Apparatus and method for information recovery quality assessment in a computer system

• US 8,244,792 B2
• Filed: 04/12/2006
• Issued: 08/14/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: EMC Benelux BV SARL (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: EMC Benelux BV SARL (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Boaz, Yoav, Loewenberg, Guy, Katz, Rami
• Primary Examiner(s): Dalencourt, Yves
• Application Number:
  US11/403,745
• Publication Number:
  US 20060288183A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,316 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217, 709/223, 711/162, 707/204, 707/10
• US Class Current: 709/200
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1451 by selection of backup contents

Abstract

An apparatus and method for information recovery quality assessment in a computing environment is disclosed. This includes a group of inter-related software modules and associated data structures that analyze and assess the recoverability of the network data through the data protection configuration setup and a previously performed data protection process. It examines in a comprehensive manner the recoverability perspective across a pre-defined data protection domain, such as a computer network with an organization. The results of the examination provide for the display of inconsistencies of data protection configuration and previously performed data protection processes that consequently result in problems of recovering the network objects in an appropriate manner.

Claims

1. In a computer network including an at least one computing device, an at least one storage object, an at least one data protection server device, and an at least one data protection storage device, an apparatus for an assessment of the quality of a recovery process, the apparatus comprising the elements of:

a data protection policy builder component to create at least one data protection rule associated with an organization operating the computer network, the at least one data protection rule being used to control a backup process and indicating that a first storage object is a candidate for backup, the at least one data protection rule comprising a data protection rules repository;

a network computer-level analyzer component to compare an at least one network computer with an at least one data protection input parameter of the at least one data protection rule;

a network storage object-level analyzer component to compare an at least one network storage object with the at least one data protection input parameter of the at least one data protection rule, and with data protection result output data of at least one data protection server index, wherein the at least one network storage object is a previously backed up storage object and the network storage object-level analyzer component performs recovery logic analysis to validate ability to subsequently restore the at least one network storage object, wherein the recovery logic analysis uses a plurality of control fields including a first control field having a value indicating whether additional storage objects or a dependency component are backed up with said at least one network storage object and a second control field having a value indicating whether said at least one network storage object is down or in a backup mode when backed up, wherein said first control field is one of a plurality of dependency type values including a first dependency type value indicating that said at least one network storage object is backed up together with a following identified dependency component a second dependency type value indicating that said at least one network storage object is backed up without a following identified dependency component, and a third dependency type value indicating that additional storage objects are backed up when said at least one network storage object is backed up; and

a rejected objects identifier component to identify anomalous or rejected objects in accordance with results generated by the data protection policy builder component or by the network computer-level analyzer component or by the network storage object-level analyzer component, wherein said anomalous or rejected objects identified by said rejected objects identifier component include objects omitted from a data protection process or which have been backed up improperly.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the anomalous or rejected objects are storage objects that cannot be recovered through the process of data protection or storage objects that cannot be recovered according to the at least one data protection rule or storage objects that are inconsistent with the at least one data protection rule.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the data protection policy builder component performs an analysis on the at least one data protection rule.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising:

a data protection policy table to store the at least one data protection rule; and

a rejected objects table to store the at least one identified anomalous or rejected object.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a rejected objects analyzer component to provide information associated with the at least one anomalous or the at least one rejected object in response to an at least one query submitted by an at least one user.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 further'"'"'comprises the elements of:

data protection server index extractor component to obtain data protection result data from the at least one data protection server;

a network computer extractor component to scan the network and generate a list including an at least one network computer;

a network storage object extractor component to retrieve the computer network and generate a list including an, at least one network storage object;

a data protection server rules extractor component to obtain the at least one data protection rule associated with the at least one data protection server.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising:

an external data protection scheduler extractor component to obtain the at least one data protection schedule associated with the at least one data protection rule; and

a user data protection rules generator component to create an at least one user-defined data protection rule.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprises the elements of:

a data protection log extractor component to obtain data protection log data generated by the at least one data protection server during the performance of a data protection process;

a views generator component to create an at least one view of the anomalous or rejected object or data protection rule inconsistencies or irrecoverable storage objects or storage objects that are not consistent with a data protection policy, in response to an at least one query submitted by an at least one user.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising:

