Power save mode operation for continuous data protection

• US 8,332,678 B1
• Filed: 06/02/2010
• Issued: 12/11/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AmZetta Technologies, LLC (American Megatrends International, LLC)
• Original Assignee: American Megatrends Incorporated
• Inventors: Mahalingam, Anandh, Jayaraman, Raja, Khare, Abhishek, Arivoli, Rajesh
• Primary Examiner(s): PHAN, RAYMOND NGAN
• Application Number:
  US12/791,952
• Time in Patent Office: 923 Days
• Field of Search: 713300-340
• US Class Current: 713/340
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3212 Monitoring battery levels, e.g. power saving mode being initiated when battery voltage goes below a certain level
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1446 Point-in-time backing up or restoration of persistent data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3062 where the monitored property is the power consumption power management in a computing system G06F1/3203
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

Technologies are described herein for providing a power-save mode of operation for a continuous data protection (“CDP”) process. A CDP module executing on a computer detects when the computer is operating under battery power, and enters a power-save mode of operation. In the power-save mode, the CDP module monitors the state of the battery and restricts the CDP process based on a set of configuration settings specified for one of a number of zones, where each zone defines an upper and lower thresholds for a level of charge of the battery. If external power is restored to the computer, the CDP module restores the normal mode of operation for the CDP process.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of providing a power-save mode of operation in a continuous data protection (“

CDP”

) process, the method comprising executing instructions on a computer to perform the operations of;

detecting that the computer is receiving power from a battery;

upon detecting that the computer is receiving power from a battery, entering a power-save mode of operation of the CDP process;

monitoring the state of the battery;

determining whether a remaining battery charge falls within threshold levels defined for a first zone of a plurality of zones;

upon determining that the remaining battery charge is within the threshold levels defined for the first zone, configuring the operation of the CDP process based on one or more configuration settings corresponding to the first zone;

detecting that a forced backup operation has been triggered by a user of the computer; and

upon detecting that the forced backup operation has been triggered, copying new versions of all monitored data files pending a backup to one or more backup locations and returning to a normal mode of operation of the CDP process.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the state of the battery is repeatedly monitored, and the operation of the CDP process is reconfigured each time the remaining battery charge falls within the threshold levels defined for a next zone from the plurality of zones.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting that external power has been restored to the computer; and

upon detecting that external power has been restored to the computer, returning to a normal mode of operation of the CDP process.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the power-save mode of operation of the CDP process is entered upon detecting that the computer is receiving power from a battery and that a CPU utilization value of the computer has exceeded a defined threshold.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more configuration settings corresponding to the first zone comprises a configuration setting specifying that no CDP processing should be performed.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more configuration settings corresponding to the first zone comprises a configuration setting specifying that changes made to monitored data files should be tracked but that no new versions should be copied to backup locations.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more configuration settings corresponding to the first zone comprises a configuration setting specifying that the CDP process should be performed in a restricted mode.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more configuration settings corresponding to each of the plurality of zones are equally or more restrictive than the one or more configuration settings corresponding to the other of the plurality of zones having higher threshold levels defined for the remaining battery charge.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the one or more configuration settings corresponding to the first zone comprises a configuration setting specifying that the restricted mode of the CDP process should not include de-duplication of data.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the one or more configuration settings corresponding to the first zone comprises a configuration setting specifying that the restricted mode of the CDP process should not include compression of data.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the one or more configuration settings corresponding to the first zone comprises a configuration setting specifying that the restricted mode of the CDP process should not include copying new versions of monitored data files to one or more of an external/removable storage device, a remote storage, or a cloud-based storage service.

12. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

detect that the computer is receiving power from a battery;

upon detecting that the computer is receiving power from the battery, enter a power-save mode of operation of a continuous data protection (“

CDP”

) process;

monitor the state of the battery;

determine whether a remaining battery charge falls within threshold levels defined for a first zone of a plurality of zones;

upon determining that the remaining battery charge is within the threshold levels defined for the first zone, configure the operation of the CDP process based on one or more configuration settings corresponding to the first zone;

detect that external power has been restored to the computer;

upon detecting that external power has been restored to the computer, return to a normal mode of operation of the CDP process;

detect that a forced backup operation has been triggered by a user of the computer; and

upon detecting that the forced backup operation has been triggered, copy new versions of all monitored data files pending a backup to one or more backup locations and returning to a normal mode of operation of the CDP process.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the state of the battery is repeatedly monitored, and the operation of the CDP process is reconfigured each time the remaining battery charge falls within the threshold levels defined for a next zone from the plurality of zones.

14. A system for providing a power-save mode of operation in a continuous data protection (“

CDP”

) process of a computer, the system comprising;

a user interface configured to allow a user of the computer to specify one or more configuration settings corresponding to each of a plurality of zones and to define threshold levels for a remaining battery charge or each of the plurality of zones; and

a CDP module executing on the computer and configured to

detect that the computer is receiving power from the battery,

upon detecting that the computer is receiving power from the battery, enter a power-save mode of operation of the CDP process,

monitor the state of the battery,

determine whether the remaining battery charge falls within the threshold levels defined for one of the plurality of zones,

upon determining that the remaining battery charge falls within the threshold levels defined for the one of the plurality of zones, configure the operation of the CDP process based on the one or more configuration settings corresponding to the one of the plurality of zones,

detect that external power has been restored to the computer,

upon detecting that external power has been restored to the computer, return to a normal mode of operation of the CDP process,

detect that a forced backup operation has been triggered by a user of the computer, and

upon detecting that the forced backup operation has been triggered, copy new versions of all monitored data files pending a backup to one or more backup locations and returning to a normal mode of operation of the CDP process.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the user interface is configured to allow the user to specify a configuration setting corresponding to a zone specifying that no CDP processing should be performed.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the user interface is configured to allow the user to specify a configuration setting corresponding to a zone specifying that changes made to monitored data files should be tracked but that no new versions should be copied to backup locations.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the user interface is configured to allow the user to specify a configuration setting corresponding to a zone specifying that the CDP process should be performed in a restricted mode, and wherein the user interface is further configured to allow the user to specify one or more restrictions to be placed on the CDP process while operating in the restricted mode.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the user interface is configured to enforce that the one or more configuration settings corresponding to each of the plurality of zones are equally or more restrictive than the one or more configuration settings corresponding to the other of the plurality of zones having higher threshold levels defined for the remaining battery charge.