Symantec Corporation

Symantec Operating Corporation

Carl J Appellof

Dale Cardin

Russell Robert Stringham

Anthony T Orling

Aditya Anil Gokhale

Russell Monckton

Ashutosh Bahadure

Terrence Asgar-Deen

Aswad Shrikrishna Kulkarni

Edward Michael Goble

A method and apparatus for processing transactional file system operations to enable point in time consistent file data recreation and recovery from transactional file systems is described. In one embodiment, the method includes processing input/output activity associated with file data that is used in a computing environment to identify at least one transaction and segregating the input/output activity based upon the at least one transaction to enable point in time consistent data recreation for the file data.

Method and apparatus for processing transactional file system operations to enable point in time consistent file data recreation

Data blocks are copied from a source (e.g., a source virtual disk) to a target (e.g., a target virtual disk). The source virtual disk format is preserved on the target virtual disk. Offsets for extents stored in the target virtual disk are converted to offsets for corresponding extents in the source virtual disk. A map of the extents for the source virtual disk can therefore be used to create, for deduplication, segments of data that are aligned to boundaries of the extents in the target virtual disk.

Format-preserving deduplication of data

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 method for backup and restore using inconsistent state indicators comprises identifying, from among a plurality of data objects to be backed up, one or more data objects that are in an inconsistent state, and storing inconsistent state indicators (such as modified object attributes) associated with the data objects. The method may further include generating a backup aggregate such as a snapshot of the plurality of data objects, where the backup aggregate includes backup versions of the inconsistent data objects. Prior to restoring one or more data objects from the backup aggregation, the method may include using the inconsistent state indicators to identify the backup versions that correspond to the inconsistent data objects, e.g., to exclude backup versions corresponding to inconsistent data objects from a list of full restoration candidates.

Backup and restore techniques using inconsistent state indicators

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Arroyo Grande, CA, United States of America

Carl J Appellof