SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF MEDIA MANAGEMENT, SUCH AS MANAGEMENT OF MEDIA TO AND FROM A MEDIA STORAGE LIBRARY, INCLUDING REMOVABLE MEDIA

• US 20080077715A1
• Filed: 03/30/2007
• Published: 03/27/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Chen, Ho-Chi, Retnamma, Manoj Kumar Vijayan, Kochunni, Jaidev O.
• Granted Patent: US 7,539,783 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 710/19
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1458 Management of the backup or restore process
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3051 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the configuration of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring the presence of processing resources, peripherals, I/O links, software programs verification or detection of system hardware configuration G06F11/2247
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0604 Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. storage management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/065 Replication mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0676 Magnetic disk device
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders

Abstract

A system and method for determining media to be exported out of a media library is described. In some examples, the system determines a media component to be exported, determines the media component is in the media library for a specific process, and exports the media component after the process is completed.

Claims

1. A method of managing a removable storage device for storing data in a media management library, comprising:

generating an identifier for the removable storage device, wherein the removable storage device does not contain an electronic serial number when it leaves a manufacturer;

associating the identifier with the removable storage device such that the device can be automatically recognized each time the removable storage device is used with the media management library; and

tracking the removable storage device as part of the media management library.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing authorization of the removable storage device before permitting read or write operations by accessing the generated identifier, determining access control information associated with the identifier, and applying the access control information to allow or deny the read or write operations.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the removable storage device is configured for repeated read and write operations.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the generated identifier is a tracking value for tracking each time at which and computer system on which the removable storage device is used.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing the generated identifier in a table containing information about multiple removable storage devices.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising performing authorization related to the removable storage device based on the generated identifier.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising copying data from the removable storage device based on a storage policy associated with the generated identifier.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising performing storage operations related to the removable storage device based on a storage policy associated with the generated identifier.

3. The method of claim I wherein generating an identifier comprises automatically generating a unique identifier or tracking value, and receiving from a user a user-defined alphanumeric character string to be associated with the removable storage device.

4. The method of claim I wherein the removable storage device is a universal serial bus (USB) disk drive or USB flash memory drive, and wherein the generated identifier is stored on the removable storage device.

11. A method of generating identifiers for storage devices, the method comprising:

scanning the storage device for manufacturing defects;

identifying characteristics associated with the manufacturing defects;

automatically generating an identifier for the storage device based on the identified characteristics associated with the manufacturing defects.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the storage device is a magnetic disk drive, and wherein the identifying comprises identifying bad sectors or portions on the magnetic disk drive.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the storage device is a semiconductor memory drive, and wherein the identifying comprises identifying bad memory cells, enabled redundant memory cells, or both.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein the generating includes performing a hashing function.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein the generating includes algorithmically combining the identified locations or addresses for the defects with known data to generate the unique identifier or tracking value.

16. The method of claim 11 wherein the identifier is configured for use in tracking the storage device.

17. The method of claim 11 wherein the characteristics associated with the defects comprise the location of the defects.

18. The method of claim 11 wherein the characteristics associated with the defects comprise the quantity of the defects.

19. The method of claim 11 wherein the generated identifier is substantially unique.

20. A method of performing storage operations on a removable storage device, comprising:

identifying the removable storage device based on an identifier associated with the device, wherein the removable storage device does not contain an electronic serial number when it leaves a manufacturer;

determining the last time a storage operation was performed on the removable storage device based on the identifier; and

if a storage operation criteria is met, performing the storage operation on the removable storage device.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the storage operation criteria comprises determining the amount of data written to the removable storage device since the storage operation was last performed.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein the storage operation criteria comprises determining the capacity of the removable storage device.

23. The method of claim 20 wherein the storage operation criteria comprises determining access control information associated with the removable storage device.

24. The method of claim 20 wherein the storage operation is copying data from the removable storage device.

25. A method for generating an identifier for uniquely identifying a removable storage device, the method comprising:

identifying one or more characteristics of the removable storage device, wherein the removable storage device does not contain an electronic serial number provided by a manufacturer of the removable storage device;

selecting characteristics that are substantially unique for the removable storage device;

generating an identifier for the removable storage device based on the selected characteristics, such that the identifier is substantially unique; and

associating the identifier with the removable storage device such that the device can be automatically recognized each time the removable storage device is accessed.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein generating an identifier comprises receiving a user-provided unique identifier for the removable storage device.

27. The method of claim 25 wherein generating an identifier comprises creating a hash including a device model identifier and a seed value.

28. The method of claim 25 wherein generating an identifier comprises identifying the owner of the removable storage device.

29. The method of claim 25 wherein generating an identifier comprises identifying a department associated with the removable storage device.

30. The method of claim 25 wherein generating an identifier comprises identifying the MAC address of the computer used to generate the identifier for the removable storage device.

31. The method of claim 25 wherein generating an identifier comprises identifying the computer on which the removable storage device was first used.

32. The method of claim 25 wherein generating an identifier comprises identifying the time at which the removable storage device was first used.

33. The method of claim 25 wherein generating an identifier comprises identifying the location and number of bad blocks on the removable storage device.

34. The method of claim 25 wherein generating an identifier comprises identifying deactivated subcomponents of the removable storage device.

35. A system for generating an identifier for uniquely identifying a removable storage device, the system comprising:

a characteristic identification component configured to identify one or more characteristics of the removable storage device, wherein the removable storage device does not contain an electronic serial number when manufacturered;

a characteristic selection component configured to select characteristics that are substantially unique for the removable storage device;

an identifier generation component configure to generate an identifier for the removable storage device based on the selected characteristics, such that the identifier is substantially unique; and

an identifier association component configured to associate the identifier with the removable storage device such that the device can be automatically recognized when the removable storage device is coupled to a computing device.

36. The system of claim 35 wherein the identifier generation component identifies the location and number of bad blocks on the removable storage device to generate an identifier.

37. The system of claim 35 wherein the identifier generation component identifies deactivated subcomponents of the removable storage device to generate an identifier.

38. A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system to generate an identifier for uniquely identifying a removable storage device, by a method comprising:

identifying one or more characteristics of the removable storage device, wherein the removable storage device does not contain an electronic serial number when it leaves a manufacturer;

selecting characteristics that are substantially unique for the removable storage device;

generating an identifier for the removable storage device based on the selected characteristics, such that the identifier is substantially unique; and

associating the identifier with the removable storage device such that the device can be automatically recognized each time the removable storage device is used.

39. The computer-readable medium of claim 38 wherein the removable storage device is a universal serial bus (USB) disk drive, and wherein associating the identifier with the removable storage device comprises storing the generated identifier on the removable storage device.

40. The computer-readable medium of claim 38 wherein the removable storage device is a magnetic disk drive, and wherein the identifying comprises identifying bad sectors or portions on the magnetic disk drive.

41. The computer-readable medium of claim 38 wherein the removable storage device is a semiconductor memory drive, and wherein the identifying comprises identifying bad memory cells, enabled redundant memory cells, or both.

42. The computer-readable medium of claim 38 wherein generating the identifier for the removable storage device includes performing a hashing function.

43. The computer-readable medium of claim 38 wherein generating the identifier for the removable storage device includes algorithmically combining one or more identified locations or addresses for defects of the device with known data to generate the identifier.

44. The computer-readable medium of claim 38 wherein generating the identifier for the removable storage device comprises determining the capacity of the removable storage device.