METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR SEARCHING A BACKUP VOLUME

• US 20130246365A1
• Filed: 09/28/2012
• Published: 09/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Hornkvist, John M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,914,327 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/651
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1448 Management of the data involved in backup or backup restore
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1458 Management of the backup or restore process
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/148 File search processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/84 Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data

Abstract

Methods and systems for searching a backup volume use, in one embodiment, a move marker file to indicate attributes for a new name space and optionally indicate attributes for a prior name space of a directory on a source volume, the directory having been moved between backup snapshot operations in which data on the source volume is backed up to the backup volume. Other embodiments are also described.

Claims

1. A machine readable non-transitory storage medium containing executable instructions which when executed cause a data processing system to perform a method, the method comprising:

creating a first backup of a source volume, the first backup being stored on a backup volume;

receiving an input that a directory has been moved or renamed in a hierarchical file system of the source volume of the data processing system, the directory being moved or renamed after creating the first backup;

storing an identifier that indicates that the directory has been moved or renamed;

creating, on the backup volume, a move marker data structure in response to the directory having been moved or renamed, the move marker data structure specifying a first time parameter for a new name space associated with a new name or new path of the directory; and

creating a second backup of the source volume, the second backup being a snapshot stored on the backup volume and containing the moved or renamed directory.

2. The medium as in claim 1 wherein the identifier, which indicates that the directory has been moved or renamed, is stored on the source volume and is used by a backup application to create the move marker.

3. The medium as in claim 1 wherein the move marker data structure is a file stored in a parent directory that contains the moved or renamed directory, and wherein the directory is displayed as a folder in a graphical user interface.

4. The medium as in claim 3 wherein the move marker data structure specifies a second time parameter, which indicates an ending date and time for an old name space associated with the prior name or path of the directory before being moved or renamed, and wherein the first time parameter is a beginning date and time for the new name space.

5. The medium as in claim 4 wherein the backup volume includes a plurality of move marker data structures, each of which includes the same name space identifier for the first and the second time parameters to allow a query to find all move markers without requiring multiple passes through a set of directories.

6. The medium as in claim 5 wherein the directory is moved or renamed without changing the content of the files and folders within the directory and wherein the directory is not copied when the second backup is created.

7. The medium as in claim 6, wherein the method further comprises:

creating a union of all name spaces obtained from the plurality of move marker data structures for a search scope received from a search input or a navigation input.

8. A data processing system for searching a backup volume, the system comprising:

a source volume, to store data in a hierarchical file system;

a backup volume, attached to the source volume, the backup volume to store backups of the source volume;

a first backup, stored on the backup volume, to preserve a snapshot of the source volume at a first time point;

a second backup, stored on the backup volume, to preserve a snapshot of the source volume at a second time point; and

a move marker data structure, stored on the backup volume, wherein the move marker data structure specifies a first time parameter and a name space for directories that have been moved or renamed between the first time point and the second time point.

9. The data processing system as in claim 8, further comprising an identifier stored on the source volume, the identifier to indicate that a directory has been moved or renamed.

10. The data processing system as in claim 9, wherein the identifier is used to create the move marker during the creation of the second backup, wherein the second backup comprises the directory that has been moved or renamed.

11. The data processing system as in claim 9, wherein the directory is moved or renamed without changing or copying the content of the files and folders within the directory.

12. The data processing system as in claim 11 wherein the move marker is a file stored in a parent directory that contains the moved or renamed directory, and wherein the directory is displayed as a folder in a graphical user interface.

13. The data processing system as in claim 12, wherein the move marker data structure comprises:

a first time parameter, to indicate a beginning date and time for a new name space associated with a new name or new path of the directory, the directory having been moved or renamed; and

a second time parameter, to indicate an ending date and time for an old name space associated with the prior name or path of the directory before being moved or renamed.

14. The data processing system as in claim 13, wherein the backup volume includes a plurality of move marker data structures, each of which includes the same name space identifier for the first and the second time parameters to allow a query to find all move markers without requiring multiple passes through a set of directories.

15. The data processing system as in claim 14 further comprising:

a union data structure, to determine a search scope or a navigation path, wherein the union is a combination of all name spaces obtained from the plurality of move marker data structures.

16. A method of performing a backup operation comprising:

creating a first backup of a source volume, the first backup being stored on a backup volume;

receiving an input that a directory has been moved or renamed in a hierarchical file system of the source volume of the data processing system, the directory being moved or renamed after creating the first backup;

storing, on the source volume, an identifier that indicates that the directory has been moved or renamed;

creating, on the backup volume, a move marker data structure in response to the directory having been moved or renamed, the move marker data structure specifying a first time parameter for a new name space associated with a new name or new path of the directory; and

creating a second backup of the source volume, the second backup being a snapshot stored on the backup volume and containing the moved or renamed directory.

17. The method as in claim 16 wherein the move marker data structure comprises:

a first time parameter, to indicate a beginning date and time for a new name space associated with a new name or new path of the directory, the directory having been moved or renamed; and

a second time parameter, to indicate an ending date and time for an old name space associated with the prior name or path of the directory before being moved or renamed.

18. The method as in claim 16 further comprising recreating an index on a backup volume if a search application data structure suffers data corruption.

19. The method as in claim 18, wherein recreating an index on a backup volume comprises:

processing the directory containing backup routes in date order, oldest first; and

processing a child directory of the directory, wherein processing a directory comprises,

indexing each file and move markers in the directory, and

descending into a child directory if there is not a move marker for the child directory.

20. The method as in claim 19, wherein indexing a move marker in a directory comprises:

marking the move marker as needing a scan;

scanning the directory referenced by the move marker, including setting attributes in a new name space; and

marking the scan as complete.