Intelligent data inventory and asset management system method and apparatus

Abstract

A computerized process of intelligently inventorying data and managing assets includes the steps of initially inventorying a plurality of hardware, software, and data files on-site by assigning a hexadecimal signature identifying each file in the database, inventorying the files at a subsequent time by repeating the prior step and comparing the previous and current signatures of the files to determine whether any of the files have been changed, comparing the current version of a changed file to the last previous on-site version of the changed file, computing the differences between the two versions by different forward and reverse algorithms to provide a forward delta and a reverse delta, storing the current version and the reverse delta of the changed file on-site while deleting the last previous on-site version of the changed file, permanently storing off-site the forward deltas of each changed file and a baseline copy of each new file, restoring any requested file, if on-site, by recovering the current version and subtracting the appropriate reverse deltas therefrom until the requested file is produced, or, if off-site, by recovering the baseline version and adding the appropriate forward deltas thereto until the requested file is reproduced. The inventorying process enables the system to issue warnings for deleted files, possible corruption of files, and unidentified possibly valued asset files.