International Business Machines Corporation

Google Inc.

Avishai Haim Hochberg

James Patrick Smith

David Maxwell Cannon

Matthew Joseph Anglin

Mark L Yakushev

Robert Clair Edwards, Jr

Toby Lyn Marek

David George Derk

Howard Newton Martin

Michael S Fruchtman

Neil Gregory Rasmussen

Christopher Zaremba

Glen Hattrup

Thomas Franklin Ramke, Jr

Vadzim Ivanovich Piletski

Colin Scott Dawson

Oliver Augenstein

Neeta Garimella

Mark Alan Haye

Alan L Stuart

Michael Allen Kaczmarski

David Gregory Van Hise

Delbert B Hoobler, Iii

Kala Dutta

Choonsu Peter Park

Barry Fruchtman

Donald Paul Warren, Jr

Thomas Prause

Jean Xu Yu

Douglas Robert Case

Ken Eugene Hannigan

Thorsten Schaefer

James Michael Dile

John Viksne

Peter B Symonds

Eran Raichstein

Kevin Lee Gibble

Stefan Bender

Christian Bolik

Martine Bruce Wedlake

Alexei Kojenov

Michael Sternberg

Joanne T Nguyen

Omar Bond Vargas

Kenneth Eugene Hannigan

Robert S Elder

Jason Ferris Basler

Kevin Patrick Hoyt

Tai Woo Nam

David Taiwai Kwan

Peter Tanenhaus

Hunny Wiratchada Kershaw

Donald Warren

Mark Alan Hayes

Chris Zaremba

Pete Tanenhaus

Randy Tung

Brett Walker

Hui-Lan Wen

Edward M Barton

Sean P Cox

Steven V Voyk

Ursula Richter

Vadzim L Piletski

Jawed Iqbal

Jean Elizabeth Vargas

Provided are techniques for exploiting object tags in order to produce a work order across several backup engines for a backup job. A selection of tags for an object is received. A work order for the object is created using the tags. The work order is stored with a virtual server that stores the object, wherein a data mover of a backup engine retrieves the work order from the virtual server to back up the object.

Exploiting object tags to produce a work order across backup engines for a backup job

Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for hypervisor agnostic interchangeable backup recovery and file level recovery from virtual disks. Data is stored for a first virtual disk that represents data in a first format and metadata for the first virtual disk in a common data format in a storage having a fixed block length. A virtual disk file represents data in a second format that allows variable size blocks. Multiple instances of the fixed block length of blocks of data for the second virtual disk indicated in the virtual disk file are read. Each instance of the read fixed block length of blocks is written to the storage in the common data format with metadata describing the format of the blocks in the second virtual disk, and can be restored to a third virtual disk in the first or second format.

Backing-up blocks from virtual disks in different virtual machine environments having different block lengths to a common data format block length

For accessing files from block-level backups of a virtual disk, a system, method, computer program product and apparatus are disclosed. The system includes an apparatus with a changed block module that determines changed blocks between a previous and a current block-level backup of a virtual disk. A mapping module maps logical clusters of the virtual disk to the changed blocks and identifies files corresponding to the logical clusters. A changed file module designates files corresponding to the logical clusters as changed files, unless current attributes of files for the current backup match attributes of the files in a backup file index corresponding to the previous backup. The changed file module stores the current attributes and extents for changed files within blocks of a backup storage device for updating in the backup file index. The method and computer program product perform these functions and may use the system and the apparatus.

File level access to block level incremental backups of a virtual disk

An apparatus for heterogeneous compression of data streams is disclosed. In at least one embodiment, the apparatus includes a sampling module that samples a data stream at one or more intervals to determine a content type for data within the one or more intervals. The apparatus further includes a mapping module that determines whether the content type is linked to a preferred data compression method. The apparatus further includes a processing module that compresses the data within the one or more intervals to produce compressed data using the preferred data compression method in response to determining that the content type is linked to the preferred data compression method. Embodiments of corresponding methods and computer program products are also disclosed.

Apparatus, method, and computer program product for heterogenous compression of data streams

Provided are techniques for providing and managing data protection by using incremental forever for storage to cloud object stores. An incremental offload is performed by using one or more extents to identify blocks of data for a version of a virtual machine in operational recovery storage to be offloaded to a cloud object store, wherein each of the one or more extents identifies locations of the blocks of data. The blocks of data are converted to objects in an incremental forever data format. The objects are offloaded to the cloud object store. The details of the offloading of the objects are stored in a local database in the operational recovery storage. The local database is copied from the operational recovery storage to the cloud object store as a database copy.