a report generator component to create and format at least one report based on the at least one view; and

a job scheduler component to manage the execution of an at least one job defined for the operation of the apparatus.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprises the elements of:

a network computer table to store at least one list of an at least one aspect of the at least one network computer;

a network storage object table to store at least one list of an at least one aspect of the at least one network storage object.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprises the elements of:

a user data protection rule table to store the data protection rules defined by an at least one user of the apparatus;

a user table to store a list of an at least one aspect of the at least one user;

a data protection server index to store data protection results output data generated during the execution of a data protection process managed and controlled by the at least one data protection server;

a queries table to store a list of an at least one query; and

a user queries table to store a list of the at least one query submitted by the at least one user.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the data protection rules repository comprises the elements of:

a data protection rule identifier that identifies uniquely a data protection rule;

a data protection rule type;

a client identifier;

a data protection server identifier to identify a data protection server associated with the data protection rule a save set object;

a data protection group name;

a data protection group start time;

a group operation mode;

a data protection schedule name;

a schedule period;

a schedule day; and

a creation date.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising a views generator component to create an at least one view of the data protection rules repository.

14. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the rejected objects table comprises the elements of:

a data protection server identifier to identify the data protection server responsible for the performance of a data protection process during which an anomaly associated with the rejected object was generated;

a storage object name to identify the rejected storage object;

a computer name to identify the rejected computer or identify the computer associated with the rejected storage object;

a storage object system identifier;

a pathname indicating the location of the rejected object;

an, object size to indicate the physical size of the rejected object;

a reason for failure code to indicate the type of failure via which the rejected object was generated;

a process identifier;

a date identifier; and

a data protection rule identifier.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the storage object is an object existing within the computer network and is a candidate for backup.

16. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the computing device is a client computing device or a server computing device.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein a storage object is one of the following:

a file;

a directory;

a file system;

a storage device;

a virtual storage device;

a client computer; and

a server computer.

18. In a computer network including an at least one computing device, an at least one storage object, an at least one data protection server device, and an at least one data protection storage device, a method for an assessment of the quality of a recovery process, the method comprising the steps of:

building a combined data protection policy table by obtaining and inserting into the table the at least one data protection rule, the at least one data protection rule being used to control a backup process and indicating that a first storage object is a candidate far backup;

performing a network computer-level analysis by scanning the computer network, locating an at least one network computer linked to the network, obtaining network computer-specific data to identify the at least one network computer, and comparing the network computer-specific data with the content of the combined data protection policy table;

performing a network storage object-level analysis by locating an at least one network storage object associated with the at least one network computer linked to the computer network, obtaining storage object-specific data that identifies the at least one network storage object, and comparing the storage object-specific data with the content of the combined data protection policy table, wherein the at least one network storage object is a previously backed up storage object and the network storage object-level analysis further includes performing recovery logic analysis to validate ability to subsequently restore the at least one network storage object, wherein the recovery logic analysis uses a plurality of control fields including a first control field having a value indicating whether additional storage objects or a dependency component arc backed up with said at least one network storage object and a second control field having a value indicating whether said at least one network storage object is down or in a backup mode when backed up, wherein said first control field is one of a plurality of dependency type values including a first dependency type value indicating that said at least one network storage object is backed up together with a following identified dependency component, a second dependency type value indicating that said at least one network storage object is backed up without a following identified dependency component, and a third dependency type value indicating that additional storage objects are backed'"'"'up when said at least one network storage object is backed up; and

comparing an at least one first data protection input parameters with the at least one data protection rule or with an at least one second data protection input parameters to identify inconsistencies or to identify storage objects that cannot be recovered, wherein said storage objects that cannot be recovered include objects which have been backed up improperly or which have been omitted from a data protection process.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the computer-specific data comprises information about a computer linked to the computer network.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein the object-specific data comprises information about an object located within a computer linked to the computer network.

21. The method of claim 18 wherein the step of comparing further comprises extracting a data protection server index from an at least one data protection server and comparing the data protection server index with the contents of the at least one data protection rule, with the at least one network storage object, and with the at least one network computer-specific data.

22. The method of claim 18 further comprising the steps of:

storing on a storage device results of the at least one data protection rule comparison, results of the network computer-level analysis, and results of the network storage object-level analysis.

