Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.p.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP

Hewlett-Packard Company

Simon Pelly

Alastair Michael Slater

Peter Thomas Camble

Matthew Jack Burbridge

Andrew Todd

Liqun Chen

Stephen Gold

Jonathan Peter Buckingham

Ian Peter Crighton

Kevin Jones

Russell Ian Monk

Jeffrey DiCorpo

Simon Kai-Ying Shiu

Shiraz Billimoria

Joseph S Ficara

Kaushik Chandrasekharan

Deepavali Mahendra Bhagwat

Matthew Russell Lay

Rothery Wyndham Harris

Lynne Haper

Hendrik Radon

Garry Brady

Example embodiments relates to method and systems to restore content of a volume at a given point in time. A computing device to restore content of a volume at a given point in time comprises a physical processor and a machine-readable storage medium comprising machine readable instructions executable by the processor that cause the computing device to command a storage array to select a surviving snapshot that was created at a nearest point in time to the given point in time among a set of surviving read-only snapshots of content of the volume stored in the storage array, command the storage array to create an editable surviving snapshot of the selected surviving snapshot, perform a delta function associated with a deduplication system, the deduplication system comprising a set of backup objects for the set of surviving read-only snapshots and a set of backup objects for a set of non-surviving read-only snapshots of content of the volume and restore content of the volume at the given point in time by commanding the storage array to modify the editable surviving snapshot based on an output of the delta function. Each of the backup objects within the deduplication system comprises a manifest, the manifest comprising a list of chunk signatures that represents chunks of data. The delta function is performed between a manifest of a backup object of the selected surviving snapshot and a manifest of a backup object of a snapshot created at the given point in time.

Restoration of content of a volume

A technique includes communicating signatures of samples of first data associated with an object to at least some stores of a plurality of stores on which the object is distributed, and in response to the communication, receiving responses indicating numbers of the samples stored on the respective at least some of the plurality of stores and regulating on which store of the plurality of stores deduplicated data associated with the first data is stored based at least in part on the numbers and a pattern of data storage on the stores.

Selecting a store for deduplicated data

Storing and retrieving ciphertext in data storage can include determining a first ciphertext value for a first data chunk to be saved to a client-server data storage system using an encrypted chunk hash value associated with the first data chunk as an initial value, and storing the first data chunk on a server in the client-server data storage system in response to determining that the first ciphertext value is a unique ciphertext value. Also, storing and retrieving ciphertext in data storage can include decrypting a ciphertext value for a second data chunk received from a client in the client-server data storage system and based on an encrypted chunk hash value associated with the second data chunk, and sending the second data chunk to the client in response to determining that the decrypted ciphertext value corresponds to an original data chunk saved to the server by the client.

Storing and retrieving ciphertext in data storage

A deduplication engine is operable to select at least two chunks of data for deduplication and deduplicate the selected at least two chunks of data. A first store is operable to store the deduplicated chunks of data in a sequential manner, and a second store is operable to store at least a portion of at least one chunk of the deduplicated data in a manner to allow random access, where data is accessed via the first and/or second store.

Method and apparatus for random access of data stored in a sequential manner

In some examples, a local, non-tape based storage is to emulate tape storage elements at a first virtual tape library. A data structure associates first emulated tape storage elements of an emulated tape library with the storage elements in the first virtual tape library and associates second emulated tape storage elements of the emulated tape library with storage elements emulated by a remote storage in a second virtual tape library that is separate from the first virtual tape library, where the first virtual tape library is to present the emulated tape library that includes the storage elements of the first and second virtual tape libraries to a requesting entity that is separate from the first and second virtual tape libraries.

Virtual tape library

An apparatus, for connection to a storage device, comprising: a module for communication with a software application and operable to receive instructions to copy data to the storage device; a chunking and identifier generation module operable to receive the data, to process the data into one or more chunks, to generate a first chunk identifier, representative of the identity of a first of the or each chunk of data and, upon processing of the data, to initiate the issuance of a confirmation signal to the software application indicating that the data has been copied to the storage device; and an interface for communication with the storage device, wherein the interface is operable to send the first chunk identifier to the storage device, and to send the first chunk of data to the storage device upon receipt of a transfer instruction from the storage device.

Communicating chunks between devices

A virtual tape library includes a local, non-tape based storage, a store to store a data structure which associates emulated tape storage elements with the local storage or a remote storage, a first interface to provide access to the local storage, in response to tape library commands identifying emulated tape storage elements associated with the local storage, and a second interface to provide access to the remote storage, in response to tape library commands identifying emulated tape storage elements associated with the remote storage.

Systems and methods of load balancing data access in virtualized storage nodes are disclosed. An embodiment of a method includes receiving a data access request from a client for data on a plurality of the virtualized storage nodes. The method also includes connecting the client to one of the plurality of virtualized storage nodes having data for the data access request. The method also includes reconnecting the client to another one of the plurality of virtualized storage nodes to continue accessing data in the data access request.

Load balancing data access in virtualized storage nodes

Data is selectively deduplicated such that portions of data suitable for deduplication are passed to a deduplication engine () and stored in a first store ().

Selective data deduplication

A system for managing data transfer using an operating system address space, the address space comprising a user space and a kernel space, the system comprising a data buffer in the kernel space and a control module for the data buffer in the user space, the system further comprising a network protocol handling module that receives an I/O request in the kernel space for performing an I/O operation on the data buffer. The network protocol handling module notifies the control module of the I/O request via an upper level protocol handling module. The control module maintains address pointers in the data buffer and informs the network protocol handling module of the buffer address at which the I/O operation is to be performed.

Control of data transfer

There is disclosed a computer system operable to process a plurality of logical storage unit manifests the manifests comprising respective pluralities of chunk identifiers identifying data chunks in a deduplicated data chunk store The computer system can determine at least one preferred manifest or preferred combination of manifests according to levels of duplication of the chunk identifiers within respective said manifests, and/or within respective combinations of said manifests. The computer system can provide preferred seed data corresponding to data chunks identified by the at least one preferred manifest or preferred combination of manifests. A method and computer readable medium are also disclosed. At least some embodiments facilitate timely and convenient transfer and storage of relevant data chunks to a receiving deduplicated data chunk store of a data storage system.

Providing preferred seed data for seeding a data deduplicating storage system

Disclosed is a storage apparatus comprising a data store; a data input; and a data processor arranged to: receive from the data input a block of data to be stored at an append point after sequential data comprising one or more stored blocks of data; retrieve an integrity measure, of one or more stored integrity measures that are associated with one or more respective points in the sequential data, said retrieved integrity measure being associated with a point at or preceding the append point; calculate a new integrity measure using the received block of data and the retrieved integrity measure; and store the received block of data and the new integrity measure in the data store, in addition to at least one stored integrity measure that is associated with a point in the data at or preceding the append point.

Updating sequential data

An apparatus, for connection to a storage device, comprising: a module for communication with a software application and operable to receive instructions to copy data to the storage device; a chunking and identifier generation module operable to receive the data, to process the data into chunks, to generate a first chunk identifier, representative of the identity of a first of the chunks of data and, upon processing of the data, to initiate the issuance of a confirmation signal to the software application indicating that the data has been copied to the storage device; and an interface for communication with the storage device, wherein the interface is operable to send the first chunk identifier to the storage device, and to send the first chunk of data to the storage device upon receipt of a transfer instruction from the storage device.

A virtual tape library including a module which is operable to issue input and output commands to a tape drive connected to the virtual tape library, wherein an input command is a command to write data to a tape connected to the tape drive and an output command is a command to read data from a tape connected to the tape drive.

Data transfer

A controller, system, method and computer program for emulating one or more tape-based storage devices using non-tape based physical data storage media. The controller is adapted to generate a data set for indicating an available capacity of the one or more emulated tape-based storage devices, the data set includes capacity data for indicating a respective available capacity of the one or more emulated tape-based storage devices based on an available capacity of the non-tape-based physical data storage media. The controller is also adapted to provide access to data stored on the non-tape based physical data storage medium using tape-based media command and the data set, and to dynamically update the capacity data of the data set in response to a change in the available capacity of the non-tape-based physical data storage media.

Growing community of inventors

Bristol, United Kingdom

Simon Pelly