User selectable data source for data recovery

• US 10,235,392 B1
• Filed: 06/26/2013
• Issued: 03/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Emc IP Holding Company LLC (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Emc IP Holding Company LLC (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Jauhal, Shern S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Badawi, Sherief
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ennaji, Lahcen
• Application Number:
  US13/927,466
• Time in Patent Office: 2,092 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1446 Point-in-time backing up or restoration of persistent data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1448 Management of the data involved in backup or backup restore
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1464 for networked environments
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2094 Redundant storage or storage space G06F11/2056 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/13 File access structures, e.g. distributed indices arrangements of input from, or output to, record carriers G06F3/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/21 Design, administration or maintenance of databases

Abstract

Systems and methods for performing a recovery operation for a host. A user interface is displayed and a recovery operation is configured. During configuration of the recovery operation, the source of the backup for the recovery operation can be selected by a user. The recovery operation is performed based on the user-selected backup.

Claims

1. A method for performing a recovery operation to recover data, the method comprising:

initiating a recovery operation for a host, wherein a user interface is displayed and wherein the user interface includes a workflow for configuring the recovery operation, the workflow including a plurality of elements;

querying the host to identify a specific manner in which data of the host was protected;

selecting a recovery module based on the query, wherein the recovery module is related to the specific manner in which the data of the host was protected;

retrieving the recovery module from a server based on the manner in which the data of the host was protected,

dynamically adapting the workflow, by the recovery module, by adding, changing, and/or removing one or more of the plurality of elements in the workflow, wherein the workflow is adapted by the recovery module to account for specific circumstances of the host and of data associated with the host, wherein the recovery module dynamically adapts the workflow based on the manner in which the data of the host was protected;

displaying a list of available backups in different media pools, wherein each of the backups includes a copy of the data selected for recovery and wherein each of the backups includes the same data;

selecting one of the backups from the list of available backups from one of the media pools; and

recovering the data to the host using the selected backup from the selected media pool to recover the data to the host in accordance with the workflow.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying a list of available backups includes displaying volume information for each of the backups.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising configuring the recovery operation by selecting recovery options.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the backups is stored in a different media pool, each media pool including storage devices.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying information about each of the backups in the list of available backups, wherein the information includes one or more of a device, a location, a media type, or a status.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving user input in the user interface, wherein the user input identifies the selected backup used to recover the data to the host.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting the host from a list of hosts.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the workflow includes a first portion that is common to the user interface for recovering different types of hosts and a second portion that is added to the workflow by the plug-in, wherein different hosts are associated with different plug-ins and wherein the second portion of the workflow for the different hosts are adapted differently.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the list of backups depends on the data selected and on a time.

9. A storage device comprising a non-transitory medium having stored therein computer-executable instructions which, when executed by one or more hardware processors of a computing system, implement a method for performing a recovery operation for a host, the method comprising:

initiating a recovery operation for a host;

displaying a user interface to configure the recovery operation for the host, wherein the user interface includes a workflow for configuring the recovery operation, the workflow including a plurality of elements;

identifying a manner in which the host was backed up;

selecting a plug in from among a plurality of plug in, wherein the plug in is related to the manner in which the host was backed up;

retrieving the plug in from a backup server based on the manner in which the host was backed up;

dynamically adapting the workflow, by the plug in, by adding, changing and/or removing one or more of the plurality of elements in the workflow, wherein the workflow is adapted by the plug in to account for circumstances of the host and of data associated with the host, wherein the plug in dynamically adapts the workflow based on the manner in which the data of the host was protected;

displaying a list of available backups in different media pools in the user interface, wherein each of the backups includes a copy of the data selected for recovery and wherein each of the backups is a redundant copy of the selected data;

selecting one of the backups from the list of available backups from one of the media pools, wherein recovery of the selected backup from the selected media pool is expected to be more efficient than recovery of the other available backups; and

recovering the data to the host using the selected backup to recover the data to the host in accordance with the workflow.

10. The storage device of claim 9, wherein displaying a list of available backups includes displaying volume information for each of the backups.

11. The storage device of claim 9, further comprising configuring the recovery operation by selecting recovery options.

12. The storage device of claim 9, wherein each of the backups is stored in a different media pool, each media pool including storage devices.

13. The storage device of claim 9, further comprising displaying information about each of the backups in the list of available backups, wherein the information includes one or more of a device, a location, a media type, or a status.

14. The storage device of claim 9, further comprising receiving user input in the user interface, wherein the user input identifies the selected backup used to recover the data to the host.

15. The storage device of claim 9, further comprising selecting the host from a list of hosts.

16. The storage device of claim 9, wherein the workflow includes a first portion that is common to the user interface for recovering different types of hosts and a second portion that is added to the workflow by the plug-in, wherein different hosts are associated with different plug-ins and wherein the second portion of the workflow for the different hosts is adapted differently.

17. A computing device comprising:

at least one processor; and

one or more programs configured to configure a recovery operation, the one or programs including computer executable instructions on a non-transitory medium that, when executed by the at least one processor, provide;

an agent configured to perform the recovery operation at a host; and

a user interface component configured to display a user interface on a display;

wherein the user interface component is operable to generate the user interface that presents a workflow that includes a first portion that is constant for all recovery operations and a reconfigurable second portion, wherein the workflow includes a plurality of elements,

wherein the one or more programs identify a manner in which data of the host was protected and then retrieve a plug in from a server based on the manner in which the data of the host was protected,

wherein the plug-in dynamically adapts only the second portion the workflow presented in the user interface for the recovery operation based on the manner in which the data of the host was protected by dynamically adding, changing, and/or removing one or more of the plurality of elements in the workflow, wherein the workflow is adapted to account for the host and the data associated with the host and to account from the manner in which the data of the host was protected,

wherein the workflow is configured to generate configuration information for the recovery operation including selecting data for recovery and selecting a backup from a list of available backups that contain redundant copies of the selected data, wherein recovery of the selected backup is expected to be more efficient than recovery of the other available backups and wherein the available backups reside in different media pools,

wherein the agent cooperates with the dynamically adapted workflow presented in the user interface and configured by the plug in to perform tasks related to configuring the recovery operation and the recovery of the data to the host,

wherein the plug in configured to generate the second portion of the workflow associated with the recovery of the selected data, such that the workflow is adapted to specific circumstances of the host and of the data selected for recovery,

the one or more programs configured to recover the data to the host from the selected backup on the selected media pool in accordance with the workflow.

18. The computing device of claim 17, wherein each backup in the list of available backups is associated with information that is displayed in the user interface, wherein the information includes at least one of a device, a location, a media type, and a status.

19. The computing device of claim 17, wherein each of the backups is stored in a different media pool, the media pool including storage devices.

20. The computing device of claim 19, wherein the user interface displays the list of available backups includes a volume for each backup.