HYBRID DISTRIBUTED AND CLOUD BACKUP ARCHITECTURE

• US 20100274982A1
• Filed: 04/24/2009
• Published: 10/28/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Virk, Navjot, Mehr, John D., Murphy, Elissa E. S., Sosnosky, Lara M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,935,366 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/162
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1453 using de-duplication of the data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1458 Management of the backup or restore process
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1464 for networked environments
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/101 based on network conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1023 based on a hash applied to IP addresses or costs
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1051 Group master selection mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1076 Resource dissemination mechanisms or network resource keeping policies for optimal resource availability in the overlay network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes

Abstract

The claimed subject matter provides a system and/or a method that facilitates integration of a distributed backup environment and a online backup environment. A super peer device can be designated from a set of peer devices. The super peer can distribute backup data amongst the set of peer devices based upon availability and storage capacity of the peer devices. In addition, the super peer can transfer portions of backup data from the set of peers to an online backup service.

Claims

1. A system that facilitates allocation of backup data among a set of peers and an online storage service, comprising:

a processor coupled to a memory that retains computer-executable instructions, the processor executes;

a distribution component that allocates backup data among a set of peer devices in accordance with a priority assigned to each peer device in the set; and

a cloud backup component that transfers backup data from the set of peer devices to at least one of the online storage service or other peer devices in the set of peer devices.

2. The system of claim 1, the distribution component allocates larger portions of backup data to peer devices assigned higher priorities.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a designation component that evaluates peers in the set of peers to ascertain characteristics of the peers.

4. The system of claim 3, the designation component assigns a priority to each peer in the set of peers based upon the ascertained characteristics.

5. The system of claim 4, the designation component promotes at least one peer from the set of peers to a super peer.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the designation component promotes a peer with a highest assigned priority to the super peer.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the designation component selects the super peer in accordance with a policy.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein the super peer coordinates allocation of backup data among the set of peers.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the distribution component identifies a level of redundancy that specifies a number of replica copies of backup data to distribute among the set of peers and online storage service.

10. The system of claim 3, wherein the characteristics include at least one of availability of a peer, connectivity of a peer, bandwidth resources of a peer, storage capacity of the peer, processing capacity of a peer, or other hardware resources of a peer.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising a monitor component that observes the set of peers to detect modifications that affect assigned priorities.

12. The system of claim 11, the monitor component examines at least a portion of backup data to ascertain at least one of frequency of access to the portion of backup data, age of the backup data or a probability that the portion will be restored.

13. The system of claim 12, the cloud backup component transfers backup data that is at least one of infrequently accessed, old, or unlikely to be restored.

14. The system of claim 1, the cloud backup component transfers backup data to the online storage service at off-peak times.

15. The system of claim 1, further comprising an optimization component that reduces backup data to single instance backup data.

16. A method that facilitates integration of a distributed backup environment and a cloud backup environment, comprising:

employing a processor executing computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium to implement the following acts;

evaluating a plurality of peers to ascertain characteristics of each peer;

designating at least one peer as a super peer based at least in part on the ascertained characteristics; and

utilizing the super peer to establish a distributed backup environment amongst the plurality of peer in accordance with the ascertained characteristics, the super peer further operates as an intermediary between the plurality of peers and the cloud backup environment.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising employing the super peer to implement the following acts:

assigning priorities to each peer in the plurality of peers;

distributing backup data and replica copies of backup data among the plurality of peers based at least in part on assigned priorities;

monitoring at least a piece of backup data to observe frequency of access to the piece, age of the piece or a probability of restoration of the piece; and

transferring the piece of backup data to the cloud backup environment in accordance with the observations.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising employing optimization on backup data prior to transference to the cloud backup environment.

19. The method of claim 17, distributing backup data comprises allocating a larger portion of backup data to peers having a highest priority.

20. A system that enables distributed storage and online storage of backup data, comprising:

means for assigning priorities to each peer device in a set of peer devices, the priorities assigned based at least in part on availability and storage capacity of the peer devices;

means for distributing backup data amongst the plurality of peers in accordance with assigned priorities, the distribution of backup data includes greater allocation of backup data to peers in the plurality of peers assigned highest priority;

means for monitoring backup data to observe a hot/cold nature of one or portions of backup data; and

means for transferring the one or more portions of backup data to a cloud backup service when the one or more portions exhibit a cold nature.