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 data server having;
a storage device for the at least one source data file, andan agent operating on the data server for;
conducting a synchronization of the at least one source data file and at least one back up file corresponding to the at least one source data file;
during the synchronization, allowing continuous access to the at least one source data file; and
detecting changes to the at least one source data file and for recording the detected changes within a journal file as the at least one source data file is being changed;
a back up server having storage for a back up file that corresponds to the at least one source data file; and
a replication computer process operating on the back up server for;
amending the at least one back up file by writing the detected changes from the journal file into the corresponding back up file as the detected changes are written to the journal file, andstoring the detected changes into the journal file after the synchronization and based on the detected changes.
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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.
80 Citations
22 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 data server having; a storage device for the at least one source data file, and an agent operating on the data server for; conducting a synchronization of the at least one source data file and at least one back up file corresponding to the at least one source data file; during the synchronization, allowing continuous access to the at least one source data file; and detecting changes to the at least one source data file and for recording the detected changes within a journal file as the at least one source data file is being changed; a back up server having storage for a back up file that corresponds to the at least one source data file; and a replication computer process operating on the back up server for; amending the at least one back up file by writing the detected changes from the journal file into the corresponding back up file as the detected changes are written to the journal file, and storing the detected changes into the journal file after the synchronization and based on the detected changes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A computer-implemented method for backing up at least one source data file maintained by a computer system, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:
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conducting a synchronization of the at least one source data file and at least one back up file corresponding to the at least one source data file; during the synchronization, allowing continuous access to the at least one source data file; employing the computer system to detect changes to the at least one source data file as the at least one source data file is being changed; recording the detected changes within a journal file as the at least one source data file is being changed, wherein the journal file is readable by the computer system and corresponds to the at least one source data file; and employing the computer system to; amend the at least one back up file readable by the computer system and corresponding to the at least one source data file by writing the detected changes from the corresponding journal file into the at least one back up file as the detected changes are written to the journal file, and store the detected changes into the corresponding journal file after the synchronization and based on the detected changes. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A processor program for backing up at least one source data file, the processor program being tangibly stored on a processor-readable medium and comprising instructions for causing a processor to:
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conduct a synchronization of the at least one source data file and at least one back up file corresponding to the at least one source data file; during the synchronization, allow continuous access to the at least one source data file; detect changes to the at least one source data file as the at least one source data file is being changed; record the detected changes within a journal file as the at least one source data file is being changed, wherein the journal file is readable by the computer system and corresponds to the at least one source data file; amend the at least one back up file by writing the detected changes from the corresponding journal file into the at least one back up file as the detected changes are written to the corresponding journal file; and store the detected changes into the corresponding journal file after the synchronization and based on the detected changes. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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Specification