Granted Patent B2

US 9,754,005 · App. 13/920,981 · Granted Sep 5, 2017

Abstract

Claims (76)

1. A computerized method for backing up data from a remote location such that direct access to the data is not required, comprising:

activating, by a computing device, a protection policy for out-of-band storage at a remote host, wherein the out-of-band storage is not physically accessible by the computing device, further wherein the out-of-band storage is not in communication with the remote host through the computing device;

transmitting, by the computing device, a backup request to the remote host comprising data indicative of a volume on the out-of-band storage to back up according to the protection policy;

receiving, by the computing device, prior to backing up the data indicative of a volume on the out-of-band storage to back up, a response to the backup request comprising data indicative of staging disk requirements for the volume, the staging disk requirements comprising a required size for a staging disk to back up the volume;

determining, by the computing device, a staging disk based on the response including the required size;

allocating, by the computing device, the staging disk from data storage, the data storage being directly accessible by the computing device;

presenting, by the computing device, the staging disk to the remote host; and

receiving, by the computing device, a backup result from the remote host comprising data indicative of whether a backup of the volume to the staging disk succeeded or whether the backup of the volume to the staging disk failed, thereby backing up data from a remote location such that direct access to the data is not required.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining, based on the backup result, that the backup failed; and

identifying an error code in the backup result and storing the error code.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining, based on the backup result, that the backup succeeded;

creating a point-in-time snapshot of the staging disk; and

cataloging the point-in-time snapshot of the staging disk as a most recent backup of the volume.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the staging disk based on the response comprises:

identifying a previously cataloged point-in-time snapshot for the volume; and

using the previously catalogued point-in-time image as the staging disk, wherein file system information is used to compare the previously catalogued point-in-time image with the out-of-band storage to only copy information in the out-of-band storage that changed from the point-in-time image.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the staging disk based on the response comprises:

determining there is no previously cataloged point-in-time snapshot for the volume; and

allocating the staging disk from data storage of the computing device with a size based on the required size from the staging disk requirements.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining that a previously cataloged point-in-time snapshot for the volume expired; and

deleting the previously cataloged point-in-time snapshot.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining that a previously cataloged point-in-time snapshot for the volume is associated with a previous staging disk comprising a size below the required size from the staging disk requirements; and

allocating the staging disk from the data storage of the computing device with a size based on the required size from the staging disk requirements, wherein the staging disk does not comprise the previously cataloged point-in-time snapshot.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the out-of-band storage stored on the remote host comprises an internal disk to the remote device, a networked drive, or any combination thereof.

9. A computing device for backing up data from a remote location such that direct access to the data is not required, the computing device comprising:

data storage; and

a processor in communication with the data storage, and configured to run a module stored in memory that is configured to cause the processor to:

activate a protection policy for out-of-band storage at a remote host, wherein the out-of-band storage is not physically accessible by the computing device, further wherein the out-of-band storage is not in communication with the remote host through the computing device;

transmit a backup request to the remote host comprising data indicative of a volume on the out-of-band storage to back up according to the protection policy;

receive a response to the backup request prior to backing up the data indicative of a volume on the out-of-band storage to back up, the response comprising data indicative of staging disk requirements for the volume, the staging disk requirements comprising a required size for a staging disk to back up the volume;

determine a staging disk from the storage pool based on the response, including the required size;

allocate the staging disk from the data storage, the data storage being directly accessible by the computing device;

present the staging disk to the remote host; and

receive a backup result from the remote host comprising data indicative of whether a backup of the volume to the staging disk succeeded or whether the backup of the volume to the staging disk failed, thereby backing up data from a remote location such that direct access to the data is not required.

10. A non-transitory computer readable medium having executable instructions operable to cause an apparatus to:

activate a protection policy for out-of-band storage at a remote host, wherein the out-of-band storage is not physically accessible by the computing device, further wherein the out-of-band storage is not in communication with the remote host through the computing device;

transmit a backup request to the remote host comprising data indicative of a volume on the out-of-band storage to back up according to the protection policy;

receive a response to the backup request prior to backing up the data indicative of a volume on the out-of-band storage to back up, the response comprising data indicative of staging disk requirements for the volume, the staging disk requirements comprising a required size for a staging disk to back up the volume;

determine a staging disk based on the response, including the required size;

allocate the staging disk from data storage, the data storage being directly accessible by the computing device;

present the staging disk to the remote host; and

receive a backup result from the remote host comprising data indicative of whether a backup of the volume to the staging disk succeeded or whether the backup of the volume to the staging disk failed.

11. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further caused to:

determine, based on the backup result, that the backup failed; and

identify an error code in the backup result and storing the error code.

12. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further caused to:

determine, based on the backup result, that the backup succeeded;

create a point-in-time snapshot of the staging disk; and

catalog the point-in-time snapshot of the staging disk as a most recent backup of the volume.

13. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein to determine the staging disk based on the response, the processor is further caused to:

identify a previously cataloged point-in-time snapshot for the volume; and

use the previously catalogued point-in-time image as the staging disk, wherein file system information is used to compare the previously catalogued point-in-time image with the out-of-band storage to only copy information in the out-of-band storage that changed from the point-in-time image.

14. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein to determine the staging disk based on the response, the processor is further caused to:

determine there is no previously cataloged point-in-time snapshot for the volume; and

allocate the staging disk from data storage of the computing device with a size based on the required size from the staging disk requirements.

15. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further caused to:

determine that a previously cataloged point-in-time snapshot for the volume expired; and

delete the previously cataloged point-in-time snapshot.

16. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further caused to:

determine that a previously cataloged point-in-time snapshot for the volume is associated with a previous staging disk comprising a size below the required size from the staging disk requirements; and

allocate the staging disk from the data storage of the computing device with a size based on the required size from the staging disk requirements, wherein the staging disk does not comprise the previously cataloged point-in-time snapshot.

17. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the out-of-band storage stored on the remote host comprises an internal disk to the remote device, a networked drive, or any combination thereof.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

determine, based on the backup result, that the backup failed; and

identify an error code in the backup result and storing the error code.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

determine, based on the backup result, that the backup succeeded;

create a point-in-time snapshot of the staging disk; and

catalog the point-in-time snapshot of the staging disk as a most recent backup of the volume.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein to determine the staging disk based on the response, the apparatus is further caused to:

identify a previously cataloged point-in-time snapshot for the volume; and

use the previously catalogued point-in-time image as the staging disk, wherein file system information is used to compare the previously catalogued point-in-time image with the out-of-band storage to only copy information in the out-of-band storage that changed from the point-in-time image.

Assignments (8)