Method and apparatus for performing transparent mass storage backups and snapshots
First Claim
1. A computer system, comprising:
- a mass storage device;
a host processor executing an operating system and applications that create and use data stored on the mass storage device;
a snapshot manager that manages space on the mass storage device for storing one or both of snapshots and backup copies of the data, wherein the snapshot manager operates independently from and transparently to the host processor, and wherein the host processor cannot independently access the space managed by the snapshot manager; and
a secure complex including;
the snapshot manager;
a storage device core for communicating initial read and write commands with a storage device host executed by the host processor, the initial read and write commands corresponding to the data created and used by the operating system and applications and stored on the mass storage device; and
a storage device host core for communicating translated read and write commands with the mass storage device, the translated read and write commands corresponding to the initial read and write commands for the data created and used by the operating system and applications.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to providing security functionality over computer system mass storage data, and more particularly relates to a system and method of transparent data backup on either local or remote storage devices such as SATA storage devices. According to aspects of the invention, the system is transparent to operating system and application software layers. That makes it unnecessary to make any software modifications to the file system, device drivers, operating system, or applications, or installing specialized applications or hardware. In embodiments, the snapshot functionality of the invention is implemented entirely in hardware, and is not designed to slow down performance of the rest of the system.
69 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A computer system, comprising:
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a mass storage device; a host processor executing an operating system and applications that create and use data stored on the mass storage device; a snapshot manager that manages space on the mass storage device for storing one or both of snapshots and backup copies of the data, wherein the snapshot manager operates independently from and transparently to the host processor, and wherein the host processor cannot independently access the space managed by the snapshot manager; and a secure complex including; the snapshot manager; a storage device core for communicating initial read and write commands with a storage device host executed by the host processor, the initial read and write commands corresponding to the data created and used by the operating system and applications and stored on the mass storage device; and a storage device host core for communicating translated read and write commands with the mass storage device, the translated read and write commands corresponding to the initial read and write commands for the data created and used by the operating system and applications. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of creating snapshots of data stored on a mass storage device by a host processor of a computer system, comprising:
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managing space on the mass storage device for storing the snapshots; and creating snapshots of the data and storing the snapshots in the managed space on the mass storage device, wherein the managing, creating and storing is performed independently from and transparently to the host processor, and wherein the host processor cannot independently access the managed space for the snapshots, and wherein the host processor executes an operating system and applications that create and use the data that is stored on the mass storage device, the method further comprising; communicating initial read and write commands with a storage device host executed by the host processor, the initial read and write commands corresponding to the data created and used by the operating system and applications and stored on the mass storage device; and communicating translated read and write commands with the mass storage device, the translated read and write commands corresponding to the initial read and write commands for the data created and used by the operating system and applications. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A computer system comprising:
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a mass storage device; a host processor executing an operating system and applications that create and use data stored on the mass storage device; and a snapshot manager that manages space on the mass storage device for storing one or both of snapshots and backup copies of the data, wherein the snapshot manager operates independently from and transparently to the host processor, and wherein the host processor cannot independently access the space managed by the snapshot manager, wherein the snapshot manages the space on the mass storage device to cause it to contain; a first partition that stores snapshot management tables that the snapshot manager exclusively uses to manage the storage of the one or both of the snapshots and backup copies of the data; and a second partition separate from the first partition that stores a plurality of snapshots of the data that is created and used by the operating system and applications executed by the host processor, wherein the host processor cannot independently access the second partition.
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Specification