Storagecraft Technology Corporation

Exablox Corporation

Nathan S Bushman

Scott Barnes

Maxim Shatskikh

Douglas Mark Lee

Andrew Lynn Gardner

Stephen Williams

Lee Carl Bender, Jr

David Merrill McConkie, Jr

Thomas Frank Christensen

Thomas Russell Shreeve

Jeffrey Dale Blair

Scott Robison

Dudley Melvin Irish

Adam Julian Mensel

Exposing a proprietary image backup to a hypervisor as a disk file that is bootable by the hypervisor. In one example embodiment, a method of exposing a proprietary image backup to a hypervisor as a disk file that is bootable by the hypervisor may include identifying the proprietary image backup having a proprietary format and storing an operating system, identifying a plugin file corresponding to the proprietary image backup, gathering operating system data from the proprietary image backup, reformatting the operating system data into a native format of the hypervisor, and booting the operating system in a guest virtual machine of the hypervisor.

Exposing a proprietary image backup to a hypervisor as a disk file that is bootable by the hypervisor

Utilizing an incremental backup in a decremental backup system. In one example embodiment, a method for utilizing an incremental backup in a decremental backup system includes creating a base backup that includes all original allocated blocks in a source storage at a first point in time. Next, an incremental backup is created that includes allocated blocks in the source storage that were newly allocated or were changed between the first point in time and a second point in time. The changed allocated blocks in the incremental backup are identified. During a third time period, a decremental backup is created and the incremental backup is ingested into the base backup by copying, into the decremental backup, original allocated blocks from the base backup that correspond to the changed allocated blocks in the incremental backup. Lastly, the newly-allocated blocks and the changed allocated blocks from the incremental backup are added to the base backup.

Utilizing an incremental backup in a decremental backup system

Filtering a directory enumeration of a directory of an image backup. In one example embodiment, a method for filtering a directory enumeration of a directory of an image backup may include exposing an image backup to directory enumeration command with the image backup listing a particular file as existing in a directory of the image backup even though the file content of the particular file is missing from the exposed image backup, receiving a directory enumeration command corresponding to the directory of the exposed image backup, generating a filtered directory enumeration that excludes the particular file, and returning the filtered directory enumeration.

Filtering a directory enumeration of a directory of an image backup

Trimming unused blocks from a versioned image backup of a source storage that is stored in a sparse storage. In one example embodiment, a method may include identifying a versioned image backup that is stored in a sparse storage. The sparse may store first and second versions of the versioned image backup representing states of the source storage at successive first and second points in time, respectively. The method may further include deleting the first version, identifying a first set of blocks that were allocated in the source storage at the second point in time, identifying a second set of blocks that are allocated in the sparse storage for the second version, determining a third set of blocks that are included in the second set of blocks but are not included in the first set of blocks, and trimming the third set of blocks from the second version.

Trimming unused blocks from a versioned image backup of a source storage that is stored in a sparse storage

Headstart restore of a first volume to a second volume. In one example embodiment, a method for headstart restore of a first volume to a second volume may include invalidating, on disk, a boot segment of a volume boot record of the second volume, storing headstart restore information in the second volume, while the boot segment of the volume boot record of the second volume remains invalidated, writing data from one or more backups of the first volume to a data segment of the second volume, removing the headstart restore information from the second volume, and revalidating, on disk, the boot segment of the volume boot record of the second volume.

Headstart restore of first volume to a second volume

Optimizing backup of whitelisted files. In one example embodiment, a method of optimizing backup of whitelisted files may include a whitelist analysis phase that may include identifying a set of allocated blocks in a source storage at a point in time, identifying whitelisted files that are already stored in a deduplication storage, and determining whether one of the whitelisted files is stored in the source storage by analyzing file attribute data stored in file system metadata in the source storage. If so, the whitelist analysis phase may include pruning the set of allocated blocks to exclude the allocated blocks that correspond to content of the one whitelisted file and associating logical locations of the content of the one whitelisted file as stored in the source storage with logical locations of the content of the one whitelisted file as stored in the deduplication storage.

Optimizing backup of whitelisted files

Exposing a proprietary image backup to a hypervisor as a disk file that is bootable by the hypervisor. In one example embodiment, a method of exposing a proprietary image backup to a hypervisor as a disk file that is bootable by the hypervisor may include identifying the proprietary image backup having a proprietary format and storing an operating system, identifying a plugin file corresponding to the proprietary image backup, reconfiguring the operating system to cause the operating system to be bootable when using hardware emulated by the hypervisor, gathering operating system data from the proprietary image backup, reformatting the operating system data into a native format of the hypervisor, and booting the operating system in a virtual machine of the hypervisor.

Consolidating encrypted image backups without decryption. In one example embodiment, a method for consolidating encrypted image backups without decryption may include individually encrypting, using a single encryption key, each block in a first set of blocks in a source storage, storing the first set of encrypted blocks in a first encrypted image backup, individually encrypting, using the single encryption key, each block in a second set of blocks in the source storage, storing the second set of encrypted blocks in a second encrypted image backup, and creating a consolidated encrypted image backup that includes a single encrypted block for each of multiple unique block positions represented by the first and second sets of encrypted blocks without decrypting any of the encrypted blocks.

