Symantec Operating Corporation

Symantec Corporation

Anthony T Orling

Thomas Lanzatella

Dale Cardin

Pu Ou

Elliot J Murphy

Gary L Phillips

William E Sobel

Michael Spertus

Hans Van Rietschote

Steven R DeVos

Darrell Kienzle

Slava Kritov

Mark Nicolini

Carl J Appellof

Russell Monckton

Paul Cram

Stephen Andrew Breidbach

Terrence Asgar-Deen

Brian Greene

Method and apparatus for file sharing between continuous and scheduled backups is described. One example relates to backing up source data stored by a computer system. A first portion of the source data is backed up at points in time in response to a backup schedule to produce a plurality of partial backups. A second portion of the source data is backed up continuously in response to changes of the second portion to maintain a replica of the second portion. The replica of the second portion is linked to the plurality of partial backups to produce a respective plurality of full backups of the source data.

Method and apparatus for file sharing between continuous and scheduled backups

A system for encapsulating configuration information in storage objects formatted for backup and restore comprises a processor coupled to a memory, where the memory stores instructions executable by the processor to implement a backup manager configured to generate backup versions of a plurality of storage objects (such as files or directories) of a source data set of a primary host. The backup manager may be configured to create an additional storage object that includes information collected from a designated information source in a first format, store the additional storage object within the source data set in a second format, and generate a backup version of the additional storage object.

Encapsulating information in a storage format suitable for backup and restore

A system for using recent activity information to select backup versions of storage objects for restoration comprises a processor and memory coupled to the processor, where the memory stores program instructions computer-executable by the processor to implement a backup manager. The backup manager is configured to maintain one or more backup versions of a plurality of storage objects and a plurality of access history records, where each access history record is associated with a particular backup version. Each access history record includes information indicative of an access to the corresponding storage object by a user. The backup manager may be configured to select a particular backup version as a restoration candidate using at least the contents of the access history record associated with the backup version.

Using recent activity information to select backup versions of storage objects for restoration

A method for efficient backup and restore using metadata mapping comprises maintaining a first backup aggregation associated with a primary data object of a primary host at a secondary host, wherein the first backup aggregation includes a first backup version of the primary data object stored within a secondary data object at the secondary host. The method further comprises generating a second backup aggregation, wherein the second backup aggregation includes a second backup version of the primary data object and a backup metadata object corresponding to the secondary data object. The backup metadata object includes a pointer to the second backup version. The method may further comprise restoring the secondary data object, wherein said restoring comprises using the pointer to access the second backup version of the primary data object to restore at least a portion of the secondary data object.

Efficient backup and restore using metadata mapping

A system for efficient backups using dynamically shared storage pools in peer-to-peer networks comprises one or more processors and memory coupled to the processors. The memory stores instructions executable by the processors to implement a backup manager configured to dynamically subdivide a storage pool into one or more portions of storage currently designated for local backup data and one or more portions of storage currently designated for peer-to-peer (P2P) backup data. In response to local backup data received from a backup client, the backup manager may store the local backup data in a portion of the storage pool that is currently designated for local backup data. The backup manager may then generate a P2P version of the local backup data, e.g., by encrypting and/or redundancy encoding the local backup data, and transmit parts of the P2P version to each of one or more peer devices in the P2P network.

Efficient backups using dynamically shared storage pools in peer-to-peer networks

A system and method for cooperative application quiescence in a computing environment. In one embodiment, a system may include a storage device configured to store data, a plurality of applications each of which is configured to issue input/output (I/O) requests to the storage device, and a quiescence manager configured to coordinate quiescence of at least a portion of the plurality of applications in response to receiving a quiescence request, where quiescence of a given application may include completing outstanding I/O requests issued by the given application.

System and method for cooperative application quiescence in a computing environment

A system and method for application discovery in a computing environment. In one embodiment, a system may include a plurality of applications configured to operate in a distributed computing environment, where the distributed computing environment may include multiple computing platforms, and an application discovery manager configured to detect the presence of the plurality of applications. In one specific implementation of the system, the application discovery manager may be further configured to identify individual components of a given application subsequent to detecting the presence of the given application. In another specific implementation of the system, the application discovery manager may be further configured to identify a dependency of a given application on one or more other applications subsequent to detecting the presence of the given application.

System and method for application discovery in a computing environment

Growing community of inventors

San Luis Obispo, CA, United States of America

Anthony T Orling