Using a snapshot as a data source
First Claim
1. In a data management system residing within a private computer network that includes one or more data storage resources, a method of creating an index of data stored on a primary volume of a client computer coupled to the private computer network, the method comprising:
- performing a snapshot of data stored on the primary volume of the client computer using a hardware-based snapshot mechanism,wherein the performed snapshot includes a point in time representation of the data on the primary volume; and
,wherein the snapshot creates pointers, without creating another physical copy of all the data, that map to specific disk blocks;
receiving the performed snapshot of the data stored on the primary volume at a media agent within the data management system,wherein the media agent is configured to transfer the received snapshot to removable storage media;
transferring the received snapshot to one or more removable storage media associated with the media agent,wherein the removable storage media includes a secondary copy of at least some of the data stored on the primary volume;
receiving information associated with the snapshot of data stored on the primary volume,wherein the received information includes;
application context information, wherein the application context information identifies an application that created the data;
snapshot metadata, wherein the snapshot metadata identifies the hardware-based snapshot mechanism that performed the snapshot; and
storage media information, wherein the storage media information identifies the removable storage media that includes the secondary copy of the data stored on the primary volume; and
storing the received information in one or more indices that include entries for individual files imaged by the snapshot,wherein the one or more indices are located within the media agent or within a data storage management control server configured to transmit information to storage resources coupled to the private computer network; and
,wherein the one or more indices and snapshot permit granular recovery of individual files by permitting access to portions of the individual files without having to recover an entire individual file.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for using a snapshot as a data source is described. In some cases, the system stores a snapshot and an associated data structure or index to storage media to create a secondary copy of a volume of data. In some cases, the associated index includes application specific data about a file system or other application that created the data to identify the location of the data. The associated index may include three entries, and may be used to facilitate the recovery of data via the snapshot.
301 Citations
17 Claims
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1. In a data management system residing within a private computer network that includes one or more data storage resources, a method of creating an index of data stored on a primary volume of a client computer coupled to the private computer network, the method comprising:
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performing a snapshot of data stored on the primary volume of the client computer using a hardware-based snapshot mechanism, wherein the performed snapshot includes a point in time representation of the data on the primary volume; and
,wherein the snapshot creates pointers, without creating another physical copy of all the data, that map to specific disk blocks; receiving the performed snapshot of the data stored on the primary volume at a media agent within the data management system, wherein the media agent is configured to transfer the received snapshot to removable storage media; transferring the received snapshot to one or more removable storage media associated with the media agent, wherein the removable storage media includes a secondary copy of at least some of the data stored on the primary volume; receiving information associated with the snapshot of data stored on the primary volume, wherein the received information includes; application context information, wherein the application context information identifies an application that created the data; snapshot metadata, wherein the snapshot metadata identifies the hardware-based snapshot mechanism that performed the snapshot; and storage media information, wherein the storage media information identifies the removable storage media that includes the secondary copy of the data stored on the primary volume; and storing the received information in one or more indices that include entries for individual files imaged by the snapshot, wherein the one or more indices are located within the media agent or within a data storage management control server configured to transmit information to storage resources coupled to the private computer network; and
,wherein the one or more indices and snapshot permit granular recovery of individual files by permitting access to portions of the individual files without having to recover an entire individual file. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A system, at least partly implemented in hardware, for creating a secondary copy of a primary volume of data, wherein the system is part of a data storage enterprise, the system comprising:
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a snapshot component, wherein the snapshot component is configured to create a snapshot of a primary volume of data at a specific point in time; wherein the snapshot component creates pointers, without creating another physical copy of all the data, that map to specific disk blocks; an index component, wherein the index component is configured to build an index associated with the snapshot component, wherein the index includes context information related to a logical location of one or more data objects imaged by the snapshot, wherein the context information includes information identifying the logical location of the primary volume of data within the data storage enterprise, wherein the index component accesses or creates snapshot metadata and storage media information, wherein the snapshot metadata includes information associated with the created snapshot, and wherein the storage media information identifies a storage media that includes the secondary copy of the data stored on the primary volume; and
,a data transfer component, wherein the data transfer component is configured to transfer the snapshot created by the snapshot component and the index built by the index component to the storage media; wherein the transfer of the snapshot and the index creates a secondary copy of the primary volume of data, wherein the secondary copy is capable of receiving queries for restoring individual files imaged by the snapshot; and
,wherein the index permits recovery of portions of the individual files by permitting access to portions of individual files within the secondary copy. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A non-volatile computer-readable medium containing executable code that causes a data storage system to perform a method of creating a backup copy of a data set, the method comprising:
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generating a point in time copy of a data set; storing the point in time copy of the data set to storage media; wherein the point in time copy is created using pointers, without creating another physical copy of all the data, that map to specific disk blocks; building a data structure associated with the point in time copy of the data set, wherein the data structure includes; information identifying data objects within the point in time copy of the data set; information identifying secondary copies associated with the data objects; and storing the data structure to the storage media, wherein the data structure permits granular recovery of data objects by permitting access to portions of individual data objects within secondary copies. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification