U.S. patent application number 17/150922 was filed with the patent office on 2021-07-08 for checking and reporting operation readiness in cloud computing environments.
The applicant listed for this patent is Commvault Systems, Inc.. Invention is credited to Rajiv KOTTOMTHARAYIL, Vimal Kumar NALLATHAMBI, Unmil Vinay TAMBE, Manoj Kumar VIJAYAN.
Application Number | 20210209060 17/150922 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005476051 |
Filed Date | 2021-07-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20210209060 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
KOTTOMTHARAYIL; Rajiv ; et
al. |
July 8, 2021 |
CHECKING AND REPORTING OPERATION READINESS IN CLOUD COMPUTING
ENVIRONMENTS
Abstract
An information management system according to certain aspects
may determine whether storage operations will execute properly
prior to executing them in a cloud services environment. The system
may check various factors or parameters relating to a storage
policy to verify whether the storage policy will work at runtime
without actually executing the policy. Some examples of factors can
include: availability of primary storage devices, availability of
secondary storage devices, license availability for performing that
operation, user credentials for connecting to primary and/or second
storage devices, available storage capacity, connectivity to
storage devices, etc. The system may also check whether a
particular system configuration is supported in connection with
storage operations. The result of the determination can be provided
in the form of a report summarizing any problems found with the
storage policy. The report can include recommended courses of
action or solutions for resolving any identified issues.
Inventors: |
KOTTOMTHARAYIL; Rajiv;
(Marlboro, NJ) ; VIJAYAN; Manoj Kumar; (Marlboro,
NJ) ; NALLATHAMBI; Vimal Kumar; (Ocean Twp., NJ)
; TAMBE; Unmil Vinay; (Somerset, NJ) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Commvault Systems, Inc. |
Tinton Falls |
NJ |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000005476051 |
Appl. No.: |
17/150922 |
Filed: |
January 15, 2021 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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16733134 |
Jan 2, 2020 |
10942894 |
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17150922 |
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16233851 |
Dec 27, 2018 |
10572444 |
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16733134 |
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15860520 |
Jan 2, 2018 |
10223365 |
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16233851 |
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15280902 |
Sep 29, 2016 |
9892123 |
|
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15860520 |
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14163876 |
Jan 24, 2014 |
9495251 |
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15280902 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 11/2064 20130101;
G06F 11/1474 20130101; G06F 2201/805 20130101; G06F 16/128
20190101; G06F 11/1453 20130101; G06F 2201/815 20130101; G06F
2201/84 20130101; G06F 11/00 20130101; G06F 11/1451 20130101; G06F
11/203 20130101; G06F 11/1458 20130101; G06F 11/1448 20130101; G06F
11/1464 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 16/11 20060101
G06F016/11; G06F 11/14 20060101 G06F011/14; G06F 11/00 20060101
G06F011/00; G06F 11/20 20060101 G06F011/20 |
Claims
1. An information management system, the information management
system comprising: one or more computing devices comprising
computer hardware in networked communication with one or more media
agents, wherein the one or more computing devices and the one or
more media agents execute in a cloud services environment, the one
or more computing devices configured to: determine that a storage
operation is scheduled to be executed according to a storage
policy, wherein the storage policy is a data structure comprising
of a set of preferences or criteria for performing information
management operations; prior to the execution of the storage
operation, determine whether one or more primary storage devices or
one or more secondary storage devices are available to establish a
connection to the one or more media agents; and in response to a
verification determination that the one or more primary storage
devices or the one or more secondary storage devices are not
available to establish a connection to the one or more media agents
to complete the storage operation, report results of the
verification determination prior to the execution of the storage
operation, the results specifying unavailability of the one or more
primary storage devices or secondary storage devices.
2. The information management system of claim 1, wherein the one or
more primary storage devices is executed in a cloud services
environment.
3. The information management system of claim 1, wherein the
verification determination is based on a determination that a
logical volume or a physical volume within the one or more primary
storage devices or secondary storage devices is not available.
4. An information management system, the system comprising: one or
more computing devices comprising computer hardware in networked
communication with one or more media agents, wherein the one or
more computing devices and the one or more media agents execute in
a cloud services environment, the one or more computing devices
configured to: identify a storage operation for verification,
wherein the storage operation is to be executed according to a
storage policy associated with one or more primary storage devices
or the storage operation; prior to the execution of the storage
operation, determine whether one or more volumes within the one or
more primary storage devices or one or more volumes within one or
more secondary storage devices are available to establish a
connection to complete the storage operation; and in response to a
verification determination that the one or more volumes within the
one or more primary storage devices or the one or more volumes
within the one or more secondary storage devices are not available
to establish a connection to complete the storage operation, report
results of the verification determination prior to the execution of
the storage operation, the results specifying unavailability of the
one or more volumes within the one or more primary storage devices
or secondary storage devices.
5. The information management system of claim 4, wherein the one or
more computing devices is further configured to incorporate at
least part of the results of the verification determination in a
report.
6. The information management system of claim 4, wherein the
connection to complete the storage operation includes a connection
to the one or more media agents.
7. The information management system of claim 4, wherein the
results further specify one or more reasons for the verification
determination.
8. The information management system of claim 4, wherein the one or
more computing devices are further configured to: instruct the one
or more volumes within the one or more primary storage devices or
the volumes within the one or more secondary storage devices to
become available.
9. The information management system of claim 4, wherein the one or
more computing devices are further configured to determine whether
a license associated with an application is valid, wherein the
application is configured to perform the storage operation, and the
license authorizes the application to perform the storage
operation.
10. The information management system of claim 4, wherein: the one
or more primary storage devices or the one or more secondary
storage devices comprise a storage array comprising one or more
volumes, the one or more volumes in the storage array being managed
by volume manager software; and the one or more computing devices
are further configured to determine whether a configuration of the
one or more volumes managed by the volume manager software is
compatible with the storage policy.
11. The information management system of claim 4, wherein the
storage policy comprises one or more parameters associated with the
storage operation, the one or more parameters specifying at least
one of: (i) frequency of the execution of the storage operation;
(ii) one or more applications associated with the storage
operation; (iii) an event triggering a scheduling of the storage
operation; and (iv) a logical volume in the one or more primary
storage devices.
12. The information management system of claim 4, wherein the one
or more computing devices are further configured to: determine
whether the one or more secondary storage devices have space
sufficient to store data resulting from the storage operation.
13. The information management system of claim 4, wherein the one
or more media agents is configured to: establish a connection to
the one or more primary storage devices or to the one or more
secondary storage devices using credentials associated with the
storage operation.
14. The information management system of claim 4, wherein the one
or more primary storage devices and the one or more secondary
storage devices comprise same storage device or devices.
15. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium containing
instructions for verifying readiness of storage operations in an
information management system, the method comprising: identifying a
storage operation for verification, wherein the storage operation
is to be executed according to a storage policy associated with one
or more primary storage devices or the storage operation; prior to
the execution of the storage operation, determining whether one or
more volumes within the one or more primary storage devices or one
or more volumes within one or more secondary storage devices are
available to establish a connection to complete the storage
operation, wherein the one or more primary storage devices or the
one or more secondary storage devices execute in a cloud services
environment; and in response to a verification determination that
the one or more volumes within the one or more primary storage
devices or the one or more volumes within the one or more secondary
storage devices are not available to establish a connection to
complete the storage operation, reporting results of the
verification determination prior to the execution of the storage
operation, the results specifying unavailability of the one or more
volumes within the one or more primary storage devices or secondary
storage devices.
16. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 15,
wherein the results further specify one or more reasons for the
verification determination.
17. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 15,
wherein: the one or more primary storage devices or the one or more
secondary storage devices comprise a storage array comprising one
or more volumes, the one or more volumes in the storage array being
managed by a volume manager module; and the method further
comprising determining whether a configuration of the one or more
volumes managed by the volume manager module is compatible with the
storage policy.
18. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 17, the
method further comprising determining whether a configuration of
the one or more volumes managed by the volume manager module is
compatible with the storage policy.
19. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 15,
wherein the storage policy comprises one or more parameters, the
one or more parameters specifying one or both of: (i) one or more
primary storage devices residing in a primary storage subsystem of
the information management system where production data associated
with the storage operation is located, and (ii) one or more
secondary storage devices residing in a secondary storage subsystem
of the information management system where data resulting from the
storage operation is to be stored at.
20. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 15, the
method further comprising: determining whether the one or more
secondary storage devices have space sufficient to store data
resulting from the storage operation.
21. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 15, the
method further comprising: establishing a connection to the one or
more primary storage devices or to the one or more secondary
storage devices using credentials associated with the storage
operation.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This disclosure is a continuation of U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 16/733,134, filed on Jan. 2, 2020 and titled "OPERATION
READINESS CHECKING AND REPORTING," which is a continuation of U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 16/233,851, filed on Dec. 27, 2018 and
titled "OPERATION READINESS CHECKING AND REPORTING," which is a
continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/860,520, filed
on Jan. 2, 2018 and titled "SNAPSHOT READINESS CHECKING AND
REPORTING," which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 15/280,902, filed on Sep. 29, 2016 and titled "SNAPSHOT
READINESS CHECKING AND REPORTING," which is a continuation of U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 14/163,876, filed on Jan. 24, 2014 and
titled "SNAPSHOT READINESS CHECKING AND REPORTING." Any and all
applications for which a foreign or domestic priority claim is
identified in the Application Data Sheet of the present application
are hereby incorporated by reference under 37 CFR 1.57.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Businesses worldwide 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. Protecting information is often part of a
routine process that is performed within an organization.
[0003] A company might back up critical computing systems such as
databases, file servers, web servers, and so on as part of a daily,
weekly, or monthly maintenance schedule. The company may similarly
protect computing systems used by each of its employees, such as
those used by an accounting department, marketing department,
engineering department, and so forth.
[0004] Given the rapidly expanding volume of data under management,
companies also continue to seek innovative techniques for managing
data growth, in addition to protecting data. For instance,
companies often implement migration techniques for moving data to
lower cost storage over time and data reduction techniques for
reducing redundant data, pruning lower priority data, etc.
[0005] Enterprises also increasingly view their stored data as a
valuable asset. Along these lines, customers are looking for
solutions that not only protect and manage, but also leverage their
data. For instance, solutions providing data analysis capabilities,
information management, improved data presentation and access
features, and the like, are in increasing demand.
[0006] Snapshots can provide point-in-time copies of production
data that can be restored for reference at a future time. In
certain systems, a single logical volume of data (e.g., logical
unit number (LUN)) may have data stored therein associated with a
plurality of different applications and/or agents. Snapshots are
often taken of an entire logical volume even when only one of the
associated applications is requesting the snapshot.
SUMMARY
[0007] Data associated with multiple applications may be stored on
the same logical volume (e.g., LUN). In general, when an
application requests a snapshot of data associated with the
application, the snapshot of the entire volume is taken, although
the data of interest may only be the data associated with the
requesting application. If a snapshot is taken of the entire volume
in order to accommodate a request of one application, or a subset
of applications associated with the volume, the snapshot data not
associated with the requesting application may be unused, thereby
creating system inefficiency.
[0008] In order to address these and other challenges, an
information management system is provided to implement a combined
single snapshot of data associated with multiple applications,
according to certain aspects of the disclosure. For example, the
information management system can coordinate snapshot operations
such that a single snapshot can be taken for multiple applications,
wherein the data associated with the multiple applications is
residing on the same volume. For instance, the information
management system can take a single snapshot of data associated
with applications that have a similar snapshot frequency. The
applications associated with the data stored on a particular volume
can each be quiesced or placed in a consistent state, and the
information management system can take a single snapshot of the
volume, instead of taking different snapshots of the volume for
each of the applications. The information management can create
metadata (e.g., index) relating to which portion of the snapshot is
associated with which application. The single snapshot can be
stored in one or more secondary storage devices. When data
associated with an application is to be restored from the stored
single snapshot, the information management system can refer to the
metadata to locate the data associated with the application.
[0009] In this manner, the information management system can reduce
the number of snapshots obtained for various applications. By
utilizing a combined single snapshot for multiple applications, the
information management system reduces the number of snapshots taken
since a snapshot of a volume can be taken less frequently. This can
reduce the amount of resources used for generating and storing
snapshots. In some cases, the organization associated with the
information management system licenses the snapshot technology and
may be allowed a limited number of snapshots. For example, a
license for a snapshot software may be priced based on the number
of allowed snapshots. Accordingly, taking fewer snapshots to back
up data in the primary storage can be economical.
[0010] An information management system according to certain
aspects may check or determine whether snapshot operations will
work prior to executing them. The information management system may
check various factors or parameters relating to a snapshot storage
policy to verify whether the storage policy will work at runtime.
The information management system may also check whether a
particular system configuration is supported in connection with
snapshot operations. The result of the determination can be
provided in the form of a "snapshot readiness report," which may
summarize any problems found with the snapshot storage policy. The
snapshot readiness report may provide recommended course of action
or solutions for resolving any identified issues. The snapshot
readiness report may be used in connection with any system capable
of performing snapshot operations, including systems that implement
single snapshot for multiple applications.
[0011] According to certain embodiments, an information management
system configured to generate a snapshot of data associated with a
plurality of applications is provided. The system can include a
plurality of data agents executing at least in part on a client
computing device. Each data agent may be associated with at least
one of a plurality of applications executing on the client
computing device. Data generated by the plurality of applications
may be stored in a logical volume in primary storage. The system
may also include computer hardware. The system can also include a
snapshot manager executing on the computer hardware. The snapshot
manager may be configured to detect the plurality of applications
executing on the client computing device. The snapshot manager may
also be configured to check with the plurality of data agents
whether the associated applications are in consistent states. The
snapshot manager can be further configured to, in response to
receiving notifications from the plurality of data agents that the
associated applications are in consistent states, obtain a snapshot
of the logical volume. The snapshot manager may additionally be
configured to generate mapping information between a particular one
of the plurality of applications and a portion of the snapshot
relating to the particular one of the plurality of applications.
The snapshot manager can also be configured to store the snapshot
in secondary storage.
[0012] According to some embodiments, a method of generating a
snapshot of data relating to a plurality of applications is
provided. The method can include detecting, using computer
hardware, a plurality of applications executing on a client
computing device, a plurality of data agents executing at least in
part on the client computing device, each data agent being
associated with at least one of the plurality of applications
executing on the client computing device, data generated by the
plurality of applications being stored in a logical volume in
primary storage. The method may also include sending requests to
the plurality of data agents to check whether the associated
applications are in consistent states. The method can further
include, in response to receiving notifications from the plurality
of data agents that the associated applications are in consistent
states, obtaining a snapshot of the logical volume. The method may
further include generating, using the computer hardware, mapping
information between a particular one of the plurality of
applications and a portion of the snapshot relating to the
particular one of the plurality of applications. The method can
additionally include storing the snapshot in secondary storage.
[0013] According to other embodiments, an information management
system configured to generate a snapshot of data relating to a
plurality of applications is provided. The system can include a
first data agent executing at least in part on a client computing
device, the first data agent being associated with a first
application executing on the client computing device. The system
can also include a second data agent executing at least in part on
the client computing device, the second data agent being associated
with a second application executing on the client computing device,
data generated by the first application and data generated by the
second application being stored in a logical volume in primary
storage. The system may also include a snapshot manager executing
on computer hardware. The snapshot manager may be configured to
communicate with the first data agent to check whether the first
application is in a consistent state and communicate with the
second data agent to check whether the second application is in a
consistent state. The snapshot manager may also be configured to,
in response to receiving a first notification from the first data
agent that the first application is in a consistent state and a
second notification from the second data agent that the second
application is in a consistent state: obtain a snapshot of the
logical volume; copy the snapshot of the logical volume to
secondary storage using one or more media agents; generate first
mapping information between the first application and a portion of
the snapshot relating to the first application based at least in
part on metadata relating to a first location of the data generated
by the first application in the logical volume, the metadata
relating to the first location obtained by the first data agent;
and generate second mapping information between the second
application and a portion of the snapshot relating to the second
application based at least in part on metadata relating to a second
location of the data generated by the second application in the
logical volume, the metadata relating to the second location
obtained by the second data agent.
[0014] According to certain embodiments, a method of generating a
snapshot of data relating to a plurality of applications is
provided. The method may include communicating with a first data
agent to check whether a first application is in a consistent
state, the first data agent executing at least in part on a client
computing device, the first application executing on the client
computing device, the first data agent being associated with the
first application. The method may also include communicating with a
second data agent to check whether a second application is in a
consistent state, the second data agent executing at least in part
on the client computing device, the second application executing on
the client computing device, the second data agent being associated
with the second application, data generated by the first
application and data generated by the second application being
stored in a logical volume in primary storage. The method can also
include, in response to receiving a first notification from the
first data agent that the first application is in a consistent
state and a second notification from the second data agent that the
second application is in a consistent state, obtaining a snapshot
of the logical volume using computer hardware. The method can
further include copying the snapshot of the logical volume to
secondary storage using one or more media agents. The method may
further include generating first mapping information between the
first application and a portion of the snapshot relating to the
first application based at least in part on metadata relating to a
first location of the data generated by the first application in
the logical volume, the metadata relating to the first location
obtained by the first data agent. The method may additionally
include generating second mapping information between the second
application and a portion of the snapshot relating to the second
application based at least in part on metadata relating to a second
location of the data generated by the second application in the
logical volume, the metadata relating to the second location
obtained by the second data agent.
[0015] According to some embodiments, an information management
system configured to generate a snapshot of data relating to a
plurality of applications is provided. The system can include a
plurality of data agents executing at least in part on a client
computing device, each data agent being associated with at least
one of a plurality of applications executing on the client
computing device, wherein: data generated by the plurality of
applications is stored in a logical volume in primary storage; and
the plurality of data agents comprises at least a database data
agent associated with a database application, the database data
agent configured to back up one or more log files of a database log
of the database application separately from data of the database
application. The system may also include a snapshot manager
executing on computer hardware. The snapshot manager may be
configured to detect the plurality of applications executing on the
client computing device. The snapshot manager may also be
configured to, in response to receiving notifications from the
plurality of data agents that the associated applications are in
consistent states, obtain a snapshot of the logical volume that
comprises the data generated by the plurality of applications. The
snapshot manager can also be configured to generate mapping
information between a particular one of the plurality of
applications and a portion of the snapshot relating to the
particular one of the plurality of applications, the mapping
information comprising database application mapping information
between the database application and a portion of the snapshot
relating to the database application. The snapshot manager can
further be configured to copy the snapshot to the secondary storage
using one or more media agents. The snapshot manager can
additionally be configured to truncate the database log of the
database application.
[0016] According to other embodiments, a method of generating a
snapshot of data relating to a plurality of applications is
provided. The method can include detecting a plurality of
applications executing on a client computing device, a plurality of
data agents executing at least in part on the client computing
device, each data agent being associated with at least one of the
plurality of applications executing on the client computing device,
wherein: data generated by the plurality of applications is stored
in a logical volume in primary storage; and the plurality of data
agents comprises at least a database data agent associated with a
database application, the database data agent configured to back up
one or more log files of a database log of the database application
to secondary storage separately from data of the database
application. The method may also include sending requests to the
plurality of data agents to check whether the associated
applications are in consistent states. The method may further
include, in response to receiving notifications from the plurality
of data agents that the associated applications are in consistent
states, obtaining a snapshot of the logical volume that comprises
the data generated by the plurality of applications. The method can
further include generating mapping information between a particular
one of the plurality of applications and a portion of the snapshot
relating to the particular one of the plurality of applications,
the mapping information comprising database application mapping
information between the database application and a portion of the
snapshot relating to the database application. The method can
additionally include copying the snapshot to the secondary storage
using one or more media agents. The method may also include
truncating the database log of the database application using
computer hardware.
[0017] According to certain embodiments, an information management
system configured to restore data of an application from a snapshot
comprising data of a plurality of applications is provided. The
system can include computer hardware and a snapshot manager
executing on the computer hardware. The snapshot manager may be
configured to receive instructions to restore data of a first
application from a snapshot in secondary storage, the snapshot
comprising data of a plurality of applications stored in a logical
volume in primary storage at a first time, the plurality of
applications comprising the first application and executing on a
client computing device at the first time, the plurality of
applications being in consistent states at the first time. The
snapshot manager may also be configured to access mapping
information that maps data of the first application in the snapshot
to the first application. The snapshot manager may be further
configured to locate a portion of the snapshot corresponding to the
data of the first application to be restored. The snapshot manager
may additionally be configured to copy the portion of the snapshot
from the secondary storage to a primary storage device using one or
more media agents.
[0018] According to some embodiments, a method of restoring data of
an application from a snapshot comprising data of a plurality of
applications is provided. The method can include receiving
instructions to restore data of a first application from a snapshot
in secondary storage, the snapshot comprising data of a plurality
of applications stored in a logical volume in primary storage at a
first time, the plurality of applications comprising the first
application and executing on a client computing device at the first
time, the plurality of applications being in consistent states at
the first time. The method may also include accessing mapping
information that maps data of the first application in the snapshot
to the first application. The method may further include locating,
using computer hardware, a portion of the snapshot corresponding to
the data of the first application to be restored. The method can
also include copying the portion of the snapshot from the secondary
storage to a primary storage device using one or more media
agents.
[0019] According to other embodiments, an information management
system configured to generate snapshots is provided. The system may
include a storage manager, executing on computer hardware,
configured to initiate generation of a snapshot of data in primary
storage. The system may also include one or more media agents,
executing on computer hardware, configured to obtain a snapshot of
data in the primary storage and in communication with secondary
storage for storing the snapshot. The system can also include a
snapshot readiness manager executing on computer hardware. The
snapshot readiness manager may be configured to access at a first
time a storage policy defining criteria associated with a snapshot
operation to obtain a snapshot of data in the primary storage, the
storage policy configured to instruct the storage manager to
initiate the snapshot operation, and the storage manager configured
to instruct the one or more media agents to obtain the snapshot for
the snapshot operation. The snapshot readiness manager may also be
configured to determine without executing the storage policy
whether execution of the storage policy will succeed at a second
time that is later than the first time. The snapshot readiness
manager may be further configured to provide a result from the
determination as to whether the execution of the storage policy
will succeed.
