Synthetic full backups for incremental file backups
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- receiving an identification of a file on a volume to be backed up;
performing a backup of the file to a first virtual hard disk file, the performing a backup comprising;
creating a template virtual volume;
creating, on the template virtual volume, a file system structure that corresponds to a file system structure of the volume having the file to be backed up;
backing up metadata of the file from the template virtual volume; and
backing up content of the file from the volume;
tracking changes to blocks of the volume;
identifying a subset of tracked changed blocks on the volume as being associated with the file;
performing an incremental backup of the file by backing up the subset of tracked changed blocks to a second virtual hard disk file and filtering other tracked changed blocks of the volume not associated with the file, wherein the performing an incremental backup comprises not creating another template virtual volume;
accessing the first virtual hard disk file corresponding to the backup of the file, the first virtual hard disk file comprising a first plurality of payload blocks to store data associated with the backup;
accessing the second virtual hard disk file corresponding to the incremental backup of the file, the second virtual hard disk file comprising a second plurality of payload blocks to store data associated with the incremental backup;
merging data from a payload block of the first plurality payload blocks with data from a corresponding payload block of the second plurality of payload blocks to form a merged payload block; and
streaming the merged payload block to a backup media for storage as a synthetic full backup of the first and second virtual hard disk files, wherein the merging does not alter the first and second virtual hard disk files.
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Accused Products
Abstract
First and second virtual hard disk files are accessed. The first virtual hard disk file corresponds to a backup of a file and includes a first set of payload blocks to store data associated with the backup. The second virtual hard disk file corresponds to an incremental backup of the file and includes a second set of payload blocks to store data associated with the incremental backup. Data from a payload block of the first set of payload blocks is merged with data from a payload block of a corresponding payload block of the second set of payload blocks to form a merged payload block. The merged payload block is streamed for storage as a synthetic full backup of the first and second virtual hard disk files. The merging does not alter the first and second virtual hard disk files.
166 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving an identification of a file on a volume to be backed up; performing a backup of the file to a first virtual hard disk file, the performing a backup comprising; creating a template virtual volume; creating, on the template virtual volume, a file system structure that corresponds to a file system structure of the volume having the file to be backed up; backing up metadata of the file from the template virtual volume; and backing up content of the file from the volume; tracking changes to blocks of the volume; identifying a subset of tracked changed blocks on the volume as being associated with the file; performing an incremental backup of the file by backing up the subset of tracked changed blocks to a second virtual hard disk file and filtering other tracked changed blocks of the volume not associated with the file, wherein the performing an incremental backup comprises not creating another template virtual volume; accessing the first virtual hard disk file corresponding to the backup of the file, the first virtual hard disk file comprising a first plurality of payload blocks to store data associated with the backup; accessing the second virtual hard disk file corresponding to the incremental backup of the file, the second virtual hard disk file comprising a second plurality of payload blocks to store data associated with the incremental backup; merging data from a payload block of the first plurality payload blocks with data from a corresponding payload block of the second plurality of payload blocks to form a merged payload block; and streaming the merged payload block to a backup media for storage as a synthetic full backup of the first and second virtual hard disk files, wherein the merging does not alter the first and second virtual hard disk files. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A system for synthesizing a full backup of a file in a mountable format, the system comprising:
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a processor-based system executed on a computer system and comprising a hardware processor, wherein the hardware processor is configured to; receive an identification of a file on a volume to be backed up; perform a backup of the file to a first virtual hard disk file, the performance of the backup comprising; creating a template virtual volume; creating, on the template virtual volume, a file system structure that corresponds to a file system structure of the volume having the file to be backed up; backing up metadata of the file from the template virtual volume; and backing up content of the file from the volume; track changes to blocks of the volume; identify a subset of tracked changed blocks on the volume as being associated with the file; perform an incremental backup of the file by backing up the subset of tracked changed blocks to a second virtual hard disk file and filter other tracked changed blocks of the volume not associated with the file, wherein the performance of the incremental backup comprises not creating another template virtual volume; access the first virtual hard disk file corresponding to the backup of the file, the first virtual hard disk file comprising a first plurality of payload blocks to store data associated with the backup; access the second virtual hard disk file corresponding to the incremental backup of the file, the second virtual hard disk file comprising a second plurality of payload blocks to store data associated with the incremental backup; merge data from a payload block of the first plurality payload blocks with data from a corresponding payload block of the second plurality of payload blocks to form a merged payload block; and stream the merged payload block to a backup media for storage as a synthetic full backup of the first and second virtual hard disk files, wherein the merge does not alter the first and second virtual hard disk files. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A computer program product, comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having a computer-readable program code embodied therein, the computer-readable program code adapted to be executed by one or more processors to implement a method comprising:
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receiving an identification of a file on a volume to be backed up; performing a backup of the file to a first virtual hard disk file, the performing a backup comprising; creating a template virtual volume; creating, on the template virtual volume, a file system structure that corresponds to a file system structure of the volume having the file to be backed up; backing up metadata of the file from the template virtual volume; and backing up content of the file from the volume; tracking changes to blocks of the volume; identifying a subset of tracked changed blocks on the volume as being associated with the file; performing an incremental backup of the file by backing up the subset of tracked changed blocks to a second virtual hard disk file and filtering other tracked changed blocks of the volume not associated with the file, wherein the performing an incremental backup comprises not creating another template virtual volume; accessing the first virtual hard disk file corresponding to the backup of the file, the first virtual hard disk file comprising a first plurality of payload blocks to store data associated with the backup; accessing the second virtual hard disk file corresponding to the incremental backup of the file, the second virtual hard disk file comprising a second plurality of payload blocks to store data associated with the incremental backup; merging data from a payload block of the first plurality payload blocks with data from a corresponding payload block of the second plurality of payload blocks to form a merged payload block; and streaming the merged payload block to a backup media for storage as a synthetic full backup of the first and second virtual hard disk files, wherein the merging does not alter the first and second virtual hard disk files. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification