Method, system and article of manufacture for data preservation and automated electronic software distribution across an enterprise system

• US 20050055357A1
• Filed: 04/26/2004
• Published: 03/10/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SecureInfo Corp. (Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: SecureInfo Corp. (Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Incorporated)
• Inventors: Campbell, Scott
• Granted Patent: US 7,340,491 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/64 Retargetable

Abstract

A method, system and article of manufacture for data preservation. A method for preserving data during system migration includes determining which files on a computer should not be preserved, preserving all files from the computer not identified by the determining step, performing a system migration on the computer, and downloading the preserved files to the computer. The determining step may determines which files should not be preserved by applying rules that specify which files should not be preserved. A system for preserving data during system migration includes a plurality of workstation computers and a remote site server connected to the plurality of workstation computers. Each workstation computer includes a plurality of files. The remote site server includes a processor that executes instructions on a memory, the memory including instructions for preserving data during system migration.

Claims

1. A method for preserving data during system migration, comprising:

determining which files on a computer should not be preserved;

preserving all files from the computer not identified by the determining step;

performing a system migration on the computer; and

downloading the preserved files to the computer.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

generating a rule set that includes a plurality of rules, wherein the determining step determines which files should not be preserved by applying the rule set.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the generating step includes:

retrieving a file that includes the plurality of rules.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the generating step includes:

parsing the rules into component fields, wherein the component fields include a filename field.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein each rule includes a filename and the generating step includes:

determining if the filename of a rule includes a wildcard;

if the filename field of the rule includes a wildcard, adding the rule to a wildcard array of rules; and

otherwise, adding the rule to an explicit array of rules.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the generating step further includes:

repeating the determining and adding steps for each rule of the plurality of rules; and

sorting the explicit array of rules by the filename of each rule.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the determining step determines which files should not be preserved by applying rules that specify which files should not be preserved.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the determining step applies a set of explicit rules and a set of wildcard rules to the files on the computer.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the determining step applies the set of explicit rules to the files on the computer by recursively searching the set of explicit rules with each file to determine if the file matches at least one of the explicit rules.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein the rules include a set of wildcard rules and the determining step includes:

comparing a computer file to the set of wildcard rules, one wildcard rule at a time, until a match is found or the file is compared to the entire set of wildcard rules;

if a match is found, indicating the file is not to be preserved; and

repeating the comparing step and the conditional indicating step for each file on the computer.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein the rules include a set of explicit rules (R_e), each rule in R_e including a filename, and the determining step includes:

conducting a binary search of R_e with a computer file wherein the conducting step includes;

selecting a rule at the midpoint of R_e; and

if a name of the computer file does not match filename of the rule at the midpoint of R_e, determining if the name of the computer file occurs before or after the filename of the rule at the midpoint of R_e; and

if the conducting step matches the computer file to an explicit rule, indicating the file is not to be preserved; and

repeating the conducting step and the conditional indicating step for each file on the computer.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the conducting step further includes:

if the name of the computer file occurs before the filename of the rule at the midpoint of R_e, selecting a rule at the midpoint of the first half of R_e;

if the name of the computer file does not match filename of the rule at the midpoint of the first half of R_e, determining if the name of the computer file occurs before or after the filename of the rule at the midpoint of the first half of R_e;

if the name of the computer file occurs before the filename of the rule at the midpoint of the first half of R_e, selecting a rule at the midpoint between the beginning of R_e and the midpoint of the first half of R_e; and

if the name of the computer file occurs after the filename of the rule at the midpoint of the first half of R_e, selecting a rule at the midpoint between the midpoint of the first half of R_e and the midpoint of R_e.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the conducting step further includes:

if the name of the computer file occurs after the filename of the rule at the midpoint of R_e, selecting a rule at the midpoint of the second half of R_e;

if the name of the computer file does not match filename of the rule at the midpoint of the second half of R_e, determining if the name of the computer file occurs before or after the filename of the rule at the midpoint of the second half of R_e;

if the name of the computer file occurs before the filename of the rule at the midpoint of the second half of R_e, selecting a rule at the midpoint between the midpoint of R_e and the midpoint of the second half of R_e; and

if the name of the computer file occurs after the filename of the rule at the midpoint of the second half of R_e, selecting a rule at the midpoint between the midpoint of the second half of R_e and end of R_e.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein the conducting step further includes repeatedly selecting rules at midpoints of increasingly smaller subsets of R_e until the computer file matches an explicit rule or the binary search exhausts all possible index values.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 1 wherein the determining step determines which files should not be preserved by applying rules that specify which files should not be preserved.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 21 wherein the determining step applies a set of explicit rules and a set of wildcard rules to the files on the computer.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 22 wherein the determining step applies the set of explicit rules to the files on the computer by recursively searching the set of explicit rules with each file to determine if the file matches at least one of the explicit rules.

