Systems and methods for performing storage operations in a computer network

• US 8,364,914 B2
• Filed: 05/07/2012
• Issued: 01/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Kottomtharayil, Rajiv, Gokhale, Parag, Prahlad, Anand, Vijayan Retnamma, Manoj Kumar, Ngo, David, Devassy, Varghese
• Primary Examiner(s): ELMORE, STEPHEN C
• Application Number:
  US13/465,890
• Publication Number:
  US 20120221799A1
• Time in Patent Office: 267 Days
• Field of Search: 711/154, 711/4, 711/100, 711/111, 711/112, 711/147, 711/148, 714/1, 714/6.2, 714/6.32
• US Class Current: 711/154
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1448 Management of the data involved in backup or backup restore
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1464 for networked environments
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1469 Backup restoration techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2228 Indexing structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0617 in relation to availability
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0619 in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0635 by changing the path, e.g. traffic rerouting, path reconfiguration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/065 Replication mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0655 Vertical data movement, i.e. input-output transfer; data movement between one or more hosts and one or more storage devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0689 Disk arrays, e.g. RAID, JBOD
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 Recoverability
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99955 Archiving or backup

Abstract

Methods and systems are described for performing storage operations on electronic data in a network. In response to the initiation of a storage operation and according to a first set of selection logic, a media management component is selected to manage the storage operation. In response to the initiation of a storage operation and according to a second set of selection logic, a network storage device to associate with the storage operation. The selected media management component and the selected network storage device perform the storage operation on the electronic data.

Claims

1. A method for performing a storage operation on data in a network, the method comprising:

storing first and second storage policies, wherein the first and second storage policies identify a shared physical storage device controlled by different storage controller modules;

selecting, based on the first storage policy, at least a first storage controller module of the different storage controller modules to manage a first storage operation that transfers first data to the shared physical storage device, wherein the first storage controller module communicates with the shared physical storage device based on configuration information in the first storage policy;

selecting, based on the second storage policy, at least a second storage controller module of the different storage controller modules to manage a second storage operation that transfers second data to the shared physical storage device, wherein the second storage controller module communicates with the shared physical storage device based on configuration information in the second storage policy;

performing with one or more computer processors the first storage operation on the first data that transfers the first data with at least the first storage controller module to at least the shared physical storage device; and

performing with one or more computer processors the second storage operation on the second data that transfers the second data with at least the second storage controller module to at least the shared physical storage device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating, with the first storage controller module, a first index of the first data transferred to the shared physical storage device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising creating, with the second storage controller module, a first index of the first data transferred to the shared physical storage device.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

creating, with the first storage controller module, a first index of the first data transferred to the shared physical storage device;

creating, with the second storage controller module, a second index of the second data transferred to the shared physical storage device; and

transferring copies of the first and second indexes to a storage manager.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the first storage controller module further comprises load balancing the first and second storage controller modules.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising querying with a storage manager the different storage controller modules to identify a second network storage device when the first storage operation spans multiple network storage devices.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second storage operations comprise at least one of archiving, migrating and restoring application-specific data.

8. A system for performing a storage operation on data in a computer network, the system comprising:

a shared physical storage device that is shared by at least a first storage controller module and a second storage controller module;

a first storage policy that defines at least the first storage controller module for the performance of a first storage operation that transfers first data to the shared physical storage device;

a second storage policy that defines at least the second storage controller module for the performance of a second storage operation that transfers second data to the shared physical storage device;

one or more computer processors that perform, based on the first storage policy, the first storage operation on the first data to transfer the first data with at least the first storage controller module to at least the shared physical storage device; and

one or more computer processors that perform, based on the second storage policy, the second storage operation on the second data to transfer the second data with at least the second storage controller module to at least the shared physical storage device.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising a first index of the first data transferred to the shared physical storage device with the first storage controller module.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the first index is created by the first storage controller module.

11. The system of claim 8, further comprising a second index of the first data transferred to the shared physical storage device with the second storage controller module.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the second index is created by the second storage controller module.

13. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

a first index of the first data transferred to the shared physical storage device;

a second index of the second data transferred to the shared physical storage device; and

a third index associated with a storage manager that comprises the first and second indexes.

14. The system of claim 8, further comprising a storage manager that is configured to select the first storage controller module based at least in part on load balancing the first and second storage controller modules.

15. The system of claim 8, further comprising a storage manager that is configured to query other storage controller modules to identify a second physical storage device when the first storage operation spans multiple physical storage devices.

16. The system of claim 8, wherein the first and second storage operations comprise at least one of archiving, migrating and restoring application-specific data.