Distributed computing system with resource managed database cloning

• US 10,437,856 B2
• Filed: 10/03/2016
• Issued: 10/08/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ServiceNow Incorporated
• Original Assignee: ServiceNow Incorporated
• Inventors: Wang, Paul, Ye, Xiaoyi, Lu, Xuejia, Chandrashekar, Sridhar
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Thu Nguyet T
• Application Number:
  US15/284,298
• Publication Number:
  US 20170039106A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,100 Days
• Field of Search: 707652
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1448 Management of the data involved in backup or backup restore
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1461 Backup scheduling policy
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1464 for networked environments
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1469 Backup restoration techniques
• 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

Abstract

When multiple backup database instances most recently experienced an update is determined. If a most recently updated backup database instance was updated within a defined time period of one or more other backup database instances, a source instance for cloning is selected as the backup database instance that satisfies at least one of a physical or logical proximity criteria relative to a designated database instance. If a difference in update times is greater than the defined time period, e.g., for the two most recent backup database instances, the source instance for cloning is selected to be the most recently updated backup database instance. Cloning to a target instance is performed using the selected backup database instance as a source instance as long as preparatory operations all pass. If not, the source databases are used for the cloning while still being accessible to clients.

Claims

1. An apparatus for cloning database instances, comprising:

a control device coupled to computerized servers through a network, the computerized servers comprising at least a first computerized server including a primary database and a second computerized server including a secondary database, and at least some of the computerized servers storing backup database instances respectively constructed by copying data from one of the primary database or the secondary database, the control device comprising;

a processor; and

machine-readable instructions stored in a non-transitory storage medium that cause the processor to perform a cloning operation by;

identifying a most recently updated one of the backup database instances as a first backup database instance;

identifying another of the backup database instances that was updated most recently before the first backup database instance as a second backup database instance;

upon a condition that a time difference between an update time of the first backup database instance and an update time of the second backup database instance is below a defined value, selecting, as a source instance for cloning, one of the first backup database instance or the second backup database instance satisfying at least one of a geographic distance criteria or geographic logical criteria with respect to a designated database instance;

upon a condition that the time difference is above the defined value, selecting, as the source instance for cloning, the first backup database instance; and

cloning the source instance to the designated database instance.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a first datacenter coupled to the network, the first datacenter comprising at least the first computerized server; and

a second datacenter coupled to the network, the second datacenter comprising at least the second computerized server, wherein the control device is located within a control center separate from the first datacenter and the second datacenter.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the control center receives an indicator of a need for a database cloning operation over the network from one of the first datacenter or the second datacenter.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the designated database instance is located at a third computerized server within one of the first datacenter or the second datacenter.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control device receives or detects a prescribed command, event trigger, or other occurrence to initiate the cloning operation.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the computerized servers are located within respective datacenters of a plurality of datacenters coupled to the network, and the control device receives the prescribed command, event trigger, or other occurrence from one of the plurality of datacenters.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

machine-readable records listing update times when each of the backup database instances most recently experienced an update from one of the primary database or the secondary database.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one of the first backup database instance or the second backup database instance satisfies the at least one of the distance criteria or logical criteria with respect to the designated database instance when the one of the first backup database instance or the second backup database instance shares a common datacenter with the designated database instance.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the machine-readable instructions further comprise instructions that cause the processor to perform the cloning operation by, before cloning the source instance to the target instance:

conduct preparatory operations comprising conducting a preflight check, provisioning the target instance, and restoring from the source instance to the target instance; and

responsive to failure of any of the preparatory operations, using only processing nodes associated with one of the primary database or the secondary database to copy data directly from the one of the primary database or the secondary database to the target instance as the source instance.

10. An apparatus for cloning database instances, comprising:

a control device coupled to computerized servers through a network, the computerized servers comprising at least a first computerized server including a primary database and a second computerized server including a secondary database, and at least some of the computerized servers storing backup database instances respectively constructed by copying data from one of the primary database or the secondary database, the control device comprising;

a processor; and

machine-readable instructions stored in a non-transitory storage medium that cause the processor to perform a cloning operation by;

identifying a most recently updated one of the backup database instances as a first backup database instance;

identifying another of the backup database instances that was updated most recently before the first backup database instance as a second backup database instance;

upon a condition that a time difference between an update time of the first backup database instance and an update time of the second backup database instance is below a defined value, selecting, as a source instance for cloning, one of the first backup database instance or the second backup database instance satisfying at least one of a geographic distance criteria or geographic logical criteria with respect to a designated database instance;

upon a condition that the time difference is above the defined value, selecting, as the source instance for cloning, the first backup database instance;

conducting a preparatory operation; and

upon passing of the preparatory operation, cloning the source instance the designated database instance.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the preparatory operation comprises a plurality of preparatory operations, and passing of the preparatory operation comprises passing each of the plurality of preparatory operations.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein cloning the source instance to the target instance comprises:

copying data from the source instance to the target instance; and

re-pointing application nodes linked to a previously-created backup database so that the application nodes are linked to the target instance.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the machine-readable instructions comprise instructions that cause the processor to perform the cloning operation by:

permitting roll back of the target instance to the previously-created backup database for a defined time period after the application nodes are linked to the target instance.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the machine-readable instructions comprise instructions that cause the processor to perform the cloning operation upon failure of any one of the plurality of preparatory operations by:

cloning one of the primary database or the secondary database to the target instance while maintaining availability of data of the one of the primary database or the secondary database to a connected client.

15. A method for cloning database instances, comprising:

receiving or detecting, by a control device, a prescribed command, event trigger, or other occurrence, the control device coupled to computerized servers through a network, and the computerized servers comprising at least a first computerized server including a primary database and a second computerized server including a secondary database, and at least some of the computerized servers storing backup database instances respectively constructed by copying data from one of the primary database or the secondary database; and

responsive to receiving or detecting the prescribed command, event trigger, or other occurrence, perform a cloning operation by;

identifying a most recently updated one of the backup database instances as a first backup database instance;

identifying another of the backup database instances that was updated most recently before the first backup database instance as a second backup database instance;

upon a condition that a time difference between an update time of the first backup database instance and an update of the second backup database instance is below a defined value, selecting, as a source instance for cloning, one of the first backup database instance or the second backup database instance satisfying at least one of a geographic distance criteria or geographic logical criteria with respect to a designated database instance;

upon a condition that the time difference is above the defined value, selecting, as the source instance for cloning, the first backup database instance; and

cloning the source instance to the designated database instance.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

before cloning the source instance to the target instance, performing at least one of;

verifying that the first backup database instance or the second backup database instance selected as the source instance exists;

validating the target instance and the first backup database instance or the second backup database instance selected as the source instance in a configuration management database;

or

verifying that the first backup database instance or the second backup database instance selected as the source instance is capable of being successfully restored.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

before cloning the source instance to the target instance, provisioning the target instance by appropriating storage hardware and other operations to ready the target instance for access by a client.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

upon a condition that the first backup database instance or the second backup database instance selected as the source instance is older than a defined age, selecting, as the source instance for cloning, one of the primary database or the secondary database, wherein cloning the source instance to the target instance comprises cloning the one of the primary database or the secondary database to the target instance while maintaining availability of data of the one of the primary database or the secondary database to a client.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

after cloning the source instance to the target instance, receiving a roll back instruction;

upon a condition that the roll back instruction is received within a defined time period after cloning the source instance to the target instance, repointing application nodes from the target database to a previously-created backup database of the target instance; and

retiring the previously-created backup database when the defined time period has passed.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the roll back instruction is responsive to a client request or a system event or condition.