24. The computer readable medium of claim 21 wherein the rules include a set of wildcard rules and the determining step includes:

comparing a computer file to the set of wildcard rules, one wildcard rule at a time, until a match is found or the file is compared to the entire set of wildcard rules;

if a match is found, indicating the file is not to be preserved; and

repeating the comparing step and the conditional indicating step for each file on the computer.

25. The computer readable medium of claim 21 wherein the rules include a set of explicit rules (R_e), each rule in R_e including a filename, and the determining step includes:

conducting a binary search of R_e with a computer file wherein the conducting step includes;

selecting a rule at the midpoint of R_e; and

if a name of the computer file does not match filename of the rule at the midpoint of R_e, determining if the name of the computer file occurs before or after the filename of the rule at the midpoint of R_e; and

if the conducting step matches the computer file to an explicit rule, indicating the file is not to be preserved; and

repeating the conducting step and the conditional indicating step for each file on the computer.

26. The computer readable medium of claim 25 wherein the conducting step further includes:

if the name of the computer file occurs before the filename of the rule at the midpoint of R_e, selecting a rule at the midpoint of the first half of R_e;

if the name of the computer file does not match filename of the rule at the midpoint of the first half of R_e, determining if the name of the computer file occurs before or after the filename of the rule at the midpoint of the first half of R_e;

if the name of the computer file occurs before the filename of the rule at the midpoint of the first half of R_e, selecting a rule at the midpoint between the beginning of R_e and the midpoint of the first half of R_e; and

if the name of the computer file occurs after the filename of the rule at the midpoint of the first half of R_e, selecting a rule at the midpoint between the midpoint of the first half of R_e and the midpoint of R_e.

27. The computer readable medium of claim 25 wherein the conducting step further includes:

if the name of the computer file occurs after the filename of the rule at the midpoint of R_e, selecting a rule at the midpoint of the second half of R_e;

if the name of the computer file does not match filename of the rule at the midpoint of the second half of R_e, determining if the name of the computer file occurs before or after the filename of the rule at the midpoint of the second half of R_e;

if the name of the computer file occurs before the filename of the rule at the midpoint of the second half of R_e, selecting a rule at the midpoint between the midpoint of R_e and the midpoint of the second half of R_e; and

if the name of the computer file occurs after the filename of the rule at the midpoint of the second half of R_e, selecting a rule at the midpoint between the midpoint of the second half of R_e and end of R_e.

28. The computer readable medium of claim 25 wherein the conducting step further includes repeatedly selecting rules at midpoints of increasingly smaller subsets of R_e until the computer file matches an explicit rule or the binary search exhausts all possible index values.

15. A computer readable medium comprising instructions for preserving data during system migration, by:

determining which files on a computer should not be preserved;

preserving all files from the computer not identified by the determining step;

performing a system migration on the computer; and

downloading the preserved files to the computer.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 15 further comprising instructions for:

generating a rule set that includes a plurality of rules, wherein the determining step determines which files should not be preserved by applying the rule set.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 16 wherein the generating step includes:

retrieving a file that includes the plurality of rules.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 16 wherein the generating step includes:

parsing the rules into component fields, wherein the component fields include a filename field.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 16 wherein each rule includes a filename and the generating step includes:

determining if the filename of a rule includes a wildcard;

if the filename field of the rule includes a wildcard, adding the rule to a wildcard array of rules; and

otherwise, adding the rule to an explicit array of rules.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 19 wherein the generating step further includes:

repeating the determining and adding steps for each rule of the plurality of rules; and

sorting the explicit array of rules by the filename of each rule.

29. A system for preserving data during system migration, comprising:

a plurality of workstation computers, wherein each workstation computer includes a plurality of files;

a remote site server, connected to the plurality of workstation computers, wherein the remote site server includes;

a processor that executes instructions on a memory; and

the memory including instructions for preserving data during system migration by;

determining which files on the workstation computers should not be preserved;

preserving all files from the workstation computers not identified by the determining step;

performing a system migration on the workstation computers; and

downloading the preserved files to the workstation computers.

30. The system of claim 29 wherein the memory further includes a rule file containing rules that specify which files should not be preserved and the determining step determines which files should not be preserved by applying the rules.

31. The system of claim 29 wherein the preserving step uploads the preserved files to the remote site server.

32. The system of claim 29 wherein each workstation computer includes an agent that collects information on the workstation computers and forwards the collected information to the remote site server.