[0020] According to certain embodiments, a method of verifying
snapshot storage operations for an information management system is
provided. The method may include accessing at a first time, using
computer hardware, a storage policy defining criteria associated
with a snapshot operation for obtaining a snapshot of data in
primary storage of an information management system. The
information management system may include a storage manager
executing on computer hardware and configured to initiate
generation of a snapshot of data stored in the primary storage. The
information management system may also include one or more media
agents executing on computer hardware and configured to obtain a
snapshot of data stored in the primary storage. The storage policy
may be configured to instruct the storage manager to initiate the
snapshot operation. The storage manager may be configured to
instruct the one or more media agents to obtain the snapshot for
the snapshot operation. The method can also include determining
whether execution of the snapshot storage policy will succeed at a
second time that is later than the first time, said determining
being performed without executing the snapshot storage policy. The
method may further include providing a result from said determining
whether execution of the snapshot storage policy will succeed.
[0021] For purposes of summarizing the disclosure, certain aspects,
advantages and novel features of the inventions have been described
herein. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such
advantages may be achieved in accordance with any particular
embodiment of the invention. Thus, the invention may be embodied or
carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or
group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving
other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0022] FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary
information management system.
[0023] 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.
[0024] 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.
[0025] FIG. 1D is a block diagram illustrating a scalable
information management system.
[0026] FIG. 1E illustrates certain secondary copy operations
according to an exemplary storage policy.
[0027] FIGS. 1F-1H are block diagrams illustrating suitable data
structures that may be employed by the information management
system.
[0028] FIG. 2 illustrates an example information management system
for snapshot management according to one or more embodiments
disclosed herein.
[0029] FIG. 3 illustrates an example data storage device comprising
one or more volumes of client production data in accordance with
one or more embodiments disclosed herein.
[0030] FIG. 4 is a data flow diagram illustrative of the
interaction between the various components of an exemplary
information management system configured to implement single
snapshot for multiple applications, according to certain
embodiments.
[0031] FIG. 5 is a data flow diagram illustrative of the
interaction between the various components of another exemplary
information management system configured to implement recovery
operations from a single snapshot for multiple applications,
according to certain embodiments.
[0032] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrative of one embodiment of a
routine for creating a single snapshot for multiple
applications.
[0033] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrative of one embodiment of a
routine for restoring data of an application from a single snapshot
for multiple applications.
[0034] FIG. 8 provides a flowchart illustrating a process for
generating shared snapshots in accordance with one or more
embodiments disclosed herein.
[0035] FIG. 9 provides a flowchart illustrating a process for
grouping snapshot requests according to one or more embodiments
disclosed herein.
[0036] FIG. 10 provides a flowchart illustrating a process for
restoring from a shared snapshot according to one or more
embodiments disclosed herein.
[0037] FIG. 11 is a data flow diagram illustrative of the
interaction between the various components of an exemplary
information management system configured to implement snapshot
readiness determination, according to certain embodiments.
[0038] FIG. 12 is a flow diagram illustrative of one embodiment of
a routine for determining snapshot readiness.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0039] Systems and methods are described herein for implementing
single snapshot for multiple applications and for checking and
reporting on snapshot readiness. Examples of such systems and
methods are discussed in further detail herein, e.g., with respect
to FIGS. 2-12. Moreover, it will be appreciated that single
snapshot for multiple applications and snapshot readiness checking
and reporting may be implemented by information management systems
such as those that will now be described with respect to FIGS.
1A-1H. And, as will be described, the componentry for implementing
single snapshot for multiple applications and snapshot readiness
checking and reporting can be incorporated into such systems.
System Overview
[0040] The systems and methods described with respect to FIGS.
1A-1H can be used for implementing single snapshot for multiple
applications. In some embodiments, a snapshot manager is a software
module that forms a part of or resides on the storage manager 140
or, alternatively, the media agents 144. The snapshot manager can
additionally be a software module executing on one or more of the
client computing devices 102. In some embodiments, the snapshot
manager may be implemented as a part of the data agent 142. Single
snapshot for multiple applications will be discussed in more detail
with respect to FIGS. 2-10. Furthermore, systems and methods for
checking and reporting on snapshot readiness are also described
herein, with particular respect to FIGS. 11-12. In some
embodiments, a snapshot readiness manager is a software module that
forms a part of or resides on the storage manager 140 or,
alternatively, the media agents 144. The snapshot readiness manager
can additionally be a software module executing on one or more of
the client computing devices 102. In certain embodiments, the
snapshot readiness manager may be implemented as a part of the data
agent 142. In some embodiments, the snapshot manager and the
snapshot readiness manager described herein are implemented as
separate modules; in other embodiments, they are implemented as a
single unified module that executes on one or more of the
above-mentioned components.
Information Management System Overview
[0041] With the increasing importance of protecting and leveraging
data, organizations simply cannot afford to take the risk of losing
critical data. Moreover, runaway data growth and other modern
realities make protecting and managing data an increasingly
difficult task. There is therefore a need for efficient, powerful,
and user-friendly solutions for protecting and managing data.
[0042] Depending on the size of the organization, there are
typically many data production sources which are under the purview
of tens, hundreds, or even thousands of employees or other
individuals. In the past, individual employees were sometimes
responsible for managing and protecting their data. A patchwork of
hardware and software point solutions has been applied in other
cases. These solutions were often provided by different vendors and
had limited or no interoperability.
[0043] Certain embodiments described herein provide systems and
methods capable of addressing these and other shortcomings of prior
approaches by implementing unified, organization-wide information
management. FIG. 1A shows one such information management system
100, which generally includes combinations of hardware and software
configured to protect and manage data and metadata generated and
used by the various computing devices in the information management
system 100.
[0044] The organization which employs the information management
system 100 may be a corporation or other business entity,
non-profit organization, educational institution, household,
governmental agency, or the like.
[0045] 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 and patent application
publications assigned to CommVault Systems, Inc., each of which is
hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference herein: [0046]
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"; [0047] U.S. Pat.
No. 8,307,177, entitled "Systems And Methods For Management Of
Virtualization Data"; [0048] U.S. Pat. No. 7,035,880, entitled
"Modular Backup and Retrieval System Used in Conjunction With a
Storage Area Network"; [0049] U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,453, entitled
"Hierarchical Systems and Methods for Providing a Unified View of
Storage Information"; [0050] U.S. Pat. No. 7,395,282, entitled
"Hierarchical Backup and Retrieval System"; [0051] U.S. Pat. No.
7,246,207, entitled "System and Method for Dynamically Performing
Storage Operations in a Computer Network"; [0052] U.S. Pat. No.
7,747,579, entitled "Metabase for Facilitating Data
Classification"; [0053] U.S. Pat. No. 8,229,954, entitled "Managing
Copies of Data"; [0054] U.S. Pat. No. 7,617,262, entitled "System
and Methods for Monitoring Application Data in a Data Replication
System"; [0055] U.S. Pat. No. 7,529,782, entitled "System and
Methods for Performing a Snapshot and for Restoring Data"; [0056]
U.S. Pat. No. 8,230,195, entitled "System And Method For Performing
Auxiliary Storage Operations"; [0057] U.S. Pat. No. 7,315,923,
entitled "System And Method For Combining Data Streams In Pipelined
Storage Operations In A Storage Network"; [0058] U.S. Pat. No.
8,364,652, entitled "Content-Aligned, Block-Based Deduplication";
[0059] U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2006/0224846, entitled "System and Method
to Support Single Instance Storage Operations"; [0060] U.S. Pat.
No. 8,578,120, entitled "Block-Level Single Instancing"; [0061]
U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2009/0319534, entitled "Application-Aware and
Remote Single Instance Data Management"; [0062] U.S. Pat. Pub. No.
2012/0150826, entitled "Distributed Deduplicated Storage System";
[0063] U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2012/0150818, entitled "Client-Side
Repository in a Networked Deduplicated Storage System"; [0064] U.S.
Pat. No. 8,170,995, entitled "Method and System for Offline
Indexing of Content and Classifying Stored Data"; [0065] U.S. Pat.
No. 7,107,298, entitled "System And Method For Archiving Objects In
An Information Store"; [0066] U.S. Pat. No. 8,230,195, entitled
"System And Method For Performing Auxiliary Storage Operations";
[0067] U.S. Pat. No. 8,229,954, entitled "Managing Copies Of Data";
and [0068] U.S. Pat. No. 8,156,086, entitled "Systems And Methods
For Stored Data Verification".
[0069] The information management system 100 can include a variety
of different computing devices. For instance, as will be described
in greater detail herein, the information management system 100 can
include one or more client computing devices 102 and secondary
storage computing devices 106.
[0070] 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 and minicomputers.
[0071] 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. Computing devices can include servers, such as mail
servers, file servers, database servers, and web servers.
[0072] In some cases, a computing device includes virtualized
and/or cloud computing resources. For instance, one or more virtual
machines may be provided to the organization by a third-party cloud
service vendor. Or, 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.
[0073] A virtual machine includes an operating system and
associated virtual resources, and is hosted simultaneously with
another operating system on a physical host computer (or host
machine). A hypervisor (typically software, and also known in the
art as a virtual machine monitor or a virtual machine manager or
"VMM") sits between the virtual machine and the hardware of the
physical host computer. One example of hypervisor as virtualization
software is ESX Server, by VMware, Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif.; other
examples include Microsoft Virtual Server and Microsoft Windows
Server Hyper-V, both by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.,
and Sun xVM by Oracle America Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif. In some
embodiments, the hypervisor may be firmware or hardware or a
combination of software and/or firmware and/or hardware.
[0074] The hypervisor provides to each virtual operating system
virtual resources, such as a virtual processor, virtual memory, a
virtual network device, and a virtual disk. Each virtual machine
has one or more virtual disks. The hypervisor typically stores the
data of virtual disks in files on the file system of the physical
host computer, called virtual machine disk files (in the case of
VMware virtual servers) or virtual hard disk image files (in the
case of Microsoft virtual servers). 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 same way that an
actual physical machine reads data from and writes data to an
actual disk.
[0075] Examples of techniques for implementing information
management techniques in a cloud computing environment are
described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,285,681, which is incorporated by
reference herein. Examples of techniques for implementing
information management techniques in a virtualized computing
environment are described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,307,177, also
incorporated by reference herein.
[0076] The information management system 100 can also include a
variety of storage devices, including primary storage devices 104
and secondary storage devices 108, for example. Storage devices can
generally be of any suitable type including, without limitation,
disk drives, hard-disk arrays, 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, and the like. In some embodiments,
storage devices can form part of a distributed file system. In some
cases, storage devices are provided in a cloud (e.g., a private
cloud or one operated by a third-party vendor). A storage device in
some cases comprises a disk array or portion thereof.
[0077] The illustrated information management system 100 includes
one or more client computing device 102 having at least one
application 110 executing thereon, and one or more primary storage
devices 104 storing primary data 112. The client computing
device(s) 102 and the primary storage devices 104 may generally be
referred to in some cases as a primary storage subsystem 117. A
computing device in an information management system 100 that has a
data agent 142 installed on it is generally referred to as a client
computing device 102 (or, in the context of a component of the
information management system 100 simply as a "client").
[0078] Depending on the context, the term "information management
system" can refer to generally all of the illustrated hardware and
software components. Or, in other instances, the term may refer to
only a subset of the illustrated components.
[0079] For instance, in some cases, the information management
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 the client computing
devices 102. However, the information management system 100 in some
cases does not include the underlying components that generate
and/or store the primary data 112, such as the client computing
devices 102 themselves, the applications 110 and operating system
residing on the client computing devices 102, and the primary
storage devices 104. As an example, "information management system"
may sometimes refer to one or more of the following components and
corresponding data structures: storage managers, data agents, and
media agents. These components will be described in further detail
below.
Client Computing Devices
[0080] There are typically a variety of sources in an organization
that 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, or the like. In the information management
system 100, the data generation sources include the one or more
client computing devices 102.
[0081] The client computing devices 102 may include any of the
types of computing devices described above, without limitation, and
in some cases the client computing devices 102 are associated with
one or more users and/or corresponding user accounts, of employees
or other individuals.
[0082] The information management system 100 generally addresses
and handles the data management and protection needs for the data
generated by the client computing devices 102. However, the use of
this term does not imply that the client computing devices 102
cannot be "servers" in other respects. For instance, a particular
client computing device 102 may act as a server with respect to
other devices, such as other client computing devices 102. As just
a few examples, the client computing devices 102 can include mail
servers, file servers, database servers, and web servers.
[0083] Each client computing device 102 may have one or more
applications 110 (e.g., software applications) executing thereon
which generate and manipulate the data that is to be protected from
loss and managed.
[0084] The applications 110 generally facilitate the operations of
an organization (or multiple affiliated organizations), and can
include, without limitation, mail server applications (e.g.,
Microsoft Exchange Server), file server applications, mail client
applications (e.g., Microsoft Exchange Client), database
applications (e.g., SQL, Oracle, SAP, Lotus Notes Database), word
processing applications (e.g., Microsoft Word), spreadsheet
applications, financial applications, presentation applications,
browser applications, mobile applications, entertainment
applications, and so on.
[0085] The 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.
[0086] As shown, the client computing devices 102 and other
components in the information management system 100 can be
connected to one another via one or more communication pathways
114. The communication pathways 114 can include one or more
networks or other connection types including as any of following,
without limitation: the Internet, a wide area network (WAN), a
local area network (LAN), a Storage Area Network (SAN), a Fibre
Channel 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 wired, wireless, or
partially wired/wireless computer or telecommunications networks,
combinations of the same or the like. The 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.
Primary Data and Exemplary Primary Storage Devices
[0087] Primary data 112 according to some embodiments is production
data or other "live" data generated by the operating system and
other applications 110 residing on a client computing device 102.
The primary data 112 is generally stored on the primary storage
device(s) 104 and is organized via a file system supported by the
client computing device 102. For instance, the client computing
device(s) 102 and corresponding applications 110 may create,
access, modify, write, delete, and otherwise use primary data 112.
In some cases, some or all of the primary data 112 can be stored in
cloud storage resources.
[0088] Primary data 112 is generally in the native format of the
source application 110. According to certain aspects, primary data
112 is an initial or first (e.g., created before any other copies
or before at least one other copy) stored copy 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 applications 110.
[0089] The primary data 112 may sometimes be referred to as a
"primary copy" in the sense that it is a discrete set of data.
However, the use of this term does not necessarily imply that the
"primary copy" is a copy in the sense that it was copied or
otherwise derived from another stored version.
[0090] The primary storage devices 104 storing the primary data 112
may be relatively fast and/or expensive (e.g., a disk drive, a
hard-disk array, solid state memory, etc.). In addition, primary
data 112 may be intended for relatively short term retention (e.g.,
several hours, days, or weeks).
[0091] According to some embodiments, the client computing device
102 can access primary data 112 from the primary storage device 104
by making conventional file system calls via the operating system.
Primary data 112 representing files may include structured data
(e.g., database files), unstructured data (e.g., documents), and/or
semi-structured data. Some specific examples are described below
with respect to FIG. 1B.
[0092] It can be useful in performing certain tasks to organize the
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 both (1) 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 (2) a subset of such a file (e.g., a data
block).
[0093] As will be described in further detail, it can also be
useful in performing certain functions of the information
management system 100 to access and modify metadata within the
primary data 112. Metadata generally includes information about
data objects or characteristics associated with the data
objects.
[0094] 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 the other
similar information related to the data object.
[0095] In addition to metadata generated by or related to file
systems and operating systems, some of the applications 110 and/or
other components of the information management system 100 maintain
indices of metadata for data objects, e.g., metadata associated
with individual email messages. Thus, each data object may be
associated with corresponding metadata. The use of metadata to
perform classification and other functions is described in greater
detail below.
[0096] Each of the client computing devices 102 are generally
associated with and/or in communication with one or more of the
primary storage devices 104 storing corresponding primary data 112.
A client computing device 102 may be considered to be "associated
with" or "in communication with" a primary storage device 104 if it
is capable of one or more of: routing and/or storing data to the
particular primary storage device 104, coordinating the routing
and/or storing of data to the particular primary storage device
104, retrieving data from the particular primary storage device
104, coordinating the retrieval of data from the particular primary
storage device 104, and modifying and/or deleting data retrieved
from the particular primary storage device 104.
[0097] The primary storage devices 104 can include any of the
different types of storage devices described above, or some other
kind of suitable storage device. The primary storage devices 104
may have relatively fast I/O times and/or are relatively expensive
in comparison to the secondary storage devices 108. For example,
the information management system 100 may generally regularly
access data and metadata stored on primary storage devices 104,
whereas data and metadata stored on the secondary storage devices
108 is accessed relatively less frequently.
[0098] In some cases, each primary storage device 104 is dedicated
to an associated client computing device 102. For instance, a
primary storage device 104 in one embodiment is a local disk drive
of a corresponding client computing device 102. In other cases, one
or more primary storage devices 104 can be shared by multiple
client computing devices 102, e.g., via a network such as in a
cloud storage implementation. As one example, a primary storage
device 104 can be a disk array shared by a group of client
computing devices 102, such as one of the following types of disk
arrays: EMC Clariion, EMC Symmetrix, EMC Celerra, Dell EqualLogic,
IBM XIV, NetApp FAS, HP EVA, and HP SPAR.
[0099] The information management 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 the information management system 100. For instance,
the hosted services may be provided by various online service
providers to the organization. Such service providers can provide
services including social networking services, hosted email
services, or hosted productivity applications or other hosted
applications).
[0100] Hosted services may include 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 provides services to users, each hosted
service may generate additional data and metadata under management
of the information management 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.
The hosted services may be implemented in a variety of computing
environments. In some cases, they are implemented in an environment
having a similar arrangement to the information management system
100, where various physical and logical components are distributed
over a network.
Secondary Copies and Exemplary Secondary Storage Devices
[0101] The primary data 112 stored on the primary storage devices
104 may be compromised in some cases, such as when an employee
deliberately or accidentally deletes or overwrites primary data 112
during their normal course of work. Or the primary storage devices
104 can be damaged or otherwise corrupted.
[0102] For recovery and/or regulatory compliance purposes, it is
therefore useful to generate copies of the primary data 112.
Accordingly, the information management 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 the primary data 112 and associated
metadata. The secondary storage computing devices 106 and the
secondary storage devices 108 may sometimes be referred to as a
secondary storage subsystem 118.
[0103] Creation of secondary copies 116 can help in search and
analysis efforts and meet other information management goals, such
as: restoring data and/or metadata if an original version (e.g., of
primary data 112) 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; facilitating
organization and search of data; improving user access to data
files across multiple computing devices and/or hosted services; and
implementing data retention policies.
[0104] The client computing devices 102 access or receive primary
data 112 and communicate the data, e.g., over the communication
pathways 114, for storage in the secondary storage device(s)
108.
[0105] A secondary copy 116 can comprise a separate stored copy of
application data that is derived from one or more earlier-created,
stored copies (e.g., derived from primary data 112 or another
secondary copy 116). Secondary copies 116 can include point-in-time
data, and may be intended for relatively long-term retention (e.g.,
weeks, months or years), before some or all of the data is moved to
other storage or is discarded.
[0106] In some cases, a secondary copy 116 is a copy of application
data created and stored subsequent to at least one other stored
instance (e.g., subsequent to corresponding primary data 112 or to
another secondary copy 116), in a different storage device than at
least one previous stored copy, and/or remotely from at least one
previous stored copy. In some other cases, secondary copies can be
stored in the same storage device as primary data 112 and/or other
previously stored copies. For example, in one embodiment 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 low 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 than the native source application
format or other primary data format.
[0107] In some cases, secondary copies 116 are indexed so users can
browse and restore at another point in time. After creation of a
secondary copy 116 representative of 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 on the secondary storage device(s)
108.
[0108] Since an instance of a data object or metadata in primary
data 112 may change over time as it is modified by an application
110 (or hosted service or the operating system), the information
management system 100 may create and manage multiple secondary
copies 116 of a particular data object or metadata, each
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 the
primary storage device 104 and the file system, the information
management 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.
[0109] For virtualized computing devices the operating system and
other applications 110 of the 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. The information
management 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).
[0110] Secondary copies 116 may be distinguished from corresponding
primary data 112 in a variety of ways, some of which will now be
described. First, as discussed, secondary copies 116 can be stored
in a different format (e.g., backup, archive, or other non-native
format) than primary data 112. For this or other reasons, secondary
copies 116 may not be directly useable by the applications 110 of
the client computing device 102, e.g., via standard system calls or
otherwise without modification, processing, or other intervention
by the information management system 100.
[0111] Secondary copies 116 are also in some embodiments stored on
a secondary storage device 108 that is inaccessible to the
applications 110 running on the client computing devices 102
(and/or hosted services). 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
the information management 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 information management
system 100 can access only with at least some human intervention
(e.g., tapes located at an offsite storage site).
The Use of Intermediate Devices for Creating Secondary Copies
[0112] Creating secondary copies can be a challenging task. For
instance, there can be hundreds or thousands of client computing
devices 102 continually generating large volumes of primary data
112 to be protected. Also, there can be significant overhead
involved in the creation of secondary copies 116. Moreover,
secondary storage devices 108 may be special purpose components,
and interacting with them can require specialized intelligence.
