SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EFFICIENT BACKUP OF COMMON APPLICATIONS
The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for archiving and restoring data. An exemplary method comprises receiving a request to archive, at a data center, an encrypted data object stored on a remote computing node, determining whether at least one of a copy of the encrypted data object or a similar data object exists in an archive of encrypted data objects stored at the data center, when a copy of the encrypted data object is found, generating a reference to the copy of the encrypted data object and archiving the reference in the archive as a proxy for the encrypted data object. When a similar data object is found, the method generates a reference to the similar data object, identifies information unique to the encrypted data object by comparing the encrypted data object and the similar data object; and archives both the reference to the similar data object and the unique information as a proxy for the encrypted data object.
1 . A method for archiving electronic data, comprising:
receiving, by a hardware processor, a request to archive, at a data center, an encrypted data object stored on a remote computing node;
determining, by the hardware processor, whether at least one of a copy of the encrypted data object or a similar data object exists in an archive of encrypted data objects stored at the data center;
when a copy of the encrypted data object is found, generating a reference, by the hardware processor, to the copy of the encrypted data object and archiving the reference in the archive as a proxy for the encrypted data object; and
when a similar data object is found,
generating a reference, by the hardware processor, to the similar data object;
identifying, by the hardware processor, information unique to the encrypted data object by comparing the encrypted data object and the similar data object; and
archiving both the reference to the similar data object and the unique information as a proxy for the encrypted data object.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the at least one of a copy of the encrypted data object or a similar data object exists comprises:
decrypting, at least a portion of the encrypted data object; and
decrypting, at least a portion of the one or more data objects in the archive of encrypted data objects; and
comparing the decrypted portion of the encrypted data object and the decrypted portion of the or more data objects in the archive of encrypted data objects.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the encrypted data object and the one or more data objects in the archive of encrypted data objects are encrypted using a homomorphic encryption algorithm.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein comparing the encrypted data object and the similar data object comprises comparing at least one of the following parameters:
a) a file name;
b) a file size;
c) a version;
d) a configuration; or
e) metadata associated with a creation date and/or last modification date.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the archived unique information comprises one or more of the following:
a) at least one file or a portion thereof;
b) at least one registry entry; and/or
c) data associated with a user-defined or preset configuration.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the encrypted data object comprises one or more of the following:
a) an application;
b) a database;
c) at least one file or a portion thereof; and/or
d) an operating system component.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein comparing the encrypted data object and the similar data object is performed by a client application executed on the remote computing node and the unique information is transmitted by the client application to the data center.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the archived reference to the copy of the encrypted data object or the similar data object is a symbolic link or a hard link.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the encrypted data object is not decrypted at any point during the archiving process.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein comparing the encrypted data object and the similar data object comprises performing a binary-level comparison.
11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the encrypted data object comprises an application and the similar data object comprises a different version of the application.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the archived unique information comprises at least one file, or a portion thereof, unique to the encrypted data object and omitted from the similar data object.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference to the similar data object comprises a hard link or a symbolic link.
14 . A system for archiving electronic data, comprising:
an electronic memory; and
a processor configured to:
receive, by a data center, a request to archive an encrypted data object stored on a remote computing node;
determine, by the data center, whether at least one of a copy of the encrypted data object or a similar data object exists in an archive of encrypted data objects stored at the data center;
when a copy of the encrypted data object is found, generate a reference to the copy of the encrypted data object and archive the reference as a proxy for the encrypted data object;
when a similar data object is found,
generate a reference to the similar data object;
identify information unique to the encrypted data object by comparing the encrypted data object and the similar data object; and
archive the reference to the similar data object and the unique information as a proxy for the encrypted data object.
15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform any of the methods disclosed herein.
16 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions for archiving electronic data, including instructions for:
receiving, by a data center, a request to archive an encrypted data object stored on a remote computing node;
determining, by the data center, whether at least one of a copy of the encrypted data object or a similar data object exists in an archive of encrypted data objects stored at the data center;
when a copy of the encrypted data object is found, generating a reference to the copy of the encrypted data object and archiving the reference as a proxy for the encrypted data object; when a similar data object is found,
generating a reference to the similar data object;
identifying information unique to the encrypted data object by comparing the encrypted data object and the similar data object; and
archiving the reference to the similar data object and the unique information as a proxy for the encrypted data object.
17 . The medium of claim 16 , wherein determining whether the at least one of a copy of the encrypted data object or a similar data object exists comprises:
decrypting, at least a portion of the encrypted data object;
decrypting, at least a portion of the one or more data objects in the archive of encrypted data objects; and
comparing the decrypted portion of the encrypted data object and the decrypted portion of the or more data objects in the archive of encrypted data objects.
18 . The medium of claim 16 , wherein the encrypted data object and the one or more data objects in the archive of encrypted data objects are encrypted using a homomorphic encryption algorithm.
19 . The medium of claim 16 , wherein comparing the encrypted data object and the similar data object comprises comparing at least one of the following parameters:
a file name;
a file size;
a version;
a configuration; or
metadata associated with a creation date and/or last modification date.
20 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein the archived unique information comprises one or more of the following:
at least one file or a portion thereof;
at least one registry entry; and/or
data associated with a user-defined or preset configuration.