Unified snapshot storage management, using an enhanced storage manager and enhanced media agents

• US 9,921,920 B2
• Filed: 03/30/2017
• Issued: 03/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Nallathambi, Vimal Kumar, Vijayan, Manoj Kumar
• Primary Examiner(s): Stevens, Robert
• Application Number:
  US15/474,166
• Publication Number:
  US 20170206141A1
• Time in Patent Office: 355 Days
• Field of Search: 707616
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1451 by selection of backup contents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1461 Backup scheduling policy
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/27 Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/28 Databases characterised by their database models, e.g. relational or object models
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/84 Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0619 in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/065 Replication mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0662 Virtualisation aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

An illustrative approach to managing snapshots streamlines how and when snapshots are generated in a storage management system, such that fewer snapshots may be generated without diminishing the scope of data protection. A novel unified-snapshot storage policy may govern snapshots for any number of subclients. A unified-snapshot job based on the unified-snapshot storage policy enables the illustrative storage management system to automatically discover relevant components and generate at most one snapshot per target logical unit number (“LUN”) in a storage array. Each snapshot may comprise the data of any number of subclients and/or clients in the storage management system. Accordingly, one unified-snapshot job may yield a minimum but sufficient number of snapshots comprising data of all subclients associated with the governing unified-snapshot storage policy. An enhanced storage manager may manage the unified-snapshot jobs. One or more enhanced media agents and/or data agents may participate in the unified-snapshot jobs and in subsequent cataloguing of the snapshots.

Claims

1. A storage management system for unified snapshot management, the storage management system comprising:

a first computing device comprising a first executable component and an associated first data agent;

a second computing device comprising a second executable component and an associated second data agent;

a storage array in communication with at least the first computing device and the second computing device,

wherein the storage array hosts a logical unit number that comprises first primary data generated by the first executable component and further comprises second primary data generated by the second executable component;

a third computing device hosting a storage manager in communication with the first data agent and with the second data agent,

wherein the storage manager comprises a storage policy, and further comprises a first association between the storage policy and the first primary data and a second association between the storage policy and the second primary data; and

a snapshot of the logical unit number resulting from a unified-snapshot job managed by the storage manager according to the storage policy,

wherein at most one snapshot of the logical unit number results from the unified-snapshot job regardless of how many executable components generate and store respective primary data to the logical unit number.

2. The storage management system of claim 1 wherein the storage policy covers a plurality of computing devices'"'"' primary data, including the first primary data generated by the first computing device and the second primary data generated by the second computing device.

3. The storage management system of claim 1 wherein the first executable component is at least one of an application, an operating system, a file system, and a virtual machine, and

wherein the second executable component is at least one of an application, an operating system, a file system, and a virtual machine.

4. The storage management system of claim 1 further comprising:

a fourth computing device in communication with the storage manager, wherein the fourth computing device comprises a media agent that is configured to discover (i) one or more logical unit numbers that comprise first primary data generated by the first computing device and (ii) one or more logical unit numbers that comprise second primary data generated by the second computing device.

5. The storage management system of claim 1 further comprising:

a fourth computing device in communication with the storage manager, wherein the fourth computing device comprises a media agent that is configured to instruct the storage array to generate and store a snapshot of one or more logical unit numbers that comprise at least one of (i) first primary data generated by the first computing device and (ii) second primary data generated by the second computing device.

6. The storage management system of claim 1 further comprising:

a fourth computing device in communication with the storage manager, wherein the fourth computing device comprises a media agent that is configured to receive responsive reporting from the storage array in regard to the at most one snapshot taken of the logical unit number.

7. The storage management system of claim 1 further comprising:

a fourth computing device in communication with the storage manager, wherein the fourth computing device comprises a media agent that is configured to register (a) a first association between the first primary data and the snapshot, and (b) a second association between the second primary data and the snapshot.

8. The storage management system of claim 1 wherein the logical unit number designates a logical unit of storage in the storage array.

