System, method and computer program product for asynchronous mirroring

1. A system for mirroring write operations from a local non-transitory computer readable storage system onto a remote storage system, the system comprising:

an asynchronous mirroring driver resident in the local storage system for intercepting I/O transactions to a storage disk of the local storage system, identifying a series of write transactions issued to said storage disk, making an exact copy of the series of write transactions, and storing said exact copy within a series of files that are created on a file-system of the local storage system; and

a first asynchronous mirroring coordinator resident on the local storage system for invoking a file transfer system to transmit the series of files on the local file-system of the local storage system to a file system of the remote storage system to accommodate an exact reproduction at the remote storage system of the series of write transactions as issued to said storage disk of the local storage system.

2. The system claim 1 , further comprising:

a second asynchronous mirroring coordinator resident on the remote storage system for detecting the series of files on the file system of the remote storage system, opening the files and reading the exact copy of the series of write transactions in these files; and

an asynchronous mirroring driver resident on the remote storage system for receiving the exact copy of the series of write transactions from the second asynchronous mirroring coordinator and issuing the transactions to a remote device connected to the remote storage system which is configured to mirror the local storage device on the local storage system.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the asynchronous mirroring driver intercepts all I/O transactions in the system.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the series of write transactions is one of a plurality of series of I/O transactions that are respectively retained in corresponding ones of the series of files, and individual ones of the series of files include pointers to accommodate sequencing the series of files, whereby a transaction level record of changes to the storage disk of the local storage system is provided for the remote storage system.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of series of I/O transactions include at least one formatting transaction and/or at least one partitioning transaction.

6. A method for mirroring write operations from a local storage system to a remote storage system, the method comprising:

intercepting I/O transactions to a storage disk of the local storage system;

identifying a series of write transactions to said storage disk from the intercepted I/O transactions;

storing an exact copy of the series of write transactions within a series of files that are created on a file-system of the local storage system; and

transmitting the series of files from the local storage system to the remote storage system to accommodate a reproduction at the remote storage system of the series of write transactions as issued to said storage disk of the local storage system.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

passing the series of write transactions to a driver issuing the transactions to storage device of the remote storage system, which is configured to mirror the storage device on the local storage system.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein intercepting I/P transactions comprises intercepting all I/O transactions in the system.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the series of write transactions is one of a plurality of series of I/O transactions that are respectively retained in corresponding ones of the series of files, and individual ones of the series of files include pointers to accommodate sequencing the series of files, whereby a transaction level record of changes to the storage disk of the local storage system is provided for the remote storage system.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of series of I/O transactions include at least one formatting transaction and/or at least one partitioning transaction.

11. A computer program product for mirroring write operations from a local storage system to a remote storage system, the computer program product comprising program code stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium, the program code being executable to perform operations comprising:

intercepting I/O transactions to a storage disk of the local storage system;

identifying a series of write transactions to said storage disk from the intercepted I/O transactions;

storing an exact copy of the series of write transactions within a series of files that are created on a file-system of the local storage system; and

transmitting the series of files from the local storage system to the remote storage system to accommodate a reproduction at the remote storage system of the series of write transactions as issued to said storage disk of the local storage system.

12. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:

passing the series of write transactions to a driver issuing the transactions to storage device of the remote storage system, which is configured to mirror the storage device on the local storage system.

13. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein intercepting I/O transactions comprises intercepting all I/O transactions in the system.

14. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the series of write transactions is one of a plurality of series of I/O transactions that are respectively retained in corresponding ones of the series of files, and individual ones of the series of files include pointers to accommodate sequencing the series of files, whereby a transaction level record of changes to the storage disk of the local storage system is provided for the remote storage system.

15. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of series of I/O transactions include at least one formatting transaction and/or at least one partitioning transaction.

16. A method for mirroring write operations from a local storage system to a remote storage system, the method comprising:

intercepting I/O transactions to a storage disk of the local storage system;

identifying a series of write transactions to said storage disk from the intercepted I/O transactions;

storing an exact copy of the series of write transactions within a series of files; and

storing the series of files at the local storage system and/or the remote storage system;

wherein the series of write transactions is one of a plurality of series of write transactions that are respectively retained in corresponding ones of the series of files, and individual ones of the series of files include pointers to accommodate sequencing the series of files, whereby an indexed transaction level record of changes to the storage disk of the local storage system is retained.

17. A computer program product for mirroring write operations from a local storage system to a remote storage system, the computer program product comprising program code stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium, the program code being executable to perform operations comprising:

intercepting I/O transactions to a storage disk of the local storage system;

identifying a series of write transactions to said storage disk from the intercepted I/O transactions;

storing an exact copy of the series of write transactions within a series of files; and

storing the series of files at the local storage system and/or the remote storage system;

wherein the series of write transactions is one of a plurality of series of write transactions that are respectively retained in corresponding ones of the series of files, and individual ones of the series of files include pointers to accommodate sequencing the series of files, whereby an indexed transaction level record of changes to the storage disk of the local storage system is retained.