Controlling incremental backups using opaque object attributes
First Claim
1. A method for determining whether content of an object has changed, comprising:
- under control of a backup system executing at a client computer having a processor, requesting opaque object attributes and a data identifier by issuing a command to an object system module executing at the client computer, wherein the backup system is not able to interpret the opaque object attributes to identify opaque object attributes that are relevant to determining whether to perform incremental backup, and wherein the object system module is able to interpret the opaque object attributes to identify object attributes that are relevant to determining whether to perform the incremental backup;
under control of the object system module, generating the data identifier by;
selecting a set of relevant opaque object attributes from a set of object attributes for the object, wherein the selected set of relevant opaque object attributes indicate at least one of the content of the object or a relevant opaque object attribute has changed, wherein at least one object attribute is not relevant to determining whether to perform the incremental backup and is not in the set of relevant opaque object attributes; and
generating the data identifier by generating a checksum on the selected set of relevant opaque object attributes; and
under control of the backup system;
receiving the opaque object attributes and the data identifier from the object system module;
comparing the received data identifier with a previously stored data identifier that was previously generated by the object system module;
in response to determining that the received data identifier and the previously stored data identifier do not match,determining that the content of the object has changed; and
performing an incremental backup of the object and a backup of the opaque object attributes; and
in response to determining that the received data identifier and the previously stored data identifier do match, determining that the content of the object has not changed and that incremental backup of the content of the object does not need to be performed.
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Abstract
Provided are techniques for determining whether content of an object has changed. Under control of a backup system, opaque object attributes and a data identifier are received, wherein the data identifier is generated based on one or more relevant object attributes of the opaque object attributes that indicate whether at least one of the content of the object and one or more of the relevant object attributes has changed. The received data identifier is compared with a previously stored data identifier. In response to determining that the received data identifier and the previously stored data identifier do not match, it is determined that the content of the object has changed.
62 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A method for determining whether content of an object has changed, comprising:
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under control of a backup system executing at a client computer having a processor, requesting opaque object attributes and a data identifier by issuing a command to an object system module executing at the client computer, wherein the backup system is not able to interpret the opaque object attributes to identify opaque object attributes that are relevant to determining whether to perform incremental backup, and wherein the object system module is able to interpret the opaque object attributes to identify object attributes that are relevant to determining whether to perform the incremental backup; under control of the object system module, generating the data identifier by; selecting a set of relevant opaque object attributes from a set of object attributes for the object, wherein the selected set of relevant opaque object attributes indicate at least one of the content of the object or a relevant opaque object attribute has changed, wherein at least one object attribute is not relevant to determining whether to perform the incremental backup and is not in the set of relevant opaque object attributes; and generating the data identifier by generating a checksum on the selected set of relevant opaque object attributes; and under control of the backup system; receiving the opaque object attributes and the data identifier from the object system module; comparing the received data identifier with a previously stored data identifier that was previously generated by the object system module; in response to determining that the received data identifier and the previously stored data identifier do not match, determining that the content of the object has changed; and performing an incremental backup of the object and a backup of the opaque object attributes; and in response to determining that the received data identifier and the previously stored data identifier do match, determining that the content of the object has not changed and that incremental backup of the content of the object does not need to be performed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A computer program product for determining whether content of an object has changed comprising a computer readable storage medium including a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program when executed by a processor on a client computer causes the computer to:
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under control of a backup system executing at the client computer, request opaque object attributes and a data identifier by issuing a command to an object system module executing at the client computer, wherein the backup system is not able to interpret the opaque object attributes to identify opaque object attributes that are relevant to determining whether to perform incremental backup, and wherein the object system module is able to interpret the opaque object attributes to identify object attributes that are relevant to determining whether to perform the incremental backup; under control of the object system module, generate the data identifier by;
selecting a set of relevant opaque object attributes from a set of object attributes for the object, wherein the selected set of relevant opaque object attributes indicate at least one of the content of the object or a relevant opaque object attribute has changed, wherein at least one object attribute is not relevant to determining whether to perform the incremental backup and is not in the set of relevant opaque object attributes; andgenerating the data identifier by generating a checksum on the selected set of relevant opaque object attributes; and under control of the backup system; receive the opaque object attributes and the data identifier from the object system module; compare the received data identifier with a previously stored data identifier that was previously generated by the object system module; in response to determining that the received data identifier and the previously stored data identifier do not match, determine that the content of the object has changed; and performing an incremental backup of the object and a backup of the opaque object attributes; and in response to determining that the received data identifier and the previously stored data identifier do match, determining that the content of the object has not changed and that incremental backup of the content of the object does not need to be performed. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for determining whether content of an object has changed, comprising:
hardware logic at a client computer implementing operations to; under control of a backup system at the client computer, request opaque object attributes and a data identifier by issuing a command to an object system module at the client computer, wherein the backup system is not able to interpret the opaque object attributes to identify opaque object attributes that are relevant to determining whether to perform incremental backup, and wherein the object system module is able to interpret the opaque object attributes to identify object attributes that are relevant to determining whether to perform the incremental backup; under control of the object system module, generate the data identifier by; selecting a set of relevant opaque object attributes from a set of object attributes for the object, wherein the selected set of relevant opaque object attributes indicate at least one of the content of the object or a relevant opaque object attribute has changed, wherein at least one object attribute is not relevant to determining whether to perform the incremental backup and is not in the set of relevant opaque object attributes; and generating the data identifier by generating a checksum on the selected set of relevant opaque object attributes; and under control of the backup system; receive the opaque object attributes and the data identifier from the object system module; compare the received data identifier with a previously stored data identifier that was previously generated by the object system module; in response to determining that the received data identifier and the previously stored data identifier do not match, determine that the content of the object has changed; and performing an incremental backup of the object and a backup of the opaque object attributes; and in response to determining that the received data identifier and the previously stored data identifier do match, determining that the content of the object has not changed and that incremental backup of the content of the object does not need to be performed. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
Specification