9. A computer-readable medium, excluding transitory propagating signals, storing instructions that, when executed by at least one computing device having one or more processors and computer-readable memory, cause the computing device to perform operations for snapshot management in a storage management system, the operations comprising:

discovering, by a media agent executing on the at least one computing device, a first logical unit number that comprises (i) data of a first subclient of a first client and (ii) data of a second subclient of a second client which is distinct from the first client,

wherein each subclient of a client represents a logical grouping of part of the client'"'"'s primary data, and

wherein each client generates primary data that is stored to one or more logical unit numbers hosted by one or more storage arrays in the storage management system;

instructing, by the media agent, a first storage array that hosts the discovered first logical unit number to generate and store a first snapshot of the first logical unit number;

registering, by the media agent;

(a) a first association between the first subclient and the first snapshot, and (b) a second association between the second subclient and the first snapshot; and

wherein the unified-snapshot job generates at most one snapshot for the first logical unit number, regardless of how many clients store primary data to the first logical unit number.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, by the media agent, responsive reporting from the first storage array in regard to the first snapshot.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 wherein the operations further comprise:

cataloguing the first snapshot generated in the unified-snapshot job relative to the first subclient and the second subclient, based on the respective registered association, wherein the cataloguing is performed at least in part by the media agent.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 wherein the operations further comprise:

cataloguing the first snapshot generated in the unified-snapshot job relative to the first subclient and the second subclient, based on the respective registered association, wherein the cataloguing is performed at least in part by the media agent; and

based on the catalogued first snapshot, storing by the media agent a secondary copy of the first subclient'"'"'s data from the first snapshot to a secondary storage device associated with the media agent.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 wherein the operations further comprise:

cataloguing the first snapshot relative to the first subclient, based on the respective registered association, wherein the cataloguing is performed at least in part by the media agent in conjunction with a first data agent associated with the first client; and

cataloguing the first snapshot relative to the second subclient, based on the respective registered association, wherein the cataloguing is performed at least in part by the media agent in conjunction with a second data agent associated with the second client.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 wherein the unified-snapshot job unifies the data of the first subclient in the first logical unit number and the data of the second subclient in the first logical unit number into at most one snapshot of the first logical unit number regardless of how many clients store respective primary data to the first logical unit number.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 wherein the unified-snapshot job, which is based on a storage policy, unifies the data of the first subclient in the first logical unit number and the data of the second subclient in the first logical unit number into at most one snapshot of the first logical unit number regardless of how many clients store respective primary data to the first logical unit number.

16. A computer-readable medium, excluding transitory propagating signals, storing instructions that, when executed by at least one computing device having one or more processors and computer-readable memory, cause the computing device to perform operations for snapshot management in a storage management system that comprises one or more snapshot-capable storage arrays hosting a plurality of logical unit numbers, the operations comprising:

configuring a storage policy, by a storage manager executing on the at least one computing device;

associating, by the storage manager, the storage policy with one or more subclients,

wherein each subclient of a client represents a logical grouping of part of the respective client'"'"'s primary data, and

wherein each client generates primary data that is stored to one or more logical unit numbers in the plurality of logical unit numbers;

discovering, by the storage manager, a plurality of subclients that are associated with the storage policy, wherein the plurality of subclients comprises a first subclient of a first client and a second subclient of a second client which is distinct from the first client, and wherein a first logical unit number comprises (i) data of the first subclient and (ii) data of the second subclient;

registering, by the storage manager;

(a) a first association between the first subclient and a first snapshot of the first logical unit number, and (b) a second association between the second subclient and the first snapshot,

wherein the first snapshot was generated and stored by a storage array in a unified-snapshot job; and

wherein the unified-snapshot job generates at most one snapshot for a given logical unit number, regardless of how many clients store primary data to the given logical unit number.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein the storage policy covers a plurality of clients'"'"' primary data, including the first client and the second client.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein the storage manager manages the unified-snapshot job based on the storage policy.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein the first snapshot was generated based on the discovering operation performed by the storage manager.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein the first logical unit number designates a portion of storage in the storage array.