Systems and methods for retrieving data in a computer network

• US 8,725,731 B2
• Filed: 01/23/2012
• Issued: 05/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Oshinsky, David Alan, Ignatius, Paul, Prahlad, Anand, May, Andreas
• Primary Examiner(s): ALAM, SHAHID AL
• Application Number:
  US13/356,407
• Publication Number:
  US 20120124042A1
• Time in Patent Office: 841 Days
• Field of Search: 707/640, 707/654, 707/655, 707/736, 707/770, 709/218, 709/224
• US Class Current: 707/736
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1402 Saving, restoring, recovering or retrying
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1415 at system level
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1469 Backup restoration techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/148 File search processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/80 Database-specific techniques
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 Recoverability
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99955 Archiving or backup

Abstract

A data retrieval system comprising a first computing device communicatively coupled to a second computing device; the first computing device having a processor that supports operation of at least one software application that is used for retrieving data; the second computing device communicatively coupled to one or more storage media; the software application having a retrieval module for retrieving data from the one or more storage media; a storage and backup map that maps to the second computing device; and a data index stored on the second computing device that indicates to the retrieval module a particular location of the data that is to be retrieved by the retrieval module.

Claims

1. A data retrieval system comprising:

a first computing device having a processor that supports operation of a software application and an interface module for retrieving data for the software application;

at least a first media management device comprising computer hardware comprising one or more computer processors, the first media management device configured to migrate at least a first portion of data stored on at least one first storage media to create a first portion of migrated data on at least one second storage media, the first media management device further configured to identify specific storage locations of the first portion of migrated data stored on the second storage media, wherein the specific storage, locations of the first portion of migrated data are stored in at least a first index associated with the first media management device;

at least a second media management device comprising computer hardware comprising one or more computer processors, the second media management device configured to migrate at least a second portion of data stored on the first storage media to create a second portion of migrated data on the second storage media, the second media management device further configured to identify specific storage locations of the second portion of migrated data, wherein the specific storage locations of the second portion of the migrated data are stored in at least a second index associated with the second media management device; and

a retrieval manager comprising computer hardware having one or more computer processors, the retrieval manager communicatively coupled to the interface module of the first computing device and to the first and second media management devices, the retrieval manager configured to track the first and second portions of the migrated data and maintain a backup map that identifies that the first media management device is associated the first portion of the migrated data and that the second media management device is associated with the second portion of migrated data;

wherein in response to a request to retrieve the first and second portions of the migrated data by the first computing device, the retrieval manager is configured to identify the first and second media management devices based on the backup map and is configured to direct the first media management device to retrieve the first portion of the migrated data and further direct the second media management device to retrieve the second portion of the migrated data;

wherein the first media management device is configured to retrieve the first portion of the migrated data from the second storage media based on the specific storage locations in the first index associated with the first media management device; and

wherein the second media management device is configured to retrieve the second portion of the migrated data from the second storage media based on the specific storage locations in the second index associated with the second media management device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the backup map does not store the specific storage locations of the first and second portions of the migrated data on the second storage media.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the backup map stores the specific storage locations of the second portion of migrated data identified by the second media management device.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the first computing device further comprises a file browser that is dynamic and changes to reflect information regarding the first and second portions of the migrated data to be retrieved.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the file browser is configured to display information about the first and second portions of migrated data without knowing the specific locations of the first and second portions of the migrated data.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the file browser is configured to display information about the second storage media that stores the first and second portions of the migrated data without knowing the specific location of the first and second portions of the migrated data on the second storage media.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the first computing device is configured to initiate retrieval of the first and second portions of the migrated data without knowing the location of the first and second portions of the migrated data when the data is requested by the software application.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the file browser is configured to display backup dates of the first and second portions of the migrated data.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the backup map does not store the specific storage locations of the first and second portions of the migrated data on the second storage media.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the backup map stores the specific storage locations of the second portion of the migrated data identified by the second media management device.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying information regarding the first and second portions of the migrated data to be retrieved.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying information about the first and second portions of the migrated data without knowing the specific locations of the first and second portions of the migrated data.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying information about the second storage media that stores the first and second portions of the migrated data without knowing the specific locations of the first and second portions of the migrated data on the second storage media.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising initiating the retrieval of the first and second portions of migrated data without knowing the specific locations of the first and second portions of the migrated data when requested by a software application.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying backup dates of the first and second portions of the migrated data.

16. A method of retrieving data comprising:

migrating, with a first media management device comprising computer hardware having one or more computer processors, a first portion of data stored on at least a first storage media to create a first portion of migrated data on at least a second storage media,

identifying specific storage locations of the first portion of migrated data stored on the second storage media, and storing the specific storage locations of the first portion of migrated data in at least a first index associated with the first media management device;

migrating, with a second media management device comprising computer hardware having one or more computer processors, a second portion of data stored on the first storage media to create a second portion of migrated data on the second storage media,

identifying specific storage locations of the second portion of migrated data stored on the second storage media, and storing the specific storage locations of the second portion of migrated data in at least a second index associated with the second media management device;

tracking with a retrieval manager that executes in one or more computer processors, the first and second portions of the migrated data and maintaining a backup map that identifies that the first media management device is associated with the first portion of the migrated data stored on the second storage media, and that the second media management device is associated with the second portion of the migrated data stored on the second storage media; and

in response to a request to retrieve the first and second portions of the migrated data, identifying the first and second media management devices based on the backup map and directing the first media management device to retrieve the first portion of the migrated data and directing the second media management device to retrieve the second portion of the migrated data;

retrieving with the first media management device, the first portion of the migrated data from the second storage media based on the specific storage locations in the first index associated with the first media management device; and

retrieving with the second media management device, the second portion of the migrated data from the second storage media based on the specific storage locations in the second index associated with the second media management device.