Systems and methods of unified reconstruction in storage systems
Systems and methods for reconstructing unified data in an electronic storage network are provided which may include the identification and use of metadata stored centrally within the system. The metadata may be generated by a group of storage operation cells during storage operations within the network. The unified metadata is used to reconstruct data throughout the storage operation cells that may be missing, deleted or corrupt.
1. An apparatus that reconstructs missing metadata in an electronic storage network comprising:
primary data stored on at least a first storage device;
at least a secondary copy of the primary data;
a first set of metadata associated with at least a portion of the secondary copy;
a database of metadata that stores a copy of the first set of metadata; and
at least one storage operation controller comprising computer software executing on one or more computer processors, the at least one storage operation controller configured to:
electronically determine that a missing portion of the first set of metadata is not stored in the secondary copy;
determine whether the copy of the first set of metadata comprises the missing portion of the first set of metadata; and
automatically reconstruct the missing portion of the first set of metadata using the copy of the first set of metadata stored in the database of metadata.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the copy of the first set of metadata is stored in a third storage device.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one storage operation controller is further configured to determine that the missing portion stored in the database of metadata is complete.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one storage operation controller is configured to determine whether the missing portion may be reconstructed based at least in part whether metadata associated with one or more storage operations has been identified.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one storage operation controller determines that the missing portion of the first set of metadata exists in the database of metadata based on a sequence number.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one storage operation controller determines that the missing portion of the first set of metadata exists in the database of metadata based on an identifier associated with the first storage device.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the database of metadata further comprises a copy of a second set of metadata associated with a second portion of the secondary copy and the at least one storage operation controller reconstructs a deleted portion of a second set of metadata using the copy of the second set of metadata stored in the database.
8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the copies of the first and second set of metadata stored in the database of metadata are stored in a third storage device.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one storage operation controller is further configured to create a second copy of the first set of metadata by copying the first set of metadata to a third storage device.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one storage operation controller is further configured to reconstruct the missing portion of the first set of metadata by collecting metadata from a plurality of storage operation cells.
11. A method for reconstructing missing metadata in an electronic storage network, comprising:
copying primary data stored on at least a first storage device to at least a second storage device to create at least a secondary copy of the primary data on the second storage device;
creating a first set of metadata associated with at least a portion of the secondary copy;
storing a copy of the first set of metadata in database of metadata; and
determining that a missing portion of the first set of metadata is not stored in the secondary copy; and
determining that the copy of the first set of metadata comprises the missing portion of the first set of metadata;
reconstructing the missing portion of the first set of metadata using the copy of the first set of metadata stored in the database of metadata.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the copy of the first set of metadata is stored in a third storage device.
13. The method of claim 11 further comprising analyzing the missing portion of the first set of metadata stored in the database of metadata to determine that the missing portion of the first set of metadata stored in the database of metadata is complete.
14. The method of claim 11 further comprising determining whether the missing portion may be reconstructed based at least in part whether metadata associated with one or more storage operations has been identified.
15. The method of claim 11 further comprising determining that a missing portion of the first set of metadata exists in the database of metadata storage device based on a sequence number.
16. The method of claim 11 further comprising creating a second set of metadata associated with a second portion of the secondary copy and storing a copy of the second set of metadata in the database of metadata, and reconstructing a loss of a portion of the second set of metadata using the copy of the second set of metadata stored in the database of metadata.
17. The method of claim 11 further comprising determining that a missing portion of the first set of metadata exists in the database of metadata based on an identifier associated with the first storage device.
18. The method of claim 16 further comprising storing copies of the first and second set of metadata stored in the database of metadata are copied to a third storage device.
19. The method of claim 11 further comprising creating a second copy of the first set of metadata by copying the first set of metadata to a third storage device.
20. The method of claim 11 wherein reconstructing the missing portion of the first set of metadata comprising collecting metadata from a plurality of storage operation cells.