Automated Disaster Recovery System and Method

• US 20130326260A1
• Filed: 06/04/2013
• Published: 12/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: FalconStor, Inc (Hale Capital Management LP)
• Original Assignee: FalconStor, Inc (Hale Capital Management LP)
• Inventors: WEI, Po-Hsin, Malitzis, Andrew Spyros, Modansky, Andrew Lee, Chang, Sheng-Chang
• Granted Patent: US 10,073,745 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1415 at system level
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1451 by selection of backup contents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1464 for networked environments
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1469 Backup restoration techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/20 using active fault-masking, e.g. by switching out faulty elements or by switching in spare elements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2028 eliminating a faulty processor or activating a spare
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2048 where the redundant components share neither address space nor persistent storage
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/119 Details of migration of file systems migration mechanisms in storage systems G06F3/0647
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/805 Real-time
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/84 Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/441 Multiboot arrangements, i.e. selecting an operating system to be loaded

Abstract

Methods and systems for recovering a host image of a client machine to a recovery machine comprise comparing a profile of a client machine of a first type to be recovered to a profile of a recovery machine of a second type different from the first type, to which the client machine is to be recovered, by a first processing device. The first and second profiles each comprise at least one property of the first type of client machine and the second type of recovery machine, respectively. At least one property of a host image of the client machine is conformed to at least one corresponding property of the recovery machine. The conformed host image is provided to the recovery machine, via a network. The recovery machine is configured with at least one conformed property of the host image by a second processing device of the recovery machine.

Claims

1. A method of recovering a host image of a client machine to a recovery machine, comprising:

comparing, by at least one first processing device, a first profile of a client machine of a first type to be recovered to a second profile of a recovery machine of a second type to which the client machine is to be recovered, the first type of client machine being different from the second type of recovery machine, wherein the first and second profiles each comprise at least one property of the first type of client machine and the second type of recovery machine, respectively;

conforming at least one property of a host image of the client machine to at least one corresponding property of the recovery machine based, at least in part, on the comparison, by the first processing device, wherein the host image includes an operating system;

providing the conformed host image to the recovery machine, via a network; and

configuring the recovery machine with at least one conformed property of the host image by a second processing device of the recovery machine, wherein the second processing device is different from the first processing device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the host image is stored by a backup storage device associated with the client machine.

3. The method of claim 2, comprising:

mounting the backup storage device to access the host image, by the at least one first processing device, via a network.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the backup storage device is a local backup storage device at a location of the client machine, or a remote backup storage device at a data recovery site, the method further comprising:

receiving the host image from the first backup storage device or from the second backup storage device, via the network, by the first processing device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein:

the at least one first processing device and the recovery machine are either at the location of the client machine or at the data recovery site.

6. The method of claim 1, comprising:

running a predetermined recovery procedure defined, at least in part, by a job file, the job file comprising;

network settings, geometry settings, service settings, and/or conversion policies.

7. The method of claim 1, comprising:

collecting first profile information for a plurality of types of client machines including the first type of client machine and second profile information for a plurality of types of recovery machines including the second type of recovery machine, the profile information comprising at least one property of each type of client machine and each type of recovery machine, respectively;

forming first and second profiles based on the respective first and second profile information; and

storing the profile information.

8. The method of claim 7, comprising:

collecting the at least one property of the first type of client machine by at least one third processing device, under the control of a software utility, wherein the software utility causes the third processing device to;

collect at least one property chosen from the group consisting of;

hardware device information, operating system type, driver information, adapter information, and hardware abstraction layer (HAL) information.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the collected driver information relates to one or more of the following:

storage adapter driver information;

SCSI driver information;

IDE driver information;

network driver information;

video driver information; and

power control driver information.

10. The method of claim 1, comprising conforming the host image of the client machine to the recovery machine by:

configuring Windows ®

services start up settings;

injecting a network configuration;

installing storage adapter drivers for operating system boot up on the recovery machine;

preparing at least one driver for boot up on the recovery machine;

fixing a geometry of a boot disk;

changing a partition style;

determining whether the hardware abstraction layer (HAL) needs to be changed;

enabling authoritative or non-authoritative recovery for an active directory client machine; and

/or

enabling safe mode boot up on the respective recovery machine.