[0113] In some cases, the client computing devices 102 interact
directly with the secondary storage device 108 to create the
secondary copies 116. However, in view of the factors described
above, this approach can negatively impact the ability of the
client computing devices 102 to serve the applications 110 and
produce primary data 112. Further, the client computing devices 102
may not be optimized for interaction with the secondary storage
devices 108.
[0114] Thus, in some embodiments, the information management system
100 includes one or more software and/or hardware components which
generally act as intermediaries between the client computing
devices 102 and the secondary storage devices 108. In addition to
off-loading certain responsibilities from the client computing
devices 102, these intermediate components can 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.
[0115] 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, which can be software modules residing on
corresponding secondary storage computing devices 106 (or other
appropriate devices). Media agents are discussed below (e.g., with
respect to FIGS. 1C-1E).
[0116] The secondary storage computing device(s) 106 can comprise
any of the computing devices described above, without limitation.
In some cases, the secondary storage computing device(s) 106
include specialized hardware and/or software componentry for
interacting with the secondary storage devices 108.
[0117] To create a secondary copy 116 involving the copying of data
from the primary storage subsystem 117 to the secondary storage
subsystem 118, the client computing device 102 in some embodiments
communicates the primary data 112 to be copied (or a processed
version thereof) to the designated secondary storage computing
device 106, via the communication pathway 114. The secondary
storage computing device 106 in turn conveys the received data (or
a processed version thereof) to the secondary storage device 108.
In some such configurations, the communication pathway 114 between
the client computing device 102 and the secondary storage computing
device 106 comprises a portion of a LAN, WAN or SAN. In other
cases, at least some client computing devices 102 communicate
directly with the secondary storage devices 108 (e.g., via Fibre
Channel or SCSI connections). In some other cases, one or more
secondary copies 116 are created from existing secondary copies,
such as in the case of an auxiliary copy operation, described in
greater detail below.
Exemplary Primary Data and an Exemplary Secondary Copy
[0118] FIG. 1B is a detailed view showing some specific examples of
primary data stored on the primary storage device(s) 104 and
secondary copy data stored on the secondary storage device(s) 108,
with other components in the system removed for the purposes of
illustration. Stored on the primary storage device(s) 104 are
primary data 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).
[0119] Some or all primary data 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 data objects
134A-C which may include copies of or otherwise represent
corresponding primary data objects and metadata.
[0120] As shown, the 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 the corresponding
metadata Meta11, Meta3, and Meta8, respectively). Moreover, as
indicated by the prime mark ('), a secondary copy object may store
a representation of a primary data object or metadata differently
than the original format, e.g., in a compressed, encrypted,
deduplicated, or other modified format. Likewise, secondary data
object 1346 represents primary data objects 120, 133B, and 119A as
120', 133B', and 119A', respectively and accompanied by
corresponding metadata Meta2, Meta10, and Meta1, respectively.
Also, secondary 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
[0121] The information management 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 the information management system 100. For instance, as will be
discussed, such design choices can impact performance as well as
the adaptability of the information management system 100 to data
growth or other changing circumstances.
[0122] FIG. 10 shows an information management system 100 designed
according to these considerations and which includes: storage
manager 140, a centralized storage and/or information manager that
is configured to perform certain control functions, one or more
data agents 142 executing on the client computing device(s) 102
configured to process primary data 112, and one or more media
agents 144 executing on the one or more secondary storage computing
devices 106 for performing tasks involving the secondary storage
devices 108. 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. As such, in various other embodiments, one or
more of the components shown in FIG. 10 as being implemented on
separate computing devices are implemented on the same computing
device. In one configuration, a storage manager 140, one or more
data agents 142, and one or more media agents 144 are all
implemented on the same computing device. In another embodiment,
one or more data agents 142 and one or more media agents 144 are
implemented on the same computing device, while the storage manager
140 is implemented on a separate computing device.
Storage Manager
[0123] As noted, the number of components in the information
management system 100 and the amount of data under management can
be quite large. Managing the components and data is therefore a
significant task, and a task that can grow in an often
unpredictable fashion as the quantity of components and data scale
to meet the needs of the organization.
[0124] For these and other reasons, according to certain
embodiments, responsibility for controlling the information
management system 100, or at least a significant portion of that
responsibility, is allocated to the storage manager 140.
[0125] By distributing control functionality in this manner, the
storage manager 140 can be adapted independently according to
changing circumstances. Moreover, a computing device for hosting
the storage manager 140 can be selected to best suit the functions
of the storage manager 140. These and other advantages are
described in further detail below with respect to FIG. 1D.
[0126] The storage manager 140 may be a software module or other
application. In some embodiments, storage manager 140 is a
computing device comprising circuitry for executing computer
instructions and performs the functions described herein. The
storage manager generally initiates, performs, coordinates and/or
controls storage and other information management operations
performed by the information management system 100, e.g., to
protect and control the primary data 112 and secondary copies 116
of data and metadata.
[0127] As shown by the dashed arrowed lines 114, the storage
manager 140 may communicate with and/or control some or all
elements of the information management system 100, such as the data
agents 142 and media agents 144. Thus, in certain embodiments,
control information originates from the storage manager 140,
whereas payload data and payload metadata is generally communicated
between the data agents 142 and the media agents 144 (or otherwise
between the client computing device(s) 102 and the secondary
storage computing device(s) 106), e.g., at the direction of the
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 associated with an operation, data path
information specifying what components to communicate with or
access in carrying out an operation, and the like. Payload data, on
the other hand, can include the actual data involved in the storage
operation, such as content data written to a secondary storage
device 108 in a secondary copy operation. Payload metadata can
include any of the types of metadata described herein, and may be
written to a storage device along with the payload content data
(e.g., in the form of a header).
[0128] In other embodiments, some information management operations
are controlled by other components in the information management
system 100 (e.g., the media agent(s) 144 or data agent(s) 142),
instead of or in combination with the storage manager 140. [0129]
According to certain embodiments, the storage manager 140 provides
one or more of the following functions: [0130] initiating execution
of secondary copy operations; [0131] managing secondary storage
devices 108 and inventory/capacity of the same; [0132] reporting,
searching, and/or classification of data in the information
management system 100; [0133] allocating secondary storage devices
108 for secondary storage operations; [0134] monitoring completion
of and providing status reporting related to secondary storage
operations; [0135] tracking age information relating to secondary
copies 116, secondary storage devices 108, and comparing the age
information against retention guidelines; [0136] tracking movement
of data within the information management system 100; [0137]
tracking logical associations between components in the information
management system 100; [0138] protecting metadata associated with
the information management system 100; and [0139] implementing
operations management functionality.
[0140] The storage manager 140 may maintain a database 146 (or
"storage manager database 146" or "management database 146") of
management-related data and information management policies 148.
The database 146 may include a management index 150 (or "index
150") or other data structure that stores logical associations
between components of the system, user preferences and/or profiles
(e.g., preferences regarding encryption, compression, or
deduplication of primary or secondary copy data, preferences
regarding the scheduling, type, or other aspects of primary or
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, or other useful data. For example, the storage
manager 140 may use the index 150 to track logical associations
between media agents 144 and secondary storage devices 108 and/or
movement of data from primary storage devices 104 to secondary
storage devices 108. For instance, the 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 (e.g., a storage policy, which is
defined in more detail below).
[0141] Administrators and other employees may be able to manually
configure and initiate certain information management operations on
an individual basis. But while this may be acceptable for some
recovery operations or other relatively less frequent tasks, it is
often not workable for implementing on-going organization-wide data
protection and management.
[0142] Thus, the information management system 100 may utilize
information management policies 148 for specifying and executing
information management operations (e.g., on an automated basis).
Generally, 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 storage or
other information management operations.
[0143] The storage manager database 146 may maintain the
information management policies 148 and associated data, although
the information management policies 148 can be stored in any
appropriate location. 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 operations or other
information management operations, depending on the embodiment.
Information management policies 148 are described further
below.
[0144] According to certain embodiments, the storage manager
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 data were protected). This and other metadata may
additionally be stored in other locations, such as at the secondary
storage computing devices 106 or on the secondary storage devices
108, allowing data recovery without the use of the storage manager
140.
[0145] As shown, the 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.
[0146] The jobs agent 156 in some embodiments initiates, controls,
and/or monitors the status of some or all storage or other
information management operations previously performed, currently
being performed, or scheduled to be performed by the information
management system 100. For instance, the jobs agent 156 may access
information management policies 148 to determine when and how to
initiate and control secondary copy and other information
management operations, as will be discussed further.
[0147] The user interface 158 may include information processing
and display software, such as a graphical user interface ("GUI"),
an application program interface ("API"), or other interactive
interface(s) through which users and system processes can retrieve
information about the status of information management operations
(e.g., storage operations) or issue instructions to the information
management system 100 and its constituent components.
[0148] Via the user interface 158, users may optionally issue
instructions to the components in the information management system
100 regarding performance of storage 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 storage operations or
to monitor the status of certain components in the information
management system 100 (e.g., the amount of capacity left in a
storage device).
[0149] An information management "cell" (or "storage operation
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 client computing
device 102 (comprising data agent(s) 142) and at least one media
agent 144. For instance, the components shown in FIG. 10 may
together form an information management cell. Multiple cells may be
organized hierarchically. With this configuration, 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 metrics, or other properties or
characteristics according to their relative position in a hierarchy
of cells. Cells may also be delineated and/or organized
hierarchically according to function, geography, architectural
considerations, or other factors useful or desirable in performing
information management operations. 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 office. Other cells may represent departments within a
particular office. 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 or other
copies), and a second cell may perform one or more second types of
information management operations (e.g., one or more second types
of secondary or other copies).
[0150] The storage manager 140 may also 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 via interaction with the user interface
158. In general, the management agent 154 allows multiple
information management cells to communicate with one another. For
example, the information management system 100 in some cases may be
one information management cell of a network of multiple cells
adjacent to one another or otherwise logically related in a WAN or
LAN. With this arrangement, the cells may be connected to one
another through respective management agents 154.
[0151] For instance, the management agent 154 can provide the
storage manager 140 with the ability to communicate with other
components within the information management system 100 (and/or
other cells within a larger information management system) 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. Inter-cell communication and hierarchy is described in
greater detail in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,747,579 and 7,343,453, which are
incorporated by reference herein.
Data Agents
[0152] As discussed, a variety of different types of applications
110 can reside on a given client computing device 102, including
operating 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 devices 102 may be tasked with processing and preparing
the primary data 112 from these various different applications 110.
Moreover, the nature of the processing/preparation can differ
across clients and application types, e.g., due to inherent
structural and formatting differences between applications 110.
[0153] The one or more data agent(s) 142 are 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.
[0154] The data agent 142 may be a software module or component
that is generally responsible for managing, initiating, or
otherwise assisting in the performance of information management
operations. For instance, the data agent 142 may take part in
performing data storage operations such as the copying, archiving,
migrating, replicating of primary data 112 stored in the primary
storage device(s) 104. The data agent 142 may receive control
information from the storage manager 140, such as commands to
transfer copies of data objects, metadata, and other payload data
to the media agents 144.
[0155] In some embodiments, a data agent 142 may be distributed
between the 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 a
media agent 144, or may perform other functions such as encryption
and deduplication.
[0156] As indicated, each data agent 142 may be specialized for a
particular application 110, and the system can employ multiple
application-specific data agents 142, each of which may perform
information management operations (e.g., perform backup, migration,
and data recovery) associated with a different 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.
[0157] 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, one data agent 142 may be used
for each data type to copy, archive, migrate, and restore the
client computing device 102 data. For example, to backup, migrate,
and restore all of the data on a Microsoft Exchange server, the
client computing device 102 may use one Microsoft Exchange Mailbox
data agent 142 to backup the Exchange mailboxes, one Microsoft
Exchange Database data agent 142 to backup the Exchange databases,
one Microsoft Exchange Public Folder data agent 142 to backup the
Exchange Public Folders, and one Microsoft Windows File System data
agent 142 to backup the file system of the client computing device
102. In such embodiments, these data agents 142 may be treated as
four separate data agents 142 even though they reside on the same
client computing device 102.
[0158] 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.
[0159] Each data agent 142 may be configured to access data and/or
metadata stored in the primary storage device(s) 104 associated
with the data agent 142 and process the data as appropriate. For
example, during a secondary copy operation, the 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. Each data agent 142 can also assist in restoring data or
metadata to primary storage devices 104 from a secondary copy 116.
For instance, the data agent 142 may operate in conjunction with
the storage manager 140 and one or more of the media agents 144 to
restore data from secondary storage device(s) 108.
Media Agents
[0160] As indicated above with respect to FIG. 1A, off-loading
certain responsibilities from the client computing devices 102 to
intermediate components such as the media agent(s) 144 can provide
a number of benefits including improved client computing device 102
operation, faster secondary copy operation performance, and
enhanced scalability. As one specific example which will be
discussed below in further detail, the media agent 144 can act as a
local cache of copied data and/or metadata that it has stored to
the secondary storage device(s) 108, providing improved restore
capabilities.
[0161] Generally speaking, a media agent 144 may be implemented as
a software module that manages, coordinates, and facilitates the
transmission of data, as directed by the storage manager 140,
between a client computing device 102 and one or more secondary
storage devices 108. Whereas the storage manager 140 controls the
operation of the information management system 100, the media agent
144 generally provides a portal to secondary storage devices 108.
For instance, other components in the system interact with the
media agents 144 to gain access to data stored on the secondary
storage devices 108, whether it be for the purposes of reading,
writing, modifying, or deleting data. Moreover, as will be
described further, 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.
[0162] Media agents 144 can comprise separate nodes in the
information management system 100 (e.g., nodes that are separate
from the client computing devices 102, storage manager 140, and/or
secondary storage devices 108). In general, a node within the
information management system 100 can be a logically and/or
physically separate component, and in some cases is a component
that is individually addressable or otherwise identifiable. In
addition, each media agent 144 may reside on a dedicated secondary
storage computing device 106 in some cases, while in other
embodiments a plurality of media agents 144 reside on the same
secondary storage computing device 106.
[0163] A media agent 144 (and corresponding media agent database
152) may be considered to 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 a particular secondary
storage device 108, and modifying and/or deleting data retrieved
from the particular secondary storage device 108.
[0164] While media agent(s) 144 are generally associated with one
or more secondary storage devices 108, one or more media agents 144
in certain embodiments are physically separate from the secondary
storage devices 108. For instance, the media agents 144 may reside
on secondary storage computing devices 106 having different
housings or packages than the secondary storage devices 108. In one
example, a media agent 144 resides on a first server computer and
is in communication with a secondary storage device(s) 108 residing
in a separate, rack-mounted RAID-based system.
[0165] Where the information management system 100 includes
multiple media agents 144 (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 for
storage operations to provide load balancing. Failover and load
balancing are described in greater detail below.
[0166] In operation, a media agent 144 associated with a particular
secondary storage device 108 may instruct the secondary storage
device 108 to perform an information management operation. 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 the
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
the 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 storage operation. The media
agent 144 may communicate with a secondary storage device 108 via a
suitable communications link, such as a SCSI or Fiber Channel
link.
[0167] As shown, each media agent 144 may maintain an associated
media agent database 152. The media agent database 152 may be
stored in a disk or other storage device (not shown) that is local
to the secondary storage computing device 106 on which the media
agent 144 resides. In other cases, the media agent database 152 is
stored remotely from the secondary storage computing device
106.
[0168] The media agent database 152 can include, among other
things, an index 153 including data generated during secondary copy
operations and other storage or information management operations.
The index 153 provides a media agent 144 or other component with a
fast and efficient mechanism for locating secondary copies 116 or
other data stored in the secondary storage devices 108. In some
cases, the index 153 does not form a part of and is instead
separate from the media agent database 152.
[0169] A media agent index 153 or other data structure associated
with the particular media agent 144 may include information about
the stored data. For instance, for each secondary copy 116, the
index 153 may include metadata such as a list of the data objects
(e.g., files/subdirectories, database objects, mailbox objects,
etc.), a path to the secondary copy 116 on the corresponding
secondary storage device 108, location information indicating where
the data objects are stored in the secondary storage device 108,
when the data objects were created or modified, etc. Thus, the
index 153 includes metadata associated with the secondary copies
116 that is readily available for use in storage operations and
other activities without having to be first retrieved from the
secondary storage device 108. In yet further embodiments, some or
all of the data in the index 153 may instead or additionally be
stored along with the data in a secondary storage device 108, e.g.,
with a copy of the index 153. In some embodiments, the secondary
storage devices 108 can include sufficient information to perform a
"bare metal restore", where the operating system of a failed client
computing device 102 or other restore target is automatically
rebuilt as part of a restore operation.
[0170] Because the index 153 maintained in the media agent database
152 may operate as a cache, it can also be referred to as "an index
cache." In such cases, information stored in the index cache 153
typically comprises data that reflects certain particulars about
storage operations that have occurred relatively recently. After
some triggering event, such as after a certain period of time
elapses, or the index cache 153 reaches a particular size, the
index cache 153 may be copied or migrated to a secondary storage
device(s) 108. This information may need to be retrieved and
uploaded back into the index cache 153 or otherwise restored to a
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 the storage device(s) 108. In
this manner, the index cache 153 allows for accelerated
restores.
[0171] In some alternative embodiments the media agent 144
generally acts as a coordinator or facilitator of storage
operations between client computing devices 102 and corresponding
secondary storage devices 108, but does not actually write the data
to the secondary storage device 108. For instance, the storage
manager 140 (or the 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 the client
computing device 102 transmits the data directly or via one or more
intermediary components to the secondary storage device 108
according to the received instructions, and vice versa. In some
such cases, the media agent 144 may still receive, process, and/or
maintain metadata related to the storage operations. Moreover, in
these embodiments, the payload data can flow through the media
agent 144 for the purposes of populating the index cache 153
maintained in the media agent database 152, but not for writing to
the secondary storage device 108.
[0172] The media agent 144 and/or other components such as the
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
[0173] As described, certain functions of the information
management system 100 can be distributed amongst various physical
and/or logical components in the system. For instance, one or more
of the storage manager 140, data agents 142, and media agents 144
may reside on computing devices that are physically separate from
one another. This architecture can provide a number of
benefits.
[0174] 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 the media
agents 144 reside can be tailored for interaction with associated
secondary storage devices 108 and provide fast index cache
operation, among other specific tasks. Similarly, the client
computing device(s) 102 can be selected to effectively service the
applications 110 residing thereon, in order to efficiently produce
and store primary data 112.
[0175] Moreover, in some cases, one or more of the individual
components in the 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
the database 146 is relatively large, the database 146 may be
migrated to or otherwise reside on a specialized database server
(e.g., an SQL server) separate from a server that implements the
other functions of the storage manager 140. This configuration can
provide added protection because the database 146 can be protected
with standard database utilities (e.g., SQL log shipping or
database replication) independent from other functions of the
storage manager 140. The database 146 can be efficiently replicated
to a remote site for use in the event of a disaster or other data
loss incident at the primary site. Or the 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 device can no longer service the needs of a growing
information management system 100.
[0176] The distributed architecture also provides both scalability
and efficient component utilization. FIG. 1D shows an embodiment of
the 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.
[0177] Additional components can be added or subtracted based on
the evolving needs of the information management system 100. For
instance, depending on where bottlenecks are identified,
administrators can add additional client computing devices 102,
secondary storage computing devices 106 (and corresponding media
agents 144), 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, the 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 the media agents
144 and/or secondary storage devices 108, respectively.
[0178] Moreover, each client computing device 102 in some
embodiments can communicate with, among other components, any of
the media agents 144, e.g., as directed by the storage manager 140.
And each media agent 144 may be able to communicate with, among
other components, any of the secondary storage devices 108, e.g.,
as directed by the storage manager 140. Thus, operations can be
routed to the secondary storage devices 108 in a dynamic and highly
flexible manner, to provide load balancing, failover, and the like.
Further examples of scalable systems capable of dynamic storage
operations, and of systems capable of performing load balancing and
fail over are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,246,207, which is
incorporated by reference herein.
[0179] In alternative configurations, certain components are not
distributed and may instead reside and execute on the same
computing device. For example, in some embodiments one or more data
agents 142 and the storage manager 140 reside on the same client
computing device 102. In another embodiment, one or more data
agents 142 and one or more media agents 144 reside on a single
computing device.
Exemplary Types of Information Management Operations
[0180] In order to protect and leverage stored data, the
information management system 100 can be configured to perform a
variety of information management operations. As will be described,
these operations can generally include secondary copy and other
data movement operations, processing and data manipulation
operations, analysis, reporting, and management operations. The
operations described herein may be performed on any type of
computing platform, e.g., between two computers connected via a
LAN, to a mobile client telecommunications device connected to a
server via a WLAN, to any manner of client device coupled to a
cloud storage target.
Data Movement Operations
[0181] Data movement operations according to certain embodiments
are generally operations that involve the copying or migration of
data (e.g., payload data) between different locations in the
information management system 100 in an original/native and/or one
or more different formats. 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.
[0182] 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 operations), snapshot operations, deduplication or
single-instancing operations, auxiliary copy operations, and the
like. As will be discussed, some of these operations involve the
copying, migration or other movement of data, without actually
creating multiple, distinct copies. Nonetheless, some or all of
these operations are referred to as "copy" operations for
simplicity.
[0183] Backup Operations
[0184] A backup operation creates a copy of a version of data
(e.g., one or more files or other data units) in primary data 112
at a particular point in time. Each subsequent backup copy may be
maintained independently of the first. Further, a backup copy in
some embodiments is generally stored in a form that is different
than the native format, e.g., a backup format. This can be in
contrast to the version in primary data 112 from which the backup
copy is derived, and which may instead be stored in a native format
of 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 application format. For example, a backup copy may be
stored in a backup format that facilitates compression and/or
efficient long-term storage.
