IP Library Granted Patent US 10,878,084
Granted Patent B1
US 10,878,084 · App. 16/425,071 · Granted Dec 29, 2020

Secure synchronization and management of recovery data for backup systems

Inventors: Stefan Voss (Milton, MA); Sadagopan Balaraman (Franklin, MA); Stephen Walsh (Milford, MA); Anthony Mullen (Broomfield, MA); Eddie Pavkovic (Westford, MA); Allen Yen (Fremont, CA); Andrew VanDamme (Ashland, MA)
Assignee: EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
G06F21/53G06F8/61G06F11/1469G06F16/2343G06F16/27G06F21/577G06F2201/82G06F2221/033
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,878,084
App. No.
16/425,071
Granted
Dec 29, 2020
Kind
B1
Abstract

Described is a system for secure management of recovery data for data protection assets such as backup data and a backup application of a production backup system. The system may provide the ability to synchronize and secure critical recovery data of an isolated recovery environment. Accordingly, the system may reduce the breadth of potential cyber security attack vectors and increase the likelihood of efficiently recovering critical data and/or applications. To provide such capabilities, the system may only activate a data connection between a production system and a recovery system when synchronizing recovery data. In addition, the system may apply a retention lock to maintain a set of immutable copies of the recovery data and may restore the recovery data to a sandboxed environment where it may be tested and verified before being deployed to the production system as part of a recovery process.

Claims (46)

1. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a plurality of instructions, which when executed, cause the one or more processors to:

activate a data connection between a production backup system and an isolated recovery system, the production backup system storing backup data associated with a source system and application data associated with a backup application that manages the backup data, the isolated recovery system storing recovery backup data comprising a copy of the backup data and recovery application data comprising a copy of the application data;

initiate a transfer of data, via the activated data connection and from the production backup system to the isolated recovery system, that synchronizes the recovery backup data with the backup data and the recovery application data with the application data;

deactivate, in response to determining the synchronization is complete, the data connection between the production backup system and the isolated recovery system to prevent access to the isolated recovery system from the production environment;

apply a retention lock to at least one of the recovery backup data and the recovery application data stored by the isolated recovery system; and

restore at least one of the recovery backup data and the recovery application data to a sandboxed environment within the isolated recovery system, restoring the recovery backup data includes creating a recovery instance of the backup data, and restoring the recovery application data includes creating a recovery instance of the application data.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein restoring the application data further includes installing the backup application to the sandboxed environment using the recovery application data to create a recovery instance of the backup application.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed, further cause the one or more processors to:

perform, within the sandboxed environment, one or more tests associated with a security threat for at least one of the recovery instances of the backup data, application data, and the backup application.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed, further cause the one or more processors to:

provide the recovery instance of the backup data from the isolated recovery system to the production backup system if a request to recover the backup data is received; and

provide the recovery instance of the backup application from the isolated recovery system to the production system if a request to recover the backup application is received.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein applying the retention lock includes requiring a dual sign-on or verification procedure to perform administrative operations associated with the locked recovery data.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sandboxed environment includes at least a secure partition within the isolated recovery system.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the recovery backup data and the recovery application data are stored as part of a set of copies that correspond to the backup data and the application data at a set of time points.

8. A method comprising:

activating a data connection between a production backup system and an isolated recovery system, the production backup system storing backup data associated with a source system and application data associated with a backup application that manages the backup data, the isolated recovery system storing recovery backup data comprising a copy of the backup data and recovery application data comprising a copy of the application data;

initiating a transfer of data, via the activated data connection and from the production backup system to the isolated recovery system, that synchronizes the recovery backup data with the backup data and the recovery application data with the application data;

deactivating, in response to determining the synchronization is complete, the data connection between the production backup system and the isolated recovery system to prevent access to the isolated recovery system from the production environment;

applying a retention lock to at least one of the recovery backup data and the recovery application data stored by the isolated recovery system; and

restoring at least one of the recovery backup data and the recovery application data to a sandboxed environment within the isolated recovery system, restoring the recovery backup data includes creating a recovery instance of the backup data, and restoring the recovery application data includes creating a recovery instance of the application data.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein restoring the application data further includes installing the backup application to the sandboxed environment using the recovery application data to create a recovery instance of the backup application.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

performing, within the sandboxed environment, one or more tests associated with a security threat for at least one of the recovery instances of the backup data, application data, and the backup application.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

providing the recovery instance of the backup data from the isolated recovery system to the production backup system if a request to recover the backup data is received; and

providing the recovery instance of the backup application from the isolated recovery system to the production system if a request to recover the backup application is received.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein applying the retention lock includes requiring a dual sign-on or verification procedure to perform administrative operations associated with the locked recovery data.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the sandboxed environment includes at least a secure partition within the isolated recovery system.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein the recovery backup data and the recovery application data are stored as part of a set of copies that correspond to the backup data and the application data at a set of time points.

15. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having a computer-readable program code embodied therein to be executed by one or more processors, the program code including instructions to:

activate a data connection between a production backup system and an isolated recovery system, the production backup system storing backup data associated with a source system and application data associated with a backup application that manages the backup data, the isolated recovery system storing recovery backup data comprising a copy of the backup data and recovery application data comprising a copy of the application data;

initiate a transfer of data, via the activated data connection and from the production backup system to the isolated recovery system, that synchronizes the recovery backup data with the backup data and the recovery application data with the application data;

deactivate, in response to determining the synchronization is complete, the data connection between the production backup system and the isolated recovery system to prevent access to the isolated recovery system from the production environment;

apply a retention lock to at least one of the recovery backup data and the recovery application data stored by the isolated recovery system; and

restore at least one of the recovery backup data and the recovery application data to a sandboxed environment within the isolated recovery system, restoring the recovery backup data includes creating a recovery instance of the backup data, and restoring the recovery application data includes creating a recovery instance of the application data.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein restoring the application data further includes installing the backup application to the sandboxed environment using the recovery application data to create a recovery instance of the backup application.

17. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the program code includes further instructions to:

perform, within the sandboxed environment, one or more tests associated with a security threat for at least one of the recovery instances of the backup data, application data, and the backup application.

18. The computer program product of claim 17 , wherein the program code includes further instructions to:

provide the recovery instance of the backup data from the isolated recovery system to the production backup system if a request to recover the backup data is received; and

provide the recovery instance of the backup application from the isolated recovery system to the production system if a request to recover the backup application is received.

19. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein applying the retention lock includes requiring a dual sign-on or verification procedure to perform administrative operations associated with the locked recovery data.

20. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the sandboxed environment includes at least a secure partition within the isolated recovery system.

Assignments (9)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (053546/0001) Recorded Jun 23, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING L.P. (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.); DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC. AND WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.); EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
Reel/Frame 071642/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (053311/0169) Recorded Jun 23, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
Reel/Frame 060438/0742 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (050724/0571) Recorded Jun 23, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
Reel/Frame 060436/0088 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST AT REEL 050406 FRAME 421 Recorded Nov 2, 2021
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
To: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
Reel/Frame 058213/0825 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 5, 2020
From: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 053311/0169 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Apr 22, 2020
From: CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES INC.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A.
Reel/Frame 053546/0001 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (NOTES) Recorded Oct 15, 2019
From: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 050724/0571 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 17, 2019
From: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
Reel/Frame 050406/0421 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 6, 2019
From: VOSS, STEFAN; BALARAMAN, SADAGOPAN; WALSH, STEPHEN; MULLEN, ANTHONY; PAVKOVIC, EDDIE; YEN, ALLEN; VANDAMME, ANDREW
To: EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
Reel/Frame 049397/0701 →