System and method for backing up data

• US 7,765,160 B2
• Filed: 05/25/2006
• Issued: 07/27/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: FalconStor, Inc (Hale Capital Management LP)
• Original Assignee: FalconStor, Inc (Hale Capital Management LP)
• Inventors: Niles, Ronald S., Lam, Wai
• Primary Examiner(s): Song; Jasmine
• Application Number:
  US11/440,957
• Publication Number:
  US 20060218644A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,524 Days
• Field of Search: 711/161, 711/162, 711/E12.092, 705/22, 705/28, 705/59, 705/72, 713/181, 713/188, 726/23, 726/26
• US Class Current: 705/59
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 15/04 by changing a part
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 26/004 based on a displacement or a deformation of a fluid
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/646 compensating for small deviations, e.g. due to vibration or shake movement of one or more optical elements for control of motion blur in cameras, projectors or printers G03B2205/0007; image stabilisation in cameras peculiar to the presence or use of an electronic image sensor H04N23/68
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 7/102 controlled by a microcomputer cameras with interchangeable lenses G03B17/14
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 17/17 with reflectors arranged in beam forming the photographic image, e.g. for reducing dimensions of camera
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 2205/0046 Movement of one or more optical elements for zooming for optical zoom lenses in general G02B7/10
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 2205/0069 using electromagnetic actuators, e.g. voice coils
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 3/10 Power-operated focusing
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 5/00 Adjustment of optical system relative to image or object surface other than for focusing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1451 by selection of backup contents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1453 using de-duplication of the data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1464 for networked environments
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/11 File system administration, e.g. details of archiving or snapshots file system backup G06F11/14
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/137 Hash-based content-based indexing of textual data G06F16/31
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/56 Computer malware detection or handling, e.g. anti-virus arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/564 by virus signature recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4012 Verifying personal identification numbers [PIN]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/123 received data contents, e.g. message integrity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/145 : the attack involving the propagation of malware through the network, e.g. viruses, trojans or worms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0643 : Hash functions, e.g. MD5, SHA, HMAC or f9 MAC
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 : Recoverability
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99955 : Archiving or backup

Abstract

A method is provided to audit license restrictions of a computer program in an enterprise computing environment. In one example, a digital fingerprint is generated of at least one file in the computer program using a substantially collision-free algorithm, and a digital fingerprint is generated for each file on each computer in the enterprise using the substantially collision-free algorithm. The digital fingerprints from the enterprise files are compared with the digital fingerprint of the computer program file, and the number of fingerprint matches is counted. Another method is provided for inventorying a computer program in an enterprise computing environment. In examples of both methods, a file may be divided into data blocks and a digital fingerprint may be generated for each data block.

Claims

1. A method for auditing license restrictions of a computer program in an enterprise computing environment, comprising:

generating a digital fingerprint of at least one file in the computer program using an algorithm;

generating a digital fingerprint for each file on each computer in the enterprise using the algorithm;

comparing the digital fingerprints from the enterprise files with the digital fingerprint of the computer program file;

comparing the number of fingerprint matches to a number of licenses allowed to the enterprise for the computer program; and

verifying compliance with licensing restrictions based, at least in part, on the comparison.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

dividing the file into data blocks; and

generating a digital fingerprint of at least one data block.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the algorithm comprises a substantially collision-free algorithm.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the substantially collision-free algorithm comprises a hash function.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the hash function comprises a hash function chosen from the group consisting of:

a message digest 5 (“

MD5”

) algorithm and a secure hash algorithm (“

SHA-1”

).

6. The method of claim 1, comprising:

generating a digital fingerprint for each file on each of a plurality of computers in the enterprise using the algorithm.

7. A method for inventorying a computer program in an enterprise computing environment, comprising:

generating a digital fingerprint of at least one file in the computer program using an algorithm;

generating a digital fingerprint for each file stored on each computer in the enterprise using the algorithm;

comparing the digital fingerprints from the enterprise files with the digital fingerprint of the computer program file;

counting the number of fingerprint matches; and

generating an inventory of the computer program based, at least in part, on the number of fingerprint matches resulting from comparing the digital fingerprints from the enterprise files with the digital fingerprint of the computer program file.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

dividing each file into data blocks; and

generating a digital fingerprint of at least one data block.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the algorithm comprises a substantially collision-free algorithm.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the substantially collision-free algorithm comprises a hash function.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the hash function comprises a hash function chosen from the group consisting of:

a message digest 5 (“

MD5”

) algorithm and a secure hash algorithm (“

SHA-1”

).

