Filtered reference copy of secondary storage data in a data storage system

• US 9,405,482 B2
• Filed: 03/08/2013
• Issued: 08/02/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Bedadala, Pavan Kumar Reddy, Varadharajan, Prakash, Mutha, Manas Bhikchand, Dhatrak, Vinit Dilip, Kapadia, Hetal
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Debbie
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mobin, Hasanul
• Application Number:
  US13/791,043
• Publication Number:
  US 20140181048A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,243 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/00 Error detection; Error correction; Monitoring error detection, correction or monitoring in information storage based on relative movement between record carrier and transducer G11B20/18; monitoring, i.e. supervising the progress of recording or reproducing G11B27/36; in static stores G11C29/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1451 by selection of backup contents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1453 using de-duplication of the data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2094 Redundant storage or storage space G06F11/2056 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/122 using management policies backup systems G06F11/1446; file migration policies for HSM systems G06F16/185
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/84 Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0619 in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0643 Management of files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/065 Replication mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

The data storage system according to certain aspects can filter secondary copies of data (e.g., backups, snapshots, archives, etc.) generated by multiple client computing devices into a single, filtered, global reference copy. A reference copy may be a filtered view or representation of secondary storage data in a data storage system. A reference copy may include a data structure that includes references to a subset of secondary storage data that meets certain filtering criteria. The filtering criteria may be specified by users according to user preference. Data included in a reference copy may be stored in native format (e.g., format of the application that generated the data) and be accessible through the application associated with the data.

Claims

1. A method of creating a filtered representation of secondary copy data in a networked data storage system, comprising:

using one or more media agents comprising computer hardware, copying data comprising a plurality of files residing in one or more primary storage devices in a primary storage subsystem to one or more secondary storage devices in a secondary storage subsystem to create a backup copy of the plurality of files, the plurality of files generated by applications executing on one or more client computing devices in the primary storage subsystem;

further copying, with the one or more media agents, the data comprising the plurality of files to a reference copy data store to create a reference copy of the plurality of files;

wherein the backup copy of the plurality of files is stored in the secondary storage subsystem in a backup format, and the reference copy of the primary files is stored in the reference copy data store in a native format associated with the applications that generated the plurality of files;

creating an index of the reference copy of the plurality of files with a reference copy module comprising computer hardware, wherein the reference copy module stores the index in the reference copy data store;

accessing with the reference copy module rules for creating a filtered representation, the rules including filtering criteria for identifying a subset of the plurality of files residing in the backup copy in the secondary storage subsystem;

identifying with the reference copy module, files that meet the filtering criteria based on the index of the reference copy of the plurality of files stored in the reference copy data store without accessing the backup copy of the plurality of files stored in the secondary storage subsystem and without accessing the plurality of files stored in the primary storage subsystem;

in response to determining that a first filtered representation includes at least a subset of the files that meet the filtering criteria, creating with the reference copy module a second filtered representation that comprises a data structure that comprises references to the subset of files associated with the first filtered representation and further comprises references additional files that meet the filtering criteria; and

providing access to the second filtered representation, wherein the second filtered representation is viewable by a user and shows a listing of the subset of files associated with the first filtered representation and the additional files that meet the filtering criteria without accessing the backup copy of the plurality of files stored in the secondary storage subsystem and without accessing the plurality of files stored in the primary storage subsystem.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

at least one media agent index comprising comprises metadata related to the plurality of files copied from the one or more primary storage devices to the one or more secondary storage devices; and

wherein the first media agent and the second media agent identify at least some of the files residing in the secondary storage subsystem that meet the filtering criteria by reviewing the media agent index.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the listing does not include files in the plurality of files that are not in the subset.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the references include copies of files themselves.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the source information comprises, for each respective file in the subset, one or more of an indication as to a source computing device associated with the respective file and a source software application associated with the respective file.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the file in the subset is viewed or accessed using the software application associated with the file.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the references comprise pointers and do not include copies of files.

8. A data storage system configured for creating a filtered representation of secondary copy data, comprising:

one or more media agents comprising computer hardware configured to;

initiate copying of data comprising a plurality of files residing in one or more primary storage devices in a primary storage subsystem to one or more secondary storage devices in a secondary storage subsystem to create a backup copy of the plurality of files, the plurality of files generated by applications executing on one or more client computing devices in the primary storage subsystem;

further copying with the one or more media agents the data comprising the plurality of files to a reference copy data store to create a reference copy of the plurality of files,

wherein the backup copy of plurality of files is stored in the secondary storage subsystem in a backup format, and the reference copy of the plurality of files are stored in the reference copy data store in a native format associated with the applications that generated the plurality of files;

at least one reference copy module comprising computer hardware configured to;

create an index of the reference copy of the plurality of files, wherein the reference copy module stores the index in the reference copy data store;

access rules for creating a filtered representation, the rules including filtering criteria for identifying a subset of the plurality of files residing in the backup copy in the secondary storage subsystem;

identify files that meet the filtering criteria based on the index of the reference copy of the plurality of files stored in the reference copy data store without accessing the backup copy of the plurality of files stored in the secondary storage subsystem and without accessing the plurality of files stored in the primary storage subsystem;

in response to determining that a first filtered representation includes at least a subset of the files that meet the filtering criteria, create a second filtered representation that comprises a data structure that comprises references to the subset of files associated with the first filtered representation and further comprises additional files that meet the filtering criteria; and

provide access to the second filtered representation, wherein the second filtered representation is viewable by a user and shows a listing of the subset of files associated with the first filtered representation and the additional files that meet the filtering criteria without accessing the backup copy of the plurality of files stored in the secondary storage subsystem and without accessing the plurality of files stored in the primary storage subsystem.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein a first media agent and the second media agent identify at least some of the files residing in the secondary storage subsystem that meet the filtering criteria by reviewing one or more media agent indexes comprising metadata related to the plurality of files copied from the one or more primary storage devices to the one or more secondary storage devices.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the listing does not include files in the plurality of files that are not in the subset.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the references include copies of files themselves.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the source information comprises, for each respective file in the subset, one or more of an indication as to a source computing device associated with the respective file and a source software application associated with the respective file.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the file in the subset is viewed or accessed using the software application associated with the file.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the references comprise pointers and do not include copies of files.