IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,537,553

Granted Patent B2

US 11,537,553 · App. 16/814,431 · Granted Dec 27, 2022

Managing snapshots stored locally in a storage system and in cloud storage utilizing policy-based snapshot lineages

Inventors: Mark Aldred (Franklin, MA); Michael Anthony (Wilmington, MA); Shanmuga Anand Gunasekaran (Bangalore, IN); Shane Sullivan (Franklin, MA); Mithun Mahendra Varma (Bangalore, IN); Anurag Bhatnagar (Bangalore, IN)

Assignee: EMC IP Holding Company LLC

G06F16/128 G06F11/1464 G06F11/1469 G06F16/162 G06F16/1824

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Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 11,537,553
App. No.: 16/814,431
Granted: Dec 27, 2022
Kind: B2

External Links

USPTO Patent Center↗ Full Patent PDF↗

Abstract

An apparatus includes a processing device configured to identify a snapshot policy for creating a snapshot lineage comprising snapshots of a storage volume comprising data stored on a storage system, the snapshot lineage comprising (i) a local snapshot lineage stored on the storage system and (ii) at least one cloud snapshot lineage stored on cloud storage. The processing device is also configured to generate snapshots of the storage volume in accordance with the snapshot policy, to store the snapshots in the local snapshot lineage, and to copy snapshots from the local snapshot lineage to the at least one cloud snapshot lineage in accordance with the at least one snapshot policy. The processing device is further configured to provide an interface for managing the snapshot lineage by accessing, from the storage system, snapshots of the storage volume in the local snapshot lineage and the at least one cloud snapshot lineage.

Claims (62)

1. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processing device comprising a processor coupled to a memory;

the at least one processing device being configured:

to identify at least one snapshot policy for creating a snapshot lineage comprising two or more snapshots of a storage volume comprising data stored on one or more storage devices of a storage system, the snapshot lineage comprising (i) a local snapshot lineage stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices of the storage system and (ii) two or more cloud snapshot lineages stored on cloud storage of two or more clouds external to the storage system;

to generate a given one of the two or more snapshots of the storage volume in accordance with the at least one snapshot policy;

to store the given snapshot of the storage volume in the local snapshot lineage stored on the at least one storage device of the storage system;

to copy the given snapshot of the storage volume from the local snapshot lineage stored on the at least one storage device of the storage system to first and second ones of the two or more cloud snapshot lineages stored on first and second cloud storage of first and second clouds external to the storage system in accordance with the at least one snapshot policy; and

to provide an interface for managing the snapshot lineage by accessing the given snapshot of the storage volume from at least one of the local snapshot lineage, the first cloud snapshot lineage, and the second cloud snapshot lineage;

wherein the at least one snapshot policy specifies at least one of:

a first age at which the given snapshot is to be copied to the first cloud snapshot lineage and a second age at which the given snapshot is to be copied to the second cloud snapshot lineage, the second age being different than the first age;

a first type of compression to be applied when copying the given snapshot to the first cloud snapshot lineage and a second type of compression to be applied when copying the given snapshot to the second cloud snapshot lineage, the second type of compression being different than the first type of compression; and

a first type of encryption to be applied when copying the given snapshot to the first cloud snapshot lineage and a second type of encryption to be applied when copying the given snapshot to the second cloud snapshot lineage, the second type of encryption being different than the first type of encryption.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the storage volume comprises one of:

at least one of the one or more storage devices of the storage system;

a given logical unit provided by at least one of the one or more storage devices;

a consistency group comprising a set of two or more logical units provided by at least one of the one or more storage devices; and

an access-restricted storage group comprising a set of two or more logical units provided by at least one of the one or more storage devices where access to the storage group is limited to one or more designated host devices.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one snapshot policy specifies ages at which different snapshots residing in the local snapshot lineage are to be copied to different ones of the two or more cloud snapshot lineages.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one snapshot policy specifies:

one or more conditions for removing snapshots from the local snapshot lineage subsequent to copying the snapshots to at least one of the two or more cloud snapshot lineages; and

