INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM AND FILE RESTORATION METHOD USING SAME

• US 20130110790A1
• Filed: 10/29/2011
• Published: 05/02/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Matsumoto, Shinya, Nemoto, Jun, Iwasaki, Masaaki, Saika, Nobuyuki, Kanie, Homare, Arai, Hitoshi
• Application Number:
  US13/388,193
• Publication Number:
  US 20130110790A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/679
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1464 for networked environments
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1469 Backup restoration techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/16 Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in hardware
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2069 Management of state, configuration or failover
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2071 using a plurality of controllers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2082 Data synchronisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/00 Accessing, addressing or allocating within memory systems or architectures digital input from, or digital output to record carriers, e.g. to disk storage units, G06F3/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/185 Hierarchical storage management [HSM] systems, e.g. file migration or policies thereof details of archiving G06F16/11

Abstract

A file is rapidly restored with minimal storage consumption when a file access request is made by the user. When file restoration takes place, a second server apparatus 3b transmits a directory image, which extends from the top directory to a predetermined lower level, of a directory image configured in a file system of a first server apparatus 3a at a date and time associated with a restoration destination directory among the data of files stored in a second storage apparatus 10b, to the first server apparatus 3a, and the first server apparatus 3a restores the directory image to a first storage apparatus 10a. If a request is sent from the first server apparatus 3a, the second server apparatus 3b reads an additional directory image from the second storage apparatus 10b and transmits the image to the first server apparatus 3a.

Claims

1. An information processing system, comprising:

a first server apparatus which comprises a first file system and which receives I/O requests from a client apparatus;

a first storage apparatus which stores data of the first server apparatus;

a second server apparatus which comprises a second file system and is communicably connected to the first server apparatus; and

a second storage apparatus which stores data of the second server apparatus,

the first server apparatus transmitting data of a file which is the target of the I/O request and which is stored in the first storage apparatus to the second server apparatus, and

the second server apparatus storing the data which is sent from the first server apparatus in the second storage apparatus while holding a directory image of the first file system in the second file system,

wherein the second server apparatus acquires a first directory image of a predetermined level in the directory image that is configured in the file system of the first server apparatus from the directory image in the second storage apparatus and transmits the first directory image to the first server apparatus,

wherein, upon receiving an I/O request for a file which is to be restored from the client apparatus after the first directory image sent from the second server apparatus is restored to the first storage apparatus, the first server apparatus determines whether or not a second directory image which is required to process the received I/O request exists in the first directory image of the first storage apparatus and, if the second directory image does not exist, issues a request to the second server apparatus to request the second directory image,

wherein, when the request is sent from the first server apparatus, the second server apparatus reads the second directory image from the second storage apparatus and transmits the second directory image to the first server apparatus, and the first server apparatus restores the second directory image to the first storage apparatus,

wherein the first server apparatus restores an object directory image, which includes the first directory image and the second directory image, to the first storage, and

wherein, whenever a file system object is created or updated, the second file system of the second server apparatus manages the created or updated file system object using a different version ID, and the first server apparatus utilizes the version ID in the process of restoring the object directory.

2. The information processing system according to claim 1,

wherein the first file system of the first server apparatus issues a request to the second server apparatus to request metadata of directories which exists in a root directory restored at an earlier time as well as metadata of files which exists in the root directory,

wherein, upon receiving the request, the second server acquires the metadata from the second storage apparatus and transmits the metadata to the restoration destination directory configured in the first server apparatus, and

wherein the first server apparatus configures a directory image which comprises the root directory and file system objects in the root directory in accordance with the metadata of the restoration destination directory, and restores the directory image to the first storage apparatus as the first directory image.

3. The information processing system according to claim 2,

wherein the first server apparatus acquires the metadata of the file which exists in the object directory image from the first storage apparatus and issues a request for data which is the entity of the file to the second server on the basis of the metadata,

wherein the second server apparatus acquires the data from the second storage apparatus on the basis of the request and transmits the data to the first server apparatus, and

wherein, upon acquiring the data, the first server apparatus stores the data in the file of the object directory image of the first storage apparatus.

4. The information processing system according to claim 1,

wherein the first file system comprises a flag for restraining, without changing the view of access rights to the file system objects, writing to the metadata or data of file system objects which belong to the first file system, and

wherein the first server apparatus configures the flag for the object directory image in a read only state for the metadata or data.

5. The information processing system according to claim 1,

wherein the first server apparatus creates a restoration destination directory where the first directory image is restored, records a restoration date and time when the first directory image was restored to the restoration destination directory in a directory image management table together with the restoration destination directory, and executes a plurality of recordings of the restoration destination directory and the restoration date and time to the directory image management table with predetermined timing.

