Backup technique for recording devices employing different storage forms

• US 20040010669A1
• Filed: 05/30/2003
• Published: 01/15/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Mukuda, Kyohsuke, Yamamoto, Ayako, Takizawa, Kaori, Nishimura, Tetsuroh
• Granted Patent: US 7,162,597 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/162
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1456 Hardware arrangements for backup
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1458 Management of the backup or restore process
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 Recoverability
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99955 Archiving or backup

Abstract

One aspect of the invention is a backup system that collectively performs the backup of data in a block form stored by a block recording device, and the back of data in a file form stored by a file recording device. According to the present invention, a backup system comprises: a first storage unit for storing first data using a first storage form; a second storage unit for storing second data using a second storage form; a backup storage unit for storing backup data for the first data and the second data; a storage form converter for converting into data for the second storage form the first data stored in the first storage form by the first storage unit; and a backup manager for copying into the backup storage unit the first data and the second data stored in the second storage form by the second storage unit.

Claims

1. A backup system, comprising:

a first storage unit configured to store first data using a first storage form;

a second storage unit configured to store second data using a second storage form;

a backup storage unit configured to store backup data for the first data and the second data;

a storage form converter configured to convert into data for the second storage form, the first data stored in the first storage form by the first storage unit, wherein the storage form converter is coupled to the first storage unit and the second storage unit; and

a backup manager configured to copy into the backup storage unit the first data and the second data stored in the second storage form, wherein the backup manager is coupled to the second storage unit and the backup storage unit.

2. The backup system according to claim 1:

wherein the first storage unit is configured to store the first data using a block form, wherein the block form is a storage form wherein data is accessed by directly designating a storage location;

wherein the second storage unit is configured to store the second data using a file form, wherein the file form is a storage form wherein data is accessed by designating a file name; and

wherein the storage form converter is configured to convert the first data in the block form stored by the first storage unit into data in the file form, and to store the data in the file form in the second storage unit.

3. The backup system according to claim 2, wherein the storage form converter is configured to allocate one file name for multiple blocks of the first data stored by the first storage unit, and, in correlation with the file name, to store in the second storage unit the first data and the locations of the multiple blocks stored in the first storage unit.

4. The backup system according to claim 1:

wherein the storage form converter is configured to, for each first time interval, convert into the second storage form first data that is updated or added to, and to store the converted data in the second storage form in the second storage unit; and

wherein, the backup manager is configured to, for each second time interval, which is equal to or longer than the first time interval, copy to the backup storage unit the first data and the second data stored in the second storage unit.

5. The backup system according to claim 1:

wherein the storage form converter is configured to, when the first data stored in the first storage unit is updated or is added to, convert the first data into data in the second storage form and to store the converted data in the second storage unit; and

wherein, the backup manager is configured to, for each predetermined time interval, copy to the backup storage unit the first data and the second data stored in the second storage unit.

6. The backup system according to claim 1:

wherein, the storage form converter is configured to, when the first data stored in the first storage unit is updated or added to, divide the first data into multiple data segments and to convert each of the data segments into the second storage form and to store the converted data segments in the second storage unit; and

wherein the backup manager is configured to copy the data segments of the first data to the backup storage unit, when the data segments of the first data are added to the second storage unit.

7. The backup system according to claim 1, wherein the storage form converter includes:

a storage location recorder configured to record the storage location of the first data in the first storage unit, when the first data is updated or added to, and

a data converter configured to convert into the second storage form the first data located at the storage location that is recorded by the storage location recorder.

8. The backup system according to claim 7, wherein the first storage unit includes firmware stored in nonvolatile memory, and wherein the storage location recorder is implemented by the firmware in the first storage unit.

9. The backup system according to claim 7, wherein the second storage unit includes firmware stored in nonvolatile memory, and wherein the data converter is implemented by the firmware in the second storage unit.

10. The backup system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of the second storage units;

and wherein the storage form converter is configured to convert the first data into the second storage form, and to store the converted data in one of the second storage units that has free memory space.

11. A recording device for managing data in a block form, comprising:

a storage unit configured to store data in the block form, wherein the block form is a storage form wherein data is accessed by directly designating a storage location; and

a storage form converter configured to convert data stored in the storage unit into a file form, and to store the data in the file form in a second recording device which stores data in the file form, wherein the file form is a storage form wherein data is accessed by designating a file name.

12. A recording device for managing data in a file form, comprising:

a storage unit configured to store data in the file form, wherein the file form is a storage form wherein data is accessed by designating a file name; and

a storage form converter configured to obtain data from a second recording device that stores data in a block form, and to convert the data obtained from the second recording device into a file form and to store the converted data in the storage unit, wherein the block form is a storage form wherein data is accessed by directly designating a storage location.

13. A storage form conversion device for converting a data storage form, comprising:

a data receiver configured to receive data from a first recording device that stores data in a block form, wherein the block form is a storage form wherein data is accessed by directly designating a storage location;

a storage form converter configured to convert the data received by the data receiver into data in a file form, wherein the file form is a storage form wherein data is accessed by designating a file name; and

a data transmitter configured to transmit the data converted by the storage form converter to a second recording device wherein the converted data is stored in the file form.

14. A program, embodied in a storage medium, for a recording device for managing data in a block form, wherein the program comprises:

a storage module configured to store data in the block form, wherein the block form is a storage form wherein data is accessed by directly designating a storage location; and

a storage form converter module configured to convert data stored by the storage module into a file form, and to store the data in the file form in a second recording device which stores data in the file form, wherein the file form is a storage form wherein data is accessed by designating a file name.

15. A program, embodied in a storage medium, for a recording device for managing data in a file form, wherein the program comprises:

a storage module configured to store data in the file form, wherein the file form is a storage form wherein data is accessed by designating a file name; and

a storage form converter module configured to obtain data from a second recording device that stores data in a block form, and to convert the data obtained from the second recording device into a file form and to store the converted data with the storage module, wherein the block form is a storage form wherein data is accessed by directly designating a storage location.

16. A program, embodied in a storage medium, for a storage form conversion device for converting a data storage form, wherein the program comprises:

a data receiver module configured to receive data from a first recording device that stores data in a block form, wherein the block form is a storage form wherein data is accessed by directly designating a storage location;

a storage form converter module configured to convert the data received by the data receiver module into data in a file form, wherein the file form is a storage form wherein data is accessed by designating a file name; and

a data transmitter module configured to transmit the data converted by the storage form converter module to a second recording device wherein the converted data is stored in the file form.

17. A method for storing backup data, comprising the following operations:

updating data in a block recording device;

converting the updated data into a file format;

storing the converted data in a file recording device; and

for each time interval t₁, copying the converted data from the file recording device to a backup recording device.

18. A method for storing backup data, comprising the following operations:

adding data to a block recording device;

for each time interval t₂, converting the added data into a file format;

storing the converted data in a file recording device; and

for each time interval t₁, copying the converted data from the file recording device to a backup recording device.

19. A method for storing backup data, comprising the following operations:

adding data to a block recording device;

for each time interval t₂, dividing the added data into segments;

converting each segment into a file format;

storing the converted segments in a file recording device; and

copying each segment from the file recording device to a backup recording device.

20. A backup device, comprising:

means for updating data in a block recording device;

means for converting the updated data into a file format;

means for storing the converted data in a file recording device; and

means for, for each time interval t₁, copying the converted data from the file recording device to a backup recording device.