a retention period for snapshots copied to said at least one of the two or more cloud snapshot lineages.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one snapshot policy specifies the first and second types of encryption to be applied when copying the given snapshot to the first and second cloud snapshot lineages.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one snapshot policy specifies the first and second types of compression to be applied when copying the given snapshot to the first and second cloud snapshot lineages.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one snapshot policy specifies a first destination cloud provider for the first cloud snapshot lineage and a second destination cloud provider for the second cloud snapshot lineage, the second destination cloud provider being different than the first destination cloud provider.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein identifying the at least one snapshot policy for creating the snapshot lineage of the storage volume comprises identifying a first snapshot policy and at least a second snapshot policy.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the first snapshot policy specifies a first destination cloud provider for the first cloud snapshot lineage and the second snapshot policy specifies a second destination cloud provider for the second cloud snapshot lineage.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein:

the first snapshot policy further specifies: the first age at which the given snapshot is to be copied to the first cloud snapshot lineage; the first type of encryption to be applied when copying the given snapshot to the first cloud snapshot lineage; and the first type of compression to be applied when copying the given snapshot to the first cloud snapshot lineage; and

the second snapshot policy further specifies: the second age at which the given snapshot is to be copied to the second cloud snapshot lineage; the second type of encryption to be applied when copying the given snapshot to the second cloud snapshot lineage; and the second type of compression to be applied when copying the given snapshot to the second cloud snapshot lineage.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the first snapshot policy specifies a first destination cloud of a given cloud provider for the first cloud snapshot lineage and the second snapshot policy specifies a second destination cloud of the given cloud provider for the second cloud snapshot lineage.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the interface for managing the given snapshot lineage enables modification of the at least one snapshot policy for the storage volume.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one processing device is part of the storage system.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the interface for managing the snapshot lineage is provided to at least one additional storage system different than the storage system from which the given snapshot originated.

15. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having stored therein program code of one or more software programs, wherein the program code when executed by at least one processing device causes the at least one processing device to perform steps of:

identifying at least one snapshot policy for creating a snapshot lineage comprising two or more snapshots of a storage volume comprising data stored on one or more storage devices of a storage system, the snapshot lineage comprising (i) a local snapshot lineage stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices of the storage system and (ii) two or more cloud snapshot lineages stored on cloud storage of two or more clouds external to the storage system;

generating a given one of the two or more snapshots of the storage volume in accordance with the at least one snapshot policy;

storing the given snapshot of the storage volume in the local snapshot lineage stored on the at least one storage device of the storage system;

copying the given snapshot of the storage volume from the local snapshot lineage stored on the at least one storage device of the storage system to first and second ones of the two or more cloud snapshot lineages stored on first and second cloud storage of first and second clouds external to the storage system in accordance with the at least one snapshot policy; and

providing an interface for managing the snapshot lineage by accessing the given snapshot of the storage volume from at least one of the local snapshot lineage, the first cloud snapshot lineage, and the second cloud snapshot lineage;

wherein the at least one snapshot policy specifies at least one of:

16. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein identifying the at least one snapshot policy for creating the snapshot lineage of the storage volume comprises identifying a first snapshot policy and at least a second snapshot policy, wherein the first snapshot policy specifies a first destination cloud provider for the first cloud snapshot lineage, and wherein the second snapshot policy specifies a second destination cloud provider for the second cloud snapshot lineage.

17. The computer program product of claim 16 wherein:

the second snapshot policy further specifies: the first age at which the given snapshot is to be copied to the first cloud snapshot lineage; the first type of encryption to be applied when copying the given snapshot to the first cloud snapshot lineage; and the first type of compression to be applied when copying the given snapshot to the first cloud snapshot lineage.

18. A method comprising steps of:

generating generate a given one of the two or more snapshots of the storage volume in accordance with the at least one snapshot policy;

storing the given snapshot of the storage volume in the local snapshot lineage stored on the at least one storage device of the storage system;

wherein the at least one snapshot policy specifies at least one of:

wherein the method is performed by at least one processing device comprising a processor coupled to a memory.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein identifying the at least one snapshot policy for creating the snapshot lineage of the storage volume comprises identifying a first snapshot policy and at least a second snapshot policy, wherein the first snapshot policy specifies a first destination cloud provider for the first cloud snapshot lineage, and wherein the second snapshot policy specifies a second destination cloud provider for the second cloud snapshot lineage.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein:

Assignments (13)

RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (052851/0917) Recorded Jun 23, 2022