CROSS-APPLICATION DATABASE RESTORE

• US 20160210342A1
• Filed: 05/20/2015
• Published: 07/21/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: SENTHILNATHAN, Muthusamy, VALLABHANENI, Brahmaiah, KUMARASAMY, Paramasivam, PAWAR, Rahul S., DORNEMANN, Henry Wallace, AHN, Jun H.
• Granted Patent: US 10,210,051 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/14 Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in operation G06F11/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1448 Management of the data involved in backup or backup restore
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1451 by selection of backup contents
• 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: G06F 11/1469 Backup restoration techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2094 Redundant storage or storage space G06F11/2056 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3034 where the computing system component is a storage system, e.g. DASD based or network based digital input from or digital output to record carriers G06F3/06; digital recording or reproducing G11B20/18; for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS], H04L67/1097
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3476 Data logging G06F11/14, G06F11/2205 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/113 Details of archiving lifecycle management in storage systems G06F3/0649; backup systems G06F11/1446
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1727 Details of free space management performed by the file system saving storage space on storage systems G06F3/0608; management of blocks in storage devices G06F3/064
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1827 Management specifically adapted to NAS management of storage area networks [SAN] G06F3/067
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/184 implemented as replicated file system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/214 Database migration support
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2282 Tablespace storage structures; Management thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2358 Change logging, detection, and notification replication G06F16/27
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/27 Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/275 Synchronous replication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/80 Database-specific techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/84 Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/061 : Improving I/O performance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0619 : in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/064 : Management of blocks
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0643 : Management of files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/065 : Replication mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 : Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

According to certain aspects, a system may include a first computing device configured to: in response to a request to access at least one first database object of a plurality of database objects represented by a database file generated by a first database application, the database file including a plurality of data blocks, identify a subset of the plurality of data blocks corresponding to the first database object; a secondary storage controller computer(s) configured to: access a stored table providing a mapping between the secondary copies of the plurality of data blocks and corresponding locations of the secondary copies in a secondary storage device(s); retrieve and forward the subset of data blocks from the secondary storage device(s); and a second computing device configured to: receive the requested data blocks retrieved from the secondary storage device(s); and convert the received data blocks to a format usable by a second database application.

Claims

1. A system for converting database data from one database application format to another database application format, the system comprising:

a first computing device comprising computer hardware and configured to;

in response to a request to access at least one first database object of a plurality of database objects represented by a database file generated by a first database application, the database file including a plurality of data blocks, the first database application residing on a computing device within a primary storage subsystem, identify a subset of the plurality of data blocks which correspond to the first database object; and

issue a request to retrieve the subset of data blocks from one or more secondary storage devices which reside in a secondary storage subsystem and which store a secondary copy of the database file, the secondary copy of the database file including secondary copies of the plurality of data blocks;

a second computing device comprising computer hardware; and

one or more secondary storage controller computers comprising computer hardware configured to;

receive the request to retrieve the subset of data blocks;

access a stored table that provides a mapping between the secondary copies of the plurality of data blocks and corresponding locations of the secondary copies of the plurality of data blocks in the one or more secondary storage devices;

retrieve the subset of data blocks from the one or more secondary storage devices; and

forward the retrieved subset of data blocks to the second computing device;

the second computing device configured to;

receive each of the requested data blocks, the received data blocks retrieved from the one or more secondary storage devices;

convert the received data blocks to a format usable by a second database application different than the first database application; and

forward the converted data blocks for use by an instance of the second database application.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one first database object comprises multiple database objects and the system further comprises a staging memory which receives and stores the requested data blocks prior to their conversion, wherein at least some of the requested data blocks are accessed from the staging memory for conversion before others of the requested data blocks are received and stored by the staging memory.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the second computing device is in communication with the staging memory and accesses data blocks directly from the staging memory for performing the conversion.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein a third computing device in communication with the staging memory forwards data blocks from the staging memory to the second computing device for performing the conversion.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the table is stored in an index associated with the one or more secondary storage controller computers.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the database file is organized by the first database application as a plurality of application-level blocks,

each of the plurality of data blocks includes multiple application-level blocks,

an index associated with the first database application provides a mapping between the plurality of database objects and corresponding application-level blocks, and

the request to access the at least one first database object is generated by consulting the index and includes one or more offsets in the database file corresponding to the at least one first database object.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the second computing device is configured to convert the received data blocks to the format usable by the second database application at least in part by:

extracting application-level blocks included in the received data blocks which correspond to the first database object based on the one or more offsets indicating the first database object; and

converting the identified application-level blocks to the format usable by the second database application.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more secondary storage devices include one or more tapes and the secondary copy of the database file is stored on the one or more tapes.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the first computing device is further configured to present the secondary copy of the database file as a file system in a user interface, and wherein the request to access the at least one first database object is generated in response to selection of the at least one first database object in the user interface.

