Delegation of data classification using common language

• US 8,819,212 B1
• Filed: 08/21/2013
• Issued: 08/26/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Emc IP Holding Company LLC (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: EMC Corporation (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Nair, Manoj, Perrin, Stephen R.
• Primary Examiner(s): PEACH, POLINA G
• Application Number:
  US13/972,089
• Time in Patent Office: 370 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/35 Clustering; Classification

Abstract

An information management system delegates information classification to an external computing resource, or classifier. The intelligence required to perform classification, including a series of logic and/or rules, is provided to the classifier. The logic and/or rules are translated from a first format to a second format understandable to the classifier. The information management system discovers objects of an entity and identifies them for the classifier. The classifier collects information about the objects, applies the logic and rules to the objects, and assigns one or more categories to each object. This classification information is translated from the second format to the first format and reported back to the information management system, which may use the assigned categories to identify and map service level objectives to available service levels. After service levels are selected, the corresponding actions can be orchestrated such that the objects of the entity receive the selected services.

Claims

1. A physical storage device having stored therein computer-executable instructions which, when executed by one or more processing devices, perform information management to identify services for objects in a computer system, wherein performing information management includes:

discovering a plurality of objects in the computer system, wherein discovery of the plurality of objects is performed using a first adapter;

transmitting configuration information to a classifier, wherein the transmitted configuration information includes classification logic and rules;

delegating, to the classifier, a secondary object classification process that is associated with the classification logic and rules and also associated with a second adapter that is different from the first adapter, the second adapter being operable to translate the classification logic and rules from a first format to a second format that is different from the first format;

performing an initial classification of the plurality of objects so as to generate initial classification information concerning the plurality of objects, and assigning a category to each of the classified objects;

determining a service for each of the plurality of objects individually based on the assigned category of each object;

requesting performance, by the classifier, of a secondary classification of the initially classified plurality of objects, wherein the secondary classification is based on the classification logic and rules associated with the delegation of the secondary classification process;

receiving, from the classifier, secondary classification information that identifies one or more of the plurality of objects and one or more categories assigned to the objects individually, wherein one of the categories is mapped to a service level objective;

aggregating the received secondary classification information with the initial classification information to produce aggregated classification information; and

utilizing the aggregated classification information to drive treatment of one or more of the plurality of objects, wherein the treatment includes providing one or more services to the objects, the one or more services corresponding to the one or more categories assigned to the objects, wherein one of the services is associated with the service level objective; and

responding, when a service gap exists, to the service gap by one of finding and providing a service bundle that is adequate for associated objects, or reporting that no existing service bundle is adequate for the associated objects, wherein the service gap exists if a target bundle that includes the service level objective does not match any available service bundle.

2. The physical storage device of claim 1, wherein utilizing the aggregated classification information to drive treatment of one or more of the plurality of objects comprises one or more of:

identifying one or more service level objectives for each object based on the assigned one or more categories;

mapping the one or more service level objectives to service levels available from service providers;

or

orchestrating the services for one or more of the plurality of objects based on the assigned one or more categories, the identified one or more service level objectives, or both.

3. The physical storage device of claim 1, wherein performing information management further comprises monitoring to ensure that the secondary classification is being performed.

4. The physical storage device of claim 1, wherein performing information management further comprises valuing the objects based on the assigned categories of the objects.

5. The physical storage device of claim 1, wherein the logic and rules are specified by a user.

6. The physical storage device of claim 1, wherein discovering a plurality of objects comprises one or more of:

examining internet protocol (IP) addresses in the computer system;

discovering one or more applications in the computer system;

decoding network traffic;

discovering services associated with the computer system;

identifying an object that is acting as a server;

discovering information about a server;

discovering one or more data objects;

or

discovering information about one or more of the objects in the computer system.

7. The physical storage device of claim 1, wherein the first adapter is specific to the type of objects that the first adapter is used to discover.

8. The physical storage device of claim 1, wherein performing information management further comprises mapping different categories to respective lifecycle stages of a discovered object.