[0185] Backup copies can have relatively long retention periods as
compared to primary data 112, and may be stored on media with
slower retrieval times than primary data 112 and certain other
types of secondary copies 116. On the other hand, backups may have
relatively shorter retention periods than some other types of
secondary copies 116, such as archive copies (described below).
Backups may sometimes be stored at on offsite location.
[0186] Backup operations can include full, synthetic or incremental
backups. A 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 for subsequent backup
copies.
[0187] For instance, a differential backup operation (or cumulative
incremental backup operation) tracks and stores changes that have
occurred since the last full backup. Differential backups can grow
quickly in size, but can provide relatively efficient restore times
because a restore can be completed in some cases using only the
full backup copy and the latest differential copy.
[0188] 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, restore
times can be relatively long in comparison to full or differential
backups because completing a restore operation may involve
accessing a full backup in addition to multiple incremental
backups.
[0189] 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 the copying of a data volume (e.g., a
logical disk or partition) as a whole. In a file-level backup, the
information management system 100 may generally track changes to
individual files at the file-level, and includes copies of files in
the backup copy. In the case of a block-level backup, files are
broken into constituent blocks, and changes are tracked at the
block-level. Upon restore, the information management system 100
reassembles the blocks into files in a transparent fashion.
[0190] Far less data may actually be transferred and copied to the
secondary storage devices 108 during a file-level copy than a
volume-level copy. Likewise, a block-level copy may involve the
transfer of less data than a file-level copy, resulting in faster
execution times. 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 constituent
blocks can sometimes result in longer restore times as compared to
file-level backups. Similar to backup operations, the other types
of secondary copy operations described herein can also be
implemented at either the volume-level, file-level, or
block-level.
[0191] Archive Operations
[0192] Because backup operations generally involve maintaining a
version of the copied data in primary data 112 and also maintaining
backup copies in secondary storage device(s) 108, they can consume
significant storage capacity. To help reduce storage consumption,
an archive operation according to certain embodiments creates a
secondary 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) from the source copy may be removed from source storage.
Archive copies are sometimes stored in an archive format or other
non-native application format. 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 original application format.
[0193] In addition, archive copies may be retained for relatively
long periods of time (e.g., years) and, in some cases, are never
deleted. Archive copies are generally retained for longer periods
of time than backup copies, for example. In certain embodiments,
archive copies may be made and kept for extended periods in order
to meet compliance regulations.
[0194] Moreover, when primary data 112 is archived, in some cases
the archived primary data 112 or a portion thereof is deleted when
creating the archive copy. Thus, archiving can serve the purpose of
freeing up space in the primary storage device(s) 104. Similarly,
when a secondary copy 116 is archived, the secondary copy 116 may
be deleted, and an archive copy can therefore serve the purpose of
freeing up space in secondary storage device(s) 108. In contrast,
source copies often remain intact when creating backup copies.
Examples of compatible data archiving operations are provided in
U.S. Pat. No. 7,107,298, which is incorporated by reference
herein.
[0195] Snapshot Operations
[0196] 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
the primary data 112 at a given point in time, and may include
state and/or status information relative to an application that
creates/manages the data. 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.
[0197] A "hardware snapshot" (or "hardware-based snapshot")
operation can be a snapshot operation 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 residing on the storage device itself. For instance, the
storage device may be capable of performing snapshot operations
upon request, generally without intervention or oversight from any
of the other components in the information management system 100.
In this manner, hardware snapshots can off-load other components of
information management system 100 from processing involved in
snapshot creation and management.
[0198] A "software snapshot" (or "software-based snapshot")
operation, on the other hand, can be a snapshot operation in which
one or more other components in information management system 100
(e.g., client computing devices 102, data agents 142, etc.)
implement a software layer that manages the snapshot operation via
interaction with the target storage device. For instance, the
component implementing 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.
[0199] 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 are able to 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 an application.
In some other cases, the snapshot may be created at the
block-level, such as where 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 a particular point in time
when the snapshot copy was created.
[0200] Once a snapshot has been taken, subsequent changes to the
file system typically do not overwrite the blocks in use at the
time of the snapshot. Therefore, the 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 are
actually later modified. Furthermore, when files are modified,
typically only the pointers which map to blocks are copied, not the
blocks themselves. In some embodiments, for example in the case of
"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 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, which is incorporated by reference herein.
[0201] 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.
[0202] Replication Operations
[0203] Another type of secondary copy operation is a replication
operation. Some types of secondary copies 116 are used to
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 the 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.
[0204] According to some embodiments storage 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,
backup or otherwise manipulate the replication copies as if the
data was the "live", primary data 112. This can reduce access time,
storage utilization, and impact on source applications 110, among
other benefits.
[0205] Based on known good state information, the information
management system 100 can replicate sections of application data
that represent a recoverable state rather than rote copying of
blocks of data. Examples of compatible replication operations
(e.g., continuous data replication) are provided in U.S. Pat. No.
7,617,262, which is incorporated by reference herein.
[0206] Deduplication/Single-Instancing Operations
[0207] Another type of data movement operation is deduplication or
single-instance storage, which is useful to reduce the amount of
data within the system. For instance, some or all of the
above-described secondary storage operations can involve
deduplication in some fashion. New data is read, broken down into
portions (e.g., sub-file level blocks, files, etc.) of a selected
granularity, compared with blocks that are already stored, and only
the new blocks are stored. Blocks that already exist are
represented as pointers to the already stored data.
[0208] In order to streamline the comparison process, the
information management system 100 may calculate and/or store
signatures (e.g., hashes or cryptographically unique IDs)
corresponding to the individual data blocks in a database and
compare the signatures instead of comparing entire data blocks. In
some cases, only a single instance of each element is stored, and
deduplication operations may therefore be referred to
interchangeably as "single-instancing" operations. Depending on the
implementation, however, deduplication or single-instancing
operations can store more than one instance of certain data blocks,
but nonetheless significantly reduce data redundancy.
[0209] Depending on the embodiment, deduplication blocks can be of
fixed or variable length. Using variable length blocks can provide
enhanced deduplication by responding to changes in the data stream,
but can involve complex processing. In some cases, the information
management system 100 utilizes a technique for dynamically aligning
deduplication blocks (e.g., fixed-length blocks) based on changing
content in the data stream, as described in U.S. Pat. No.
8,364,652, which is incorporated by reference herein.
[0210] The information management system 100 can perform
deduplication in a variety of manners at a variety of locations in
the information management system 100. For instance, in some
embodiments, the information management system 100 implements
"target-side" deduplication by deduplicating data (e.g., secondary
copies 116) stored in the secondary storage devices 108. In some
such cases, the 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. Pub. No.
2012/0150826, which is incorporated by reference herein. Instead of
or in combination with "target-side" deduplication, deduplication
can also be performed on the "source-side" (or "client-side"),
e.g., to reduce the amount of traffic between the media agents 144
and the client computing device(s) 102 and/or reduce redundant data
stored in the primary storage devices 104. According to various
implementations, one or more of the storage devices of the
target-side, source-side, or client-side of an operation can be
cloud-based storage devices. Thus, the target-side, source-side,
and/or client-side deduplication can be cloud-based deduplication.
In particular, as discussed previously, the storage manager 140 may
communicate with other components within the information management
system 100 via network protocols and cloud service provider APIs to
facilitate cloud-based deduplication/single instancing. Examples of
such deduplication techniques are provided in U.S. Pat. Pub. No.
2012/0150818, which is incorporated by reference herein. Some other
compatible deduplication/single instancing techniques are described
in U.S. Pat. Pub. Nos. 2006/0224846 and 2009/0319534, which are
incorporated by reference herein.
[0211] Information Lifecycle Management and Hierarchical Storage
Management Operations
[0212] 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.
[0213] One type of ILM operation is a hierarchical storage
management (HSM) operation. A HSM operation is generally an
operation for automatically moving data between classes of storage
devices, such as between high-cost and 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 relatively cheaper, have
relatively slower access/restore times, etc. For example, movement
of data between tiers may occur as data becomes less important over
time.
[0214] In some embodiments, an HSM operation is similar to an
archive operation 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 data from primary data 112 or a secondary copy
116 that is larger than a given size threshold or older than a
given age threshold and that is stored in a backup format.
[0215] Often, and unlike some types of archive copies, HSM data
that is removed or aged from the source copy 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 data in primary data 112 (or other source copy) and to
point to or otherwise indicate the new location in a secondary
storage device 108.
[0216] According to one 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 the HSM data that has been
removed or migrated, the information management system 100 uses the
stub to locate the data and often make recovery of the data appear
transparent, even though the HSM data may be stored at a location
different from the remaining 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 also include some
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.
[0217] An HSM copy may be stored in a format other than the native
application format (e.g., where the data is compressed, encrypted,
deduplicated, and/or otherwise modified from the original
application format). 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 "on-line 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, which is incorporated by reference
herein.
[0218] Auxiliary Copy and Disaster Recovery Operations
[0219] An auxiliary copy is generally a copy operation in which a
copy is created of an existing secondary copy 116. For instance, an
initial secondary copy 116 may be generated using or otherwise be
derived from primary data 112 (or other data residing in the
secondary storage subsystem 118), whereas an auxiliary copy is
generated from the initial secondary copy 116. Auxiliary copies can
be used to create 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 compatible auxiliary copy techniques are
described in further detail in U.S. Pat. No. 8,230,195, which is
incorporated by reference herein.
[0220] The information management system 100 may also perform
disaster recovery operations that make or retain disaster recovery
copies, often as secondary, high-availability disk copies. The
information management system 100 may create secondary disk copies
and store the copies 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.
[0221] Data Analysis, Reporting, and Management Operations
[0222] Data analysis, reporting, and management operations can be
different than data movement operations in that they do not
necessarily involve the copying, migration or other transfer of
data (e.g., primary data 112 or secondary copies 116) 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 the
data under management to provide enhanced search and other
features. Other data analysis operations such as compression and
encryption can provide data reduction and security benefits,
respectively.
[0223] Classification Operations/Content Indexing
[0224] In some embodiments, the information management system 100
analyzes and indexes characteristics, content, and metadata
associated with the data stored within the primary data 112 and/or
secondary copies 116, providing enhanced search and management
capabilities for data discovery and other purposes. The content
indexing can be used to identify files or other data objects having
pre-defined 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.).
[0225] The information management system 100 generally organizes
and catalogues the results in a content index, which may be stored
within the media agent database 152, for example. The content index
can also include the storage locations of (or pointer references
to) the indexed data in the primary data 112 or secondary copies
116, as appropriate. The results may also be stored, in the form of
a content index database or otherwise, elsewhere in the information
management system 100 (e.g., in the primary storage devices 104, or
in the secondary storage device 108). Such index data provides the
storage manager 140 or another component with an efficient
mechanism for locating primary data 112 and/or secondary copies 116
of data objects that match particular criteria.
[0226] For instance, search criteria can be specified by a user
through user interface 158 of the storage manager 140. In some
cases, the information management system 100 analyzes data and/or
metadata in secondary copies 116 to create an "off-line" content
index, without significantly impacting the performance of the
client computing devices 102. Depending on the embodiment, the
system can also implement "on-line" content indexing, e.g., of
primary data 112. Examples of compatible content indexing
techniques are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 8,170,995, which is
incorporated by reference herein.
[0227] In order to further leverage the data stored in the
information management system 100 to perform these and other tasks,
one or more components 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 centralized data
classification databases may be associated with different
subsystems or tiers within the information management system 100.
As an example, there may be a first centralized metabase associated
with the primary storage subsystem 117 and a second centralized
metabase associated with the secondary storage subsystem 118. In
other cases, there may be one or more metabases associated with
individual components. For instance, there may be a dedicated
metabase associated with some or all of the 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, or may be otherwise associated with
storage manager 140.
[0228] In some cases, the 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 do not significantly impact performance on other
components in the information management system 100. In other
cases, the 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.) in the media
agent 144 (or other indices) 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 (e.g., in lieu of scanning an entire file
system). Examples of compatible metabases and data classification
operations are provided in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,229,954 and 7,747,579,
which are incorporated by reference herein.
[0229] Encryption Operations
[0230] The information management system 100 in some cases is
configured to process data (e.g., files or other data objects,
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 in the information management system 100.
[0231] The information management system 100 in some cases encrypts
the data at the client level, such that the client computing
devices 102 (e.g., the data agents 142) encrypt the data prior to
forwarding the data to other components, e.g., before sending the
data to media agents 144 during a secondary copy operation. In such
cases, the 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 creating copies of
secondary copies, e.g., when creating auxiliary copies or archive
copies. In yet further embodiments, the secondary storage devices
108 can implement built-in, high performance hardware
encryption.
[0232] Management and Reporting Operations
[0233] Certain embodiments leverage the integrated, ubiquitous
nature of the information management system 100 to provide useful
system-wide management and reporting functions. Examples of some
compatible management and reporting techniques are provided in U.S.
Pat. No. 7,343,453, which is incorporated by reference herein.
[0234] Operations management can generally include monitoring and
managing the health and performance of information management
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.
[0235] As an example, a storage manager 140 or other component in
the information management system 100 may analyze traffic patterns
and suggest or automatically route data via a particular route to
e.g., certain facilitate storage and minimize congestion. In some
embodiments, the system can generate predictions relating to
storage operations or storage operation information. Such
predictions described may be based on a trending analysis that may
be used to predict various network operations or use of network
resources 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, which is incorporated by reference herein.
[0236] In some configurations, a master storage manager 140 may
track the status of a set of associated storage operation cells in
a hierarchy of information management 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 track the status of its associated storage
operation cells and associated information management operations 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 index 150 (or other location).
[0237] The master storage manager 140 or other component in the
system may also determine whether a storage-related criteria or
other criteria is satisfied, and 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, in some embodiments, the system uses data from one or
more storage operation cells to advise users of risks or indicates
actions that can be used to mitigate or otherwise minimize these
risks, and in some embodiments, dynamically takes action to
mitigate or minimize 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 able to be restored 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 criteria is triggered, the
system can notify the user of these conditions and may suggest (or
automatically implement) an action to mitigate or otherwise address
the condition or minimize 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 space on the 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, which
is incorporated by reference herein.
[0238] In some embodiments, the system 100 may also determine
whether a metric or other indication satisfies a particular storage
criteria and, if so, perform an action. For example, as previously
described, 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. Examples of such metrics are described in U.S. Pat. No.
7,343,453, which is incorporated by reference herein.
[0239] In some embodiments, risk factors may be quantified into
certain measurable service or risk levels for ease of
comprehension. For example, certain applications and associated
data may be considered to be more important by an enterprise than
other data and services. Financial compliance data, for example,
may be of greater importance than marketing materials, etc. Network
administrators may assign priorities or "weights" to certain data
or applications, corresponding to its importance (priority value).
The level of compliance with the storage operations specified for
these applications may also be assigned a certain value. Thus, the
health, impact and overall importance of a service on an enterprise
may be determined, for example, 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 if the operation is
being performed within a specified data protection service level.
Further examples of the service level determination are provided in
U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,453, which is incorporated by reference
herein.
[0240] The system 100 may additionally calculate data costing and
data availability associated with information management operation
cells according to an embodiment of the invention. For instance,
data received from the cell may be used in conjunction with
hardware-related information and other information about network
elements to generate indications of costs associated with storage
of particular data in the system or the availability of particular
data in the system. In general, components in the system are
identified and associated information is obtained (dynamically or
manually). Characteristics or metrics associated with the network
elements may be identified and associated with that component
element for further use generating an indication of storage cost or
data availability. 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
network 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. Storage devices may be
assigned to a particular cost category which is indicative of the
cost of storing information on that device. Further examples of
costing techniques are described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,453, which
is incorporated by reference herein.
[0241] 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 the user interface 158 in a single, integrated view or
console. The console may support a reporting capability that allows
for the generation of a variety of reports, which may be tailored
to a particular aspect of information management. 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. Such
reports may be specified and created at a certain point in time as
a network 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.
[0242] The integrated user interface 158 can include an option to
show a "virtual view" of the system that graphically depicts the
various components in the system using appropriate icons. As one
example, the user interface 158 may provide a graphical depiction
of one or more primary storage devices 104, the secondary storage
devices 108, data agents 142 and/or media agents 144, and their
relationship to one another in the information management system
100. The operations management functionality 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 the 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 storage operations
for the information management system 100, such as job status,
component status, resource status (e.g., network 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.
[0243] Further examples of some reporting techniques and associated
interfaces providing an integrated view of an information
management system are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,453, which is
incorporated by reference herein.
[0244] The information management 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
the secondary storage devices 108 (e.g., backups, archives, or
other secondary copies 116). For example, the information
management system 100 may construct and maintain a virtual
repository for data stored in the information management 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
[0245] As indicated previously, 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 or other information management operations.
[0246] 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 items: (1) what data will be associated with the
storage policy; (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 storage operation
to be performed; and (5) retention information specifying how long
the data will be retained at the destination.
[0247] As an illustrative example, data associated with a storage
policy can be logically organized into groups. In some cases, these
logical groupings can be referred to as "sub-clients". A sub-client
may represent static or dynamic associations of portions of a data
volume. Sub-clients 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.
[0248] Sub-clients 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, sub-clients 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 sub-clients.
[0249] 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 sub-clients
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
sub-clients 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
sub-client 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, which can be 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 storage 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).
[0250] 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
(e.g., one or more sub-clients) associated with the storage policy
between the source (e.g., one or more host client computing devices
102) and destination (e.g., a particular target secondary storage
device 108).
[0251] A storage policy can also specify the type(s) of operations
associated with the storage policy, such as a backup, archive,
snapshot, auxiliary copy, or the like. Retention information can
specify how long the data will be kept, depending on organizational
needs (e.g., a number of days, months, years, etc.)
[0252] The information management policies 148 may also include one
or more scheduling policies specifying when and how often to
perform operations. Scheduling information 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 will take place. Scheduling policies in some
cases are associated with particular components, such as particular
logical groupings of data associated with a storage policy (e.g., a
sub-client), client computing device 102, and the like. In one
configuration, a separate scheduling policy is maintained for
particular logical groupings of data on a client computing device
102. The scheduling policy specifies that those logical groupings
are to be moved to secondary storage devices 108 every hour
according to storage policies associated with the respective
sub-clients.
[0253] When adding a new client computing device 102,
administrators can manually configure information management
policies 148 and/or other settings, e.g., via the user interface
158. However, this can be an involved process resulting in delays,
and it may be desirable to begin data protecting operations
quickly.
[0254] Thus, in some embodiments, the information management 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 one or more client computing devices
102, the installation script may register the client computing
device 102 with the 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.
[0255] Other types of information management policies 148 are
possible. For instance, the information management policies 148 can
also include one or more audit or security policies. An audit
policy is a set of preferences, rules and/or criteria that protect
sensitive data in the information management system 100. For
example, an audit policy may define "sensitive objects" as files or
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.).
[0256] 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.
[0257] In some implementations, the information management policies
148 may include one or more provisioning policies. A provisioning
policy can include a set of 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). The storage manager 140 or other
components may enforce the provisioning policy. For instance, the
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) is adjusted accordingly or an alert may
trigger.
[0258] While the above types of information management policies 148
have been 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. 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 the information management policies
148 may specify: [0259] schedules or other timing information,
e.g., specifying when and/or how often to perform information
management operations; [0260] the type of copy 116 (e.g., type of
secondary copy) and/or copy format (e.g., snapshot, backup,
archive, HSM, etc.); [0261] a location or a class or quality of
storage for storing secondary copies 116 (e.g., one or more
particular secondary storage devices 108); [0262] preferences
regarding whether and how to encrypt, compress, deduplicate, or
otherwise modify or transform secondary copies 116; [0263] which
system components and/or network pathways (e.g., preferred media
agents 144) should be used to perform secondary storage operations;
[0264] resource allocation between different computing devices or
other system components used in performing information management
operations (e.g., bandwidth allocation, available storage capacity,
etc.); [0265] whether and how to synchronize or otherwise
distribute files or other data objects across multiple computing
devices or hosted services; and [0266] 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 information management system
100.
[0267] Policies can additionally specify or depend on a variety of
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: [0268] 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; [0269] time-related factors (e.g., aging information such
as time since the creation or modification of a data object);
[0270] deduplication information (e.g., hashes, data blocks,
deduplication block size, deduplication efficiency or other
metrics); [0271] an estimated or historic usage or cost associated
with different components (e.g., with secondary storage devices
108); [0272] 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; [0273] a relative sensitivity (e.g.,
confidentiality) of a data object, e.g., as determined by its
content and/or metadata; [0274] the current or historical storage
capacity of various storage devices; [0275] the current or
historical network capacity of network pathways connecting various
components within the storage operation cell; [0276] access control
lists or other security information; and [0277] the content of a
particular data object (e.g., its textual content) or of metadata
associated with the data object.
Exemplary Storage Policy and Secondary Storage Operations
[0278] FIG. 1E shows a data flow data diagram depicting performance
of storage operations by an embodiment of an information management
system 100, according to an exemplary storage policy 148A. The
information management 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 residing thereon, a primary storage
device 104, two media agents 144A, 144B, and two secondary storage
devices 108A, 108B: a disk library 108A and a tape library 108B. As
shown, the primary storage device 104 includes primary data 112A,
112B associated with a logical grouping of data associated with a
file system) and a logical grouping of data associated with email
data, respectively. Although for simplicity the logical grouping of
data associated with the file system is referred to as a file
system sub-client, and the logical grouping of data associated with
the email data is referred to as an email sub-client, the
techniques described with respect to FIG. 1E can be utilized in
conjunction with data that is organized in a variety of other
manners.
