Granted Patent B1

US 8,595,243 · App. 13/285,076 · Granted Nov 26, 2013

Abstract

Claims (63)

1. A computer-implemented method for deduplicating archived data, at least a portion of the method being performed by a computing device comprising at least one processor, the method comprising:

identifying a volume of data subject to deduplication, the volume of data comprising at least one archived file, the archived file being represented on the volume of data with a placeholder file and being stored on an alternate volume of data;

determining a disposition of the archived file for deduplication by:

determining that the archived file is represented by the placeholder file;

in response to determining that the archived file is represented by the placeholder file, identifying a deduplication fingerprint of the archived file instead of a deduplication fingerprint of the placeholder file;

intercepting an attempt by a deduplication engine to access the placeholder file;

providing the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file to the deduplication engine.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining the disposition of the archived file for deduplication by identifying the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file comprises:

based on the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file:

identifying at least one additional instance of the archived file;

deduplicating the archived file with the additional instance of the archived file.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining the disposition of the archived file for deduplication by identifying the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file comprises:

based on the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file:

identifying at least one additional instance of the archived file;

maintaining a reference identifying the archived file as deduplicated with the additional instance of the archived file.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file comprises:

retrieving the archived file;

generating the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , further comprising modifying the placeholder file to include the generated deduplication fingerprint.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file comprises reading the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file from the placeholder file.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining the disposition of the archived file for deduplication further comprises:

determining that the archived file is being restored in place of the placeholder file;

transmitting a message to the deduplication engine that the archived file is unchanged.

8. A system for deduplicating archived data, the system comprising:

an identification module programmed to identify a volume of data subject to deduplication, the volume of data comprising at least one archived file, the archived file being represented on the volume of data with a placeholder file and being stored on an alternate volume of data;

a disposition module programmed to determine a disposition of the archived file for deduplication by:

determining that the archived file is represented by the placeholder file;

in response to determining that the archived file is represented by the placeholder file, identifying a deduplication fingerprint of the archived file instead of a deduplication fingerprint of the placeholder file;

intercepting an attempt by a deduplication engine to access the placeholder file;

providing the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file to the deduplication engine;

at least one physical processor configured to execute the identification module and the disposition module.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the disposition module is programmed to determine the disposition of the archived file for deduplication by, based on the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file:

identifying at least one additional instance of the archived file;

deduplicating the archived file with the additional instance of the archived file.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the disposition module is programmed to determine the disposition of the archived file for deduplication by, based on the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file:

identifying at least one additional instance of the archived file;

maintaining a reference identifying the archived file as deduplicated with the additional instance of the archived file.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the disposition module is programmed to identify the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file by:

retrieving the archived file;

generating the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file.

12. The system of claim 11 , further comprising modifying the placeholder file to include the generated deduplication fingerprint.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein identifying the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file comprises reading the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file from the placeholder file.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the disposition module is further programmed to determine the disposition of the archived file for deduplication by:

determining that the archived file is being restored in place of the placeholder file;

transmitting a message to the deduplication engine that the archived file is unchanged.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable-storage medium comprising one or more computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to:

identify a volume of data subject to deduplication, the volume of data comprising at least one archived file, the archived file being represented on the volume of data with a placeholder file and being stored on an alternate volume of data;

determine a disposition of the archived file for deduplication by:

determining that the archived file is represented by the placeholder file;

in response to determining that the archived file is represented by the placeholder file, identifying a deduplication fingerprint of the archived file instead of a deduplication fingerprint of the placeholder file;

intercepting an attempt by a deduplication engine to access the placeholder file;

providing the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file to the deduplication engine.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable-storage medium of claim 15 , wherein determining the disposition of the archived file for deduplication by identifying the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file comprises:

based on the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file:

identifying at least one additional instance of the archived file;

deduplicating the archived file with the additional instance of the archived file.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable-storage medium of claim 15 , wherein determining the disposition of the archived file for deduplication by identifying the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file comprises:

based on the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file:

identifying at least one additional instance of the archived file;

maintaining a reference identifying the archived file as deduplicated with the additional instance of the archived file.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable-storage medium of claim 15 , wherein identifying the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file comprises:

retrieving the archived file;

generating the deduplication fingerprint of the archived file.

Assignments (12)