Systems and methods for implementing a storage interface specific to an archiving platform

• US 8,972,677 B1
• Filed: 06/29/2009
• Issued: 03/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Veritas Technologies, LLC (Whitehouse Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Symantec Corporation (NortonLifeLock Inc.)
• Inventors: Jones, Richard
• Primary Examiner(s): Rigol, Yaima
• Application Number:
  US12/493,722
• Time in Patent Office: 2,073 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 711/161
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/113 Details of archiving lifecycle management in storage systems G06F3/0649; backup systems G06F11/1446

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for implementing an archiving-platform-specific storage interface. The method may include defining an application programming interface specification for a specific archiving platform. The method may also include providing the application programming interface specification to a storage system vendor. The method may further include archiving, using the specific archiving platform, data to a storage system provided by the storage system vendor. Archiving the data may include calling an application programming interface that complies with the application programming interface specification and communicating with the storage system through the application programming interface. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, at least a portion of the method being performed by a computing device comprising at least one processor, the computer-implemented method comprising:

determining functionality supported by a specific archiving platform by evaluating the specific archiving platform;

defining an application programming interface specification for the specific archiving platform based on the determined functionality;

providing the application programming interface specification to a storage system vendor such that the storage system vendor may create, based on the application programming interface specification, an application programming interface for a storage system provided by the storage system vendor;

archiving, using the specific archiving platform, data to the storage system, wherein archiving the data comprises;

the specific archiving platform calling an application programming interface created using the application programming interface specification;

the specific archiving platform communicating with the storage system through the application programming interface.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein defining the application programming interface specification comprises describing how to integrate with the specific archiving platform to enable storage system configuration data to be managed from within the specific archiving platform.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the application programming interface specification defines a data retention method called by the specific archiving platform, wherein the data retention method updates retention of a content stream.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the application programming interface specification defines at least one metadata management method of the specific archiving platform, wherein the metadata management method updates metadata associated with a content stream.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the application programming interface specification defines external regulation compliance functionality of the specific archiving platform by defining how the specific archiving platform is used to comply with governmental regulations.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the application programming interface specification defines at least one of disk-to-disk mirroring functionality or encryption functionality supported by the specific archiving platform.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the application programming interface specification defines functionality of the specific archiving platform for interfacing with a Write Once/Read Many (“

WORM”

) storage system.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

the application programming interface is defined by an archiving platform provider;

the specific archiving platform comprises a particular archiving platform from the archiving platform provider;

the application programming interface specification defines the functionality of the specific archiving platform;

the archiving platform provider provides the application programming interface specification to the storage system vendor such that the storage system vendor creates the application programming interface specific to the archiving platform defined in the application programming interface specification.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, tangibly embodied as non-transitory computer-executable instructions on at least one computer-readable-storage medium.

10. A computer-implemented method, at least a portion of the method being performed by a computing device comprising at least one processor, the computer-implemented method comprising:

identifying an application programming interface specification based on a functionality supported by a specific archiving platform;

creating, based on the application programming interface specification, an application programming interface for a storage system;

including the application programming interface with the storage system to allow the specific archiving platform to archive data to the storage system by communicating with the storage system through the application programming interface.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein

the application programming interface is defined by an archiving platform provider that develops the specific archiving platform.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein identifying the application programming interface specification comprises obtaining the application programming interface specification directly from the archiving platform provider by locating the application programming interface specification at a website associated with the archiving platform provider.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising:

identifying a specification of metadata management functionality of the specific archiving platform in the application programming interface specification, wherein creating the application programming interface comprises implementing the metadata management functionality described in the application programming interface specification by programming the application programming interface to support the metadata management functionality of the specific archiving platform.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising:

identifying a specification of external regulation compliance functionality of the specific archiving platform in the application programming interface specification, wherein creating the application programming interface comprises implementing the external regulation compliance functionality described in the application programming interface specification by programming the application programming interface to support the external regulation compliance functionality of the specific archiving platform.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising:

identifying a specification of data securing functionality of the specific archiving platform in the application programming interface specification, wherein creating the application programming interface comprises implementing the data securing functionality described in the application programming interface specification by programming the application programming interface to support the data securing functionality of the specific archiving platform.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising:

identifying a specification of data retention functionality of the specific archiving platform in the application programming interface specification, wherein creating the application programming interface comprises implementing the data retention functionality described in the application programming interface specification by programming the application programming interface to support the data retention functionality of the specific archiving platform.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, tangibly embodied as non-transitory computer-executable instructions on at least one computer-readable-storage medium.

18. A system comprising:

at least one hardware processor;

determining functionality supported by a specific archiving platform by evaluating the specific archiving platform;

defining an application programming interface specification for the specific archiving platform based on the determined functionality, wherein the application programming interface specification defines the functionality of the specific archiving platform;

a communication interface configured to provide the application programming interface specification to a storage system vendor such that the storage system vendor may create, based on the programming interface specification, an application programming interface for a storage system provided by the storage system vendor;

an archiving platform programmed to direct the processor to archive data to the storage system provided by the storage system vendor by;

calling an application programming interface that complies with and was developed based on the application programming interface specification;

communicating with the storage system through the application programming interface.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the application programming interface specification defines data retention functionality of the specific archiving platform.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the application programming interface specification defines data securing functionality of the specific archiving platform.