Information management systems and methods for heterogeneous data sources

• US 8,589,798 B2
• Filed: 03/30/2010
• Issued: 11/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Prahlad, Anand, Gokhale, Parag, Kottomtharayil, Rajiv, Lu, Jun, Pawar, Rahul S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Stevens, Robert
• Assistant Examiner(s): BHARGAVA, ANIL K
• Application Number:
  US12/749,862
• Publication Number:
  US 20100332990A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,330 Days
• Field of Search: 715/735, 707/654
• US Class Current: 715/735
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1448 Management of the data involved in backup or backup restore
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1451 by selection of backup contents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1458 Management of the backup or restore process
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1464 for networked environments
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1469 Backup restoration techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/252 between a Database Management System and a front-end application
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/27 Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• 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]

Abstract

Systems and methods integrate disparate backup devices with a unified interface. In certain examples, a management console manages data from various backup devices, while retaining such data in its native format. The management console can display a hierarchical view the client devices and/or their data and can further provide utilities for processing the various data formats. A data structure including fields for storing both metadata common to the client device data and value-added metadata can be used to mine or process the data of the disparate client devices. The unified single platform and interface reduces the need for multiple data management products and/or customized data utilities for each individual client device and provides a single pane of glass view into data management operations. Integrating the various types of storage formats and media allows a user to retain existing storage infrastructures and further facilitates scaling to meet long-term management needs.

Claims

1. A method for administering a storage network comprising heterogeneous client devices, the method comprising:

displaying with a management console information regarding backup data stored in a plurality of heterogeneous client devices, wherein the backup data of each client device is stored in a different backup format and generated by a different native application, and wherein the management console integrates a plurality of utilities for performing a plurality of data management operations on the backup data of the plurality of heterogeneous client devices, wherein the management console further provides a single interface for the plurality of utilities, the utilities including a data migration utility for migrating data stored in different backup formats to secondary storage;

accessing with the management console a data structure storing metadata obtained from the heterogeneous client devices, the data structure including last access time information associated with the backup data of the plurality of heterogeneous client devices;

reviewing the accessed last access time information;

based at least partly on said reviewing, selecting backup data from at least two client devices of the plurality of heterogeneous client devices, the selected backup data including first backup data stored in a first client device of the at least two client devices and stored in a first backup format, the selected backup data further including second backup data stored in a second client device of the at least two client devices and stored in a second backup format that is different than the first backup format, where the review indicates that the selected backup data has not been accessed for a threshold period of time;

with a data connector associated with the first client device, obtaining the first backup data from backup media associated with the first client device;

with a data connector associated with the second client device, obtaining the second backup data from backup media associated with the second client device; and

with the management console, performing a data migration operation on the selected backup data of the at least two client devices, said performing comprising migrating the obtained selected backup data to secondary storage.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a graphical representation of each of the heterogeneous client devices.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the graphical representation reflects the physical configuration of the plurality of heterogeneous client devices.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the graphical representation reflects the logical configuration of the plurality of heterogeneous client devices.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said selecting comprises accessing a data structure storing metadata obtained from each of the heterogeneous client devices.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising obtaining the metadata from each of the heterogeneous client devices by accessing logs of each of the heterogeneous client devices.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the data structure comprises at least one Extensible Markup Language (XML) file.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said information comprises a cost per unit storage analysis of each of the plurality of heterogeneous client devices.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of heterogeneous client devices further stores non-backup data and wherein said displaying additionally comprises displaying in the single interface information regarding the non-backup data.

10. A system for administering a storage network comprising heterogeneous client devices, the system comprising:

a plurality of data connectors in communication with a plurality of heterogeneous client devices, each of the plurality of data connectors being configured to obtain backup data from a respective one of the plurality of heterogeneous client devices, wherein the backup data of the heterogeneous client devices is stored in different backup formats generated by different native applications; and

a management console executing on a computing device in network communication with the plurality of data connectors, the management console being configured to,

provide a plurality of utilities for performing a plurality of data management operations on the data obtained by the plurality of data connectors, the utilities including a data migration utility for migrating data stored in different backup formats to secondary storage,

access a data structure storing metadata obtained from the heterogeneous client devices, the data structure including last access time information associated with the backup data of at least two heterogeneous client devices of the heterogeneous client devices;

review the last access time information;

display via a unified interface on-screen graphics indicative of each of the plurality of heterogeneous client devices and the plurality of utilities,

based at least partly on said review, select backup data from the at least two client devices, the selected backup data including first backup data stored in a first client device of the at least two client devices and stored in a first backup format, the selected backup data further including second backup data stored in a second client device of the at least two client devices and stored in a second backup format that is different than the first backup format, where the review indicates that the selected backup data has not been accessed for a threshold period of time;

with a first data connector of the plurality of data connectors, access the first backup data from backup media associated with the first client device; and

with a second data connector of the plurality of data connectors, access the second backup data from backup media associated with the second client device; and

migrate the selected data of the at least two client devices to secondary storage.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the on-screen graphics comprise icons representing data formats of the data on the plurality of heterogeneous client devices.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the on-screen graphics are arranged to reflect the physical configuration of the plurality of heterogeneous client devices.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the on-screen graphics are arranged to reflect the logical configuration of the plurality of heterogeneous client devices.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the first data management operation comprises an archive operation.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the first data management operation comprises a restore operation.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the on-screen graphics are arranged to reflect a cost per unit of storage for each of the plurality of heterogeneous client devices.