a pre-determined number of failures). For example,
the visual indication may be color. In the example of FIG. 20,
bright green (e.g., segment 2002) may indicate a number of failures
below a threshold level (e.g., more than 50% lower), yellowish
green (e.g., segment 2004) may indicate a number of failures near
the threshold level (e.g., within 50%), light orange (e.g., segment
2006) may indicate a number of failures above the threshold level
(e.g., more than 50% higher), dark orange (e.g., segment 2008) may
indicate a number of failures that is even greater (e.g. more than
100% higher), and red (e.g., segment 2010) may indicate a number of
failures that is dangerously high (e.g., more than 400% higher). In
other embodiments, visual indications other than color may be used
(e.g., icon, symbol, shading, etc.). The graph shown in FIG. 20 may
allow the user to see which client computing machine was
experiencing an abnormally high number of failures during which
time period. The graph shown in FIG. 20 may also allow the user to
determine whether the abnormally high number of failures is
experienced by multiple client computing machines and/or over
specific time periods. In some cases, an abnormally high number of
failures indicates a potential ransomware attack. Although the
number of failures is used as an example, the techniques described
with respect to FIG. 20 can be applied to the number of file system
operations, or other operations indicative of a potential
ransomware attack.
FIGURES
[0377] In regard to the figures described herein, other embodiments
are possible within the scope of the present invention, such that
the above-recited components, steps, blocks, operations, and/or
messages/requests/queries/instructions are differently arranged,
sequenced, sub-divided, organized, and/or combined. In some
embodiments, a different component may initiate or execute a given
operation.
Example Embodiments (EEs)
[0378] Some example enumerated embodiments of the present invention
are recited in this section in the form of methods, systems, and
non-transitory computer-readable media, without limitation.
[0379] EE 1: A computer-implemented method for detecting file
activity anomalies, the method comprising: causing a copy of
primary data associated with a client computing device to be stored
in one or more secondary storage devices as part of secondary data
associated with the client computing device; removing, at a first
time, at least some of the secondary data stored in the one or more
secondary storage devices according to a secondary data retention
policy associated with the client computing device; detecting, at a
second time subsequent to the first time, a file activity anomaly
based at least on one or more file system operations performed on
the client computing device satisfying one or more threshold
conditions associated with the client computing device; in response
to detecting the file activity anomaly, disabling removal of the
secondary data associated with the client computing device from the
one or more secondary storage devices according to the secondary
data retention policy; and outputting a notification indicating at
least the file activity anomaly.
[0380] EE 2: The computer-implemented method of EE 1, further
comprising: monitoring file system operations performed on the
client computing device over a specific time period preceding the
second time; determining a baseline count of file system operations
performed on the client computing device over the specific time
period; and determining, based at least on the baseline count, at
least one threshold condition of the one or more threshold
conditions.
[0381] EE 3: The computer-implemented method of EE 2, wherein the
baseline count is an average number of file system operations
performed on the client computing device for each sub-period of a
plurality of sub-periods within the specific time period.
[0382] EE 4: The computer-implemented method of EE 2, further
comprising determining the at least one threshold condition at
least by multiplying the baseline count with a predetermined
percentage value, wherein the predetermined percentage value is
greater than 100 percent.
[0383] EE 5: The computer-implemented method of EE 2, further
comprising periodically determining whether a current count of file
system operations satisfies the one or more threshold conditions
for each of a plurality of time periods subsequent to the specific
time period and each having a same length as the specific time
period.
[0384] EE 6: The computer-implemented method of EE 1, wherein the
one or more file system operations comprise at least one of write
operations, create operations, rename operations, or delete
operations.
[0385] EE 7: The computer-implemented method of EE 1, wherein the
secondary data retention policy specifies a retention period after
which the secondary data is to be removed from the one or more
secondary storage devices.
[0386] EE 8: The computer-implemented method of EE 1, further
comprising disabling, in response to detecting the file activity
anomaly, backup of the primary data from the client computing
device to the one or more secondary storage devices.
[0387] EE 9: The computer-implemented method of EE 1, further
comprising: determining an indication of an input by a user of the
client computing device for clearing the file activity anomaly; and
in response to determining the indication of the input, re-enabling
removal of the secondary data associated with the client computing
device from the one or more secondary storage devices according to
the secondary data retention policy.
[0388] EE 10: The computer-implemented method of EE 1, further
comprising: determining an indication of an input by a user of the
client computing device for clearing the file activity anomaly; and
in response to determining the indication of the input, updating
the one or more threshold conditions such that, subsequent to
updating the one or more threshold conditions, a file activity
anomaly is not detected for at least a specific type of file system
operations.