12. The method of claim 7, comprising:

generating a digital fingerprint for each file on each of a plurality of computers in the enterprise using the algorithm.

13. A system for auditing license restrictions of a computer program in an enterprise computing environment, comprising:

a plurality of computers in an enterprise, each computer having a respective first processor configured to;

generate a digital fingerprint for at least some files on the computer using an algorithm;

at least one second processor configured to;

generate a digital fingerprint of at least one file in the computer program using the algorithm;

compare the digital fingerprints from the enterprise files with the digital fingerprint of the computer program file; and

verify compliance with one or more licensing requirements based, at least in part, on the number of fingerprint matches resulting from comparing the digital fingerprints from the enterprise files with the digital fingerprint of the computer program file.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein at least one of the respective first processors is further configured to:

divide each file into data blocks; and

generate a digital fingerprint of at least one data block.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the algorithm comprises a substantially collision-free algorithm.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the substantially collision-free algorithm comprises a hash function.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one second processor is further configured to:

determine a number of software licenses provided to the enterprise, permitting use of a computer program.

18. A system for inventorying a computer program in an enterprise computing environment, comprising:

a plurality of computers in an enterprise, at least one of the computers comprising a plurality of files, each computer having a respective first processor configured to;

generate a digital fingerprint for at least some files stored on the computer using an algorithm;

at least one second processor configured to;

generate a digital fingerprint of at least one file in a computer program using the algorithm;

compare the digital fingerprints from the enterprise files with the digital fingerprint of the computer program file; and

generate an inventory of the computer program based, at least in part, on a number of fingerprint matches resulting from comparing the digital fingerprints from the enterprise files with the digital fingerprint of the computer program file.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein at least one of the first processors is further configured to:

divide each file into data blocks; and

generate a digital fingerprint of at least one data block.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the algorithm comprises a substantially collision-free algorithm.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the substantially collision-free algorithm comprises a hash function.

22. A method for auditing license restrictions of a computer program in an enterprise computing environment, comprising:

generating a digital fingerprint of at least one file in the computer program by at least one computer processor using an algorithm;

generating a digital fingerprint for at least some files on at least some computers in the enterprise by the at least one computer processor using the algorithm, wherein at least one of the computers in the enterprise comprises a plurality of files, and a plurality of digital fingerprints is generated for the plurality of files stored on the at least one computer;

comparing the digital fingerprints from the enterprise files with the digital fingerprint of the computer program file by the at least one computer processor; and

verifying compliance with one or more licensing requirements based, at least in part, on the number of fingerprint matches resulting from comparing the digital fingerprints from the enterprise files with the digital fingerprint of the computer program file.

23. The method of claim 22, comprising:

verifying compliance with one or more licensing requirements based, at least in part, on the number of fingerprint matches resulting from comparing the digital fingerprints from the enterprise files with the digital fingerprint of the computer program file, by the at least one processor.

24. A method for inventorying a computer program in an enterprise computing environment, comprising:

generating a digital fingerprint of at least one file in the computer program by at least one computer processor using an algorithm;

generating a digital fingerprint for at least some files stored on at least some computers in the enterprise by the at least one computer processor using the algorithm;

comparing the digital fingerprints from the enterprise files with the digital fingerprint of the computer program file by the at least one computer processor; and

generating an inventory of the computer program based, at least in part, on a number of fingerprint matches resulting from comparing the digital fingerprints from the enterprise files with the digital fingerprint of the computer program file.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

generating a plurality of digital fingerprints for at least one file in a respective plurality of computer programs, by the at least one computer processor, using the algorithm;

storing the plurality of digital fingerprints in a database, by the at least one computer processor;

comparing at least some of the plurality of digital fingerprints to the digital fingerprints from the enterprise files, by the at least one computer processor; and

generating an inventory of the at least some of the plurality of computer programs based, at least in part, on the comparisons, by the at least one computer processor.

26. A method for auditing license restrictions of a computer program in an enterprise computing environment, comprising:

determining a number of software licenses permitting use a computer program that are provided to an enterprise;

generating a digital fingerprint of at least one file in the computer program using an algorithm;

generating a digital fingerprint for each file on each computer in the enterprise using the algorithm;

comparing the digital fingerprints from the enterprise files with the digital fingerprint of the computer program file;

comparing the number of fingerprint matches to a number of licenses allowed to the enterprise for the computer program; and

determining compliance with license restrictions based on the comparison between the number of fingerprint matches and the number of licenses allowed to the enterprise.