23. The method of claim 18 further comprises the step of generating an at least one user data protection rule.

24. The method of claim 18 further comprises the step of extracting an at least one data protection server log.

25. The method of claim 18 further comprises generating an at least one view for or at least one report in response to an at least one query submitted by an at least one user comprising an at least one back rule or an at least one inconsistency or an at least one object that cannot be recovered.

26. The method of claim 18 wherein the combined data protection policy table comprises an at least one data protection rule associated with an organization operating the computer network.

27. The method of claim 18 wherein the network computer-level analysis includes comparison of results of an information about at least one network computer with data protection input parameters of an at least one data protection rule and with a data protection result, output data included in an at least one data protection server index.

28. The method of claim 18 wherein the network storage object-level analysis includes the comparison of information about the at least one network storage object with data protection input parameters of an at least one data protection rule and with a data protection result output data included in an at least one data protection server index.

29. The method of claim 18 wherein results of the network computer-level analysis and the network storage object-level analysis are anomalous objects or rejected objects.

30. The, method of claim 18 wherein an anomalous or rejected object is a storage object that cannot be recovered by a data protection process or a storage object that cannot be recovered by a data protection process defined by the at least one data protection, rule or a storage object is inconsistent with information comprising the at least one data protection rule or the data protection input parameters of the at least one data protection rule.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein the storage object, is an object existing within the computer network and is a candidate for backup.

32. The method of claim 18 wherein the data protection policy table comprises at least one data protection rule derived from an at least one data protection server derived from an at least one data protection computer program in the organization.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein the data protection policy table further comprises an at least one data protection rule derived from an at least one external data protection scheduler or an at least one data protection rule derived from an at least one user manual script or an at least one data protection rule derived from an at least one local directive or an at least one global directive.

34. The method of claim 18 wherein the data protection policy table comprises at least one data protection rule wherein each at least one data protection rule apply to at least one storage object associated with the computer network during a data protection process whereby a viewpoint of the data protection rules and policies in the organization are shown.

35. The method of claim 18 further comprises a recovery advisor module for enabling a user to formulate a recovery plan by displaying in a selective manner a list of recovery points for one or more specific storage objects or applications.

36. In a computer network including an at least one computing device, an at least one storage object, an at least one data protection server device, and an at least one data protection storage device, an apparatus for an assessment of the quality of a recovery process, the apparatus comprising the elements of:

a data protection policy builder component to create at least one data protection rule associated with an organization operating the computer network, the at least one data protection rule being used to control a backup process and indicating that a first storage object is a candidate for backup, the at least one data protection rule comprising a data protection rules repository;

a network computer-level analyzer component to compare an at least one network computer with an at least one data protection input parameter of the at least one data protection rule;

a network storage object-level analyzer component to compare an at least one network storage object with the at least one data protection input parameter of the at least one data protection rule, and with data protection result output data of at least one data protection server index, wherein the at least one network storage object is a previously backed up storage object and the network storage object-level analyzer component performs recovery logic analysis to validate ability to subsequently restore the at least one network storage object, wherein the recovery logic analysis uses a plurality of control fields including a first control field having a value indicating whether additional storage objects or a dependency component are backed up with said at least one network storage object'"'"'and a second control field having a value indicating whether said at least one network storage object is down or in a backup mode when backed up; and

a rejected objects identifier component to identify anomalous or rejected objects in accordance with results generated by the data protection policy builder component or by the network computer-level analyzer component or by the network storage object-level analyzer component, wherein said anomalous or rejected objects identified by said rejected objects identifier component include objects omitted from a data protection process or which have been backed up improperly, wherein said first control field is one of a plurality of dependency type values including a first dependency type value indicating that said at least one network storage object is backed up together with a following identified dependency component, a second dependency type value indicating that said at least one network storage object is backed up without a following, identified dependency component, and a third dependency type value indicating that additional storage objects are backed up when said at least one network storage object is backed up, and wherein said second control field is one of a plurality of backup type values including a first backup type value indicating that said at least one network storage object is in said backup mode when backed up, a second backup type value indicating that said at least one network storage object is down when backed up, and a third backup type value indicating that said at least one network storage object is in any mode when backed up.