[0279] As indicated by the dashed box, the second media agent 144B
and the tape library 1086 are "off-site", and may therefore be
remotely located from the other components in the information
management system 100 (e.g., in a different city, office building,
etc.). Indeed, "off-site" may refer to a magnetic tape located in
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.
[0280] The file system sub-client and its associated primary data
112A in certain embodiments generally comprise information
generated by the file system and/or operating system of the 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 sub-client, on the other hand, and its associated
primary data 112B, include data generated by an e-mail client
application operating on the client computing device 102, and can
include mailbox information, folder information, emails,
attachments, associated database information, and the like. As
described above, the sub-clients can be logical containers, and the
data included in the corresponding primary data 112A, 1126 may or
may not be stored contiguously.
[0281] The exemplary storage policy 148A includes backup copy
preferences or rule set 160, disaster recovery copy preferences
rule set 162, and compliance copy preferences or rule set 164. The
backup copy rule set 160 specifies that it is associated with a
file system sub-client 166 and an email sub-client 168. Each of
these sub-clients 166, 168 are associated with the particular
client computing device 102. The backup copy rule set 160 further
specifies that the backup operation will be written to the disk
library 108A, and designates a particular media agent 144A to
convey the data to the disk library 108A. Finally, the backup copy
rule set 160 specifies that backup copies created according to the
rule set 160 are scheduled to be generated on an hourly basis and
to be retained for 30 days. In some other embodiments, scheduling
information is not included in the storage policy 148A, and is
instead specified by a separate scheduling policy.
[0282] The disaster recovery copy rule set 162 is associated with
the same two sub-clients 166, 168. However, the disaster recovery
copy rule set 162 is associated with the tape library 108B, unlike
the backup copy rule set 160. Moreover, the disaster recovery copy
rule set 162 specifies that a different media agent 144B than the
media agent 144A associated with the backup copy rule set 160 will
be used to convey the data to the tape library 108B. As indicated,
disaster recovery copies created according to the rule set 162 will
be retained for 60 days, and will be generated on a daily basis.
Disaster recovery copies generated according to the disaster
recovery copy rule set 162 can provide protection in the event of a
disaster or other data-loss event that would affect the backup copy
116A maintained on the disk library 108A.
[0283] The compliance copy rule set 164 is only associated with the
email sub-client 168, and not the file system sub-client 166.
Compliance copies generated according to the compliance copy rule
set 164 will therefore not include primary data 112A from the file
system sub-client 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 the
file system data. The compliance copy rule set 164 is associated
with the same tape library 108B and media agent 144B as the
disaster recovery copy rule set 162, although a different storage
device or media agent could be used in other embodiments. Finally,
the compliance copy rule set 164 specifies that copies generated
under the compliance copy rule set 164 will be retained for 10
years, and will be generated on a quarterly basis.
[0284] At step 1, the storage manager 140 initiates a backup
operation according to the backup copy rule set 160. For instance,
a scheduling service running on the storage manager 140 accesses
scheduling information from the backup copy rule set 160 or a
separate scheduling policy associated with the client computing
device 102, and initiates a backup copy operation on an hourly
basis. Thus, at the scheduled time slot the storage manager 140
sends instructions to the client computing device 102 to begin the
backup operation.
[0285] At step 2, the file system data agent 142A and the email
data agent 142B residing on the client computing device 102 respond
to the instructions received from the storage manager 140 by
accessing and processing the primary data 112A, 112B involved in
the copy operation from the primary storage device 104. Because the
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.
[0286] At step 3, the client computing device 102 communicates the
retrieved, processed data to the first media agent 144A, as
directed by the storage manager 140, according to the backup copy
rule set 160. In some other embodiments, the information management
system 100 may implement a load-balancing, availability-based, or
other appropriate algorithm to select from the available set of
media agents 144A, 144B. Regardless of the manner the media agent
144A is selected, the storage manager 140 may further keep a record
in the storage manager database 146 of the association between the
selected media agent 144A and the client computing device 102
and/or between the selected media agent 144A and the backup copy
116A.
[0287] The target media agent 144A receives the data from the
client computing device 102, and at step 4 conveys the data to the
disk library 108A to create the backup copy 116A, again at the
direction of the storage manager 140 and according to the backup
copy rule set 160. The secondary storage device 108A can be
selected in other ways. For instance, the media agent 144A may have
a dedicated association with a particular secondary storage
device(s), or the storage manager 140 or media agent 144A may
select from a plurality of secondary storage devices, e.g.,
according to availability, using one of the techniques described in
U.S. Pat. No. 7,246,207, which is incorporated by reference
herein.
[0288] The media agent 144A can also update its index 153 to
include data and/or metadata related to the backup copy 116A, such
as information indicating where the backup copy 116A resides on the
disk library 108A, data and metadata for cache retrieval, etc.
After the 30 day retention period expires, the storage manager 140
instructs the media agent 144A to delete the backup copy 116A from
the disk library 108A. The storage manager 140 may similarly update
its index 150 to include information relating to the storage
operation, such as information relating to the type of storage
operation, a physical location associated with one or more copies
created by the storage operation, the time the storage operation
was performed, status information relating to the storage
operation, the components involved in the storage operation, and
the like. In some cases, the storage manager 140 may update its
index 150 to include some or all of the information stored in the
index 153 of the media agent 144A.
[0289] At step 5, the storage manager 140 initiates the creation of
a disaster recovery copy 1166 according to the disaster recovery
copy rule set 162. For instance, at step 6, based on instructions
received from the storage manager 140 at step 5, the specified
media agent 144B retrieves the most recent backup copy 116A from
the disk library 108A.
[0290] At step 7, again at the direction of the storage manager 140
and as specified in the disaster recovery copy rule set 162, the
media agent 144B uses the retrieved data to create a disaster
recovery copy 1166 on the tape library 1086. In some cases, the
disaster recovery copy 1166 is a direct, mirror copy of the backup
copy 116A, and remains in the backup format. In other embodiments,
the disaster recovery copy 1166 may be generated in some other
manner, such as by using the primary data 112A, 1126 from the
primary storage device 104 as source data. The disaster recovery
copy operation is initiated once a day and the disaster recovery
copies 116B are deleted after 60 days.
[0291] At step 8, the storage manager 140 initiates the creation of
a compliance copy 116C, according to the compliance copy rule set
164. For instance, the storage manager 140 instructs the media
agent 1446 to create the compliance copy 116C on the tape library
1086 at step 9, as specified in the compliance copy rule set 164.
In the example, the compliance copy 116C is generated using the
disaster recovery copy 1166. In other embodiments, the compliance
copy 116C is instead generated using either the primary data 1126
corresponding to the email sub-client or using the backup copy 116A
from the disk library 108A as source data. As specified, in the
illustrated example, compliance copies 116C are created quarterly,
and are deleted after ten years.
[0292] While not shown in FIG. 1E, at some later point in time, a
restore operation can be initiated involving one or more of the
secondary copies 116A, 1166, 116C. As one example, a user may
manually initiate a restore of the backup copy 116A by interacting
with the user interface 158 of the storage manager 140. The storage
manager 140 then accesses data in its index 150 (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.
[0293] In other cases, 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 144A retrieves the data from the disk library 108A. For
instance, the media agent 144A may access its index 153 to identify
a location of the backup copy 116A on the disk library 108A, or may
access location information residing on the disk 108A itself.
[0294] When the backup copy 116A was recently created or accessed,
the media agent 144A accesses a cached version of the backup copy
116A residing in the index 153, without having to access the disk
library 108A for some or all of the data. Once it has retrieved the
backup copy 116A, the media agent 144A communicates the data to the
source client computing device 102. Upon receipt, the file system
data agent 142A and the email data agent 142B may unpackage (e.g.,
restore from a backup format to the native application format) the
data in the backup copy 116A and restore the unpackaged data to the
primary storage device 104.
Exemplary Applications of Storage Policies
[0295] The storage manager 140 may permit a user to specify aspects
of the 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 the database 146. An information governance policy may
comprise a classification policy, which is described herein. 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.
[0296] Information governance policies allow administrators to
obtain different perspectives on all of 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 a centralized
index that reflects the contents of a distributed data set that
spans numerous clients and storage devices, including both primary
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 permit an organization to view and manipulate the single
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 organization.
[0297] A classification policy 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 data 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. 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, (2) were sent to or received
from outside counsel via email, and/or (3) contain one of the
following keywords: "privileged" or "attorney," "counsel", or other
terms.
[0298] 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.
[0299] A user may define a classification policy by indicating
criteria, parameters or descriptors of the policy via a graphical
user interface that provides facilities to present information and
receive input data, 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. For example, a
user may define certain entity tags, such as a particular product
number or project ID code that is relevant in the organization.
[0300] 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.
Exemplary Secondary Copy Formatting
[0301] 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 a single secondary storage device 108 or across multiple
secondary storage devices 108. In some cases, users can select
different chunk sizes, e.g., to improve throughput to tape storage
devices.
[0302] 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, the media agent 144, storage manager 140, or other
component may divide the associated files into chunks and generate
headers for each chunk by processing the constituent files.
[0303] The headers can include a variety of information such as
file identifier(s), volume(s), offset(s), or other information
associated with the payload data items, a chunk sequence number,
etc. Importantly, in addition to being stored with the secondary
copy 116 on the secondary storage device 108, the chunk headers can
also be stored to the index 153 of the associated media agent(s)
144 and/or the index 150. This is useful in some cases for
providing faster processing of secondary copies 116 during 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 the
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 the media agent 144) according to the
information in the chunk header to reassemble the files.
[0304] Data can also be communicated within the information
management system 100 in data channels that connect the client
computing devices 102 to the 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 providing
other advantages. Example data formatting techniques including
techniques involving data streaming, chunking, and the use of other
data structures in creating copies (e.g., secondary copies) are
described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,315,923 and 8,156,086, and 8,578,120,
each of which is incorporated by reference herein.
[0305] FIGS. 1F and 1G are diagrams of example data streams 170 and
171, respectively, which may be employed for performing data
storage operations. Referring to FIG. 1F, the data agent 142 forms
the data stream 170 from the data associated with a client
computing device 102 (e.g., primary data 112). The data stream 170
is composed of multiple pairs of stream header 172 and stream data
(or stream payload) 174. The 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.
[0306] Referring to FIG. 1G, the 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 for non-SI data.
[0307] FIG. 1H is a diagram illustrating the data structures 180
that may be used to store blocks of SI data and non-SI data on the
storage device (e.g., secondary storage device 108). According to
certain embodiments, the data structures 180 do not form part of a
native file system of the storage device. The 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 the
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. The metadata
file 186/187 stores non-SI data blocks as well as links to SI data
blocks stored in container files. The metadata index file 188/189
stores an index to the data in the metadata file 186/187. The
container files 190/191/193 store SI data blocks. The container
index file 192/194 stores an index to the container files
190/191/193. Among other things, the 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 the metadata file 187 in the chunk
folder 185. Accordingly, the corresponding index entry in the
container index file 192 indicates that the data block B2 in the
container file 190 is referred to. As another example, data block
B1 in the container file 191 is referred to by a link in the
metadata file 187, and so the corresponding index entry in the
container index file 192 indicates that this data block is referred
to.
[0308] As an example, the data structures 180 illustrated in FIG.
1H may have been created as a result of two storage operations
involving two client computing devices 102. For example, a first
storage operation on a first client computing device 102 could
result in the creation of the first chunk folder 184, and a second
storage operation on a second client computing device 102 could
result in the creation of the second chunk folder 185. The
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 storage operation on the data of the second client
computing device 102 would result in the 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 storage operation may result in storing
nearly all of the data subject to the storage operation, subsequent
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.
[0309] If the operating system of the secondary storage computing
device 106 on which the media agent 144 resides supports sparse
files, then when the media agent 144 creates container files
190/191/193, it can create them as sparse files. As previously
described, a sparse file is 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
the container files 190/191/193 be sparse files allows the media
agent 144 to free up space in the container files 190/191/193 when
blocks of data in the container files 190/191/193 no longer need to
be stored on the storage devices. In some examples, the 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, the 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
approximately 100 to approximately 1000 blocks or when its size
exceeds approximately 50 MB to 1 GB).
[0310] In some cases, a file on which a storage operation is
performed may comprise a large number of data blocks. For example,
a 100 MB file may be comprised in 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. As
described in detail herein, restoring such files may thus requiring
accessing multiple container files, chunk folders, and/or volume
folders to obtain the requisite data blocks.
Snapshot Management System
[0311] FIG. 2 illustrates an example information management system
200 for snapshot management according to one or more embodiments
disclosed herein. Snapshots can be point-in-time images of
production data, or of copies of production data, including
replicated copies, for example. Snapshots can also include system
state data, application state data, file system data, and other
types of information. As just one example, application state and/or
system data can be used to recover from a crash to an application
state that existed prior to a crash. Wherever taking a snapshot of
data is described in this disclosure, it should be understood that
the data can include production data, system state data,
application state data, file system data, or any other relevant
data and/or information. Although a variety of snapshot techniques
are compatible with the embodiments described herein, in some
embodiments, the snapshots can be created by maintaining pointers
to unchanged data and copying changed data (e.g., blocks), using a
copy-on-write methodology, for example. The system 200 of FIG. 2
includes a storage manager 240, one or more source systems 202, 203
(e.g., client system), and at least one destination storage system
or destination system 216 and storage array or one or more storage
devices 208. In general, the components shown in FIG. 2 may be
similar to corresponding components shown in certain of FIGS.
1A-1H. For instance, one or more of the storage manager 240, source
system 202, data agent(s) 242, and destination system 216 may be
similar to the storage manager 140, client 102, data agent(s) 142,
and primary and/or secondary storage device(s), respectively, of
certain of FIGS. 1A-1H.
[0312] In certain embodiments, the system 200 includes a storage
manager 240, which may include one or more of the following modules
or components: a volume replication table, a storage manager index
cache, a client, an information store, a data agent, a media agent,
a media agent index cache, and a storage device.
[0313] The source system 202 may include one or more applications
210, one or more data agents 242, and a snapshot manager 224
executing thereon. The applications 210 can include software
applications executing on the source system 202 and may generate
and modify production data. As just a few examples, the software
applications 210 may include database applications, server
software, virtual machine managers, operating systems, file system
management software, and other types of applications.
[0314] The source system 202 can include a data store or source
storage 204 for storing the production data generated by the
applications 210. The source storage 204 may include any type of
physical media capable of storing electronic data. For example, the
source storage 204 may comprise magnetic storage, such as a disk
drive, or other type of mass storage. In certain embodiments, the
source storage 204 may be internal and/or external to (e.g., remote
to) one or more other components of the source system 202. In yet
other embodiments, the source storage 204 can include a
network-attached storage (NAS) or the like. In certain embodiments,
the source storage 204 includes relatively fast access times as
compared to tape or other relatively slower or less expensive
media. For instance, the source storage can include hard disk
drives (HDD's) including spinning media or solid state drives
(SSD's) including solid-state storage, such as flash-based or
DRAM-based SSD's.
[0315] In certain embodiments, the data agent(s) 242 provide an
interface to a source data store 204 to execute copies, snapshots,
archiving, migration, recovery and other storage operations on
data, for example, in conjunction with one or more media agents. In
certain embodiments, a source system 202 runs a number of data
agents 242, wherein each data agent is configured to interface with
data generated by or from one or more applications 210. For
example, a first data agent may be configured to interface with
Microsoft Exchange data and a second data agent to interface with
Oracle database data. As is explained in greater detail herein, a
data agent 242 may be in communication with one or more media
agents to effect the distributed storage of snapshots on one or
more storage devices that are remote from the information store
that is the source of the snapshot.
[0316] The storage manager 240 may communicate with data and/or
media agents to control and manage snapshot creation, migration,
recovery and other storage operations. According to one embodiment,
the storage manager 240 maintains data in a storage manager index
cache that instructs a given data agent 242 to work in conjunction
with a specific media agent to store snapshots on one or more
storage devices 208. In certain embodiments, a snapshot is spread
over multiple storage devices. In certain embodiments, metadata
associated with one or more snapshots is stored in the media
agent(s) 252, whereas the storage array 208 provides storage for
the snapshots themselves. Storage may be provisioned from the
destination storage array 208 to the source system 202. In certain
embodiments, application agents of the source system 202 provide
requests to the media agent(s) 252, wherein the media agent(s)
communicates requests to the storage array 208 for snapshot
creation.
[0317] The snapshot manager 224 can be a software module that is
generally configured to manage interaction with the destination
system 216 to carry out snapshot operations. The snapshot
operations can include, without limitation, snapshot creation,
mounting, unmounting, deletion and reversion. The components of the
snapshot manager 224 in some embodiments work together to gather
and/or package the appropriate data and metadata related to the
requested snapshot operation for transmission to the destination
system 216. In certain embodiments, the snapshot management layer
or snapshot manager 224 or portions thereof are implemented on a
proxy system (not shown) that is separate from the source system
202, instead of, or in addition to being implemented on the source
system 202. The proxy system can therefore be configured to perform
some or all of the snapshot management processing, thereby
alleviating the associated burden from the source system 202 and
improving performance of the source system 202.
[0318] The snapshot manager 224 may utilize mapping information 225
to track multiple snapshots across multiple storage devices. For
example, the system may, as directed by an information management
policy or a user, store a first snapshot on a first storage device,
such as a tape drive or library, and then store subsequent
snapshots containing only the changed cluster(s) on a second
storage device, such as an optical drive or library. Alternatively,
instructions may be stored within system components, such as the
storage manager 240 or media agent 252, directing the storage
device(s) 208 used to store snapshots.
[0319] The mapping information 225 may provide mapping data for
locating and/or identifying data in the snapshot associated with
one or more particular applications and/or agents. Furthermore, the
mapping information 225 may indicate the number and/or type of
applications associated with the snapshot data. In certain
embodiments, the mapping information is maintained by one or more
of the requesting applications associated with the snapshot. For
example, a first application associated with the snapshot may
initiate population of the mapping information 225 by providing
information related to itself, wherein subsequent applications
associated with the snapshot may provide further data. In certain
embodiments, the mapping information 225 is used to locate relevant
data for restoration of data associated with one or more of the
applications.
[0320] In certain embodiments, certain storage devices of the
system are configured to create and/or store snapshot copies of
production data that is generated by applications running on the
source system 202, such as the production data stored in the source
storage 204. For example, destination storage devices can be
capable of performing hardware-based snapshots (e.g., storage
array-based hardware snapshots).
[0321] The snapshot manager 224 may manage the creation of a
snapshot in the corresponding storage array 208. In some
embodiments, the snapshot manager 224 is a software module
executing on the source system 202, or is implemented in
hardware/software on the destination system 216. Furthermore, in
certain embodiments, the snapshot manager 224 is a component of the
storage manager 240.
[0322] The data agents 242 may generally manage the movement of the
production data from the applications to the source storage 204
and/or other locations in the storage system 200. In some
embodiments, the data agents 242 manage movement of the production
data to the storage array 208, either directly, or indirectly
(e.g., from the source storage 204), depending on the embodiment.
The data agents 242 can also be responsible for backing up,
archiving, migrating or otherwise creating copies of production
data on secondary storage, either directly, or via one or more
media agents.
[0323] Each data agent 242 may be application-specific and
associated with a corresponding application, such as any of the
applications or types of applications discussed herein. For
example, without limitation, a data agent 242 may be associated
with one or more of the following: DB2, Informix, Microsoft
Exchange, Microsoft Hyper-V, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft SQL,
Oracle, SAP, and Microsoft Windows, Linux and Unix file systems. In
certain embodiments, the data agents 242 may be generic, where each
data agent is capable of handling two or more data types, such as
data generated by more than one applications. The data agents in
some embodiments process data to provide application-consistent
storage of production data. In some embodiments, the data agents
242 are in communication with the snapshot manager 224 and are
responsible for directing data and metadata transfer between the
snapshot manager 224 and the source storage 204 during snapshot
operations.
[0324] The system 200 includes a destination system 216 where
snapshots and/or backup copies may be stored. The destination
system may include one or more media agents 252, an index cache
253, and a storage array 208 comprising media on which snapshots
and/or backup copies may be stored. In certain embodiments, the
media agent(s) and/or storage array 208 may be separate from the
destination system 216. The destination system 216 may include an
index, or index cache 253, which may include data generated during
secondary copy operations and other storage or information
management operations. The index cache 253 can provide the media
agent(s) 252 with a fast and efficient mechanism for locating
snapshots located in the storage array 208, or other data stored in
the storage array 208. In certain embodiments, the index cache 253
includes metadata or other information relating to data stored in
the storage array 208. Such metadata may include, for example, a
path to the snapshots 209 stored in the storage array 208, when the
snapshots were created or modified, etc. The index cache 253 may,
therefore, include metadata associated with the snapshots that is
readily available for use in storage operations and other
activities without having to be first retrieved from the storage
array 208. In certain embodiments, some or all of the data in the
index cache 253 may instead or additionally be stored along with
the snapshots 209 in the storage array 208.
[0325] The media agent 252 may receive snapshots, possibly
including the changed data that is tracked by the snapshot, from
one or more data agents 242 and determine one or more storage
arrays 208 to which the snapshot should be written. According to
one embodiment, the media agent 252 applies load-balancing
algorithms to select a storage array 208 to which to write the
snapshot. Alternatively, the snapshots may be provided directly to
the storage array 208 by the source system 202, such as by one or
more data agents 242.
[0326] In certain embodiments, the storage manager 240 may instruct
the media agent 252 as to which storage array 208 the snapshot
should be written. In this manner, snapshots from given source
storage 204 may be written to one or more storage arrays 208,
improving data availability for restoration purposes in the event
that the source storage fails. Either the media agent 252 or the
storage manager 240 may record the storage device on which the
snapshot is written in the mapping information 225, thereby
allowing the snapshot to be located when required for restoring the
source storage 204.
