SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INCREMENTAL RESTORE

• US 20090217085A1
• Filed: 02/27/2008
• Published: 08/27/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Van Riel, Henri H., Kenna, Herman Robert
• Granted Patent: US 7,913,116 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/6
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1456 Hardware arrangements for backup
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1464 for networked environments
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1466 to make the backup process non-disruptive
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1469 Backup restoration techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/84 Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data

Abstract

An embodiment relates generally to a method of restoring data in storage systems. The method includes providing for a current snapshot of a primary storage system at a secondary storage system and mounting an empty volume in the primary storage system. The method also includes receiving a request for a selected block of data in the primary storage system and retrieving a restore block from the secondary storage system, where the restore block encompasses the selected block of data. The method further includes writing the restore block to the empty volume in the primary storage system as an incremental restore process.

Claims

1. A method of restoring data in storage systems, the method comprising:

providing for a current snapshot of a primary storage system at a secondary storage system;

mounting an empty volume in the primary storage system;

receiving a request for a selected block of data in the primary storage system;

retrieving a restore block from the secondary storage system, wherein the restore block encompasses the selected block of data; and

writing the restore block to the empty volume in the primary storage system as an incremental restore process.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising executing a backup process simultaneously with the incremental restore process.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising executing a restore process at a low priority to retrieve blocks from the secondary storage system simultaneously with the incremental restore process.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining at least one most active block in the secondary storage system; and

marking the at least one most active block for prioritized restoration in the primary storage system.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one most active block is the at least one active block in a volume.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one most active block is the at least one active block in a snapshot.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting at least one additional past snapshot; and

attaching an associated revision changes of the at least one additional past snapshot with the restore block.

8. A method of restoring data in storage systems, the method comprising:

providing for a primary storage system and a secondary storage system, wherein the secondary storage system provides a back up for the primary storage system;

providing for a current snapshot (a revision frozen in time) of the primary storage system at the secondary storage system;

mounting an empty volume in the primary storage system;

executing a restore process that transfers blocks from the secondary storage system to the primary storage system at a low priority;

receiving a request for a selected block of data in the primary storage system; and

writing the selected block to the empty volume in the primary storage system as an incremental restore process.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising retrieving a restore block from the secondary storage system, wherein the restore block encompasses the selected block.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the writing the selected block to the empty volume in the primary storage system further comprises of writing the restore block to the empty volume.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining at least one most active block in the secondary storage system; and

marking the at least one most active block for prioritized restoration in the primary storage system.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one most active block is the at least one active block in a volume.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one most active block is the at least one active block in a snapshot.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

selecting at least one additional past snapshot; and

attaching an associated revision changes of the at least one additional past snapshot with the selected block.

15. A system for restoring data, the system comprising:

a primary storage system, wherein the primary storage system comprises at least one disk drive and a storage server;

a secondary storage system configured to provide a backup of data for the primary storage system, wherein the secondary storage system comprises at least disk drive and stores a current snapshot of the primary storage system; and

a background restore module configured to execute by the storage server, wherein the background restore module is configured to receive a request for a selected block of data in the primary storage system for an empty volume mounted in the primary storage system;

to retrieve a restore block from the secondary storage system, wherein the restore block encompasses the selected block of data; and

to write the restore block to the empty volume.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the storage server is configured to execute a backup function simultaneously with the background restore module.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the storage server is further configured to execute a restore function at a low priority to retrieve blocks from the secondary storage system.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the background restore module is further configured to determine at least one most active block in the secondary storage system and to mark the at least one most active block for prioritized restoration in the primary storage system.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the at least one most active block is the at least one active block in a volume.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the at least one most active block is the at least one active block in a snapshot.

21. The system of claim 15, wherein the background restore module is further configured to select at least one additional past snapshot and to attach an associated revision changes of the at least one additional past snapshot with the restore block.