Providing and managing data protection by using incremental forever for storage to cloud object stores

Hypervisor agnostic interchangeable backup recovery and file level recovery from virtual disks

For accessing files from block-level backups of a virtual disk, an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes a changed block module that obtains a list of changed blocks between a previous and a current backup of a virtual disk. The apparatus includes a mapping module that maps logical clusters of the virtual disk to the changed blocks and identifies files corresponding to the logical clusters. The apparatus further includes a changed file module that designates the files corresponding to the logical clusters as changed files, unless current attributes of the files for the current backup match attributes of the files in a backup file index corresponding to the previous backup of the virtual disk. The changed file module further stores the current attributes and extents for the changed files within blocks of a backup storage device for updating in the backup file index.

During a data protection operation, a system exploits a virtual hierarchy to centralize the configuration and management of operating system credentials of numerous virtual guests. For each virtual guest, the system uses the credential to collect a single Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) previously generated and stored in-guest by any data protection agent. The system stores the collected GUID as a custom property in the context of the virtual hierarchy. The system also exploits the virtual hierarchy custom properties to determine if GUIDs are copies due to virtual guest replication. The system ensures GUID uniqueness by requesting regeneration of the GUID by in-guest data protection agents. Using GUIDs that are unique across the virtual hierarchy, the system can correlate application data of multiple in-guest data protection agents.

Data protection backup agent management

For restoring deduplicated data, a method maintains a chunk index on a client computing system coupled to a client data store. The chunk index tracks chunks within files remaining on the client data store after storage of the files to a deduplicated server data store coupled to a server computing system. The method determines whether a valid entry for a first chunk exists in the chunk index. In addition, the method retrieves the first chunk from the server data store responsive to determining the valid entry for the first chunk does not exist in the chunk index. The method further retrieves the first chunk from the client data store specified in the valid entry of the chunk index responsive to determining that the valid entry exists in the chunk index and the first chunk resides in a first file at a first offset.

Optimizing restores of deduplicated data

A mechanism is provided for caching backed-up data locally until successful replication of the backed-up data. Responsive to an indication to back up one or more pieces of identified data from a local storage device, a determination is made as to whether a primary storage device is available. Responsive to the primary storage device being available, the one or more pieces of identified data are backed up to the primary storage device and a local replication cache. Responsive to the backed-up data being replicated from the primary storage device to a secondary storage device, the backed-up data is removed from the local replication cache.

Caching backed-up data locally until successful replication

Embodiments of the present invention provide a scalable, efficient way to backup data in a block-level incremental-forever backup system such that backup and expiration of data can be achieved at the granularity of a single backup version, without having to read or move data that is stored in backup storage.

Creation and expiration of backup objects in block-level incremental-forever backup systems

One aspect of the present invention includes a configuration of a storage management system that enables the performance of deduplication activities at both the client (source) and at the server (target) locations. The location of deduplication operations can then be optimized based on system conditions or predefined policies. In one embodiment, seamless switching of deduplication activities between the client and the server is enabled by utilizing uniform deduplication process algorithms and accessing the same deduplication index (containing information on the hashed data chunks). Additionally, any data transformations on the chunks are performed subsequent to identification of the data chunks. Accordingly, with use of this storage configuration, the storage system can find and utilize matching chunks generated with either client- or server-side deduplication.

Integrated approach for deduplicating data in a distributed environment that involves a source and a target

Provided are computer program product, system, and method for restoring deduplicated data objects from sequential backup devices. A server stores data objects of extents having deduplicated data in the at least one sequential backup device. The server receives from a client a request for data objects. The server determines extents stored in the at least one sequential backup device for the requested data objects. The server or client sorts the extents according to an order in which they are stored in the at least one sequential backup device to generate a sort list. The server retrieves the extents from the at least one sequential backup device according to the order in the sort list to access the extents sequentially from the sequential backup device in the order in which they were stored. The server returns the retrieved extents to the client and the client reconstructs the requested data objects from the received extents.

Restoring deduplicated data objects from sequential backup devices

Provided are a computer program product, system, and method for encrypting data objects to back-up to a server. A client private key is intended to be maintained only by the client. A data object of chunks to store at the server is generated. A first portion of the chunks in the data object is encrypted with the client private key and the first portion of the chunks in the data object encrypted with the client private key are sent to the server to store. A second portion of the chunks in the data object not encrypted with the client private key are sent to the server to store.

Encrypting data objects to back-up

Growing community of inventors

San Jose, CA, United States of America

Avishai Haim Hochberg