Systems and methods for backing up data files
First Claim
1. A system for backing-up at least one source data file, the system comprising:
- a back-up server having storage for at least one backup file corresponding to the at least one source data file, a data server having storage for the at least one source data file, and an agent for monitoring file access operations associated with the at least one source data file and for recording detected changes to the at least one source data file within at least one journal file corresponding to the at least one source data file, a synchronization replication process for replicating the at least one source data file to generate at least one backup file corresponding to the at least one source data file, and a dynamic replication process responsive to data within the at least one journal file for modifying the at least one back-up file based on the corresponding at least one journal file.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention provides systems and methods for continuous back up of data stored on a computer network. To this end the systems of the invention include a synchronization process that replicates selected source data files data stored on the network and to create a corresponding set of replicated data files, called the target data files, that are stored on a back up server. This synchronization process builds a baseline data structure of target data files. In parallel to this synchronization process, the system includes a dynamic replication process that includes a plurality of agents, each of which monitors a portion of the source data files to detect and capture, at the byte-level, changes to the source data files. Each agent may record the changes to a respective journal file, and as the dynamic replication process detects that the journal files contain data, the journal files are transferred or copied to the back up server so that the captured changes can be written to the appropriate ones of the target data files.
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Citations
53 Claims
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1. A system for backing-up at least one source data file, the system comprising:
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a back-up server having storage for at least one backup file corresponding to the at least one source data file, a data server having storage for the at least one source data file, and an agent for monitoring file access operations associated with the at least one source data file and for recording detected changes to the at least one source data file within at least one journal file corresponding to the at least one source data file, a synchronization replication process for replicating the at least one source data file to generate at least one backup file corresponding to the at least one source data file, and a dynamic replication process responsive to data within the at least one journal file for modifying the at least one back-up file based on the corresponding at least one journal file. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system for backing-up at least one source data file, the system comprising:
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a back-up server having storage for at least one back-up file, a data server having storage for the at least one source data file, and an agent for monitoring file access operations associated with the at least one source data file and for recording detected changes to the at least one source data file within at least one journal file corresponding to the at least one source data file, a console process for allowing a user to select at least one source data file for back-up, a synchronization replication process for replicating the at least one source data file to generate at least one back-up file corresponding to the at least one source data file, and a dynamic replication process responsive to data within the at least one journal file for modifying the at least one back-up file based on the corresponding at least one journal file. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
regenerating the at least one source data file, and modifying the corresponding at least one back-up file to include the changes recorded in the corresponding at least one journal file. -
21. A system according to claim 14, further including
a transactional process for allowing the user to identify at least two source data files as members of a transactional group and for directing the dynamic replication process to modify the back-up files corresponding to the members of the transactional group in a unitary operation.
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22. A process for creating back-up files for source data files stored on a data server on a computer network, the process comprising:
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selecting at least one of the source data files for back-up, synchronizing the source data files on the data server with corresponding target data files stored on a back-up server by replicating each of the source data files as a corresponding target file on the back-up server, for each source data file, monitoring file access operations associated with the source data file and recording detected changes to the source data file within a corresponding journal file, and for each source data file, writing changes recorded in the corresponding journal file to the corresponding target data file. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A method for backing-up at least one source data file, the method comprising:
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synchronizing the at least one source data file and at least one back-up file corresponding to the at least one source data file, monitoring file access operations associated with the at least one source data file, based on changes detected in the at least one source data file, generating a journal file corresponding to the at least one source data file, and modifying the corresponding at least one back-up file based on the corresponding at least one journal file. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
replicating the at least one source data file to generate the corresponding at least one back-up file.
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42. A method according to claim 40, wherein synchronizing the at least one source data file and at least one back-up file corresponding to the at least one source data file comprises:
generating an image signal representative of a state associated with the at least one source data file.
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43. A method according to claim 42, herein generating an image signal comprises:
applying a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) process to metadata associated with the at least one source data file.
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44. A method according to claim 43, wherein the metadata include at least one of a file size, a closed file status, an open file status, and a write lock status associated with the at least one source data file.
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45. A method according to claim 40, wherein synchronizing the at least one source data file and at least one back-up file corresponding to the at least one source data file comprises:
generating a block image signal representative of a state of at least one block of data associated with the at least one source data file.
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46. A method according to claim 40, wherein synchronizing the at least one source data file and at least one back-up file corresponding to the at least one source data file comprises:
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generating a source data file image signal representative of a state of the at least one source data file, generating a back-up file image signal representative of a state of the corresponding at least one source data file, and based on comparing the source data file image signal and the back-up file image signal, detecting a change in the state of the at least one source data file.
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47. A method according to claim 40, further comprising:
identifying at least two source data files as members of a transactional group.
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48. A method according to claim 47, wherein identifying at least two source data files as members of a transactional group comprises:
recording, in the journal files corresponding to the members of the transactional group, safepoints identifying the at least two source data files as members of the transactional group.
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49. A method according to claim 47, wherein modifying the corresponding at least one back-up file based on the corresponding at least one journal file comprises:
modifying the back-up files corresponding to the members of the transactional group based on the corresponding journal files in a unitary operation.
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50. A method according to claim 40, further comprising:
recording, in the corresponding at least one journal file, at least one safe point based on a a time of change associated with at last one of the changes detected in the at least one source data file.
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51. A method according to claim 50, wherein recording at least one safe point based on a time of change comprises:
recording at least one safe point at a predetermined period of time after the time of change.
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52. A method according to claim 40, further comprising:
allowing a user to control at least one of the timing of the synchronization replication process and the at least one source data file to be processed by the synchronization replication process.
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53. A processor program for backing-up at least one source data file, the processor program being stored on a machine-readable medium and comprising instructions to cause a processor to:
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synchronize the at least one source data file and at least one back-up file corresponding to the at least one source data file, monitor file access operations associated with the at least one source data file, based on changes detected in the at least one source data file, generate a journal file corresponding to the at least one source data file, and modify the corresponding at least one back-up file based on the corresponding at least one journal file.
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Specification