UNIFIED SNAPSHOT STORAGE MANAGEMENT, USING AN ENHANCED STORAGE MANAGER AND ENHANCED MEDIA AGENTS
First Claim
1. A storage management system for unified snapshot management, the storage management system comprising:
- a storage manager comprising a storage policy;
a first client computing device in communication with the storage manager, wherein the first client computing device comprises a first executable component and an associated first data agent;
a second client computing device in communication with the storage manager, wherein the second client computing device comprises a second executable component and an associated second data agent;
a storage array in communication with at least the first and second client computing devices and with the secondary storage computing device, wherein the storage array hosts at least one logical unit number that comprises primary data generated by the first and second executable components;
a first subclient that represents a first part of primary data generated by the first executable component, wherein the storage manager comprises an association between the first subclient and the storage policy;
a second subclient that represents a second part of primary data generated by the second executable component, wherein the storage manager comprises an association between the second subclient and the storage policy; and
a snapshot of a logical unit number resulting from a unified-snapshot job managed by the storage manager based on the storage policy, wherein at most one snapshot of the logical unit number results from the unified-snapshot job regardless of the number of executable components that store respective primary data to the logical unit number.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An illustrative approach to managing snapshots streamlines how and when snapshots are generated in a storage management system, such that fewer snapshots may be generated without diminishing the scope of data protection. A novel unified-snapshot storage policy may govern snapshots for any number of subclients. A unified-snapshot job based on the unified-snapshot storage policy enables the illustrative storage management system to automatically discover relevant components and generate at most one snapshot per target logical unit number (“LUN”) in a storage array. Each snapshot may comprise the data of any number of subclients and/or clients in the storage management system. Accordingly, one unified-snapshot job may yield a minimum but sufficient number of snapshots comprising data of all subclients associated with the governing unified-snapshot storage policy. An enhanced storage manager may manage the unified-snapshot jobs. One or more enhanced media agents and/or data agents may participate in the unified-snapshot jobs and in subsequent cataloguing of the snapshots.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A storage management system for unified snapshot management, the storage management system comprising:
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a storage manager comprising a storage policy; a first client computing device in communication with the storage manager, wherein the first client computing device comprises a first executable component and an associated first data agent; a second client computing device in communication with the storage manager, wherein the second client computing device comprises a second executable component and an associated second data agent; a storage array in communication with at least the first and second client computing devices and with the secondary storage computing device, wherein the storage array hosts at least one logical unit number that comprises primary data generated by the first and second executable components; a first subclient that represents a first part of primary data generated by the first executable component, wherein the storage manager comprises an association between the first subclient and the storage policy; a second subclient that represents a second part of primary data generated by the second executable component, wherein the storage manager comprises an association between the second subclient and the storage policy; and a snapshot of a logical unit number resulting from a unified-snapshot job managed by the storage manager based on the storage policy, wherein at most one snapshot of the logical unit number results from the unified-snapshot job regardless of the number of executable components that store respective primary data to the logical unit number. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for using an enhanced media agent for snapshot management in a storage management system that comprises one or more snapshot-capable storage arrays hosting a plurality of logical unit numbers, the method comprising:
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discovering, by a media agent component of the storage management system, a first logical unit number that comprises (i) data of a first subclient of a first client and (ii) data of a second subclient of a second client which is distinct from the first client, wherein each subclient of a client represents a logical grouping of part of the client'"'"'s primary data, and wherein each client generates primary data that is stored to one or more logical unit numbers hosted by one or more storage arrays in the storage management system; instructing, by the media agent, a first storage array that hosts the discovered first logical unit number to generate and store a first snapshot of the first logical unit number; registering, by the media agent;
(a) a first association between the first subclient and the first snapshot, and (b) a second association between the second subclient and the first snapshot; andwherein the unified-snapshot job generates at most one snapshot for the first logical unit number, regardless of the number of clients that store primary data to the first logical unit number. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for using an enhanced storage manager for snapshot management in a storage management system that comprises one or more snapshot-capable storage arrays hosting a plurality of logical unit numbers, the method comprising:
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configuring a storage policy, by the storage manager, wherein the storage manager manages the storage management system; associating, by the storage manager, one or more subclients with the storage policy, wherein each subclient of a client represents a logical grouping of part of the client'"'"'s primary data, and wherein each client generates primary data that is stored to one or more logical unit numbers in the plurality of logical unit numbers; discovering, by the storage manager, a plurality of subclients that are associated with the storage policy, wherein the plurality of subclients comprises a first subclient of a first client and a second subclient of a second client which is distinct from the first client, and wherein a first logical unit number comprises (i) data of the first subclient and (ii) data of the second subclient; registering, by the storage manager;
(a) a first association between the first subclient and a first snapshot of the first logical unit number, and (b) a second association between the second subclient and the first snapshot, wherein the first snapshot was generated and stored by a storage array in a unified-snapshot job; andwherein the unified-snapshot job generates at most one snapshot for a logical unit number, regardless of the number of clients that store primary data to the respective logical unit number. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification