Systems and methods for utilizing information-asset metadata aggregated from multiple disparate data-management systems

• US 10,078,668 B1
• Filed: 09/10/2014
• Issued: 09/18/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Veritas Technologies, LLC (Whitehouse Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Veritas Technologies, LLC (Whitehouse Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: Woodrow, Karl, Carter, Stuart
• Primary Examiner(s): Featherstone, Mark D
• Assistant Examiner(s): Harper, Eliyah S
• Application Number:
  US14/483,136
• Time in Patent Office: 1,469 Days
• Field of Search: 707667, 707736
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/16 Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/21 Design, administration or maintenance of databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/219 Managing data history or versioning querying versioned data G06F16/2474; querying temporal data G06F16/2477
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24561 Intermediate data storage techniques for performance improvement
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24573 using data annotations, e.g. user-defined metadata
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management

Abstract

The disclosed computer-implemented method for utilizing information-asset metadata aggregated from multiple disparate data-management systems may include (1) receiving a request for information about one or more information assets of an entity whose metadata satisfies a metadata-search criterion, (2) identifying a global metadata repository that stores metadata of the information assets, (3) querying the global metadata repository for information about one or more of the information assets whose metadata satisfies the metadata-search criterion, (4) receiving, from the global metadata repository, information about at least one information asset whose metadata satisfies the metadata-search criterion, and (5) responding to the request using the information about the information asset. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for utilizing information-asset metadata aggregated from multiple disparate data-management systems, at least a portion of the method being performed by a first computing device comprising at least one processor, the method comprising:

receiving, by an electronic-discovery system executing on the first computing device, a request for information about one or more information assets of an entity whose metadata satisfies a metadata-search criterion, wherein;

the information assets of the entity are;

distributed across a plurality of information-asset sources of the entity; and

managed by at least;

a first data-management system that;

 

executes on a second computing device;

 

generates, by scanning at least one of the plurality of information-asset sources, metadata for at least a first portion of the information assets; and

 

transmits, via an application programming interface of a remote metadata repository executing on a third computing device, metadata for the first portion of the information assets to the third computing device for storage in the remote metadata repository; and

a second data-management system that;

 

executes on a forth computing device;

 

generates, by scanning at least one of the plurality of information-asset sources, metadata for at least a second portion of the information assets; and

 

transmits, via the application programming interface, the metadata for the second portion of the information assets to the third computing device for storage in the remote metadata repository;

the remote metadata repository stores the metadata for the first portion of the information assets and the metadata for the second portion of the information assets;

the first data-management system and the second data-management system are different types of data-management systems that manage the information assets of the entity in different fields of data management; and

the first data-management system, the second data-management system, the electronic-discovery system, and the remote metadata repository are separate and distinct systems that are capable of independent operation;

querying, by the electronic-discovery system via the application programming interface, the remote metadata repository for information about one or more of the information assets whose metadata satisfies the metadata-search criterion;

receiving, by the electronic-discovery system via the application programming interface of the remote metadata repository, information about at least one information asset whose metadata satisfies the metadata-search criterion;

utilizing, at the electronic-discovery system, scanning efforts of the first data-management system or the second data-management system to discover the at least one information asset without scanning any of the plurality of information-asset sources by using the information, received from the remote metadata repository, about the information asset whose metadata satisfies the metadata-search criterion to discover the at least one information asset; and

responding, by the electronic-discovery system, to the request using the information about the information asset.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first data-management system and the second data-management system generate different information-asset metadata.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein

the steps of receiving the request, identifying the remote metadata repository, querying the remote metadata repository, receiving the information, and responding to the request are performed by the electronic-discovery system as part of an early case assessment without scanning any of the plurality of information-asset sources.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the metadata of the information assets stored in the remote metadata repository identifies at least one owner of each of the information assets;

at least one of the first data-management system and the second data-management system generated the metadata of the information assets stored in the remote metadata repository that identifies the owner of each of the information assets;

the metadata-search criterion comprises a criterion for identifying information assets of at least one specified owner.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the metadata of the information assets stored in the remote metadata repository comprises at least one classification of at least one of the information assets;

