Storage management of data using an open-archive architecture, including streamlined access to primary data originally stored on network-attached storage and archived to secondary storage

• US 9,928,144 B2
• Filed: 03/30/2015
• Issued: 03/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Kumarasamy, Paramasivam
• Primary Examiner(s): Robinson, Greta
• Application Number:
  US14/673,278
• Publication Number:
  US 20160292040A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,093 Days
• Field of Search: 707640, 707654, 707651, 707652, 707661, 707665, 707668, 707674, 707679, 707686, 709224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1446 Point-in-time backing up or restoration of persistent data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1451 by selection of backup contents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/113 Details of archiving lifecycle management in storage systems G06F3/0649; backup systems G06F11/1446
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1824 implemented using Network-attached Storage [NAS] architecture distributed or networked storage systems G06F3/067; protocols for distributed storage of data in a network H04L67/1097
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/84 Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data

Abstract

An illustrative “open archive” architecture relieves the immediate need to add network-attached storage (NAS) devices to a storage management system. The open archive architecture provides streamlined access to live production data, which originally was stored on a NAS device but which is archived to secondary storage to free up NAS space. An open-archive server coordinates with an open-archive layer that operates on the NAS device. The open-archive server identifies data sets on the NAS that meet archiving criteria, which are then automatically moved to an open archive in secondary storage. The open archive layer intercepts data-access calls coming into the NAS device, e.g., open calls, read calls, write calls. The intercepted calls are reported to the open-archive server for analysis. If the open-archive server determines that the data referenced in an intercepted call is stored in the open archive, the open-archive server initiates a restore job that recovers the data from secondary storage and stores it back on the NAS device. The intercepted call may now be served from the NAS. These operations occur automatically and do not involve users or their computing devices, and the computing devices operate without data agents for the NAS-based data.

Claims

1. A method for automatically archiving primary data from a storage device to secondary storage and restoring it to the storage device when accessed, the method comprising:

executing a monitoring utility on a network-attached storage device in a storage management system,

the network-attached storage device storing primary data that is accessible to a client computing device;

determining that a data set of primary data stored in the network-attached storage device satisfies an archiving criterion by analyzing, by a server component of the storage management system, at least some of the primary data stored in the network-attached storage device;

archiving the data set to a secondary storage device in the storage management system, wherein the archiving removes the archived data set from the network-attached storage device;

generating one or more stubs for the archived data set;

storing the one or more stubs to the network-attached storage device;

determining, by the server component, that a first access call from the client computing device is directed to first data in the archived data set, the first access call including one or more of an open call, a read call, and a write call, and (a) restoring the first data to the network-attached storage device, and (b) removing one or more stubs corresponding to the restored first data; and

serving the first access call, from the restored first data on the network-attached storage device, to the client computing device, without intervention from a user.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

based on determining, by the server component, that a second access call from the client computing device is directed to second data that is not in any archived data set, serving the second access call, from the network-attached storage device, to the client computing device, without intervention from a user.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the server component executes an open-archive module for the analyzing operation and for the determining that the first access call is directed to the first data in the archived data set.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the archiving of the data set and the generating of the one or more stubs for the archived data set are performed, at least in part, by an open-archive module executing on the server component of the storage management system, which server is distinct from the client computing device and is also distinct from the network-attached storage device.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the archiving of the data set and the generating of the one or more stubs for the archived data set are performed, at least in part, by an open-archive module executing on the server component of the storage management system, which server is distinct from the client computing device and is also distinct from the network-attached storage device;

wherein the archiving and the generating are performed without intervention from or communications with the client computing device; and

wherein the restoring of the first data to the network-attached storage device is also performed without intervention from or communication with the client computing device.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

intercepting, by the monitoring utility executing on the network-attached storage device, the first access call from the client computing device directed to the first data; and

reporting, by the monitoring utility, the first access call to an open-archive module executing on the server component.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

based on the data set not satisfying the archiving criterion, refraining, by the server component, from archiving the data set at the present time.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the first data comprises at least one of:

a directory, a file, a database, and a respective portion thereof.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the data set comprises at least one of:

a directory, a file, a database, and a respective portion thereof.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein archiving the data set comprises archiving only a first portion of a file from the primary data, such that the first portion of the file is archived to the secondary storage device and a second portion of the file remains unarchived in the network-attached storage device.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that a data set of primary data stored in the network-attached storage device satisfies an archiving criterion includes determining whether the data set has been accessed during a pre-determined period of time, and when the data set has not been accessed during the pre-determined period of time, concluding that the data set satisfies the archiving criterion.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein after the archiving of the data set to the secondary storage device, storage space on the network-attached storage device that is not used by the archived data set is freed up for use by other data.

13. A storage management system for automatically archiving primary data from a storage device to secondary storage and restoring it to the storage device when accessed, the system comprising:

a client computing device for accessing primary data;

a network-attached storage device that stores the primary data, and which network-attached storage device executes a monitoring utility;

a secondary storage device that is distinct from the network-attached storage device;

a secondary storage computing device in communication with the secondary storage device;

a server in communication with the network-attached storage device and with the secondary storage computing device;

wherein the server is configured to;

analyze at least some of the primary data stored in the network-attached storage device,

determine whether a data set in the analyzed primary data satisfies an archiving criterion,

cause the data set to be archived to the secondary storage device, which removes the archived data set from the network-attached storage device without intervention from or communications with the client computing device,

generate one or more stubs for the archived data set, and

cause the one or more stubs to be stored to the network-attached storage device,

receive a report from the monitoring utility on the network-attached storage indicating that a first access call has been received by the network-attached storage device from the client computing device, wherein the access call includes one or more of an open call, a read call, and a write call,

determine that the first access call from the client computing device is directed to first data that is in the archived data set, and

cause the first data to be restored from the secondary storage device to the network-attached storage device without intervention from or communications with the client computing device; and

wherein, after the first data is restored, the network-attached storage device is configured to serve the first access call, from the restored first data on the network-attached storage device, to the client computing device in response to the first access call.

14. The storage management system of claim 13 wherein the server is further configured to:

cause one or more stubs corresponding to the restored first data to be removed from the network-attached storage device.

15. The storage management system of claim 13 wherein the monitoring utility that executes on the network-attached storage device is configured to:

intercept access calls to the network-attached storage device from the client computing device, and

report each access call to the server.

16. The storage management system of claim 13 wherein the server executes an open-archive module to perform at least one of the following operations:

(i) analyze at least some of the primary data stored in the network-attached storage device, (ii) determine whether the data set in the analyzed primary data satisfies an archiving criterion, and (iii) determine that the first access call from the client computing device is directed to first data that is in the archived data set.

17. A computer-readable medium, excluding transitory propagating signals, storing instructions, which when implemented by at least one server in a storage management system, perform a method for providing a client computing device with access to archived primary data that was originally stored on a network-attached storage device without configuring the client computing device with a data agent for restoring the archived primary data, the method comprising:

establishing a communicative coupling between the client computing device and the network-attached storage device in the storage management system;

determining that a first access call from the client computing device is directed to first data which was previously archived to a secondary storage device in the storage management system,

wherein the access call includes at least one of;

an open call, a read call, and a write call, and

wherein the secondary storage device is distinct from the network-attached storage device;

restoring the first data to the network-attached storage device;

causing the network-attached storage device to serve the first access call, from the restored first data on the network-attached storage device, to the client computing device;

analyzing primary data stored in the network-attached storage device to determine whether a data set stored in the network-attached storage device satisfies an archiving criterion;

archiving the data set to a secondary storage device in the storage management system, wherein the archiving removes the archived data set from the network-attached storage device;

generating one or more stubs for the archived data set; and

storing the one or more stubs to the network-attached storage device.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the restoring of the first data is performed without intervention from or communications to the client computing device;

and

wherein the restoring does not require a data agent to execute on the client computing device.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the archiving and generating are performed without intervention from or communications with the client computing device.