11. The method of claim 10, comprising configuring the recovery machine by:

injecting a program into the host image to run on the recovery machine to configure the recovery machine to run the conformed host image on the recovery machine, by one of the at least one first processing devices; and

running the program by a second processing device of the recovery machine during a boot of the recovery machine.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the boot comprises a limited boot.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the limited boot comprises a safe mode boot.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein configuring the recovery machine comprises performing one or more of the following by the second processing device of the recovery machine, under the control of the injected program:

installing at least one driver;

installing at least one adapter;

configuring at least one network setting;

adding at least one Windows®

service;

adding at least one registry key;

configuring at least one cluster;

configuring SCSI;

assigning at least one volume point as assigned in the client machine;

assigning to at least one driver letters as assigned on the client machine;

replacing a hardware abstraction layer (HAL);

configuring at least one host image program on the host image to run on the recovery machine; and

/or

registering at least one host image program to run on the recovery machine.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring the recovery machine comprises performing one or more of the following by the second processor of the recovery machine, under the control of the injected program:

installing at least one driver;

installing at least one adapter;

configuring at least one network setting;

adding at least one Windows®

service;

adding at least one registry key;

configuring at least one cluster;

configuring SCSI;

assigning at least one volume point as assigned in the client machine;

assigning to at least one driver letters as assigned on the client machine;

replacing a hardware abstraction layer (HAL);

configuring at least one host image program on the host image to run on the recovery machine; and

/or

registering at least one host image program to run on the recovery machine.

16. The method of claim 1, comprising:

configuring the recovery machine during at least one boot of the recovery machine, by the operating system on the host image.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the recovery machine is not preconfigured to receive a host image from the client machine of the first type of client machine.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the client machine is a physical or virtual client machine; and

the recovery machine is a physical or virtual recovery machine.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the network comprises one or more of the following:

the Internet, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), a storage area network (SAN), and/or on Internet small computer systems interface (iSCSI).

20. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the type of client machine and/or the type of recovery machine comprises a type of hardware and/or a type of manufacturer; and

the type of hardware comprises a server, a desktop computer, a laptop computer or a work station.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the host image is writeable.

22. The method of claim 1, comprising:

providing the host image from the recovery machine to a second client machine, wherein the second client machine is the same as the first client machine, via a network;

or

providing the host image from the recovery machine to a second client machine different from the first client machine, via a network.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising, before providing the host image to the second client machine:

comparing the second profile of the recovery machine of the second type to the first profile of the first client machine of the first type;

or

comparing the second profile of the recovery machine of the second type to a third profile of the second client machine of one of the plurality of types of client machines;

conforming the at least one property of a host image of the recovery machine to the at least one property of the second client machine, based, at least in part, on the comparison; and

configuring the third client machine with at least one conformed property of the host image from the recovery machine, by a third processing device of the second client machine, after migrating the host image from the recovery machine to the second client machine.

24. A system for recovering a host image of a client machine to a recovery machine, comprising:

at least one first processing device;

at least one recovery machine, each recovery machine comprising a respective second processing device different from the at least one first processing device;

storage associated with the at least one first processing device to store first respective profiles for a first plurality of types of client machines including a first type of client machine, and second profiles for a second respective plurality of types of recovery machines including a second type of recovery machine different from the first type of client machine, the profiles comprising at least one property of each of the plurality of types of client machines and each of the plurality of types of recovery machines, respectively;

wherein the at least one first processing device is configured to;

compare a first profile of a client machine of the first type to be recovered to a second profile of a recovery machine of the second type to which the host image is to be recovered;

conform at least one property of a host image of the client machine to at least one corresponding property of the recovery machine based, at least in part on the comparison; and

cause transfer of the conformed host image to the recovery machine, via a network; and

wherein the second processing device is configured to configure the recovery machine with at least one conformed property of the host image.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the at least one first processing device is further configured to:

mount a backup storage device associated with the client machine to access the host image, via a network.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein:

the first processing device and the recovery machine are at a data recovery site; and

the storage comprises a backup storage device is a local backup storage device at a location of the client machine, or a remote backup storage device at the data recovery site.

27. The system of claim 24, wherein the first processing device is further configured to:

run a predetermined recovery procedure defined, at least in part, by a job file, the job file comprising;

network settings, geometry settings, service settings, and/or conversion policies.