Consolidating encrypted image backups without decryption

Creating hybrid image backups of a source storage. In one example embodiment, a method for creating one or more hybrid image backups of a source storage may include seeding a deduplication system by storing, in the deduplication system, blocks included in one or more files of one or more operating systems, blocks included in one or more files of one or more software applications, or both, and by storing a hash of each of the seeded blocks in a hash data structure; copying the hash data structure into a solid state drive (SSD); placing the SSD in a read-only state; comparing hashes of allocated blocks stored in the source storage at a first point in time to hashes in the hash data structure to determine whether each of the allocated blocks is in a first set of blocks that are stored in the deduplication system or in a second set of blocks that are not stored in the deduplication system; associating locations of the blocks in the first set of blocks stored in the source storage with locations of the corresponding blocks stored in the deduplication system; storing the blocks in the second set of blocks in an image backup separate from the deduplication system; associating locations of the blocks in the second set of blocks stored in the source storage with locations of the corresponding blocks stored in the image backup; and defining a full hybrid image backup of the source storage at the first point in time as a combination of the first set of blocks stored in the deduplication system and the second set of blocks stored in the image backup.

Hybrid image backup of a source storage

Software revalidation or invalidation. In one example embodiment, one or more non-transitory computer-readable media may store one or more programs that cause one or more processors to execute a method for software revalidation or invalidation that may include newly collecting machine configuration information from a machine on which a software application has previously been installed and activated and applying, at the machine, activation rules to the newly-collected machine configuration information from the machine to determine whether a product key remains valid for the newly-collected machine configuration information. In response to determining that the product key remains valid for the newly-collected machine configuration information, the method may include revalidating, at the machine, the software application to authorize continued access to the software application. Alternatively, the method may include invalidating, at the machine, the software application to prevent continued access to the software application.

Software revalidation and invalidation

Head start population of an image backup. In one example embodiment, a method for head start population of an image backup may include tracking blocks that are modified in a source storage between a first point in time and a second point in time, head start copying a first portion of the modified blocks into the image backup prior to the second point in time, activating a snapshot on the source storage at the second point in time where the snapshot represents a state of the source storage at the second point in time, and copying, subsequent to the second point in time, from the snapshot and into the image backup, a second portion of the modified blocks that were not yet copied into the image backup by the second point in time.

Head start population of an image backup

Cataloging file system-level changes to a source storage between image backups of the source storage. In one example embodiment, a method for cataloging file system-level changes to a source storage between image backups of the source storage may include obtaining first file system metadata (FSM) associated with a first image backup of the source storage that represents a first point in time, obtaining second FSM associated with a second image backup of the source storage that represents a second point in time, identifying a set of blocks that changed in the source storage between the first point in time and the second point in time, analyzing the set of blocks, the first FSM, and the second FSM, and cataloging files and/or directories that changed in the source storage between the first point in time and the second point in time based on the analyzing.

Cataloging file system-level changes to a source storage between image backups of the source storage

Consolidating encrypted image backups without decryption. In one example embodiment, a method for consolidating encrypted image backups without decryption may include individually encrypting, using a single encryption function, each block in a first set of blocks in a source storage, storing the first set of encrypted blocks in a first encrypted image backup, individually encrypting, using the single encryption function, each block in a second set of blocks in the source storage, storing the second set of encrypted blocks in a second encrypted image backup, and creating a consolidated encrypted image backup that includes a single encrypted block for each of multiple unique block positions represented by the first and second sets of encrypted blocks without decrypting any of the encrypted blocks.

Head start population of an image backup. In one example embodiment, a method for head start population of an image backup may include tracking blocks that are modified in a source storage between a first point in time and a second point in time, head start copying a first portion of the modified blocks into the image backup prior to the second point in time and ceasing the tracking of the first portion of the modified blocks as being modified, activating a snapshot on the source storage at the second point in time where the snapshot represents a state of the source storage at the second point in time, and copying, subsequent to the second point in time, from the snapshot and into the image backup, a second portion of the modified blocks that were not yet copied into the image backup by the second point in time.

Tracking content blocks in a source storage for inclusion in an image backup of the source storage. In one example embodiment, a method for tracking content blocks in a source storage for inclusion in an image backup of the source storage may include identifying files in a source storage for inclusion in image backups of the source storage, tracking, in an inclusion map and prior to a first snapshot time, locations in the source storage of content blocks of the identified files, tracking, in the inclusion map and prior to the first snapshot time, modifications to the locations in the source storage of the content blocks, taking a snapshot of the source storage at the first snapshot time, and backing up, subsequent to the first snapshot time, the content blocks tracked in the inclusion map from the snapshot into a full image backup.

Growing community of inventors

Pleasant Grove, UT, United States of America

Nathan S Bushman