at least one of the first data-management system and the second data-management system generated the classification of the at least one of the information assets;

the metadata-search criterion comprises a criterion for identifying information assets whose classification matches at least one specified classification.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein querying the remote metadata repository for information comprises registering, with the remote metadata repository, to receive a notification whenever the metadata of any of the information assets subsequently satisfies the metadata-search criterion as a result of being updated by at least one of the first data-management system and the second data-management system.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the information asset is accessible via an information-asset source;

receiving the request for information about one or more information assets of the entity whose metadata satisfies the metadata-search criterion comprises receiving a request for one or more information assets of the entity whose metadata satisfies the metadata-search criterion;

responding to the request comprises;

using the information about the information asset to retrieve the information asset from the information-asset source;

responding to the request with the information asset.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the information asset is accessible via an information-asset source;

receiving the request for information about one or more information assets of the entity whose metadata satisfies the metadata-search criterion comprises receiving a request for one or more information assets of the entity whose metadata satisfies the metadata-search criterion;

querying the remote metadata repository comprises requesting the information asset from the remote metadata repository;

receiving the information about the information asset comprises receiving, from the remote metadata repository, the information asset, the information asset having been retrieved from the information-asset source by the remote metadata repository;

responding to the request comprises responding to the request with the information asset.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of information-asset sources comprise at least one of:

a file server;

a mail server;

a document server;

a collaboration system;

a social network;

a cloud-based storage system.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the information asset comprises at least one of:

a file;

an email;

a document.

11. A system for utilizing information-asset metadata aggregated from multiple disparate data-management systems, the system comprising:

a request-receiving module, stored in memory, that receives, at an electronic-discovery system executing on a first computing device, a request for information about one or more information assets of an entity whose metadata satisfies a metadata-search criterion, wherein;

the information assets of the entity are;

distributed across a plurality of information-asset sources of the entity; and

managed by at least;

a first data-management system that;

 

executes on a second computing device;

 

generates, by scanning at least one of the plurality of information-asset sources, metadata for at least a first portion of the information assets; and

 

transmits, via an application programming interface of a remote metadata repository executing on a third computing device, metadata for the first portion of the information assets to the third computing device for storage in the remote metadata repository; and

a second data-management system that;

 

executes on a forth computing device;

 

generates, by scanning at least one of the plurality of information-asset sources, metadata for at least a second portion of the information assets; and

 

transmits, via the application programming interface, the metadata for the second portion of the information assets to the third computing device for storage in the remote metadata repository;

the remote metadata repository stores the metadata for the first portion of the information assets and the metadata for the second portion of the information assets;

the first data-management system and the second data-management system are different types of data-management systems that manage the information assets of the entity in different fields of data management; and

the first data-management system, the second data-management system, the electronic-discovery system, and the remote metadata repository are separate and distinct systems that are capable of independent operation;

an identifying module, stored in memory, that identifies, at the electronic-discovery system, the remote metadata repository;

a querying module, stored in memory, that queries, at the electronic-discovery system via the application programming interface while refraining from scanning any of the plurality of information-asset sources, the remote metadata repository for information about one or more of the information assets whose metadata satisfies the metadata-search criterion;

an information-receiving module, stored in memory, that;

receives, at the electronic-discovery system via the application programming interface of the remote metadata repository while refraining from scanning any of the plurality of information-asset sources, information about at least one information asset whose metadata satisfies the metadata-search criterion; and

utilizes, at the electronic-discovery system, scanning efforts of the first data-management system or the second data-management system to discover the at least one information asset without scanning any of the plurality of information-asset sources by using the information, received from the remote metadata repository, about the information asset whose metadata satisfies the metadata-search criterion to discover the at least one information asset;

a responding module, stored in memory, that responds, at the electronic-discovery system while refraining from scanning any of the plurality of information-asset sources, to the request using the information about the information asset; and

at least one processor that executes the request-receiving module, the identifying module, the querying module, the information-receiving module, and the responding module.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the first data-management system and the second data-management system generate different information-asset metadata.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein

the request-receiving module, the identifying module, the querying module, the information-receiving module, and the responding module receive the request, identify the remote metadata repository, query the remote metadata repository, receive the information, and respond to the request as part of performing an early case assessment without scanning any of the plurality of information-asset sources.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein:

the metadata of the information assets stored in the remote metadata repository identifies at least one owner of each of the information assets;

at least one of the first data-management system and the second data-management system generated the metadata of the information assets stored in the remote metadata repository that identifies the owner of each of the information assets;

the metadata-search criterion comprises a criterion for identifying information assets of at least one specified owner.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein:

the metadata of the information assets stored in the remote metadata repository comprises at least one classification of at least one of the information assets;

at least one of the first data-management system and the second data-management system generated the classification of the at least one of the information assets;

the metadata-search criterion comprises a criterion for identifying information assets whose classification matches at least one specified classification.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the querying module queries the remote metadata repository for information by registering, with the remote metadata repository, to receive a notification whenever the metadata of any of the information assets subsequently satisfies the metadata-search criterion as a result of being updated by at least one of the first data-management system and the second data-management system.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein:

the information asset is accessible via an information-asset source;

the request-receiving module receives the request for information about one or more information assets of the entity whose metadata satisfies the metadata-search criterion by receiving a request for one or more information assets of the entity whose metadata satisfies the metadata-search criterion;

the responding module responds to the request by;

using the information about the information asset to retrieve the information asset from the information-asset source;

responding to the request with the information asset.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein:

the information asset is accessible via an information-asset source;

the request-receiving module receives the request for information about one or more information assets of the entity whose metadata satisfies the metadata-search criterion by receiving a request for one or more information assets of the entity whose metadata satisfies the metadata-search criterion;

the querying module queries the remote metadata repository by requesting the information asset from the remote metadata repository;

the information-receiving module receives the information about the information asset by receiving, from the remote metadata repository, the information asset, the information asset having been retrieved from the information-asset source by the remote metadata repository;

the responding module responds to the request by responding to the request with the information asset.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein:

the plurality of information-asset sources comprise at least one of;

a file server;

a mail server;

a document server;

a collaboration system;

a social network;

a cloud-based storage system;

the information asset comprises at least one of;

a file;

an email;

a document.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising one or more computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a first computing device, cause the first computing device to:

receive, by an electronic-discovery system executing on the first computing device, a request for information about one or more information assets of an entity whose metadata satisfies a metadata-search criterion, wherein;

the information assets of the entity are;

distributed across a plurality of information-asset sources of the entity; and

managed by at least;

a first data-management system that;

 

executes on a second computing device;

 

generates, by scanning at least one of the plurality of information-asset sources, metadata for at least a first portion of the information assets; and

 

transmits, via an application programming interface of a remote metadata repository executing on a third computing device, metadata for the first portion of the information assets to the third computing device for storage in the remote metadata repository; and

a second data-management system that;

 

executes on a forth computing device;

 

generates, by scanning at least one of the plurality of information-asset sources, metadata for at least a second portion of the information assets; and

 

transmits, via the application programming interface, the metadata for the second portion of the information assets to the third computing device for storage in the remote metadata repository;

the remote metadata repository stores the metadata for the first portion of the information assets and the metadata for the second portion of the information assets;

the first data-management system and the second data-management system are different types of data-management systems that manage the information assets of the entity in different fields of data management; and

the first data-management system, the second data-management system, the electronic-discovery system, and the remote metadata repository are separate and distinct systems that are capable of independent operation;

query, by the electronic-discovery system via the application programming interface, the remote metadata repository for information about one or more of the information assets whose metadata satisfies the metadata-search criterion;

receive, by the electronic-discovery system via the application programming interface of the remote metadata repository, information about at least one information asset whose metadata satisfies the metadata-search criterion;

utilize, by the electronic-discovery system, scanning efforts of the first data-management system or the second data-management system to discover the at least one information asset without scanning any of the plurality of information-asset sources by using the information, received from the remote metadata repository, about the information asset whose metadata satisfies the metadata-search criterion to discover the at least one information asset; and

respond, by the electronic-discovery system, to the request using the information about the information asset.