Remote backup storage

• US 8,370,681 B2
• Filed: 06/03/2009
• Issued: 02/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Hanes, David H.
• Primary Examiner(s): LOHN, JOSHUA A
• Application Number:
  US12/477,414
• Publication Number:
  US 20100313066A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,343 Days
• Field of Search: 714/42, 714/54, 714/57, 714/6.3, 714/6.31, 714/6.32
• US Class Current: 714/6.3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1456 Hardware arrangements for backup
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1464 for networked environments

Abstract

Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with a backup utility are described. One example system causes a backup utility to identify a remote device as local to a client device. Backup data may then be retained on the remote device identified by the backup utility as being local.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

one or more hardware resources comprising;

emulation logic configured to cause a backup utility to identify a remote device as being local to a client device;

conversion logic configured to;

(i) in response to an instruction from the backup utility to retain backup data, determine whether a format for the backup data used for local storage at the client device is compatible with a format used for storage at the remote device, and (ii) in response to determining that the formats are incompatible, translate the backup data from the format used for local storage at the client device to the format used for storage at the remote device;

storage logic configured to cause the backup data to be retained on the remote device identified by the backup utility as being local; and

error logic configured to (i) recognize an error associated with the remote device, (ii) identify an error message that corresponds to the recognized error, wherein the error message is in a format compatible with the remote device, and (iii) convert the error message to a format compatible with the client device to enable the client device to identify the converted error message as being local to the client device;

wherein the conversion logic is further configured to translate the backup data from the format used for storage at the remote device to the format used for local storage at the client device when the client device is to be restored to a previous state using the backup data.

2. The system of claim 1, where the emulation logic, the conversion logic, or the storage logic are part of a kernel of the client device.

3. The system of claim 2, where the emulation logic, the conversion logic, or the storage logic are part of a kernel extension of the kernel.

4. The system of claim 1, where the conversion logic modifies the backup data from a logical block address format to a file offset format as at least part of the translation.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more hardware resources comprises analysis logic configured to process the instruction from the backup utility to retain backup data, wherein a result of the process is used to control operation of the storage logic.

6. A computer-implemented method, the method being performed by one or more processors of a computing device and comprising:

identifying a remote device as being a local device;

identifying backup data designated for storage on the remote device that is identified as being a local device;

determining whether a format for the backup data used for local storage at the computing device is compatible with a format used for storage at the remote device;

in response to determining that the formats are incompatible, transforming the backup data designated for storage from the format used for local storage at the computing device to the format used for storage at the remote device;

transmitting the transformed backup data to the remote device to cause the remote device to retain the transformed backup data;

recognizing an error associated with the remote device;

identifying an error message that corresponds to the recognized error, wherein the error message is in a format compatible with the remote device;

converting the error message to a format compatible with the computing device to enable the computing device to identify the converted error message as being local to the computing device; and

when the computing device is to be restored to a previous state using the backup data, translating the backup data from the format used for storage at the remote device to the format used for local storage at the computing device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the computing device runs a client operating system, wherein the remote device runs a remote operating system, and wherein determining whether the format for the backup data used for local storage at the computing device is compatible with the format used for storage at the remote device includes determining that the client operating system and the remote operating system are incompatible with one another.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein identifying a remote device as being a local device is performed by a kernel extension of the computing device.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein transforming the backup data designated for storage comprises converting the backup data from a logical block address format to a file offset format.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein identifying a remote device as being a local device comprises representing the remote device as a virtual block device.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein transmitting the transformed backup data to the remote device is performed via a transmitter and an antenna.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a computing device, cause the processor to perform a method, the method comprising:

representing a remote server device running a server operating system as being local to the computing device;

identifying backup data designated for storage on the remote server device that is represented as being local to the computing device;

determining whether a format for the backup data used for local storage at the computing device is compatible with a format used for storage at the remote server device;

in response to determining that the formats are incompatible, transforming the backup data designated for storage from the format used for local storage at the computing device to the format used for storage at the remote server device;

transmitting the transformed backup data to the remote device to cause the remote device to retain the transformed backup data;

recognizing an error associated with the remote server device;

identifing an error message that corresponds to the recognized error, wherein the error message is in a format compatible with the remote server device;

converting the error message to a format compatible with the computing device to enable the computing device to identify the converted error message as being local to the computing device; and

when the computing device is to be restored to a previous state using the backup data, translating the backup data from the format used for storage at the remote device to the format used for local storage at the computing device.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the error is a loss of connection to the remote server device.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the server operating system is a Windows-based operating system.