28. The system of claim 24, wherein the first processing device is configured to:

cause collection of at least one of the first respective profile information for the first plurality of types of client machines, and second respective profile information for the second plurality of types of recovery machines, to form the first and/or second profiles, respectively;

wherein;

the first and second profiles each comprise at least one property chosen from the group consisting of;

hardware device information, operating system type, driver information, adapter information, and HAL information from a representative one of each of the plurality of types of client machines and recovery machines; and

the at least one first processing device is configured to store the first and second profiles in the storage device.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the at least one first processing device is configured to collect at least the first profile information by:

providing a software utility to a third processing device of a backup storage device or to a third processing device of each of the representative client machines, wherein the software utility is configured to cause the third processing device to;

collect from the client machine the at least one property to form the first profile; and

send the first profile to the first processing device, via a network.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the collected information relates to one or more of the following:

a storage adapter driver information;

a SCSI controller information;

an IDE driver information;

a network driver information;

a video driver information; and

a power control driver information.

31. The system of claim 24, wherein the second processing device is configured to conform the host image of the client machine to the recovery machine by:

configuring Windows ®

services start up settings;

injecting a network configuration;

preloading storage adapter drivers for operating system boot up on the respective recovery machine;

preparing at least one driver for boot up on the respective recovery machine;

fixing a geometry of a boot disk;

changing a partition style;

changing a hardware abstraction layer (HAL);

enabling authoritative or non-authoritative recovery if the client machine is an active directory client machine; and

/or

enabling safe mode boot up on the respective recovery machine.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the at least one first processing device is configured to:

inject a program into the host image to cause the second processing device to configure the recovery machine to run the conformed host image on the recovery machine during a boot of the recovery machine.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the boot comprises a limited boot.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the limited boot comprises a safe mode boot.

35. The system of claim 32, wherein the program is configured to cause the second processing device to perform one or more of the following to configure the recovery machine:

install at least one driver;

install at least one adapter;

configure at least one network setting;

add at least one Windows®

service;

add at least one registry key;

configure at least one cluster;

configure SCSI;

assign at least one volume point as assigned in the client machine;

assign to at least one driver letters as assigned on the client machine;

replace a hardware abstraction layer (HAL), via a Windows ®

mini-setup;

configure at least one host image program on the host image to run on the recovery machine; and

/or

register at least one host image program to run on the recovery machine.

36. The system of claim 24, wherein the network comprises:

the Internet, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), a storage area network (SAN), and/or on Internet small computer systems interface (iSCSI).

37. The system of claim 24, wherein:

the type of client machine and/or the type of recovery machine comprises a type of hardware and/or a type of manufacturer; and

the type of hardware comprises a server, a desktop computer, a laptop computer or a work station.

38. The system of claim 24, wherein the recovery machine is not preconfigured to receive a host image from the client machine or the first type of client machine.

39. The system of claim 24, wherein the at least one first processing device is configured to conform the host image of the client machine to the recovery machine by:

creating a new host image based, at least in put on the host image; and

conforming the copied host image.

40. The system of claim 24, wherein the second processing device is configured to configure the recovery machine during at least one boot of the recovery machine.

41. The system of claim 24, wherein the at least one recovery machine is at a data recovery site and the at least one first processing device is configured to receive the host image from a first backup storage device at the location of the client machine or from a second backup storage device at the data recovery site.

42. The system of claim 24, wherein:

the client machine is a physical or virtual client machine; and

the recovery machine is a physical or virtual recovery machine.

43. The system of claim 24, wherein the first processing device is further configured to:

provide the host image from the recovery machine to a second client machine, wherein the second client machine is the same as the first client machine, via a network;

or

provide the host image to a second client machine different from the first client machine, via a network.

44. The system of claim 43, wherein the first processing device is configured to, before providing the host image to the second client machine:

compare the second profile of the recovery machine of the second type to a third profile of a type of the second client machine;

conform at least one property of the host image of the recovery machine to at least one property of the second client machine, based, at least in part, on the comparison; and

inject a program into the second conformed host image to cause a processing device of the second client machine to configure the second client machine to run the second conformed host image on the recovery machine during a boot of the recovery machine.

45. The system of claim 24, wherein the at least one first processing device and the at least one recovery machine are at a data recovery site.