[0327] The index cache 253 may be configured to store index data
the system generates during snapshot, migration, and restore
operations. For example, storage operations for Microsoft Exchange
data generate application specific index data regarding the
substantive Exchange data. Similarly, other applications may be
capable of generating application specific data during a snapshot.
Such data may generally be described as metadata. A media agent
index cache may track data that includes, for example, information
regarding the location of stored data on a given volume. Index data
provides the system with an efficient mechanism for locating user
files during storage operations such as copying, performing
snapshots and recovery. In certain embodiments, the index data may
be stored with the snapshot that is backed up to the destination
storage 208, and the media agent that controls the storage
operation may also write an additional copy of the index data to
its media agent index cache.
[0328] The destination storage 208 may include any type of physical
media capable of storing electronic data. For example, the
destination storage 208 may comprise magnetic storage, such as a
disk or a tape drive, or other type of mass storage. In certain
embodiments, the destination storage 208 may be internal and/or
external to (e.g., remote to) one or more other components of the
destination system 216. In yet other embodiments, the destination
storage 208 can include a NAS or the like. In certain embodiments,
the destination storage 208 includes relatively fast access times
as compared to tape or other relatively slower or less expensive
media. For instance, the destination storage can include hard disk
drives (HDD's) including spinning media or solid state drives
(SSD's) including solid-state storage, such as flash-based or
DRAM-based SSD's. In certain embodiments, the destination system
216 includes one or more separate computing devices (not shown).
For instance, where replication is used (e.g., continuous data
replication (CDR)), the destination system 216 may include a
separate computing device in communication with the destination
system 216 and including a replication module configured to manage
replication of the data stored in the source storage 204.
Data Storage Allocation for Snapshots
[0329] Certain embodiments disclosed herein provide a system
requiring a reduced number of snapshots, wherein a global snapshot
is taken and virtually separated into relevant portions for
particular clients and application. An information management
system may include one or more destination and/or source storage
devices. FIG. 3 illustrates an example data storage device
comprising one or more volumes of client production data of which
snapshots may be taken in accordance with one or more embodiments
disclosed herein. In an information management system, a storage
device 330 may be partitioned into one or more logical volumes or
other independently accessible portions. In certain embodiments,
the storage device 330 may include one or more Logical Unit Numbers
(LUNs) 331 (e.g., hardware disks or spindles), each of which stores
one or more such volumes (e.g., production data associated with a
client, such as Client A). A LUN may comprise an externally
addressable entity within a target device that implements an SCSI
device model. Each of the client volumes may be a component of a
storage stack, which may include file systems, volume managers,
device drivers, storage devices, and/or other components that
operate together to provide access to the storage. Client volumes
and backup images stored therein may be used for backup operations,
snapshot operations, and restore operations, in such cases where
the storage device 330 also serves as a secondary storage device in
addition to being primary storage.
[0330] In certain systems, multiple applications and/or clients may
share a single LUN for data storage. For example, multiple
databases (e.g., DB1, DB2, DB3) may be stored on the LUN 331 in
association with one or more client volumes 335. Furthermore, the
LUN 331 may include data generated by both database applications
and file system data applications 311, as shown. In certain systems
or embodiments, when a snapshot is performed for a particular
application/database (e.g., for DB1 associated with Client A), a
snapshot may be taken of the entire LUN 331 with which the
application is associated. The relevant portions of the snapshot
may be subsequently identified and stored in association with the
requesting application. However, remaining portions of the snapshot
may then be discarded, introducing operational inefficiencies into
the snapshot system. Certain embodiments disclosed herein provide
systems and methods for reusing global snapshots for multiple
applications and/or clients, thereby improving operational
efficiency.
An Exemplary Information Management System for Implementing Single
Snapshot for Multiple Applications
[0331] FIG. 4 is a data flow diagram illustrative of the
interaction between the various components of an exemplary
information management system 400 configured to implement and
generate a single snapshot for multiple applications, according to
certain embodiments. As illustrated, the exemplary information
management system 400 includes a storage manager 410, one or more
clients 420, one or more information stores or primary storage
devices 430, one or more data agents 440, one or more snapshot
managers 450, one or more applications 460, one or more media
agents 470, and one or more secondary storage devices 480. The
system 400 and corresponding components of FIG. 4 may be similar to
or the same as the system 100, 200 and similarly named (though not
necessarily similarly numbered) components of FIGS. 1D and 2.
[0332] The components of FIG. 4 may be similar to the components in
FIG. 2. For example, the snapshot manager 450 may be similar to the
snapshot manager 224 in FIG. 2. The clients 420 can be similar to
the source systems 202 in FIG. 2. The information store or primary
storage device(s) 430 or the secondary storage device(s) 480 may be
similar to the storage array 208 and/or the destination system 216
in FIG. 2.
[0333] Moreover, depending on the embodiment, the system 400 of
FIG. 4 may additionally include any of the other components shown
in FIGS. 1D and 2 that are not specifically shown in FIG. 4. The
system 400 may include one or more of each component. All
components of the system 400 can be in direct communication with
each other or communicate indirectly via the client 420, the
storage manager 410, the media agent 470, or the like. In certain
embodiments, some of the components in FIG. 4 shown as separate
components can reside on a single computing device, or vice versa.
For example, the snapshot manager 450 can be on the storage manager
410, the client 420, or on a separate computing device.
[0334] In certain embodiments, for example, described with respect
to FIGS. 4-7, the snapshot manager 450 may direct the timing of the
single snapshot (e.g., according to a storage policy). In other
embodiments, for example, as described with respect to FIGS. 2-3
and 8-10, the snapshot manager 224 may play a more passive role and
obtain the single snapshot based on snapshot requests from the
applications 210. For example, the snapshot manager 224 can group
snapshot requests from multiple applications 210 based on time of
receipt (e.g., received within a time window) and obtain a single
snapshot.
[0335] A snapshot may refer to the state of a system at a
particular point in time. A snapshot may be a read-only copy of
data frozen at a point in time. The snapshot can be an actual copy
of the state of a system or may include a set of pointers to the
data. Snapshots can be created efficiently; the time it takes to
create a snapshot does not increase with the size of the data. In
some cases, after the initial snapshot is taken of a data set,
subsequent snapshots use pointers to reference the initial snapshot
and copy only changed data. Pointer-based snapshots may require
much less disk space than full copy snapshots.
[0336] Data associated with multiple applications may be stored on
the same logical volume (e.g., LUN). In general, when an
application requests a snapshot of data associated with the
application, the snapshot of the entire volume is taken, although
the data of interest may only be the data for the requesting
application. Accordingly, the system 400 can coordinate snapshot
operations such that a single snapshot can be taken for multiple
applications whose data is residing on the same volume. For
example, the system 400 can take a single snapshot for applications
that have a similar snapshot frequency. The applications associated
with the data stored on a particular volume can each be quiesced or
placed in a consistent state, and the system 400 can take a single
snapshot of the volume. Then, the system 400 can create metadata
relating to which portion of the snapshot is associated with which
application.
[0337] In this manner, the system 400 can reduce the number of
snapshots to be taken. In some embodiments, the organization
associated with the system 400 may license the snapshot technology
and may be allowed a limited number of snapshots for a certain
amount of fees. Being able to reduce the number of snapshots taken
can lead to savings in costs as well as resources.
[0338] At data flow step 1, the snapshot manager 450 inquires
whether applications 460 are quiesced. The snapshot manager 450 can
reside on the storage manager 410 or the client 420, depending on
the embodiment. The snapshot manager 450 may coordinate and/or
manage snapshot operations, including taking a single snapshot for
multiple applications. The snapshot manager 450 may be similar to
the snapshot manager 224 in FIG. 2.
[0339] The system 400 can include one or more clients or client
computing devices 420. The clients 420 can be similar to the source
systems 202 in FIG. 2. One or more applications 460 may be
installed on a client 420. The applications 460 installed can be
the same across all clients 420 or vary depending on the client 420
(e.g., based on each client 420, based on the group the client 420
belongs to, etc.). Some examples of applications 460 include
database applications, email applications, word processing
applications, operating systems, virtual machines, etc.
[0340] The data associated with the applications 460 may be stored
on the information store or primary storage device 430. The
information store 430 can be shared by multiple clients 420. In
some embodiments, the information store 430 is organized as one or
more LUNs including one or more volumes, as described in FIG. 3.
For example, the information store 430 can be similar to the
storage device 330 in FIG. 3. The same LUN or volume can include
data for multiple applications. In one embodiment, the information
store 430 includes both application data and file system data.
[0341] An application 460 may be associated with a particular data
agent 440. For example, Oracle may have a data agent 440 associated
with it, and Exchange may have a data agent 440 associated with it.
There can also be a data agent 440 for a file system (e.g., for
Windows, Linux, Unix, etc.). A data agent 440 can manage and
process a particular type of data, for example, in connection with
various storage operations. For example, a data agent 440 may know
how the data of an application 460 is structured and what
operations are supported by the application 460. The data agent 440
may have knowledge of the format of the data of the application 460
and/or the directory structure or hierarchy of the application 460
and/or the file system. Data agents 440 may be installed on the
clients 420 that have the corresponding or associated applications
460 and/or file systems installed.
[0342] In an illustrative example of FIG. 4, Data Agent 1 440a is
associated with Application 1 460a; Data Agent 2 440b is associated
with Application 2 460b; and Data Agent 3 440c is associated with
Application 3 460c. Application 1 460a is installed on both Client
1 420a and Client 2 420b, and Application 2 460b and 3 460c are
installed on Client 1 420a and Client 2 420b, respectively. The
correspondence between a data agent 440 and an application 460 may
be one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one, etc. In the example of
FIG. 4, one data agent 440 is associated with one application 460.
In some embodiments, one data agent 440 manages more than one type
of application 460.
[0343] In the example of FIG. 4, Client 1 420a and Client 2 420b
share an information store 430. Client 1 420a has Application 1
460a and Application 2 460b installed. Client 2 420b has
Application 1 460a and Application 3 460c installed. Both Client 1
420a and Client 2 420b use a specific operating system or file
system (e.g., Windows). The data generated by Application 1 460a,
Application 2 460b, and Application 3 460c are stored in the
information store 430. The data relating to the file systems of
Client 1 420a and Client 2 420b is also stored in the information
store 430. In certain embodiments, the data for a particular client
420 is stored in a separate volume 435 or LUN 431. For instance,
data for Client 1 420a is stored in one volume 435a (Volume 1) in a
LUN 431a (LUN 1), and data for Client 2 420b is stored in another
volume 435b (Volume 2) in another LUN 431b (LUN 2). In other
embodiments, a LUN 431 can include multiple volumes 435, or a
volume 435 can include multiple LUNs 431.
[0344] The snapshot manager 450 may obtain a snapshot of a specific
volume 435 or LUN 431 in the information store 430 that contains
data for multiple applications 460. The snapshot manager 450 may
not directly take a snapshot, but may coordinate a snapshot
operation with various components of the system 400, such as the
media agent 470. As explained above, a single snapshot can be taken
for multiple applications 460. For instance, with respect to Client
1 420a, the snapshot manager 450 can take a snapshot of data
associated with Application 1 460a and data associated with
Application 2 460b by coordinating a single snapshot for Volume 1
435a or LUN 1 431a when both Application 1 460a and Application 2
460b are quiesced. Similarly, with respect to Client 2 420b, the
snapshot manager 450 can take a snapshot of data associated with
Application 1 460a and data associated with Application 3 460c by
coordinating a single snapshot for Volume 2 435b or LUN 2 431b when
both Application 1 460a and Application 3 460c are quiesced. The
snapshot according to the illustrative embodiment is accompanied by
application-specific indexing as explained in further detail
below.
[0345] In some embodiments, the snapshot manager 450 coordinates
taking a single snapshot of a virtual machine (VM) that has
multiple applications 460 installed. The snapshot manager 450
instructs various components of the system 400 to obtain a single
snapshot of all data for the VM, which includes data for multiple
applications.
[0346] The snapshot manager 450 can check whether applications 460
whose data is stored on a volume are quiesced or in consistent
states. A "consistent state" can refer to a state of an application
in which the operations are temporarily stopped and/or suspended to
allow a snapshot to be taken of the application. Data of an
application 460 can be recovered from a consistent state. A
consistent state may also be referred to as a good known state. The
snapshot manager 450 may determine which applications 460 should be
quiesced. The snapshot manager 450 can detect the applications 460
that are running or installed on a client 420 by determining which
types of data agents 440 are running or installed on the client
420. By determining the data agents 440 on the client 420, the
snapshot manager 450 may determine what types of application data
are stored in the information store 430. The snapshot manager 450
may find out whether the applications 460 are in consistent states
by inquiring with the respective data agents 440 associated with
the applications 460. Each data agent 440 can communicate with the
application 460 to determine whether the application 460 is in a
consistent state and ready for a snapshot operation to proceed.
[0347] Snapshot operations may run according to a schedule, at user
request, based on a storage policy such as any of the storage
policies described herein, based on certain events, etc. A schedule
may be based on the passage of a pre-determined amount of time,
such as on a regular basis (e.g., after a particular time interval,
such as a certain number of hours or days), or on an intermittent
basis. Snapshot operations may also be event-based and may be
triggered by certain events (e.g., after a new version of software
is installed on a component of the system 400). Snapshot operations
can be implemented as one or more storage policies, and the storage
manager 410 may manage such storage policies.
[0348] The snapshot manager 450 may coordinate snapshots according
to one or more storage policies. The frequency for taking snapshots
may vary, e.g., depending on the application 460. For example, the
snapshot for Exchange may need to be taken every 6 hours, and the
snapshot for SQL may need to be taken every 3 hours, as defined by
one or more storage policies associated with the applications
(e.g., by a single storage policy associated with both applications
460 or by individual storage policies associated with each
application 460). The applications 460 that have a similar
frequency for snapshots can be scheduled or grouped together in one
snapshot storage policy. For instance, the storage manager 410 or
the snapshot manager 450 can implement a snapshot storage policy
for some applications 460 that have a 3-hour frequency, and
implement another snapshot storage policy for other applications
460 that have a 6-hour frequency. In some embodiments, applications
460 having different snapshot frequencies can be implemented within
a single storage policy. For instance, a single storage policy can
include a sub-plan for a first group of applications 460 having one
frequency and another sub-plan for a second group of applications
460 having a different frequency. A snapshot storage policy may
also specify a retention period for storing the snapshot data. Each
application 460 may have a different retention period for the
snapshot data. For example, Exchange snapshot data is stored for 4
years; virtual machine snapshot data is stored for 30 days; and SQL
snapshot data is stored for 10+ years. As with snapshot frequency,
in such cases, the storage manager 410 or snapshot manager 450 can
implement one or more snapshot storage policies for applications
460 having similar retention periods. For instance, the storage
manager 410 or snapshot manager 450 can implement a snapshot
storage policy for some applications 460 that have a first
retention period and another snapshot storage policy for other
applications that have a different retention period. Or, a single
storage policy can include a sub-plan for a first group of
applications 460 having one retention period and another sub-plan
for a second group of applications 460 having a different retention
period. Further details relating to policies are explained above,
for example, in connection with FIG. 1E.
[0349] At data flow step 2, the data agents 440 quiesce associated
applications 460. When a data agent 440 receives an inquiry from
the snapshot manager 450, the data agent 440 can check whether its
associated application 460 is in a consistent state. If the
application 460 is not in a consistent state, the data agent 440
can engage appropriate writers or scripts to instruct the
application 460 to enter a consistent state. The applications 460
can take appropriate steps to come to a state where each is ready
for a snapshot operation to proceed.
[0350] In some embodiments, the data agent 440 that first receives
an inquiry from the snapshot manager 450 acts as a specialized data
agent 440 and coordinates tasks relating to taking a single
snapshot. For example, the specialized data agent 440 determines
what other data agents 440 are running or installed on the client
420. The specialized data agent 440 can determine what application
data may be stored in the information store 430 by determining the
other data agents 440 on the client 420. The specialized data agent
440 instructs the other data agents 440 to quiesce associated
applications 460. The specialized data agent 440 can quiesce its
own associated application 460. The other data agents 440 can
notify the specialized data agent 440 once their associated
applications 460 are quiesced. The specialized data agent 440 can
then notify the snapshot manager 450 that the applications 460 are
ready for a single snapshot. In certain embodiments, the snapshot
manager 450 may perform some or all of the functions of the
specialized data agent 440.
[0351] In certain embodiments, an application 460 may request a
snapshot for its data. The application 460 can send a request to
the snapshot manager 450 or the storage manager 410. The request
may be in the form of a job, and the snapshot manager 450 may
manage the jobs from various applications 460 (e.g., in a queue).
The request for snapshot of an application 460 may be generated and
sent by the data agent 440 for the application 460. The data agent
440 for the first job received in a given time period may be
designated to be the specialized data agent 440 and may instruct
the data agents 440 for subsequent jobs to place associated
applications 440 in consistent states.
[0352] At data flow step 3, the data agents 440 notify that
applications 460 are quiesced. After the data agents 440 instruct
the applications 460 to enter consistent states, the applications
460 can notify the data agents 440 once they are quiesced. The data
agents 440 in turn can notify the snapshot manager 450 or the
storage manager 410 that the applications 460 are ready for a
snapshot. In some embodiments, the specialized data agent 440 is
notified by the other data agents 440, and the specialized data
agent 440 lets the snapshot manager 450 or the storage manager 410
know that the applications 460 are ready for a snapshot. In certain
embodiments, not all applications 460 notify that they are ready
for a snapshot, but if a sufficient number of applications 460 are
in consistent states, the snapshot manager 450 may proceed with
taking the snapshot. The sufficient number of applications 460 for
a snapshot may be defined by a threshold value that is managed by
the snapshot manager 450.
[0353] At data flow step 4, the snapshot manager 450 takes a
snapshot of the information store or primary storage 430. As
explained above, the snapshot taken may be of a logical volume. The
snapshot manager 450 may not take the snapshot itself, but arrange
for appropriate components in the system 400 to obtain the
snapshot. In one embodiment, the information store or primary
storage device 430 is capable of taking hardware-based snapshots.
The snapshot manager 450 instructs the media agent 470 associated
with the information store 430 to take a snapshot of a particular
volume, and the media agent 470 sends a request to the information
store 430 to take a hardware snapshot.
[0354] In some embodiments, the information store 430 includes data
for a database application 460. For a database application 460, the
database data and the database log data may be backed up
separately. For example, the database data may be included in the
single snapshot for multiple applications. The database transaction
logs may be backed up more frequently (e.g., every 15 minutes) and
may be backed up separately from, or in addition to, the single
snapshot that includes the database data. The transaction logs may
be backed up by the data agent 440 associated with the database
application 460. For example, one or more log files of the
transaction log are copied to secondary storage devices 480. When a
database application 460 data is backed up (e.g., in a full
backup), the database logs may be truncated. Log truncation may
refer to freeing up space in the logical log for reuse by the log
file. For example, the transaction log has a certain amount of disk
space available, and log records should be deleted periodically to
free up space. Logs may be truncated when a backup is performed
successfully, for example, in order to prevent the log file from
overflowing. In certain embodiments, the backup of the database
data is performed through the single snapshot, for example, instead
of using the data agent 440 for the corresponding database
application 460. In such case, the logs may not be truncated
properly. Accordingly, the snapshot manager 450 can coordinate to
truncate the database logs at the time the single snapshot is
taken. In one embodiment, the snapshot manager 450 instructs the
data agent 440 associated with the database application 460 to
truncate the logs. The single snapshot, which includes the database
data, and the log backup data can be stored in separate storage
devices and/or different types of media.
[0355] In a full backup of a database, generally the inactive part
of the log may not be truncated until all its log records are
included or captured in a log backup so that the log chain can be
maintained (e.g., for recovery). The log chain may refer to a
series of log records having an unbroken sequence of log sequence
numbers.
[0356] In certain embodiments, the transaction log may be a
wrap-around file. The transaction log may include one or more
physical files. When the database is created, the logical log file
begins at the start of the physical log file, and new log records
are added at the end of the logical log and expand toward the end
of the physical log. Each physical log file may be divided
internally into a number of virtual log files. Log truncation can
free space in the logical log by deleting inactive virtual log
files from the start of the logical log. Virtual log files may
define the unit of space that can be reused. For example, virtual
log files that contain only inactive log records are truncated. The
active portion of the transaction log may not be truncated because
the active portion is used to recover the database. The most recent
checkpoint can define the active portion, and the log can be
truncated up to the checkpoint.
[0357] A checkpoint may refer to an identifier or reference that
identifies the state of the database at a point in time. In
general, modifications to database pages are performed in memory
and are not necessarily written to disk after every update.
Therefore, the database system may perform a checkpoint
periodically to write these updates that are held in-memory to the
storage disk. Writing these updates to storage disk can create a
point in time to which the database system can apply changes
contained in a transaction log during recovery after an unexpected
shut down or crash of the database system. The checkpoint may
include information about the log sequence number of the first log
record that should be present for a successful database-wide
rollback.
[0358] Although log truncation is explained above with reference a
database application 460, log truncation can apply to other types
of applications 460 that have transaction logs. For example,
Exchange also has a transaction log, and Exchange logs can be
truncated in a similar manner.
[0359] In some embodiments, the single snapshot is taken for a
virtual machine (VM), and one of the applications 460 executing or
installed on the VM is a database application 460. In such case, a
single snapshot is taken of the VM data, which includes the
database data, and the logs are backed up by the data agent 440 for
the database application 460 inside the VM. At the time of restore,
the database data can be restored from the VM snapshot, and the log
data can be restored from the log backup.
[0360] At data flow step 5, the media agents 470 store the snapshot
in the storage devices or secondary storage 480. As explained
above, the snapshot can be a snapshot of a volume 435 or a LUN 431
in the information store 430. In the example of FIG. 4, the
snapshot 485a of Volume 1 435a is stored in the storage device 480.
The snapshot 485a includes the data for Client 1 420a, which is
stored in Volume 1 435a. In other embodiments, the snapshot may be
of a LUN 431. For example, in FIG. 4, the storage device 480 can
store the snapshot 481a of LUN 1 431a. If Volume 1 435a is included
in LUN 1 431a, the snapshot 481a can include the data of Volume 1
435a.
[0361] In some embodiments, the snapshot is stored in the same
storage device as the information store or primary storage device
430. In such case, the information store 430 also serves as the
secondary storage device 480, and the primary data for applications
460 and the snapshot data for the applications 460 are stored on
the same storage device. The information store 430 may be a storage
device that is capable of performing a hardware snapshot. The media
agents 470 may store any metadata relating to the snapshot
operation or the snapshot in the media agent index 475. For
example, the metadata can include any metadata generated during the
snapshot operation.
[0362] In certain embodiments, the snapshot is partitioned into
multiple parts relating to the applications 460 for which the
snapshot is taken. For example, the portion of the snapshot
relating to one application 460 may be partitioned and stored
separately, and the portion of the snapshot relating to another
application 460 may be partitioned and stored separately. The
portions of the snapshot that do not relate to an application 460
of interest may be pruned or discarded. The portions for multiple
applications 460 may be partitioned in turn, and once the portions
corresponding to all applications 460 of interest have been stored
as a separate backup copy, the snapshot data may be deleted.
[0363] At data flow step 6, the media agents 470 create application
mapping data. Mapping data may also be referred to as "mapping
information" or "mapping metadata." A data agent 440 can have
access to information about how the data and/or directories of an
associated application 460 are structured, how the files generated
by the application 460 are arranged, etc. Accordingly, the data
agent 440 can determine which part of the snapshot belongs to or
relates to a particular application 460. In one embodiment, the
data agent 440 sends such information to the media agent 470 so the
media agent 470 can generate mapping metadata regarding the
location of the data of an application 460 within a snapshot. For
example, the media agent 470 can create mapping metadata that maps
data of an application 460 to a particular location(s) in the
secondary storage device 480. The mapping metadata can be stored in
the media agent index 475. The mapping metadata can be referenced
when restoring data for that application 460. In some embodiments,
the mapping metadata may be stored as component 225 which is
described with respect to FIGS. 2 and 8-10.
[0364] The data agents 440 may gather information and/or metadata
for creating the mapping data before a snapshot is taken. As
explained above, a data agent 440 may be aware of how the data of
its associated application 460 is formatted, and the data agent 440
can also have access to information regarding how the directories
of the associated application 460 are organized or structured. In
an illustrative example, SQL Server data agent 440 knows that SQL
Server data is stored under directory "C:\SQL." SQL Server data
agent 440 also knows the subdirectories included in the "C:\SQL"
directory. For instance, SQL Server data agent 440 knows that the
data for Database 1 is stored under "C:\SQL\DB1," and Database 1
logs are stored under "C:\SQL\DB1\logs." SQL Server data agent 440
may also be aware that certain file extensions are associated with
SQL Server. Based on this information, SQL Server data agent 440
can determine which part of the volume includes SQL-related data.
SQL Server data agent 440 passes on this information to one or more
media agents 470 so that they can generate the mapping data
regarding which portion of the snapshot pertains to SQL Server
data. The media agents 470 can refer to the information from the
SQL Server data agent 440. For example, a media agent 470 can
determine which part of the snapshot data corresponds to "C:\SQL"
in the logical volume in the information store 430.
[0365] In one embodiment, the data agents 440 reference a file
table of the file system associated with the logical volume for
which the snapshot is obtained. Such a file table may be associated
with a particular operating system. For example, the file table can
be the master file table (MFT) used by Windows operating systems
(Windows OS). There could be one table per volume. The file table
can include information about the files in a volume. In some
embodiments, the snapshot manager 450 or the media agents 470,
instead of the data agents 440, may refer to the file table.
[0366] Although the data flow step 6 is described after data flow
step 5, data flow steps 5 and 6 may be performed concurrently or in
a different order (e.g., data flow step 6 is performed before data
flow step 5). After the snapshot is obtained, the applications 460
can be unquiesced and resume operations. The snapshot manager 450
may instruct the respective data agent 440 to communicate with the
associated applications 460 that they no longer need to be in
consistent states. The applications 460 can return to normal state
and may inform the data agents 440 after they are unquiesced. In
turn, the data agents 440 may notify the snapshot manager 450 that
the respective applications 460 are unquiesced.
[0367] By utilizing a single snapshot for multiple applications,
the system 400 may reduce the number of snapshots taken since a
snapshot of a volume can be taken less frequently. This can reduce
the amount of resources used for generating and storing snapshots
of primary storage devices. For example, a license for a snapshot
software may be priced based on the number of allowed snapshots.
Accordingly, taking fewer snapshots to back up data in the primary
storage can be economical.
[0368] FIG. 5 is a data flow diagram illustrative of the
interaction between the various components of another exemplary
information management system 500 configured to implement recovery
operations from a single snapshot for multiple applications,
according to certain embodiments. As illustrated, the exemplary
information management system 500 includes a storage manager 510,
one or more clients 520, one or more information stores or primary
storage devices 530, one or more data agents 540, one or more
snapshot managers 550, one or more applications 560, one or more
media agents 570, and one or more secondary storage devices 580.
The system 500 and corresponding components of FIG. 5 may be
similar to or the same as the system 100, 200, 400 and similarly
named (though not necessarily numbered) components of FIGS. 1D, 2,
and 4.
[0369] Moreover, depending on the embodiment, the system 500 of
FIG. 5 may additionally include any of the other components shown
in FIGS. 1D, 2, and 4 that are not specifically shown in FIG. 5.
The system 500 may include one or more of each component. All
components of the system 500 can be in direct communication with
each other or communicate indirectly via the client 520, the
storage manager 510, the media agent 570, or the like. In certain
embodiments, some of the components in FIG. 5 shown as separate
components can reside on a single computing device, or vice versa.
For example, the snapshot manager 550 can be on the storage manager
510, the client 520, or on a separate computing device. Further
details regarding certain aspects of the system 500 are described
in greater detail above with reference to FIG. 4.
[0370] At data flow step 1, the client 520 requests restore of data
relating to an application 560. For example, the client 520 may
send a request to restore data to the storage manager 510. In turn,
the storage manager 520 may send a request to an appropriate media
agent 570. In some embodiments, the storage manager 510 sends the
request to the snapshot manager 550 and the snapshot manager 550
forwards the request to one or more media agents 570. The request
may be for a file generated by the application 560. The data of the
application 560 can be restored at various levels of granularity.
For example, an individual Exchange mail item or a write within
SharePoint may be recovered.
[0371] At data flow step 2, the media agent 570 locates the
snapshot that includes the requested application data. As explained
above with reference to FIG. 4, the snapshot can be a single
snapshot that includes data of multiple applications. For instance,
the snapshot is a snapshot of a logical volume 535 in a primary
storage device 530 taken at a particular point in time. A primary
storage device 530 can include one or more LUNs 531, and each LUN
531 can include one or more volumes 535. In the example of FIG. 5,
data for Client 1 520a is stored in one volume 535a (Volume 1) in a
LUN 531a (LUN 1), and data for Client 2 520b is stored in another
volume 535b (Volume 2) in another LUN 531b (LUN 2). In the example
of FIG. 5, the snapshot 585a is a snapshot of Volume 1 535a at a
specific point in time. The snapshot 585a includes the data for
Client 1 520a, which is stored in Volume 1 535a. Or the snapshot
may be a snapshot of a LUN 531 that includes the logical volume
535. For instance, in the example of FIG. 5, the snapshot 581a is a
snapshot of LUN 1 531a, and can include the data of Volume 1 535a.
In some embodiments, a LUN 531 can include multiple volumes 535, or
a volume 535 can include multiple LUNs 531. In certain embodiments,
a volume 535 may be configured across multiple primary storage
devices 530. In some embodiments, more than one media agent 570 is
involved in locating the snapshot and restoring the requested
application data. For example, the single snapshot may be stored
across multiple secondary storage devices 580.
[0372] The secondary storage devices 580 can provide multiple
snapshots for the same volume or LUN taken at different times. The
requested application data may be for a specific time, and one or
more media agents 570 can restore from the snapshot for that time
(or close to that time). The media agent 570 can refer to
information or metadata in the media agent index 575 in order to
find the snapshot that includes the requested data. After locating
the snapshot including the requested data, the media agent 570 can
access the mapping data or information indicating the portion of
the snapshot related to the application 560. The media agent 570
can reference the mapping information in order to determine which
portion(s) of the snapshot include the data of the application 560.
The mapping information may be organized by application 560 and by
snapshot. Each application 560 can have its own set of mapping
information, and the mapping information can be provided for each
snapshot that includes the data of the application 560. The mapping
information may be stored in the media agent index 575. In some
embodiments, the mapping information may be stored in the system
table as described in FIGS. 2 and 8-10. In some embodiments, the
snapshot manager 550 determines which snapshot includes the
requested data and/or which part of the snapshot pertains to the
application 560.
[0373] In one embodiment, the mapping information includes a file
table (not shown) of the file system associated with the logical
volume 535 in the snapshot. Such file table may be associated with
a particular operating system (e.g., MFT for Windows OS). The file
table can include information about the files in the volume. The
media agent 570 can refer to the information about files in the
file table to determine what data in the snapshot is related to the
requesting application 560. In a certain embodiment, the mapping
information may not be generated during the snapshot operation, but
may be available or generated based on the information in the file
table at the time of restore.
[0374] At data flow step 3, the media agent 570 restores the
requested application data. Once the media agent 570 locates the
snapshot that includes the data of the application 560 and the
portion of that snapshot relating to the application 560, the media
agent 570 can extract the requested data from the portion of the
snapshot relating to the application 560. The mapping information
may include details for recovering the data of the application 560
at various levels of granularity. For instance, the mapping
information can indicate where a particular file is located within
the portion of the snapshot relating to the application 560. The
media agent 570 can then restore that file to the primary storage
530. For example, the media agent 570 copies the blocks for the
file to the primary storage device 530. The mapping information may
also provide information on locating individual writes or items
associated with the application 560. The requested data may be
recovered to the same volume 535 or LUN 531 for which the snapshot
was taken. For example, the restored data overwrites the existing
data. Or the requested data may be recovered to a different volume
535, LUN 531, or primary storage device 530.
[0375] In some embodiments, the snapshot includes data for a
database application 560. As explained above regarding FIG. 4, the
data of a database application 560 and the log of the database
application 560 may be backed up separately. For example, the log
backup and the single snapshot that includes the database data can
be stored in separate storage devices and/or different types of
media. Accordingly, restoring the data of the database application
560 can involve restoring both the data of the database application
560 from the single snapshot and the log data from the log backup.
The data of the database application 560 can be restored in a
similar manner to restoring data of other applications 560. The log
data may be restored separately and may be processed to form the
log chain. The log chain may refer to a series of log records
having an unbroken sequence of log sequence numbers. Restored log
files may be placed or arranged in a certain sequence to form the
log chain. After the data of the database application 460 is
restored and the database log is properly restored, the user can
access and operate on the requested database data.
[0376] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrative of one embodiment of a
routine 600 for creating a single snapshot for multiple
applications. The routine 600 is described with respect to the
system 400 of FIG. 4. However, one or more of the steps of routine
600 may be implemented by other information management systems,
such as those described in greater detail above with reference to
FIGS. 1D, 2, and 3. The routine 600 can be implemented by any one,
or a combination of, a client, a storage manager, a data agent, a
snapshot manager, a media agent, and the like. Moreover, further
details regarding certain aspects of at least some of steps of the
routine 600 are described in greater detail above with reference to
FIG. 4. Although described in relation to snapshot operations for
the purposes of illustration, the process of FIG. 6 can be
compatible with other types of storage operations, such as, for
example, migration, backups, replication operations, archiving, and
the like.
[0377] At block 601, the snapshot manager 450 checks the status of
various applications 460 with corresponding data agents 440. The
snapshot manager 450 can detect the applications 460 executing on
the client 420 by determining which data agents 440 are executing
on the client 420.
[0378] At block 602, the data agents 440 quiesce the associated
applications 460. For example, the data agent 440 may instruct the
application 460 to enter a consistent state. The application 460
can notify the data agent 440 subsequent to entering a consistent
state. The data agent 440 then can relay that the application 460
is ready for a snapshot to the snapshot manager 450.
[0379] At block 603, the data agents 440 notify the snapshot
manager 450 that the associated applications 460 are quiesced. Each
data agent 440 can send a notification to the snapshot manager 450
that its related application 460 is in a consistent state.
[0380] At block 604, the snapshot manager 450 obtains a snapshot of
the primary storage 430 storing the data of the applications 460.
The snapshot manager 450 may obtain the snapshot after receiving
notifications from the data agents 440 that the associated
applications 460 are in consistent states. In some embodiments, the
snapshot manager 450 obtains the snapshot after receiving
notifications from two or more of the data agents 440, but not all
of the data agents 440. In some cases, waiting for all applications
460 to enter consistent states may not be efficient, and if most
(or a threshold number) of the applications 460 are in consistent
states, the snapshot can be taken. The snapshot may be of a
particular logical volume in the primary storage 430. The logical
volume can include the data generated by the applications 460. The
logical volume can also include data associated with a file system
of the client 420.
[0381] Each applications 460 may have a frequency for obtaining a
snapshot of data associated with the application. In some
embodiments, the snapshot manager 450 obtains the snapshot for two
or more applications 460 that have the same frequency for obtaining
a snapshot at the same time. For example, the snapshot operation
for applications 460 having the same snapshot frequency may be
included in one snapshot storage policy.
[0382] At block 605, one or more media agents 470 store the
snapshot data in the secondary storage 480. The secondary storage
480 may be the same storage device as the information store of the
primary storage 430. For example, the storage device may be a
storage array that is capable of performing hardware snapshots, and
the snapshot data is stored in the same array as the production or
primary data.
[0383] At block 606, the snapshot manager 450 creates application
mapping data (e.g., mapping metadata). Each data agent 440 may
obtain metadata relating to the location of the data generated by
its associated application 460 in the logical volume. The data
agent 440 can have access to information relating to the structure
of the data generated by the application 460 and/or location of the
data generated by the application 460 in the logical volume. The
metadata could include information relating to data structure or
one or more directories of the application 460. The information
relating to the structure of the data generated by the application
460 can include the format of the data. The information relating to
the location of the data generated by the application 460 in the
primary storage comprises directory structure of the application
460. The snapshot manager 450 may generate mapping information that
maps a particular application 460 to a portion of the snapshot
relating to that application 460. The mapping information may be
created based on the metadata obtained by the respective data agent
440.
[0384] The routine 600 can include fewer, more, or different blocks
than those illustrated in FIG. 6 without departing from the spirit
and scope of the description. 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 and/or non-transitory
storage.
[0385] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrative of one embodiment of a
routine 700 for restoring data of an application from a single
snapshot for multiple applications. The routine 700 is described
with respect to the system 500 of FIG. 5. However, one or more of
the steps of routine 700 may be implemented by other information
management systems, such as those described in greater detail above
with reference to FIGS. 1D, 2, 3 and 4. The routine 700 can be
implemented by any one, or a combination of, a client, a storage
manager, a data agent, a snapshot manager, a media agent, and the
like. Moreover, further details regarding certain aspects of at
least some of steps of the routine 700 are described in greater
detail above with reference to FIG. 5. Although described in
relation to snapshot operations for the purposes of illustration,
the process of FIG. 7 can be compatible with other types of storage
operations, such as, for example, migration, backups, replication
operations, archiving, and the like.
[0386] At block 701, the storage manager 510 receives instructions
to restore application data from a single snapshot 585 containing
data of multiple applications 560. The storage manager 510 may
instruct the snapshot manager 550 to begin the restore process. In
some embodiments, the snapshot manager 550 receives the
instructions. The data to be restored may be a file, a write, a
mail item, etc.
[0387] At block 702, the snapshot manager 550 locates the portion
of the snapshot relating to the requested application data. The
snapshot manager 550 can locate the snapshot that includes the data
to be restored. Since a number of snapshots may exist in the
secondary storage 580 for a volume, the snapshot manager 550 may
determine from which snapshot the requested data should be
restored. The snapshot manager 550 can make the determination by
accessing information in the media agent index 575. After locating
the snapshot of interest, the snapshot manager 550 can find the
portion of the snapshot that relates to the requesting application
560. The snapshot manager 550 may refer to mapping information that
maps data of the application 560 in the snapshot to the application
560 in order to find the relevant portion of the snapshot. The
mapping information can be generated based on the metadata obtained
by the data agents 540 associated with the applications 560. The
data agents 540 may obtain metadata relating to the data structure
or one or more directories of the associated applications 560. The
storage manager 510 or the snapshot manager module 550 can instruct
one or more media agents 570 to restore the relevant portion of the
snapshot from the secondary storage device(s) 580.
[0388] In one embodiment, the mapping information can include a
file table of an operating system of the client 520 from the time
the snapshot was taken. The snapshot manager module 550 can access
the file table to locate the portion of the snapshot corresponding
to the data of the application 560.
[0389] At block 703, one or more media agents 570 restore the
requested application data. The snapshot data may be stored across
multiple storage devices 580, and a media agent 570 may be
designated to communicate with a specific storage device 580. In
such case, more than one media agent 570 can be involved in
restoring the requested snapshot data. The requested application
560 data may be restored to the same primary storage device 530
that includes the logical volume the snapshot relates to. For
instance, the restored data may overwrite corresponding data in the
logical volume. Or the restored data may be written to another part
of the logical volume, another volume, another LUN, etc. in the
same primary storage device 530. In another example, the restored
data is written to a primary storage device 530 that is different
from the primary storage device 530 that includes the logical
volume the snapshot relates to.
[0390] The routine 700 can include fewer, more, or different blocks
than those illustrated in FIG. 7 without departing from the spirit
and scope of the description. 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 and/or non-transitory
storage.
Shared Snapshot Generation
[0391] FIG. 8 provides a flowchart illustrating a process 800 for
generating shared snapshots in accordance with one or more
embodiments disclosed herein. The process 800 may be implemented by
information management systems, such as those described in greater
detail above with reference to FIGS. 1D and 2-5. The process 800
can be implemented by any one, or a combination of, a client, a
storage manager, a data agent, a snapshot manager, a media agent,
and the like. Moreover, further details regarding certain aspects
of at least some of steps of the process 800 are described in
greater detail above with reference to FIGS. 2-5. Although
described in relation to snapshot operations for the purposes of
illustration, the process 800 can be compatible with other types of
storage operations, such as, for example, migration, backups,
replication operations, archiving, and the like.
[0392] The process 800 may include accessing a LUN and detecting
the number and/or type of applications and/or agents that are
running on the LUN (block 810). Such information may be used in
determining how to share a snapshot taken of the entire LUN, or a
portion thereof. Appropriate software may be directed to quiesce
the applications.
[0393] The process 800 may further include receiving a request to
take a snapshot of the LUN from one or more applications (block
820). For example, such request may be directed by a snapshot
manager module as described above. In accordance with the request,
a single snapshot may be taken at block 840 of the LUN or a portion
thereof, wherein the process 800 further includes grouping snapshot
requests from multiple applications in order to partition the
single snapshot to be shared among the requesting applications.
[0394] In order to track the locations of the various snapshot
partitions, the process 800 may include identifying the locations
within the snapshot of the data associated with the various
applications and cataloging such information in mapping information
(block 850). With reference to the mapping information, the
snapshot may be stored in the storage system as separate snapshots
associated with the separate applications/agents (block 860).
Grouping Applications for Single Snapshot Applicability
[0395] As described above, generation of shared snapshots can
involve grouping snapshots requested by multiple applications
together in a single snapshot of the LUN on which the relevant
volumes of data are maintained. FIG. 9 provides a flowchart
illustrating a process 900 for grouping snapshot requests according
to one or more embodiments disclosed herein. Snapshot requests
associated with separate applications/agents that are grouped
together may share a global snapshot of an LUN shared by the
applications/agents. The process 900 may be implemented by
information management systems, such as those described in greater
detail above with reference to FIGS. 1D and 2-5. The process 900
can be implemented by any one, or a combination of, a client, a
storage manager, a data agent, a snapshot manager, a media agent,
and the like. Moreover, further details regarding certain aspects
of at least some of steps of the process 900 are described in
greater detail above with reference to FIGS. 2-5. Although
described in relation to snapshot operations for the purposes of
illustration, the process 900 can be compatible with other types of
storage operations, such as, for example, migration, backups,
replication operations, archiving, and the like.
[0396] In certain embodiments, snapshot requests are grouped based
on time of receipt. Grouping snapshot requests based on time
relative to the time of creation of the global snapshot may
increase the likelihood that a particular request with be
associated with a state of the source data adequately represented
by the global snapshot. For example, if a request is made too far
removed in time from the generation of the global snapshot, data
changes occurring during the gap in time may be undesirably, or
inadequately reflected in the global snapshot. Therefore, blocks
910-950 provide a time-based process for grouping snapshot
requests. As illustrated by FIG. 9, the first snapshot job received
in a relevant time window may be designated as the master job. In
certain embodiments, the master job is responsible for creating or
directing the global snapshot. In addition, the master job may
determine how many LUNs are associated with each database and/or
how many databases are associated with each LUN. As additional job
requests are received, such jobs are added to the group until the
desired time window has elapsed, at which point the group
membership may become static.