[0389] EE 11: A system for detecting file activity anomalies, the
system comprising: a client computing device comprising computer
hardware and configured to perform one or more file system
operations within a file system residing on the client computing
device; and one or more secondary storage devices comprising
computer hardware and configured to store secondary data associated
with the client computing device, wherein the secondary data is a
copy of primary data stored on one or more primary storage devices
associated with the client computing device, wherein the client
computing device configured to: remove, at a first time, at least
some of the secondary data stored in the one or more secondary
storage devices according to a secondary data retention policy
associated with the client computing device; detect, at a second
time subsequent to the first time, a file activity anomaly based at
least on the one or more file system operations satisfying one or
more threshold conditions associated with the client computing
device; in response to detecting the file activity anomaly, disable
removal of the secondary data associated with the client computing
device from the one or more secondary storage devices according to
the secondary data retention policy; and output a notification
indicating at least the file activity anomaly.
[0390] EE 12: The system of EE 11, wherein the client computing
device is further configured to: monitor file system operations
performed on the client computing device over a second time period
preceding the first time period; determine a baseline count of file
system operations performed on the client computing device over the
second time period; and determine, based at least on the baseline
count, the threshold value for disabling the one or more data
protection operations.
[0391] EE 13: The system of EE 12, wherein the baseline count is an
average number of file system operations performed on the client
computing device for each sub-period of a plurality of sub-periods
within the second time period.
[0392] EE 14: The system of EE 12, wherein the client computing
device is further configured to determine the threshold value by
multiplying the baseline count with a predetermined percentage
value, wherein the predetermined percentage value is greater than
100 percent.
[0393] EE 15: The system of EE 11, wherein the set of file system
operations comprises at least one of write operations, create
operations, rename operations, or delete operations.
[0394] EE 16: The system of EE 11, wherein the client computing
device is further configured to periodically determine whether a
current count of file system operations exceeds the threshold value
for each of a plurality of time periods subsequent to the first
time period and each having a same length as the first time
period.
[0395] EE 17: The system of EE 11, wherein the client computing
device is further configured to disable a data aging operation such
that the secondary data associated with the client computing device
is preserved.
[0396] EE 18: The system of EE 11, wherein the client computing
device is further configured to disable a backup operation
associated with the client computing device such that an additional
backup copy associated with the client computing device is not
created on the one or more secondary storage devices.
[0397] EE 19: The system of EE 11, wherein the client computing
device is further configured to: determine an indication of an
input by a user of the client computing device for clearing the
file activity anomaly; and in response to determining the
indication of the input, re-enable the one or more data protection
operations.
[0398] EE 20: The system of EE 11, wherein the client computing
device is further configured to: determine an indication of an
input by a user of the client computing device for clearing the
file activity anomaly; and in response to determining the
indication of the input, update one or more rules for disabling the
one or more data protection operations such that, subsequent to
updating the one or more rules, a file activity anomaly is not
detected for at least a specific type of file system operations
despite being associated with a count exceeding the threshold
value.
[0399] EE 21: A computer-implemented method as generally shown and
described herein and equivalents thereof.
[0400] EE 22: A system as generally shown and described herein and
equivalents thereof.
[0401] EE 23: A non-transitory computer readable medium storing
instructions, which when executed by at least one computing device,
perform a method as generally shown and described herein and
equivalents thereof.
[0402] In other embodiments, a system or systems may operate
according to one or more of the methods and/or computer-readable
media recited in the preceding paragraphs. In yet other
embodiments, a method or methods may operate according to one or
more of the systems and/or computer-readable media recited in the
preceding paragraphs. In yet more embodiments, a computer-readable
medium or media, excluding transitory propagating signals, may
cause one or more computing devices having one or more processors
and non-transitory computer-readable memory to operate according to
one or more of the systems and/or methods recited in the preceding
paragraphs.
Terminology
[0403] Conditional language, such as, among others, "can," "could,"
"might," or "may," unless specifically stated otherwise, or
otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally
intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other
embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/or
steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to
imply that features, elements and/or steps are in any way required
for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments
necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input
or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps are
included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.
[0404] Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout
the description and the claims, the words "comprise," "comprising,"
and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense, as opposed
to an exclusive or exhaustive sense, i.e., in the sense of
"including, but not limited to." As used herein, the terms
"connected," "coupled," or any variant thereof means any connection
or coupling, either direct or indirect, between two or more
elements; the coupling or connection between the elements can be
physical, logical, or a combination thereof. Additionally, the
words "herein," "above," "below," and words of similar import, when
used in this application, refer to this application as a whole and
not to any particular portions of this application. Where the
context permits, words using the singular or plural number may also
include the plural or singular number respectively. The word "or"
in reference to a list of two or more items, covers all of the
following interpretations of the word: any one of the items in the
list, all of the items in the list, and any combination of the
items in the list. Likewise the term "and/or" in reference to a
list of two or more items, covers all of the following
interpretations of the word: any one of the items in the list, all
of the items in the list, and any combination of the items in the
list.
