SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR RESTORING DATA FROM OPAQUE DATA BACKUP STREAMS

• US 20170093972A1
• Filed: 12/10/2015
• Published: 03/30/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Veritas Technologies, LLC (Whitehouse Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Symantec Corporation (NortonLifeLock Inc.)
• Inventors: Paulzagade, Sudhakar, Jain, Saurabh, Anand, Nitin
• Granted Patent: US 9,979,785 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1456 Hardware arrangements for backup
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1469 Backup restoration techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes

Abstract

The disclosed computer-implemented method for restoring data from opaque data backup streams may include (1) initiating a virtual restore of an opaque data backup stream that is designed to be parsed exclusively by a data backup application that created the stream, (2) determining, for each block of data, an original header and tail of the block based on a restored version of the block on the client, (3) sending the original header and tail of the block to a server, (4) creating, at the server, a mapping between a location of the block of data in the stream on the server and the original header and tail of the block, and (5) restoring, without using the data backup application, data in the stream by using the mapping to restore the original headers and tails of the blocks. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for restoring data from opaque data backup streams, at least a portion of the method being performed by a computing device comprising at least one processor, the method comprising:

initiating, from a client, a virtual restore of an opaque data backup stream that is hosted on a server and that comprises blocks of data with modified headers and tails designed to be parsed exclusively by a data backup application that created the opaque data backup stream;

for each block of data in the opaque data backup stream;

determining an original header and tail of the block based on a restored version of the block on the client;

sending the original header and tail of the block from the client to the server;

creating, at the server, a mapping between a location of the block of data in the opaque data backup stream on the server and the original header and tail of the block;

restoring, without using the data backup application, data in the opaque data backup stream by using the mapping to restore the original headers and tails of the blocks that comprise the data.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

creating, at the server, a hash of each block of data on the server;

creating, at the client, a hash of the block of data seen by the client during the virtual restore;

for each block of data seen by the client;

querying the server to determine whether the server has a copy of the hash of the block of data;

sending the block of data to the server if the server does not have the copy of the hash.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein creating the hash of the block of data comprises creating a hash of a portion of the block of data that excludes the header and tail.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

the data backup application is not configured to perform partial restores from the opaque data backup stream;

restoring the data without using the data backup application comprises restoring a subset of the opaque data backup stream while excluding a portion of the opaque data backup stream.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein restoring the data in the opaque data backup stream comprises creating a differential backup based on the opaque data backup stream.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein performing the virtual restore on the client comprises avoiding storing the data in the opaque data backup stream on the client.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the virtual restore is initiated in response to a modification of the opaque data backup stream.

8. A system for restoring data from opaque data backup streams, the system comprising:

an initiation module, stored in memory, that initiates, from a client, a virtual restore of an opaque data backup stream that is hosted on a server and that comprises blocks of data with modified headers and tails designed to be parsed exclusively by a data backup application that created the opaque data backup stream;

a determination module, stored in memory, that, for each block in the opaque data backup stream, determines an original header and tail of the block based on a restored version of the block on the client;

a sending module, stored in memory, that sends the original header and tail of the block from the client to the server;

a creation module, stored in memory, that creates, at the server, a mapping between a location of the block of data in the opaque data backup stream on the server and the original header and tail of the block;

a restoring module, stored in memory, that restores, without using the data backup application, data in the opaque data backup stream by using the mapping to restore the original headers and tails of the blocks that comprise the data;

at least one physical processor configured to execute the initiation module, the determination module, the sending module, the creation module, and the restoring module.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein:

the creation module creates, at the server, a hash of each block of data on the server;

the determination module creates, at the client, a hash of the block of data seen by the client during the virtual restore;

the sending module, for each block of data seen by the client, queries the server to determine whether the server has a copy of the hash of the block of data and sends the block of data to the server if the server does not have the copy of the hash.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein:

the creation module creates the hash of the block of data by creating a hash of a portion of the block of data that excludes the header and tail;

the determination module creates the hash of the block of data by creating a hash of a portion of the block of data that excludes the header and tail.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein:

the data backup application is not configured to perform partial restores from the opaque data backup stream;

the restoring module restores the data without using the data backup application by restoring a subset of the opaque data backup stream while excluding a portion of the opaque data backup stream.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the restoring module restores the data in the opaque data backup stream by creating a differential backup based on the opaque data backup stream.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the initiation module performs the virtual restore on the client by avoiding storing the data in the opaque data backup stream on the client.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the initiation module initiates the virtual restore in response to a modification of the opaque data backup stream.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising one or more computer-readable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to:

initiate, from a client, a virtual restore of an opaque data backup stream that is hosted on a server and that comprises blocks of data with modified headers and tails designed to be parsed exclusively by a data backup application that created the opaque data backup stream;

determine, for each block in the opaque data backup stream, an original header and tail of the block based on a restored version of the block on the client;

send the original header and tail of the block from the client to the server;

create, at the server, a mapping between a location of the block of data in the opaque data backup stream on the server and the original header and tail of the block;

restore, without using the data backup application, data in the opaque data backup stream by using the mapping to restore the original headers and tails of the blocks that comprise the data.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the one or more computer-readable instructions cause the computing device to:

create, at the server, a hash of each block of data on the server;

create, at the client, a hash of the block of data seen by the client during the virtual restore;

for each block of data seen by the client;

query the server to determine whether the server has a copy of the hash of the block of data;

send the block of data to the server if the server does not have the copy of the hash.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the one or more computer-readable instructions cause the computing device to create the hash of the block of data by creating a hash of a portion of the block of data that excludes the header and tail.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein:

the data backup application is not configured to perform partial restores from the opaque data backup stream;

restoring the data without using the data backup application comprises restoring a subset of the opaque data backup stream while excluding a portion of the opaque data backup stream.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the one or more computer-readable instructions cause the computing device to restore the data in the opaque data backup stream by creating a differential backup based on the opaque data backup stream.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the one or more computer-readable instructions cause the computing device to perform the virtual restore on the client by avoiding storing the data in the opaque data backup stream on the client.