[0397] As described above, once the related snapshots have been
grouped together, a single global snapshot may be performed (block
970). It may be necessary or desirable to provide notification of
that the grouped snapshot is to be taken in order to allow for
snapshot consistency and/or application quiescing (block 960). Once
the global snapshot has been taken, associated application I/O may
be resumed and/or unquiesced (block 980). Furthermore, the portions
of the global snapshot that relate to each of the grouped snapshots
may then be identified and cataloged (block 990). The cataloged
portions of the general snapshot may then be stored as separate
snapshots for each of the grouped snapshots (block 995).
[0398] In certain embodiments, when the system desires to prune
data from the backups, the system uses the mapping information to
quickly identify data that can be pruned. For example, if the data
associated with a particular application is being pruned, the
mapping information identifies where the data is located within the
snapshot.
[0399] At block 970, the snapshot is taken that is associated with
each of the group members. For example, a single snapshot may be
taken per LUN. In certain embodiments, the master job is
responsible to taking the snapshot and storing data in the mapping
information identifying the location of the master job within the
snapshot. The master job may then pass the mapping information to
the next job for further additions to the mapping information. In
certain embodiments, each job maintains its own mapping
information. For example, a single job may have access to the
mapping information entries associated with other jobs, but may
have no reason or capability to monitor mapping information data
associated with other jobs.
[0400] When a snapshot job has been completed, associated
applications/agent processes may receive access to the snapshot for
the purposes of verifying the consistency of the snapshot data. In
certain embodiments, when a job no longer has a use for the
snapshot, the snapshot is not discarded, but is maintained until
all group members likewise have no need for the snapshot. At such
point, the snapshot may be discarded.
Snapshot Restoration
[0401] In certain embodiments, when the system desires to restore
data from the backups, the system uses the mapping information to
identify which data to be restored from the global snapshot.
Therefore, it may not be necessary to restore the entire snapshot.
When an application requests restoration of a portion of the
snapshot, the remainder of the snapshot may be reused by other
applications to the extent that the data associated with the
applications is valid.
[0402] FIG. 10 provides a flowchart illustrating a process 1000 for
grouping snapshot requests according to one or more embodiments
disclosed herein. The process 1000 may be implemented by
information management systems, such as those described in greater
detail above with reference to FIGS. 1D and 2-5. The process 1000
can be implemented by any one, or a combination of, a client, a
storage manager, a data agent, a snapshot manager, a media agent,
and the like. Moreover, further details regarding certain aspects
of at least some of steps of the process 1000 are described in
greater detail above with reference to FIGS. 2-5. Although
described in relation to snapshot operations for the purposes of
illustration, the process 1000 can be compatible with other types
of storage operations, such as, for example, migration, backups,
replication operations, archiving, and the like.
[0403] The process 1000 includes receiving a restore request from
an application relating to snapshot data stored in a global
snapshot (block 1010). The mapping information may be used to
identify applications associated with the snapshot (block 1020), as
well as locations within the snapshot where various applications
are stored (block 1030). The data associated with the requesting
application may then be restored according to the mapping
information (block 1040).
Snapshot Readiness Report
[0404] Systems that perform snapshot operations for taking
snapshots of data in primary storage may have different
configurations and/or settings. This is not limited to systems that
manage a single snapshot for multiple applications. For example,
the storage array configuration and/or volume manager configuration
can vary significantly from one customer to another customer.
Because configurations can vary, there might not be an easy way to
check if a snapshot operation will be successful in a particular
configuration. Therefore, it would be useful to provide a tool that
can verify whether a snapshot operation will succeed in a certain
configuration and/or system without actually performing the
snapshot operation. In many cases, system administrators may not
find out whether a snapshot operation has problems until the
snapshot operation fails at runtime.
[0405] As mentioned above, snapshot operations may be implemented
and/or managed as storage policies. For example, a system
administrator can define a storage policy specifying how frequently
a snapshot should be taken of certain volumes and/or storage
devices. Often, such snapshot storage policies may be run at
designated times without determining, prior to the designated
times, whether the snapshot storage policies will run successfully
or not. Many parameters can be involved in snapshot operations, and
if any one of the parameters is not met, a snapshot operation could
fail.
[0406] Accordingly, an information management system according to
certain aspects of the disclosure may check or determine whether
snapshot operations will work prior to executing them. This is not
limited to systems that manage a single snapshot for multiple
applications, and may apply to any snapshot operations that occur
in an information management system. The concept of whether the
system configuration and/or settings are appropriate or ready for
taking a snapshot and/or whether a particular snapshot storage
policy will work can generally be referred to as "snapshot
readiness." In some cases, the information management system can
generate reports relating to the determination. Such reports may be
referred to as "snapshot readiness reports."
[0407] FIG. 11 is a data flow diagram illustrative of the
interaction between the various components of an exemplary
information management system 1100 configured to implement snapshot
readiness determination, according to certain embodiments. As
illustrated, the exemplary information management system 1100
includes a storage manager 1110, one or more clients 1120, one or
more information stores or primary storage devices 1130, a snapshot
readiness manager 1150, one or more media agents 1170, and one or
more secondary storage devices 1180. The system 1100 and
corresponding components of FIG. 11 may be similar to or the same
as the system 100, 200, 400, 500 and similarly named (but not
necessarily numbered) components of FIGS. 1D, 2, 4, and 5.
[0408] Moreover, depending on the embodiment, the system 1100 of
FIG. 11 may additionally include any of the other components shown
in FIGS. 1D, 2, 4, and 5 that are not specifically shown in FIG. 11
(e.g., data agents, applications, etc.). The system 1100 may
include one or more of each component. All components of the system
1100 can be in direct communication with each other or communicate
indirectly via the client 1120, the storage manager 1110, the media
agent 1170, or the like. In certain embodiments, some of the
components in FIG. 11 shown as separate components can reside on a
single computing device, or vice versa. For example, the snapshot
readiness manager 1150 can be on the storage manager 1110, the
media agent 1170, or on a separate computing device.
[0409] At data flow step 1, a user (e.g., a system administrator)
creates a snapshot storage policy. The snapshot storage policy can
define various parameters or criteria for performing a snapshot
operation. Examples of parameters and/or criteria can include:
frequency of snapshot, primary storage device(s) for which a
snapshot should be taken, secondary storage device(s) where the
obtained snapshot should be stored, application type, volume, etc.
The snapshot storage policies may be stored in and managed by the
storage manager 1110.
[0410] At data flow step 2, the snapshot readiness manager 1150
determines or checks whether the system 1100 can successfully
execute the snapshot storage policy. Such determination may be
referred to as "snapshot readiness test." The snapshot readiness
manager 1150 can run a snapshot readiness test for a storage policy
at user request, prior to execution of the storage policy, at a
predetermined interval, etc. In some embodiments, the snapshot
readiness test may be run at the time of installation at a
location.
[0411] Some of the items or factors the snapshot readiness manager
1150 checks can include: availability of primary storage devices
1130 for which snapshots should be taken, availability of secondary
storage devices 1180 where snapshots should be stored, connectivity
to the primary storage devices 1130 and/or secondary storage
devices 1180, any licenses for snapshot software, user credentials
for connecting to primary storage devices 1130 and/or secondary
storage devices 1180, etc.
[0412] The primary storage devices 1130 may be configured as one or
more storage arrays that each include one or more LUNs 1131. A LUN
1131 may include one or more logical volumes 1135. The system 1100
may use a volume manager software to manage the storage arrays,
LUNs, and/or volumes. A number of volume manager software or
applications are available, and the system 1100 may use a
particular volume manager. The storage array configurations and/or
the volume manager configurations can vary for different customers.
In some embodiments, the snapshot storage policy is defined to take
a snapshot of a LUN 1131 or a volume 1135 within a LUN 1131.
[0413] The storage manager 1110 may manage configurations and/or
settings relating to arrays, which may be referred to as "storage
array management" or "array management." Some examples of
information relating to an array include: IP address of the array,
array ID, username and password for connecting to the array, etc.
The storage manager 1110 may have information relating to which
host bus adapter (HBA) cards should be used to connect to a
particular storage array. The storage manager 1110 can also have
information relating to which media agents 1170 should be used to
connect to a storage array. The storage manager 1110 may also have
credentials used for connecting to an array. The storage manager
1110 may have licensing information relating to the snapshot
software and/or application used to take snapshots. For instance,
the snapshot software provider may grant a license to take a
certain number of snapshots for a designated amount. In order to
take snapshots, the system 1100 should have a valid license.
[0414] The snapshot readiness manager 1150 may refer to any of the
information managed by the storage manager 1110 in order to
determine whether the snapshot storage policy will work. In certain
embodiments, the snapshot readiness manager 1150 is distinguishable
from and is responsible for different functionality from the
snapshot manager 450 and/or 550 discussed above. However, these
entities may be implemented in a unified module in some
embodiments; in other embodiments, they may be implemented in
distinct modules that reside on the same or different components of
an information management system, such as the illustrative system
200 of FIG. 2 or any of the systems described with respect to FIGS.
1-12. For example, the snapshot readiness manager 1150 can access
information regarding which media agent 1170 should be used to
connect to the array for storing the snapshot as specified in the
storage policy. The snapshot readiness manager 1150 can also access
array IP address, array ID, and credentials to the designated media
agent 1170. If the media agent's 1170 connection to the array is
successful, the snapshot readiness manager 1150 can know that the
information provided to the media agent 1170 is valid.
[0415] One of the factors the snapshot readiness manager 1150 may
check is whether the one or more HBAs that can be used to connect
to an array are working. An HBA may connect a host computer to
network and storage devices. An information management system may
have multiple HBA interfaces, but only some of them might be used
in connection with secondary storage operations, such as snapshot
operations. The snapshot readiness manager 1150 can obtain the
HBA-related information and check whether the relevant HBAs are
online.
[0416] The snapshot readiness manager 1150 can also check whether
the one or more media agents 1170 for connecting to an array are
online. When a snapshot operation is to be executed, the storage
manager 1110 may instruct one or more media agents 1170 in
communication with the array to obtain a snapshot. If primary
storage devices 1130 are capable of taking hardware snapshots, the
media agents 1170 can request the devices 1130 to take a snapshot.
The media agents 1170 may also create metadata regarding the
snapshot and store it in, e.g., the index 1175.
[0417] Another factor the snapshot readiness manager 1150 can check
is availability of the primary storage device(s) 1130 for which a
snapshot should be taken. The snapshot readiness manager 1150 can
test connectivity to a particular storage device(s) 1130. If the
primary storage device 1130 is an array, the snapshot readiness
manager 1150 can check whether the array is online. However, even
if an array is generally available, a particular volume for which a
snapshot should be taken might not be available. The snapshot
readiness manager 1150 can check with the array whether the
specific volume is online.
[0418] The snapshot readiness manager 1150 may check similar
factors for secondary storage device(s) 1180. The snapshot
readiness manager 1150 can check availability of the secondary
storage device(s) 1180 where snapshot data should be stored. The
snapshot readiness manager 1150 can test connectivity to a
particular storage device(s) 1180. Similar to the primary storage
devices 1130, the secondary storage device(s) 1180 may be
configured as one or more storage arrays that each include one or
more LUNs 1181. A LUN 1181 may include one or more logical volumes
1185. If the secondary storage device 1180 is an array, the
snapshot readiness manager 1150 can check whether the array is
online. However, even if an array is generally available, a
particular volume on which snapshot data should be stored might not
be available. The snapshot readiness manager 1150 can check with
the array whether the specific volume is online. The array can
inform the snapshot readiness manager 1150 of the online status of
volumes within the array. The snapshot readiness manager 1150 may
check whether there is enough space to store the snapshot data in a
particular array and/or volume within the array.
[0419] In some embodiments, the same storage devices may be used to
store both primary data and secondary data as in FIG. 2. For
example, in some embodiments a hardware storage array can store
both primary and secondary data. The secondary storage device 1180
may be a storage array that is capable of performing hardware-based
snapshots. In such cases, the primary data for which the snapshot
should be taken resides in the storage array, and the snapshot of
the primary data can also be stored in the storage array. Where the
same storage devices are used as both primary storage 1130 and
secondary storage 1180, the snapshot readiness manager 1150 may
only check once regarding whether the array and/or the volume is
available. The snapshot readiness manager 1150 may check as many
times as appropriate, depending on the number and status of array
components and/or volumes, whether they are available for a
snapshot operation.
[0420] The snapshot readiness manager 1150 may also check whether
the user credentials provided for connecting to a certain storage
array are valid. The snapshot readiness manager 1150 may attempt to
establish a connection to the storage array using the credentials.
The credentials may be included in the array management
information. The array management information may include
information regarding various storage arrays and properties.
[0421] The snapshot readiness manager 1150 can also check whether
the license for a particular snapshot application is valid. For
example, the snapshot readiness manager 1150 can determine if a
specific media agent 1170 for obtaining the snapshot has a license
to perform a snapshot operation. In one embodiment, the media agent
1170 that does not have a license for a snapshot application is
unable to connect to an array that includes the volume for which a
snapshot should be taken. For example, the array is capable of
performing hardware snapshots, and only the media agents 1170 with
the license for the array can connect to the array and request
snapshots. In this embodiment, the snapshot readiness manager 1170
can determine whether the license for the snapshot application is
valid or not by establishing a connection to the array. The license
information may be included in the array management
information.
[0422] Some of the factors are listed above as examples of what the
snapshot readiness manager 1150 may check. The snapshot readiness
manager 1150 can check any other factors as appropriate. By testing
various parameters for a snapshot operation, the snapshot readiness
manager 1150 can determine whether a certain snapshot storage
policy will execute successfully without actually running the
storage policy. The parameters or factors tested may include some
or all of the examples above, and can also include other items that
are not mentioned.
[0423] In certain embodiments, the snapshot readiness manager 1150
also checks whether a certain system configuration is supported by
the information management system 1100. The snapshot readiness
manager 1150 may refer to array management information in the
storage manager 1110 to make such determination. The system
configuration can include volume manager configuration, storage
array configuration, etc. As explained above, a number of volume
manager solutions are available, and customers may use any one of
the available volume manager solutions. Depending on the volume
manager solution used, the configuration of an information
management system can differ significantly. For instance, three
customers that have systems that can generate snapshots all have
very different volume manager configurations. The snapshot
readiness manager 1150 may determine whether a volume manager
configuration used by an information management system is
compatible with snapshot operations and/or snapshot storage
policies.
[0424] In one example, a customer may set up two LUNs to mirror
each other using the volume manager, but the snapshot operations
may not be compatible with such setup. The snapshot readiness
manager 1150 can inform that the information management system 1100
does not support the two mirroring LUN setup. In order to the make
the snapshot operations work, the mirroring may be temporarily
stopped or broken. The snapshot readiness manager 1150 can provide
such suggestion or recommendation if the information management
system 1100 does not support a particular configuration.
[0425] The storage array configuration may also differ from one
customer to another customer, and the snapshot readiness manager
1150 may check if a particular array configuration is compatible
with snapshot operations. The snapshot readiness manager 1150 can
also determine whether the storage manager 1110 and/or the media
agents 1170 support such configuration.
[0426] The snapshot readiness test can be run according to user
requirements. For example, the snapshot readiness test is run at
the time of installation of the system 1100 at a site. It can also
be run at the time of setting up a snapshot storage policy. In
another example, the readiness test may be run prior to execution
of any snapshot storage policy. The space available on the
secondary storage devices 1180 may vary from day to day, and
determining if the policy will succeed on a particular day can be
important. The snapshot readiness test can also be performed on
demand, for example, at the request of a user or a system
administrator.
[0427] At data flow step 3, the snapshot readiness manager 1150
creates a snapshot readiness report. The snapshot readiness report
can specify whether the snapshot storage policy will succeed if
run. In addition, the report may also identify the issues that
should be corrected for the storage policy to work properly. For
example, a LUN 1181 or a volume 1185 in a secondary storage device
1180 may not be available to store the obtained snapshot. Or there
might not be connection to the secondary storage device 1180.
[0428] Verifying whether a snapshot storage policy will operate
properly prior to actual execution can be beneficial. For example,
an organization uses snapshots for backing up its data, and if
snapshot operations fail, the entire backup can fail. Snapshot
readiness test and/or reports can help with spotting issues
beforehand and without actually executing the policy, and the
customer does not have to wait until the policy runs to find out
that there are problems. The snapshot readiness report can provide
information regarding any problems associated with performing the
snapshot storage policy, and proposed solutions and/or
recommendations. Although the snapshot readiness test and/or report
have been explained in terms of snapshot operations, they may also
be applied to other types of information management operations,
such as backup, archiving, migration, etc.
[0429] FIG. 12 is a flow diagram illustrative of one embodiment of
a routine 1200 for determining snapshot readiness. The routine 1200
is described with respect to the system 1100 of FIG. 11. However,
one or more of the steps of routine 1200 may be implemented by
other information management systems, such as those described in
greater detail above with reference to FIGS. 1D-5. The routine 1200
can be implemented by any one, or a combination of, a client, a
storage manager, a data agent, a snapshot readiness manager, a
media agent, and the like. Moreover, further details regarding
certain aspects of at least some of steps of the routine 1200 are
described in greater detail above with reference to FIG. 11.
Although described in relation to snapshot operations for the
purposes of illustration, the process of FIG. 12 can be compatible
with other types of storage operations, such as, for example,
migration, backups, replication operations, archiving, and the
like. The snapshot readiness determination may apply to any system
that performs snapshot operations, including systems configured to
implement a single snapshot for multiple applications as described
in FIGS. 2-5.
[0430] At block 1201, the snapshot readiness manager 1150 accesses
a snapshot storage policy. The snapshot storage policy may be
defined by a user, a system administrator, etc. The storage policy
can define criteria associated with a snapshot operation to obtain
a snapshot of data in the primary storage 1130. The storage policy
can be configured to instruct the storage manager 1110 to initiate
the snapshot operation (e.g., when executed).
[0431] At block 1202, the snapshot readiness manager 1150
determines whether the snapshot storage policy will execute
successfully at runtime. The snapshot readiness manager 1150 can
check various factors. For example, the snapshot readiness manager
1150 checks whether the license associated with the snapshot
application used to obtain a snapshot of the data in the primary
storage 1130 is valid. The snapshot readiness manager 1150 may also
determine whether the secondary storage device(s) 1180 are
available to store the snapshot. A secondary storage device 1180
may include multiple logical volumes 1185, and the snapshot data
may be stored in a specific volume; the snapshot readiness manager
1150 can check whether the specific volume is available. The
snapshot readiness manager 1150 can also check if the secondary
storage device(s) 1180 have sufficient space to store the snapshot.
The snapshot readiness manager 1150 may also determine whether the
primary storage device(s) 1130 are available to obtain the
snapshot. A primary storage device 1130 may include multiple
logical volumes 1135, and the snapshot may be obtained for a
specific volume; the snapshot readiness manager 1150 can check
whether the specific volume is available for taking a snapshot.
[0432] The snapshot readiness manager 1150 may also determine
whether connectivity exists to the primary storage device(s) 1130
or the secondary storage device(s) 1180. The snapshot readiness
manager 1150 could instruct one or more media agents 1170 to
establish a connection to the primary storage 1130 or the secondary
storage 1180. The media agents 1170 may connect to the designated
device by using credentials (e.g., user ID, password, etc.)
provided by the snapshot readiness manager 1150. The device in the
primary storage 1130 or the secondary storage 1180 to connect to
can be a storage array. The volumes in the storage array may be
managed by a volume manager software. The snapshot readiness
manager 1150 can also check if a particular configuration of the
volume manager setup is compatible with the snapshot storage policy
or is supported by the system 1100. In one embodiment, the primary
storage devices 1130 and the secondary storage devices may be the
same devices 1180. For example, the system 1100 can use storage
arrays that have hardware snapshot functionality. The snapshot
storage policy may be configured to obtain hardware-based
snapshots. The above factors are provided as examples, and the
snapshot readiness manager 1150 can check any other relevant
factors as appropriate.
[0433] At block 1203, the snapshot readiness manager 1150 generates
a report on the result of the determination. The report can
identify issues that have been spotted and may also include
solutions or recommendations for resolving these issues. For
example, if there is insufficient space in the volume of the
secondary storage device 1180 where the snapshot should be stored,
the system administrator can make sure enough space is provided
prior to the time the storage policy is scheduled to run.
[0434] The routine 1200 can include fewer, more, or different
blocks than those illustrated in FIG. 12 without departing from the
spirit and scope of the description. 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 and/or
non-transitory storage.
Terminology
[0435] 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.
[0436] 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; that is to say, 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 in the above Detailed Description 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.
[0437] Depending on the embodiment, certain 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 described acts or events are
necessary for the practice of the algorithms). Moreover, in certain
embodiments, acts 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.
[0438] Systems and modules described herein may comprise software,
firmware, hardware, or any combination(s) of software, firmware, or
hardware suitable for the purposes described herein. Software and
other modules may reside on servers, workstations, personal
computers, computerized tablets, PDAs, and other devices suitable
for the purposes described herein. Software and other modules may
be accessible via local 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, command line interfaces, and other suitable
interfaces.
[0439] Further, the processing of the various components of the
illustrated systems can be distributed across multiple machines,
networks, and other computing resources. In addition, 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. Likewise, the data repositories shown can
represent physical and/or logical data storage, including, for
example, 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.
[0440] 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, or other programmable data processing
apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which
execute via the processor 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.
[0441] 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 onto a computer or other
programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of
operations to be performed on the computer or other programmable
apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the
instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable
apparatus provide steps for implementing the acts specified in the
flow chart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
[0442] 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.
[0443] 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.
[0444] To reduce the number of claims, certain aspects of the
invention are presented below in certain claim forms, but the
applicant contemplates the various 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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