Systems and methods for classifying and transferring information in a storage network

• US 7,822,749 B2
• Filed: 11/28/2006
• Issued: 10/26/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Brockway, Brian, Schwartz, Jeremy A., Ngo, David, Prahlad, Anand, Muller, Marcus S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vo; Tim T.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Engelskirchen; Jeremy D
• Application Number:
  US11/564,233
• Publication Number:
  US 20070185917A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,428 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/737
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/164 File meta data generation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1734 Details of monitoring file system events, e.g. by the use of hooks, filter drivers, logs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/907 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually

Abstract

Systems and methods for data classification to facilitate and improve data management within an enterprise are described. The disclosed systems and methods evaluate and define data management operations based on data characteristics rather than data location, among other things. Also provided are methods for generating a data structure of metadata that describes system data and storage operations. This data structure may be consulted to determine changes in system data rather than scanning the data files themselves.

Claims

1. A method of classifying data, comprising:

installing a first data classification agent on a single computing device, wherein—

the first data classification agent is specific to only a first application associated with the single computing device,

the first data classification agent identifies data generated by only the first application, including a first set of data,

the data generated by the first application is stored on the single computing device, and

the first data classification agent classifies the first set of data generated by the first application that is stored on the single computing device according to characteristics of the first set of data;

automatically classifying the first set of data by the first data classification agent installed on the single computing device to generate a first set of metadata, wherein—

the first set of metadata includes one or more first classifications of the first set of data that are associated with the first set of data,

the one or more first classifications contain information describing characteristics of the first set of data, and

the first set of metadata includes metadata other than metadata provided by a file system of the single computing device;

installing a second data classification agent on the single computing device, wherein—

the second data classification agent is specific to only a second application associated with the single computing device,

the second application is different from the first application,

the second data classification agent identifies data generated by only the second application, including a second set of data,

the data generated by the second application is stored on the single computing device and

the second data classification agent classifies the second set of data generated by the second application that is stored on the single computing device according to characteristics of the second set of data;

automatically classifying the second set of data by the second data classification agent installed on the single computing device to generate a second set of metadata, wherein—

the second set of metadata includes one or more second classifications of the second set of data that are associated with the second set of data,

the one or more second classifications contain information describing characteristics of the second set of data, and

the second set of metadata includes metadata other than metadata provided by a file system of the single computing device;

populating a metabase with the first and second sets of metadata; and

performing a data management operation on a subset of the first and second sets of data based on a subset of the first and second classifications included in the metadata in the metabase.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

monitoring changes to the first and second sets of data using the first and second data classification agents; and

updating the metabase based on the monitored changes.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein classifying the first set of data comprises determining the first application that created the first set of data.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein classifying the first set of data comprises adding access control information associated with the first set of data to the metabase.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein classifying the first set of data comprises storing information about user interactions with the first set of data.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein classifying the first set of data comprises storing information about the relationship of the first set of data to other data.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein classifying the first set of data comprises identifying a storage policy for the first set of data.

8. A computer-readable media whose contents cause a single computing device to perform a method, the method comprising:

identifying a first set of data stored within a data store, the first set of data generated by a first application;

automatically determining, by a first data agent specific to only the first application that generated the first set of data, a first set of classifications that describe the first set of data, wherein the first set of classifications describe characteristics of the first set of data, and wherein at least some of the first set of classifications are not stored with the first set of data and are based on information about the first application that generated the first set of data;

creating a first set of metadata containing information about the first set of data including the determined first set of classifications;

identifying a second set of data stored within the data store, the second set of data generated by a second application different from the first application;

automatically determining, by a second data agent specific to only the second application that generated the second set of data, a second set of classifications that describe the second set of data, wherein the second set of classifications describe characteristics of the second set of data, and wherein at least some of the second set of classifications are not stored with the second set of data and are based on information about the second application that generated the second set of data;

creating a second set of metadata containing information about the second set of data including the determined first second of classifications; and

storing the first and second sets of metadata in a non-volatile storage device.

9. The computer-readable media of claim 8 wherein identifying the first set of data comprises trapping requests to store the first set of data within the data store.

10. The computer-readable media of claim 8 wherein automatically determining, by the first data agent, comprises identifying the first application that generated the first set of data.

11. The computer-readable media of claim 8 wherein automatically determining, by the first data agent, comprises identifying keywords within the first set of data.

12. The computer-readable media of claim 8 wherein automatically determining, by the first data agent, comprises identifying structure within the first set of data.

13. A system for classifying data, comprising:

a data store associated with a computing device, the data store containing multiple data objects generated by one or more applications associated with the computing device, the multiple data objects including—

a first set of data objects generated by a first application; and

a second set of data objects generated by a second application different from the first application;

multiple data classification agents associated with the computing device, the multiple data classification agents including—

a first data classification agent specific to only the first application and configured to automatically classify the first set of data objects into at least one of a first set of data classifications, wherein the first set of data classifications categorize the first set of data objects based on characteristics related to the use of the first set of data objects; and

a second data classification agent specific to only the second application and configured to automatically classify the second set of data objects into at least one of a second set of data classifications, wherein the second set of data classifications categorize the second set of data objects based on characteristics related to the use of the second set of data objects; and

a metabase update component configured to store metadata describing the multiple data objects and the at least one of the first and second set of data classifications for the first and second sets of data objects in a metabase.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the first data classification agent is specialized to automatically classify data generated by the first application and the second data classification agent is specialized to automatically classify data generated by the second application, and wherein the first application is different from the second application.

15. The system of claim 13 wherein the first data classification agent automatically classifies data produced by Microsoft Exchange Server.

16. The system of claim 13 wherein the first data classification agent automatically classifies data produced by Microsoft SQL Server.

17. The system of claim 13 wherein the first data classification agent automatically classifies data produced by a database application.

18. The system of claim 13 wherein the first data classification agent automatically classifies data produced by a web application.

19. The system of claim 13 wherein the first data classification agent automatically classifies data produced by a word processing application.

20. The system of claim 13 wherein the first data classification agent automatically classifies data produced by a spreadsheet.