BACKUP SERVICE WITH MANAGED FILE TRANSFORMATION

• US 20160364301A1
• Filed: 06/12/2015
• Published: 12/15/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Alatorre, Gabriel, Butler, Eric K., Griffin, Thomas D., Jadav, Divyesh, Mandagere, Nagapramod S., Singh, Aameek, Song, Yang
• Granted Patent: US 9,921,921 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 11/1464 for networked environments
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/84 Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data

Abstract

Data files can be backed up by copying, in response to a backup request, files from a client device to a backup archive and recording the status of the files. Transformed copies of files in the backup archive can be created by automatically applying a transform to the files received from the client device. Upon receiving a subsequent backup request, differences can be identified between transformed files in the backup archive and files on the client device, and in response to identified differences in the files, the transformed files can be copied back to the client device.

Claims

1. A method for backing up data files, the method comprising:

receiving a first request to back up a first set of files from a client device to a backup archive;

copying, to the backup archive, and recording a file status of, in response to the first request, a first instance of an at least one file from the first set of files;

creating, in the backup archive, and recording the file status of, an at least one transformed file that includes a second instance of the at least one file, by applying an at least one transform, selected from a set of transforms, to the first instance of the at least one file;

receiving a second request to back up, from the client device to the backup archive, a second set of files;

identifying, in response to the second request, the at least one transformed file with an instance in the backup archive that has a different file status than an instance of the at least one transformed file in the client device;

sending, in response to the identifying, the at least one transformed file from the backup archive to the client device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining the set of transforms by adding at least one additional transform to the set of transforms and by adding corresponding file and transform mapping information to a transform map table.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of transforms includes at least one transform from a group consisting of:

executable programs and file filters.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the transform map table is used in a selection, from the set of transforms, of the at least one transform to apply to the first instance of the at least one file.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, in conjunction with copying, to the backup archive, the first instance of at least one file from the first set of files, recording the file status of the at least one file to indicate that the first instance of at least one file is backed up.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising, in conjunction with creating in the backup archive at least one transformed file that includes a second instance of the at least one file, recording the file status of the at least one transformed file to indicate that a transformed copy is ready.

7. A computer program product for backing up files from a client device to a backup archive, the computer program product comprising at least one computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, wherein the at least one computer readable storage medium is not a transitory signal per se, the program instructions executable by at least one computer processor circuit to cause the at least one computer processor circuit to perform a method comprising:

receiving a first request to back up a first set of files from a client device to a backup archive;

copying, to the backup archive, and recording a file status of, in response to the first request, a first instance of an at least one file from the first set of files;

creating, in the backup archive, and recording the file status of, an at least one transformed file that includes a second instance of the at least one file, by applying an at least one transform, selected from a set of transforms, to the first instance of the at least one file;

receiving a second request to back up, from the client device to the backup archive, a second set of files;

identifying, in response to the second request, the at least one transformed file with an instance in the backup archive that has a different file status than an instance of the at least one transformed file in the client device;

sending, in response to the identifying, the at least one transformed file from the backup archive to the client device.

8. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein the first instance and the second instance of at least one file from the first set of files each include at least one data element, related to the at least one file, representing a group of data items consisting of:

file status, applied transforms, file metadata, file version, messages to a system user, content enhancements, and reverse transform data.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the data element representing messages to a system user contains information indicating that at least one transformed file has been sent from the backup archive to the client device.

10. An electronic system for backing up files from a client device to a backup archive, the electronic system comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor in communication with the memory, wherein the electronic system is configured to perform a method, the method comprising;

receiving a first request to back up a first set of files from a client device to a backup archive;

copying, to the backup archive, and recording a file status of, in response to the first request, a first instance of an at least one file from the first set of files;

creating, in the backup archive, and recording the file status of, an at least one transformed file that includes a second instance of the at least one file, by applying an at least one transform, selected from a set of transforms, to the first instance of the at least one file;

receiving a second request to back up, from the client device to the backup archive, a second set of files;

identifying, in response to the second request, the at least one transformed file with an instance in the backup archive that has a different file status than an instance of the at least one transformed file in the client device;

sending, in response to the identifying, the at least one transformed file from the backup archive to the client device.

11. The electronic system of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

maintaining, in the backup archive, the set of transforms by adding the at least one transform to the set of transforms and by adding file and transform correspondence information to a transform map table.

12. The electronic system of claim 10, wherein the set of transforms includes at least one transform from a group consisting of:

executable programs and file filters.

13. The electronic system of claim 11, wherein the transform map table is used in a selection, from the set of transforms, the at least one transform to apply to the first instance of the at least one file.

14. The electronic system of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

in conjunction with copying to the backup archive the first instance of at least one file from the first set of files, recording the file status of the at least one file to indicate that the first instance of at least one file is backed up.

15. The electronic system of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

in conjunction with creating in the backup archive at least one transformed file that includes a second instance of the at least one file, recording the file status of the at least one transformed file to indicate that a transformed file copy is ready.