Adaptec, Inc.

Michael M Goshey

Guido Maffezzoni

Gilbert Chang-Tying Wu

Kristine N Luong

David A Coleman

Thanh T Bui

Tony Fu

Maureen McMahon

Robert S Hudson

Yen-Chung Lin

Tony G Kwan

John D Nguyen

Dennis M Sumners

Roger A Stoller

Yafu J Ding

A method for finding application components installed on a computer system for use in a backup system associated with the computer system includes creating a linked list of application components installed on the computer system. The nested directories are then traced back to find a target directory for each application component in the linked list. Thereafter, a request to find a selected application is received from a calling module. The method may further include the operations of searching the linked list for a target directory for each component of the selected application, and making the target directory for each component of the selected application available to the calling module, preferably by returning the target directories to the calling module. A computer readable media for finding application components installed on a computer system for use in a backup system associated with the computer system also is described.

Method of finding application components in an intelligent backup and restoring system

A method for generating a database of data resident on a primary storage device of a computer system for use in a backup system associated with the computer system includes generating a database having information associated with data resident on the primary storage device of the computer system. A graphical user interface is then generated to display the information in the database. The displayed information is preferably configured to be selected by a user to define a backup set of data that is available to be copied from the primary storage device of the computer system to a secondary storage device connected to the computer system. The method may further include the operations of setting a flag to designate selected portions of the database, and writing the selected portions of the database to the primary storage device of the computer system. A computer readable media for generating a database of data resident on a primary storage device of a computer system for use in a backup system associated with the computer system also is described.

Method of generating a database for use in an intelligent backup and restoring system

A method for managing a secondary storage device connected to a computer system having a primary storage device includes hooking a partition session selector device driver in a layered drive structure. An application programming interface call to obtain information related to storage devices connected to the computer system is then performed. The application programming interface call is trapped and the partition session selector device driver is communicated with directly via an interface call to manage a user accessible representation of the primary and secondary storage devices. The interface call communicating with the partition session selector device driver may obtain information related to the secondary storage device, and the method may further include the operation of obtaining information related to storage devices connected to the computer system from a system registry to compile a complete set of data relating to the physical and logical representations of the primary and secondary storage devices. A computer readable media for managing a secondary storage device connected to a computer system having a primary storage device also is described.

Method for managing primary and secondary storage devices in an intelligent backup and restoring system

Disclosed is an apparatus, a system, a computer readable media, and a method for protecting data of a computer system. The method includes: (a) connecting a peripheral storage device to the computer system; (b) preparing a storage media of the peripheral storage device to be a protection enabled media; (c) selecting a backup set of data stored in a hard drive of the computer system, the backup set of data includes a default set of boot files and operating system files; (d) creating a spare tire backup using file-based copying from the hard-drive of the computer system to the storage media of the peripheral storage device; (e) enabling the peripheral storage device to incrementally copy portions of the backup set of data from the hard drive of the computer system during normal use; and (f) booting the computer system from the peripheral storage device when a failure occurs with the hard drive that disables normal booting. In this manner, the user can resume uninterrupted work from the spare tire backup of the peripheral storage device until the hard drive failure is repaired.

Intelligent backup and restoring system and method for implementing the same

Disclosed is a system for transparently sharing peripheral devices over a network. The system includes a first computer having at least one peripheral device, and a second computer that is networked to the first computer. The second computer is configured to send a request to use the at least one peripheral device over the network, and the request is processed to determine whether the second computer has sharing privileges to use the at least one peripheral device. Furthermore, the first computer is configured to grant access to the request of the second computer if the second computer has the sharing privileges that enable access to the at least one peripheral device. In this embodiment, the first computer acts as a Server that can share its peripheral devices, and the second computer acts as a Client that access the Server's peripheral devices.

Method and apparatus for sharing peripheral devices over a network

A method for generating a footprint image file of a primary storage device connected to a computer system includes calling a footprint module having a set of methods that is configured to generate the footprint image file. The system registry of the computer system is then scanned to ascertain whether a controller is connected to the computer system. Next, the system registry, an application programming interface, and a partition session selector device driver are scanned to ascertain information related to storage devices connected to the controller. The system registry, the application programming interface, and the partition session selector device driver also are scanned to ascertain information related to logical partitions of the storage devices. Finally, a footprint image file containing information regarding the controller, the storage devices, and the logical partitions of the storage devices is generated. A computer readable media containing program instructions for generating a footprint image file of a primary storage device connected to a computer system also is described.

Method for generating a footprint image file for an intelligent backup and restoring system

Disclosed is a system for transparently sharing peripheral devices over a network. The system includes a first computer having at least one peripheral device, and a second computer that is networked to the first computer. The second computer is configured to send a request to use the at least one peripheral device over the network, and the request is processed to determine whether the second computer has sharing privileges to use the at least one peripheral device. Furthermore, the first computer is configured to grant access to the request of the second computer if the second computer has the sharing privileges that enable access to the at least one peripheral device. In this example, the first computer acts as a Server that can share its peripheral devices, and the second computer acts as a Client that accesses the Server's peripheral devices.

A computer implemented method for preparing a backup drive that is connected to a computer system having a primary hard drive is provided. The method includes generating a list of devices that are connected to the computer system. The list of devices includes at least the primary hard drive and a secondary drive. The method then advances to enable the selection of the secondary drive to be the backup drive of the computer system. The backup drive is then partitioned to match a partition arrangement of the primary hard drive of the computer system. Once partitioned, the method proceeds by fake formatting the partitions of the backup drive. The fake formatting is configured to only partially format the partitions of the backup drive. After fake formatting, the method moves to reboot the computer system from the primary hard drive. The partitions of the backup drive are then formatted implementing a complete formatting scheme. Once completely formatted, data from the primary drive is copied to the backup drive.

Drive preparation methods for intelligent backup systems

Disclosed is an apparatus, a system, a computer readable media, and a method for protecting data of a computer system. The method includes: (a) connecting a peripheral storage device to the computer system; (b) preparing a storage media of the peripheral storage device to be a protection enabled media; (c) selecting a backup set of data stored in a hard drive of the computer system, the backup set of data includes a default set of boot files and operating system files; (d) creating a spare tire backup using file-based copying from the hard drive of the computer system to the storage media of the peripheral storage device; (e) enabling the peripheral storage device to incrementally copy portions of the backup set of data from the hard drive of the computer system during normal use; and (f) booting the computer system from the peripheral storage device when a failure occurs with the hard drive that disables normal booting. In this manner, the user can resume uninterrupted work from the spare tire backup of the peripheral storage device until the hard drive failure is repaired.

Disclosed is a method and apparatus for establishing communication to a remote peripheral device over a network. The method includes issuing a request to use a peripheral device to a remote communications dynamically linked list, and determining whether the peripheral device is a local peripheral device or a remote peripheral device. The method further includes sending the request over a network to a remote computer that has a server application when the peripheral device is the remote peripheral device. The server application is configured to enable sharing of peripheral devices that are connected to the remote computer. Preferably, the system registry of the computer making the request is altered to enable efficient communication with the remote peripheral device.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Michael M Goshey