[0405] In some embodiments, certain operations, acts, events, or
functions of any of the algorithms described herein can be
performed in a different sequence, can be added, merged, or left
out altogether (e.g., not all are necessary for the practice of the
algorithms). In certain embodiments, operations, acts, functions,
or events can be performed concurrently, e.g., through
multi-threaded processing, interrupt processing, or multiple
processors or processor cores or on other parallel architectures,
rather than sequentially.
[0406] Systems and modules described herein may comprise software,
firmware, hardware, or any combination(s) of software, firmware, or
hardware suitable for the purposes described. Software and other
modules may reside and execute on servers, workstations, personal
computers, computerized tablets, PDAs, and other computing devices
suitable for the purposes described herein. Software and other
modules may be accessible via local computer memory, via a network,
via a browser, or via other means suitable for the purposes
described herein. Data structures described herein may comprise
computer files, variables, programming arrays, programming
structures, or any electronic information storage schemes or
methods, or any combinations thereof, suitable for the purposes
described herein. User interface elements described herein may
comprise elements from graphical user interfaces, interactive voice
response, command line interfaces, and other suitable
interfaces.
[0407] Further, processing of the various components of the
illustrated systems can be distributed across multiple machines,
networks, and other computing resources. Two or more components of
a system can be combined into fewer components. Various components
of the illustrated systems can be implemented in one or more
virtual machines, rather than in dedicated computer hardware
systems and/or computing devices. Likewise, the data repositories
shown can represent physical and/or logical data storage,
including, e.g., storage area networks or other distributed storage
systems. Moreover, in some embodiments the connections between the
components shown represent possible paths of data flow, rather than
actual connections between hardware. While some examples of
possible connections are shown, any of the subset of the components
shown can communicate with any other subset of components in
various implementations.
[0408] Embodiments are also described above with reference to flow
chart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus
(systems) and computer program products. Each block of the flow
chart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of
blocks in the flow chart illustrations and/or block diagrams, may
be implemented by computer program instructions. Such instructions
may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer,
special purpose computer, specially-equipped computer (e.g.,
comprising a high-performance database server, a graphics
subsystem, etc.) or other programmable data processing apparatus to
produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via
the processor(s) of the computer or other programmable data
processing apparatus, create means for implementing the acts
specified in the flow chart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a
non-transitory computer-readable memory that can direct a computer
or other programmable data processing apparatus to operate in a
particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the
computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture
including instruction means which implement the acts specified in
the flow chart and/or block diagram block or blocks. The computer
program instructions may also be loaded to a computing device or
other programmable data processing apparatus to cause operations to
be performed on the computing device or other programmable
apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the
instructions which execute on the computing device or other
programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the acts
specified in the flow chart and/or block diagram block or
blocks.
[0409] Any patents and applications and other references noted
above, including any that may be listed in accompanying filing
papers, are incorporated herein by reference. Aspects of the
invention can be modified, if necessary, to employ the systems,
functions, and concepts of the various references described above
to provide yet further implementations of the invention. These and
other changes can be made to the invention in light of the above
Detailed Description. While the above description describes certain
examples of the invention, and describes the best mode
contemplated, no matter how detailed the above appears in text, the
invention can be practiced in many ways. Details of the system may
vary considerably in its specific implementation, while still being
encompassed by the invention disclosed herein. As noted above,
particular terminology used when describing certain features or
aspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that the
terminology is being redefined herein to be restricted to any
specific characteristics, features, or aspects of the invention
with which that terminology is associated. In general, the terms
used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the
invention to the specific examples disclosed in the specification,
unless the above Detailed Description section explicitly defines
such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope of the invention
encompasses not only the disclosed examples, but also all
equivalent ways of practicing or implementing the invention under
the claims.
[0410] To reduce the number of claims, certain aspects of the
invention are presented below in certain claim forms, but the
applicant contemplates other aspects of the invention in any number
of claim forms. For example, while only one aspect of the invention
is recited as a means-plus-function claim under 35 U.S.C. sec.
112(f) (AIA), other aspects may likewise be embodied as a
means-plus-function claim, or in other forms, such as being
embodied in a computer-readable medium. Any claims intended to be
treated under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 112(f) will begin with the words
"means for," but use of the term "for" in any other context is not
intended to invoke treatment under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 112(f).
Accordingly, the applicant reserves the right to pursue additional
claims after filing this application, in either this application or
in a continuing application.
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