6. The information processing system according to claim 1,

wherein, whenever a file system object is created or updated, the second file system of the second server apparatus manages the created or updated file system object using the different version ID and the date and time the creation or update was executed.

7. The information processing system according to claim 6,

wherein the first server apparatus determines a specific version ID from among the version IDs of the file system objects belonging to the first directory image on the basis of the version ID information and the date and time information, as well as the restoration date of the file to be restored, and transmits the acquisition request of the file system object specified by the specific version ID to the second server, and

wherein the second server apparatus acquires a first directory image including the file system object of the specific version ID from the second storage apparatus and transmits the first directory image to the first server apparatus, and the first server apparatus restores the first directory image to the first storage apparatus.

8. The information processing system according to claim 7,

wherein the first server apparatus configures the file system object specified by the specific version ID as the file system object managed by means of the closest date to the file restoration date.

9. The information processing system according to claim 1,

wherein, upon receiving an I/O request for the file to be restored from the client apparatus, the first server apparatus checks whether metadata of the file exists in the first directory image configured in the restoration destination directory from the client apparatus,

wherein, if the metadata of the file does not exist in the first directory image, the first server apparatus repeats the request for the metadata of the second directory image to the second server, the acquisition of metadata from the second storage apparatus by the second server, and the transmission of the acquired metadata to the first server until the file metadata is obtained as the metadata of the second directory image in a lower level which includes the level just in the first directory image on the basis of path information in the I/O request, and

wherein, after the metadata of the restoration target file has been restored, the first server apparatus configures a specific directory image according to the metadata and subsequently stores this directory image in the first storage apparatus.

10. The information processing system according to claim 9,

wherein, upon receiving an I/O request to update the restoration target file which exists in the specific directory image from the client apparatus, the first server apparatus issues a request for the entity of the restoration target file to the second server,

wherein the second server apparatus acquires the entity from the second storage apparatus on the basis of the request and transmits the entity to the first server apparatus, and

wherein the first server apparatus stores the entity in the restoration target file of the specific directory image.

11. The information processing system according to claim 10,

wherein, upon issuing a request for the entities of the files to the second server apparatus, the first server apparatus issues a request for some of the entities rather than all of the entities of the files to the second server apparatus.

12. The information processing system according to claim 6,

wherein the first server apparatus restores the metadata of the restoration target file on the basis of the first directory image stored in the restoration destination directory at a predetermined restoration date and time for which there was a request from the client apparatus among a plurality of restoration dates and times which exist in the directory management table in claim 5.

13. The information processing system according to claim 1,

wherein, for the first directory image stored in the first storage apparatus, the first server apparatus checks the days and hours which have elapsed since the restoration date of the first directory image and, when it is determined that the elapsed days and hours exceed predetermined days and hours, the first server apparatus deletes the first directory image from the first storage apparatus.

14. A file restoration method of an information processing system which comprises a first server apparatus which comprises a first file system and receives I/O requests from a client apparatus, a first storage apparatus which comprises storage of the first server apparatus;

a second server apparatus which comprises a second file system and which is communicably connected to the first server apparatus; and

a second storage apparatus which comprises storage of the second server apparatus, the first server apparatus transmitting data of a file which is the target of the I/O request and which is stored in the first storage apparatus to the second server apparatus, and the second server apparatus storing the data which is sent from the first server apparatus in the second storage apparatus while holding a directory image of the first file system in the second file system,

wherein the second server apparatus acquires a first directory image of a predetermined level among the directory images configured in the file system of the first server apparatus from the directory image in the second storage apparatus and transmits the first directory image to the first server apparatus,

wherein upon receiving, from the client apparatus, an I/O request for a file to be restored after the first directory image sent from the second server apparatus has been restored to the first storage apparatus, the first server apparatus determines whether or not a second directory image which is required in order to process the received I/O request exists in the first directory image of the first storage apparatus, and if the second directory image does not exist, issues a request to the second server apparatus to request the second directory image,

wherein, when the request is sent from the first server apparatus, the second server apparatus reads the second directory image from the second storage apparatus and transmits the second directory image to the first server apparatus, and the first server apparatus restores the second directory image to the first storage apparatus,

wherein the first server apparatus restores an object directory image which includes the first directory image and the second directory image to the first storage, and

wherein, whenever a file system object is created or updated, the second file system of the second server apparatus manages the created or updated file system object using a different version ID, and the first server apparatus utilizes the version ID in the process of restoring the object directory.