9. A physical server that includes the physical storage device of claim 1.

10. A physical storage device having stored therein computer-executable instructions which, when executed by one or more processing devices, perform information management in a computer system including data that has been partitioned according to one or more criterion, wherein performing information management includes:

receiving configuration information that includes translated classification logic and rules relating to information management categories for objects discovered in a computer system and which have been initially classified;

collecting information describing the initially classified objects;

receiving, by delegation, a request to perform a secondary classification service concerning the initially classified objects;

performing the delegated secondary classification service by applying the translated classification logic and rules to the initially classified objects and to the collected information that describes the initially classified objects, so as to generate secondary classification information concerning those initially classified objects, wherein the translated classification logic and rules are driven at least by the collected information;

assigning one or more categories of information management to each initially classified object;

reporting high level information comprising the one or more categories assigned to each object so as to enable mapping of categories to a service level objective for each of the initially classified objects, and to enable identification of services for each of the objects based on the one or more categories assigned to each object, wherein one of the services is associated with the service level objective for an object and the service level objective is part of a target bundle of service level objectives, and wherein a service gap exists when the target bundle does not match any available service bundle, and a response to the service gap is one of finding and providing a service bundle that is adequate for the associated objects, or reporting that no existing service bundle is adequate for the associated objects; and

reporting the secondary classification information to an information management system that is operable to aggregate the secondary classification information with the primary classification information to produce aggregated classification information.

11. The physical storage device of claim 10, wherein performing information management further comprises, prior to reporting the secondary classification information, translating the secondary classification from a first format to a second format that is different from the first format.

12. The physical storage device of claim 11, wherein the translation is performed using an adapter.

13. The physical storage device of claim 10, wherein delegation of the secondary classification service transfers a portion of a processing load.

14. The physical storage device of claim 10, wherein the secondary classification information includes information identifying the objects and corresponding assigned categories of information management.

15. The physical storage device of claim 10, wherein the logic and rules used to classify the objects use metadata associated with each object describing capabilities, features, a hash, and content, of each object.

16. The physical storage device of claim 10, wherein the objects include at least one of directories, volumes, files, folders, user data, system data, applications, services, operating systems, instructions, and computer settings.

17. The physical storage device of claim 10, wherein collecting information includes generating metadata for each object, and the method further comprises using the generated metadata to assign the object to one or more categories.

18. A physical server that includes the physical storage device of claim 10.

19. An information management system, comprising:

a first adapter;

a second adapter, the second adapter being different from the first adapter;

a classifier; and

a server configured for communication with a computer system, the first adapter, and the second adapter, and the server comprising;

a physical storage device having stored therein computer-executable instructions which, when executed by one or more processing devices, perform information management, wherein performing information management includes;

discovering, using the server, a plurality of objects in the computer system, wherein discovery of the plurality of objects is performed using the first adapter;

transmitting, to the classifier, configuration information that includes classification logic and rules;

delegating, using the server, a secondary object classification process to the classifier, the secondary object classification processing being associated with the classification logic and rules and also with the second adapter, the second adapter being operable to translate the classification logic and rules from a first format to a second format that is different from the first format;

performing, using the server, an initial classification of the plurality of objects so as to generate initial classification information concerning the plurality of objects, and assigning a category to each of the classified objects;

determining, using the server, a service for each of the plurality of objects individually based on the assigned category of each object;

requesting, using the server, performance by the classifier of a secondary classification of the initially classified plurality of objects, wherein the secondary classification is based on the classification logic and rules associated with the delegation of the secondary classification process;

receiving, using the server, secondary classification information from the classifier that identifies one or more of the plurality of objects and one or more categories assigned to the objects individually, wherein one of the categories is mapped to a service level objective;

aggregating, using the server, the received secondary classification information with the initial classification information to produce aggregated classification information;

utilizing, using the server, the aggregated classification information to drive treatment of one or more of the plurality of objects, wherein the treatment includes providing one or more services to the objects, the one or more services corresponding to the one or more categories assigned to the objects, wherein one of the services is associated with the service level objective; and

responding, by the server, when a service gap exists, to the service gap by one of finding and providing a service bundle that is adequate for associated objects, or reporting that no existing service bundle is adequate for the associated objects, wherein the service gap exists if a target bundle that includes the service level objective does not match any available service bundle.

20. The information management system as recited in claim 19, wherein the server is configurable by way of a client computer.