System for backing up computer disk volumes with error remapping of flawed memory addresses
First Claim
1. A method for backing up data in a computer system from a primary storage means to a backup storage means on a sector-by-sector basis and restoring data in a computer system from said backup storage means to a restore storage means on a sector-by-sector basis, said method comprising the steps of:
- reading a set of logically contiguous sectors from the primary storage means using a software call of the operating system that provides access to the files stored on said primary storage means, said call of said operating system performing any physical level remapping necessary to avoid previously detected physical flaws on said primary storage means,writing said set of logically contiguous sectors to said backup storage means,creating a partition on said restore storage means of a size at least as large as the size of said primary storage means,reading a set of logically contiguous sectors from a location on said backup storage means,writing said set of logically contiguous sectors to said partition of said restore storage means using a software call to the operating system that provides access to the files stored on said partition of said restore storage means, said call of said operating system performing any physical level remapping necessary to detect and avoid physical flaws on said restore storage means.
12 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for backing up data from a computer disk volume at very high speed by saving a logical image copy of the volume to a backup medium such as magnetic tape. This logical image copy can later be restored in its entirety to a disk volume with a different physical geometry and flaw map in a disaster recovery mode, significantly reducing the time required for such disaster recovery compared to other backup techniques. In addition, the logical image copy on the backup medium also allows selective file restore with performance comparable to that achievable using traditional file-by-file backup/restore methods. The backup process can thus run considerably faster than conventional approaches without sacrificing the restore flexibility normally associated with those approaches.
557 Citations
43 Claims
-
1. A method for backing up data in a computer system from a primary storage means to a backup storage means on a sector-by-sector basis and restoring data in a computer system from said backup storage means to a restore storage means on a sector-by-sector basis, said method comprising the steps of:
-
reading a set of logically contiguous sectors from the primary storage means using a software call of the operating system that provides access to the files stored on said primary storage means, said call of said operating system performing any physical level remapping necessary to avoid previously detected physical flaws on said primary storage means, writing said set of logically contiguous sectors to said backup storage means, creating a partition on said restore storage means of a size at least as large as the size of said primary storage means, reading a set of logically contiguous sectors from a location on said backup storage means, writing said set of logically contiguous sectors to said partition of said restore storage means using a software call to the operating system that provides access to the files stored on said partition of said restore storage means, said call of said operating system performing any physical level remapping necessary to detect and avoid physical flaws on said restore storage means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 43)
-
-
21. A method for backing up data in a computer system from a primary storage means to a backup storage means on a sector-by-sector basis and for providing file-by-file access to said data on said backup storage means, said method comprising the steps of:
-
reading a set of logically contiguous sectors from the primary storage means using a software call of the operating system that provides access to the files stored on said primary storage means, said call of said operating system performing any physical level remapping necessary to avoid previously detected physical flaws on said primary storage means, writing said set of logically contiguous sectors to said backup storage means, identifying a control set of logical sectors of said primary storage means, said control set including sectors required to mount said primary storage means for file access by said operating system or to traverse the directory structure of the files on said primary storage means, re-ordering the sequence of writing said sets of logically contiguous sectors on said backup storage means in order to group sectors of said control set in closer physical proximity to one another on said backup storage means than would occur if said sequence were ordered strictly by logical sector number, caching said control set of logical sectors from said backup storage means to allow fast random access to said control set, creating a virtual disk partition of said operating system, servicing logical sector read requests on said virtual disk partition, operative when a sector of said read request is part of said control set, reading said sector from said control cache, operative when a sector of said read request is not part of said control set, reading said sector from said backup storage means, mounting said virtual disk partition as a disk volume of said operating system, whereby files on said disk volume may be accessed using normal operating system calls and utilities. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
-
Specification