Apparatus and a method to make data sets conform to data management policies

• US 20080208917A1
• Filed: 02/22/2007
• Published: 08/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Network Appliance Incorporated (NetApp, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Network Appliance Incorporated (NetApp, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lam, Sahn, Smoot, Peter L., Holl, Jim, Chankhunthod, Anawat
• Granted Patent: US 7,953,928 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/200
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/10 File systems; File servers
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99952 Coherency, e.g. same view to multiple users
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 Recoverability
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99955 Archiving or backup

Abstract

An apparatus and a method to make data sets conform to data management policies are presented. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a conformance checker and a conformance engine. The conformance checker may be operable to compare a state of a data set against a data management policy associated with the data set to determine if the data set currently conforms to the data management policy. The conformance engine may then make the data set conform to the data management policy if the conformance checker determines that the data set currently violates the data management policy.

Claims

1. A storage manager comprising:

a conformance checker to compare a state of a data set against a data management policy associated with the data set to determine if the data set conforms to the data management policy; and

a conformance engine coupled to the conformance checker to make the data set conform to the data management policy if the conformance checker determines that the data set violates the data management policy.

2. The storage manager of claim 1, further comprising:

an application programming interface (API) to interface with a client machine to receive input from an administrator, wherein the conformance checker compares the state of the data set against the data management policy in response to the input.

3. The storage manager of claim 2, wherein the input includes a request from the administrator to apply the data management policy to the data set.

4. The storage manager of claim 2, wherein the input includes a change to at least one of the data set and the data management policy.

5. The storage manager of claim 2, wherein the conformance checker comprises a translator to translate the input from the administrator into instructions executable by a storage server to make the data set conform to the data management policy.

6. The storage manager of claim 5, wherein the conformance engine comprises a storage adaptor to couple to the storage server and the conformance engine is operable to issue the instructions to the storage server via the storage adaptor.

7. The storage manager of claim 6, wherein the data set includes a plurality of storage objects associated with the data management policy, wherein each of the plurality of storage objects includes a representation of data stored in storage containers, wherein the storage containers are independent of the representation, wherein the state of the data set includes relationships between the plurality of storage objects under the data management policy.

8. A data storage system comprising the storage manager of claim 7, the data storage system further comprising the storage server.

9. The data storage system of claim 8, further comprising:

a client machine coupled to the API to provide a graphical user interface (GUI) to receive the input from the administrator.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

translating the input from the administrator into instructions executable by the storage server to carry out the task.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein causing the storage server to execute the task comprises:

issuing the instructions to the storage server.

10. A machine-implemented method comprising:

comparing a state of a data set against a data management policy associated with the data set to determine if the data set conforms to the data management policy; and

causing a storage server to execute a task to make the data set conform to the data management policy if the data set violates the data management policy.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving input from an administrator, wherein the comparing the state of the data set against the data management policy is performed in response to the input.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the input includes a request from the administrator to apply the data management policy to the data set.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the input includes a change to at least one of the data set and the data management policy.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the data set includes a plurality of storage objects associated with the data management policy, wherein each of the plurality of storage objects includes a representation of data stored in storage containers, wherein the storage containers are independent of the representation, and wherein the state of the data set includes relationships between the plurality of storage objects under the data management policy.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein said comparing is performed periodically.

18. A machine-accessible medium that stores instructions which, if executed by a processor, will cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

generating a plurality of tasks to apply a data management policy to a data set including a plurality of storage objects in response to a request from an administrator;

outputting information identifying the plurality of tasks in a human-readable form to the administrator for verification; and

causing a storage server to execute the plurality of tasks in response to receiving a confirmation from the administrator.

19. The machine-accessible medium of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise:

comparing a state of the data set against the data management policy in response to the request.

20. The machine-accessible medium of claim 19, wherein the request includes a change to at least one of the data set and the data management policy.

21. The machine-accessible medium of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise:

generating a plurality of instructions executable by the storage server to carry out the plurality of tasks.

22. The machine-accessible medium of claim 21, wherein causing the storage server to execute the plurality of tasks comprises:

issuing the plurality of instructions to the storage server.

23. The machine-accessible medium of claim 22, wherein each of the plurality of storage objects includes a representation of data stored in storage containers, wherein the storage containers are independent of the representation, and wherein the state of the data set includes relationships between the plurality of storage objects under the data management policy.