10. A method of converting database data from one database application format to another database application format, the method comprising:

using a first computing device comprising computer hardware;

in response to a request to access at least one first database object of a plurality of database objects represented by a database file generated by a first database application, the database file including a plurality of data blocks, the first database application residing on a computing device within a primary storage subsystem, identifying a subset of the plurality of data blocks which correspond to the first database object; and

issuing a request to retrieve the subset of data blocks from one or more secondary storage devices which reside in a secondary storage subsystem and which store a secondary copy of the database file, the secondary copy of the database file including secondary copies of the plurality of data blocks; and

using one or more secondary storage controller computers comprising computer hardware;

receiving the request to retrieve the subset of data blocks;

accessing a stored table that provides a mapping between the secondary copies of the plurality of data blocks and corresponding locations of the secondary copies of the plurality of data blocks in the one or more secondary storage devices;

retrieving the subset of data blocks from the one or more secondary storage devices; and

forwarding the retrieved subset of data blocks to a second computing device comprising computer hardware; and

using the second computing device;

receiving each of the requested data blocks, the received data blocks retrieved from the one or more secondary storage devices;

converting the received data blocks to a format usable by a second database application different than the first database application; and

forwarding the converted data blocks for use by an instance of the second database application.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one first database object comprises multiple database objects and the requested data blocks are received and stored in a staging memory prior to their conversion, wherein at least some of the requested data blocks are accessed from the staging memory for conversion before others of the requested data blocks are received and stored by the staging memory.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the second computing device is in communication with the staging memory and accesses data blocks directly from the staging memory for performing the conversion.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein a third computing device in communication with the staging memory forwards data blocks from the staging memory to the second computing device for performing the conversion.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the table is stored in an index associated with the one or more secondary storage controller computers.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein:

the database file is organized by the first database application as a plurality of application-level blocks,

each of the plurality of data blocks includes multiple application-level blocks,

an index associated with the first database application provides a mapping between the plurality of database objects and corresponding application-level blocks, and

the request to access the at least one first database object is generated by consulting the index and includes one or more offsets in the database file indicating the at least one first database object.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein said converting the received data blocks to a format usable by a second database application comprises:

extracting application-level blocks included in the received data blocks which correspond to the first database object based on the one or more offsets indicating the first database object; and

converting the identified application-level blocks to the format usable by the second database application.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more secondary storage devices include one or more tapes and the secondary copy of the database file is stored on the one or more tapes.

18. A system for converting structured data from one software application format to another software application format, the system comprising:

a first computing device comprising computer hardware and configured to;

in response to a request to access at least one first object of a plurality of objects represented by a structured file generated by a first software application, the structured file including a plurality of data blocks, the first software application residing on a computing device within a first storage subsystem, identify a subset of the plurality of data blocks which correspond to the first object; and

issue a request to retrieve the subset of data blocks from one or more storage devices which reside in a second storage subsystem and which store a secondary copy of the structured file, the secondary copy of the structured file including secondary copies of the plurality of data blocks;

a second computing device comprising computer hardware; and

one or more secondary storage controller computers comprising computer hardware configured to;

receive the request to retrieve the subset of data blocks;

access a stored table that provides a mapping between the secondary copies of the plurality of data blocks and corresponding locations of the secondary copies of the plurality of data blocks in the one or more storage devices;

retrieve the subset of data blocks from the one or more storage devices; and

forward the retrieved subset of data blocks to the second computing device; and

the second computing device configured to;

receive each of the requested data blocks, the received data blocks retrieved from the one or more storage devices;

convert the received data blocks to a format usable by a second software application different than the first software application; and

forward the converted data blocks for use by an instance of the second software application.