Database protection using block-level mapping

• US 10,108,687 B2
• Filed: 05/15/2015
• Issued: 10/23/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Dornemann, Henry Wallace, Pawar, Rahul S., Ahn, Jun H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vy, Hung T
• Application Number:
  US14/714,070
• Publication Number:
  US 20160210064A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,257 Days
• Field of Search: 707622
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/14 Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in operation G06F11/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1448 Management of the data involved in backup or backup restore
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1451 by selection of backup contents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1458 Management of the backup or restore process
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1464 for networked environments
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1469 Backup restoration techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2094 Redundant storage or storage space G06F11/2056 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3034 where the computing system component is a storage system, e.g. DASD based or network based digital input from or digital output to record carriers G06F3/06; digital recording or reproducing G11B20/18; for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS], H04L67/1097
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3476 Data logging G06F11/14, G06F11/2205 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/113 Details of archiving lifecycle management in storage systems G06F3/0649; backup systems G06F11/1446
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1727 Details of free space management performed by the file system saving storage space on storage systems G06F3/0608; management of blocks in storage devices G06F3/064
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1827 Management specifically adapted to NAS management of storage area networks [SAN] G06F3/067
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/184 implemented as replicated file system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/214 Database migration support
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2282 Tablespace storage structures; Management thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2358 Change logging, detection, and notification replication G06F16/27
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/27 Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/275 Synchronous replication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/80 Database-specific techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/84 Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/061 : Improving I/O performance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0619 : in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/064 : Management of blocks
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0643 : Management of files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/065 : Replication mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 : Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

A system according to certain aspects may include a client computing device including: a database application configured to output a database file in a primary storage device(s), the database application outputting the database file as a series of application-level blocks; and a data agent configured to divide the database file into a plurality of first blocks having a first granularity larger than a second granularity of the application-level blocks such that each of the first blocks spans a plurality of the application-level blocks. The system may include a secondary storage controller computer(s) configured to: in response to instructions to create a secondary copy of the database file: copy the plurality of first blocks to a secondary storage device(s) to create a secondary copy of the database file; and create a table that provides a mapping between the copied plurality of first blocks and corresponding locations on the secondary storage device(s).

Claims

1. A data storage system for protecting database files, the system comprising:

a client computing device comprising;

at least one hardware processor;

a database application executing on the hardware processor and configured to output a database file for storage in one or more primary storage devices in a primary storage subsystem, the database file including a plurality of database objects, the database application outputting the database file as a series of a plurality of application-level blocks having an application-level block size associated with the database application; and

a data agent executing on the hardware processor and configured to;

based on the size of a read operation by the database application, determine a first block size, wherein the first block size is greater than the application-level block size; and

divide the database file into a plurality of first blocks having the first block size such that each of the first blocks spans multiple application-level blocks of the plurality of the application-level blocks; and

one or more secondary storage controller computers comprising computer hardware configured to;

in response to instructions to create a secondary copy of the database file;

copy the plurality of first blocks to one or more secondary storage devices in a secondary storage subsystem to create a secondary copy of the database file; and

create a table that provides a mapping between the copied plurality of first blocks and corresponding locations on the one or more secondary storage devices.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first block size is a multiple of the application-level block size.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the table is stored in one or more indexes associated with the one or more secondary storage controller computers.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein each copied block of the plurality of first blocks has a unique identifier (ID).

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the table includes columns relating to at least:

the secondary copy of the database file, a block in the secondary copy of the database file, a backup file identifier for a location of the block in the secondary storage subsystem, and a backup file offset for the location of the block in the secondary storage subsystem.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the data agent is further configured to request restore of a database object from the secondary copy of the database file.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the secondary copy of the database file is provided as a file system in a user interface, and the database object is accessed through the file system.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a second data agent executing on a computing device that is different from the client computing device and the second data agent is configured to divide the database file into the plurality of first blocks.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the computing device is one of the one or more secondary storage controller computers.

10. A method of protecting database files, the method comprising:

with a data agent executing on at least one processor of a client computing device, the client computing device comprising a database application executing on the processor and configured to output a database file for storage in one or more primary storage devices in a primary storage subsystem, the database file including a plurality of database objects, the database application outputting the database file as a series of a plurality of application-level blocks having a first an application-level block size associated with the database application;

based on the size of a read operation by the database application, determining a first block size, wherein the first block size is greater than the application-level block size; and

dividing the database file into a plurality of first blocks having the first block size such that each of the first blocks spans multiple application-level blocks of the plurality of the application-level blocks; and

with one or more secondary storage controller computers comprising computer hardware;

in response to instructions to create a secondary copy of the database file;

copying the plurality of first blocks to one or more secondary storage devices in a secondary storage subsystem to create a secondary copy of the database file; and

creating a table that provides a mapping between the copied plurality of first blocks and corresponding locations on the one or more secondary storage devices.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first block size is a multiple of the application-level block size.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the table is stored in one or more indexes associated with the one or more secondary storage controller computers.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein each copied block of the plurality of first blocks has a unique identifier (ID).

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the table includes columns relating to at least:

the secondary copy of the database file, a block in the secondary copy of the database file, a backup file identifier for a location of the block in the secondary storage subsystem, and a backup file offset for the location of the block in the secondary storage subsystem.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising, with the data agent, requesting restore of a database object from the secondary copy of the database file.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the secondary copy of the database file is provided as a file system in a user interface, and the database object is accessed through the file system.

17. A data storage system for protecting structured data, the system comprising:

a computing device comprising computer hardware and having a data agent executing thereon configured to;

divide a structured data file residing on one or more storage devices in a first storage subsystem into a plurality of first blocks, wherein the structured data file includes data generated by a first application executing on one or more computing devices and the structured data file includes one or more data objects, and wherein the plurality of first blocks have a first block size spanning multiple data objects and wherein the first blocks size is based on a read operation by the first application; and

create a table that provides a mapping between the plurality of first blocks and corresponding offsets of the structured data file; and

one or more storage controller computers comprising hardware configured to, in response to instructions to create a copy of the structured file from the one or more storage devices in the first storage subsystem, copy the plurality of first blocks to one or more storage devices in a second storage subsystem to create the copy of the structured file.