Systems and methods for time dependent data storage and recovery
First Claim
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1. A storage management system for backing up a plurality of units of storage, the storage management system comprising:
- at least one current store, separate from the plurality of units of storage, representing a current state of at least one of the plurality of units of storage; and
at least one time store, separate from the plurality of units of storage and the at least one current store, the at least one time store storing old data copied from the at least one current store and associated timestamps;
wherein the storage management system automatically records information associated with all write commands directed to the plurality of units of storage within the at least one time store, each write command comprising an instruction to overwrite at least one of the plurality of units of storage with new data;
wherein the storage management system copies, prior to overwriting the at least one unit of storage, old data in the at least one current store, representing old data present at the at least one unit of storage, into the at least one time store, wherein the old data is timestamped in the at least one time store, thereby continuously indexing by timestamp in the at least one time store old data to be overwritten with new data prior to execution of each write command;
wherein the storage management system is further configured to identify old data that were present in a specified portion of the plurality of units of storage at a specified time prior to being overwritten based at least in part on a timestamp corresponding to the specified time and associated with the old data in the at least one time store, without the use of a snapshot containing the old data at the specified time;
wherein the at least one time store does not store the new data.
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Abstract
A method, apparatus, and system for accessing units of storage that depends at least in part on an address of the unit of storage and the time that data was written to the unit of storage.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A storage management system for backing up a plurality of units of storage, the storage management system comprising:
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at least one current store, separate from the plurality of units of storage, representing a current state of at least one of the plurality of units of storage; and at least one time store, separate from the plurality of units of storage and the at least one current store, the at least one time store storing old data copied from the at least one current store and associated timestamps; wherein the storage management system automatically records information associated with all write commands directed to the plurality of units of storage within the at least one time store, each write command comprising an instruction to overwrite at least one of the plurality of units of storage with new data; wherein the storage management system copies, prior to overwriting the at least one unit of storage, old data in the at least one current store, representing old data present at the at least one unit of storage, into the at least one time store, wherein the old data is timestamped in the at least one time store, thereby continuously indexing by timestamp in the at least one time store old data to be overwritten with new data prior to execution of each write command; wherein the storage management system is further configured to identify old data that were present in a specified portion of the plurality of units of storage at a specified time prior to being overwritten based at least in part on a timestamp corresponding to the specified time and associated with the old data in the at least one time store, without the use of a snapshot containing the old data at the specified time; wherein the at least one time store does not store the new data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for backing up a plurality of units of storage, the method comprising:
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recording, in at least one time store, information associated with all write commands directed to the plurality of units of storage, wherein each write command comprises an instruction to overwrite at least one of the plurality of units of storage with new data; copying, prior to overwriting the at least one unit of storage, old data in at least one current store, representing old data present at the at least one unit of storage, into the at least one time store, wherein the old data is timestamped in the at least one time store, thereby continuously indexing by timestamp in the at least one time store old data to be overwritten with new data prior to execution of each write command, wherein the at least one time store and the at least one current store are separate from the plurality of units of storage and from each other; and identifying old data that were present in a specified portion of the plurality of units of storage at a specified time prior to being overwritten based at least in part on a timestamp corresponding to the specified time and associated with the old data in the at least one time store, without the use of a snapshot that includes the old data at the specified time, wherein the at least one time store does not store the new data. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An apparatus for storing data, the apparatus comprising:
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a storage appliance that interfaces with a computer; one or more physical storage devices that interface with the storage appliance, the one or more physical storage devices having a plurality of storage units, each such physical storage device controlled by the storage appliance; wherein the storage appliance comprises at least one current store and at least one time store, the at least one current store and the at least one time store being separate from each other and from the plurality of storage units, the at least one current store maintaining a current mirror copy of digital content in the one or more physical storage devices, wherein before a storage unit in the plurality of storage units is overwritten by write command with new data, old data present at the storage unit is copied from the current store and timestamped and stored in the at least one time store, thereby continuously indexing by timestamp in the at least one time store old data to be overwritten with new data prior to execution of each write command; and wherein the storage appliance is further configured to identify old data that were present in a specified portion of the plurality of storage units during a specified time prior to being overwritten based at least in part on a timestamp corresponding to the specified time and associated with the old data in the at least one time store, without the use of a snapshot that includes the old data at the specified time, wherein the at least one time store does not store the new data. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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26. A computer readable storage medium storing code to cause a processor to control a plurality of units of storage, the computer readable storage medium comprising:
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code adapted to record, in at least one time store, information associated with all write commands issued to the plurality of units of storage, wherein each write command comprises an instruction to overwrite at least one of the plurality of units of storage with new data; and code adapted to copy, prior to overwriting the at least one unit of storage, old data in at least one current store, representing old data present at the at least one unit of storage, into the at least one time store, wherein the old data is timestamped in the at least one time store, thereby continuously indexing by timestamp in the at least one time store old data to be overwritten with new data prior to execution of each write command, wherein the at least one time store and the at least one current store are separate from the plurality of units of storage and from each other; and code adapted to identify old data that were present in a specified portion of the plurality of units of storage at a specified time period prior to being overwritten based at least in part on a timestamp corresponding to the specified time and associated with the old data in the at least one time store, without the use of a snapshot that includes the old data at the specified time, wherein the at least one time store does not store the new data. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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Specification