Granted Patent B1

US 12,204,419 · App. 18/478,132 · Granted Jan 21, 2025

Inventors: Sunil Yadav (Bangalore, IN); Shelesh Chopra (Bangalore, IN)

Assignee: Dell Products L.P.

G06F11/1469G06F2201/84

Abstract

Claims (92)

1. A method for performing restorations of file system data on a host, comprising:

identifying, by a data protection agent of a host, a restoration event associated with a file system of the host;

in response to identifying the restoration event:

obtaining backup metadata associated with a backup of the file system, wherein the backup metadata comprises previously generated checksums of the files included in the file system at a time the backup was generated;

obtaining current file system metadata associated with the file system from a file system metadata repository on a storage of the host;

generating current checksums of the files of the file system using the current file system metadata;

identifying non-matching files and matching files using the previously generated checksums and the current checksums;

storing local copies of the matching files on the host to restore the matching files;

obtaining current data runs associated with the non-matching files from the current file system metadata;

obtaining backup data runs associated with the non-matching files from the backup metadata;

identifying, based on the current data runs and the backup data runs, matching portions of the non-matching files, non-matching portions of the non-matching files, and completely unique files of the non-matching files;

storing local copies of the matching portions of the non-matching files on the host to restore the matching portions of the non-matching files; and

restoring the completely unique files of the non-matching files and the non-matching portions of the non-matching files from a backup storage that includes the backup.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the non-matching files and the matching files comprises:

selecting a first file of the files;

in response to selecting the first file:

comparing a first previously generated checksum of the previously generated checksums corresponding to the first file with a first current checksum of the current checksums corresponding to the first file; and

making a first determination that the first previously generated checksum does not match the first current checksum;

making, in response to the first determination, a second determination that the non-matching files comprise the first file; and

selecting a second file of the files.

3. The method of claim 2 , the method further comprising:

in response to selecting the second file:

comparing a second previously generated checksum of the previously generated checksums corresponding to the second file with a second current checksum of the current checksums corresponding to the second file; and

making a third determination that the second previously generated checksum matches the second current checksum; and

making, in response to the third determination, a fourth determination that the matching files comprise the second file.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

a matching portion of the matching portions of the non-matching files comprises the same data block stored on the host as is included in the backup; and

a non-matching portion of the non-matching portions of the non-matching files comprises a different data block stored on the host as is included in the backup.

5. A method for performing restorations of file system data on a host, comprising:

identifying, by a data protection agent of a host, a restoration event associated with a file system of the host;

in response to identifying the restoration event:

obtaining backup metadata associated with a backup of the file system, wherein the backup metadata specifies data of files included in the file system at a time the backup was generated;

obtaining current file system metadata associated with the file system from a file system metadata repository on a storage of the host;

identifying non-matching files and matching files using the backup metadata and the current file system metadata;

storing local copies of the matching files on the host to restore the matching files;

identifying, based on the current file system metadata and the backup metadata, matching portions of the non-matching files, non-matching portions of the non-matching files, and completely unique files of the non-matching files;

storing local copies of the matching portions of the non-matching files on the host to restore the matching portions of the non-matching files; and

restoring the completely unique files of the non-matching files and the non-matching portions of the non-matching files from a backup storage that includes the backup.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein identifying the matching portions of comprises:

selecting a first file of the files;

in response to selecting the first file:

comparing a first previously generated checksum of previously generated checksums included in the backup metadata corresponding to the first file with a first current checksum of current checksums corresponding to the first file, wherein the current checksums are generated using the current file system metadata; and

making a first determination that the first previously generated checksum does not match the first current checksum;

making, in response to the first determination, a second determination that the non-matching files comprise the first file; and

selecting a second file of the files.

7. The method of claim 6 , the method further comprising:

in response to selecting the second file:

comparing a second previously generated checksum of the previously generated checksums corresponding to the second file with a second current checksum of the current checksums corresponding to the second file; and

making a third determination that the second previously generated checksum matches the second current checksum; and

making, in response to the third determination, a fourth determination that the matching files comprise the second file.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first file comprises one selected from a group consisting of at least:

a modified file modified after a point in time the backup was generated;

a deleted file deleted after the point in time the backup was generated; and

a new file generated after the point in time the backup was generated.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the second file comprises a file that has not been modified since the generation of the backup.

10. The method of claim 5 , wherein storing the local copies of the matching files comprises performing a block cloning operation on the matching files.

11. The method of claim 5 , wherein storing local copies of the matching portions of the non-matching files on the host comprises performing a block cloning operation on the matching portions of the non-matching files.

12. The method of claim 5 , wherein:

a matching portion of the matching portions of the non-matching files comprises the same data block stored on the host as is included in the backup; and

a non-matching portion of the non-matching portions of the non-matching files comprises a different data block stored on the host as is included in the backup.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium (CRM) comprising computer readable program code, which when executed by a computer processor enables the computer processor to perform a method for performing restorations of file system data on a host, comprising:

identifying, by a data protection agent of a host, a restoration event associated with a file system of the host;

in response to identifying the restoration event:

obtaining backup metadata associated with a backup of the file system, wherein the backup metadata specifies data of files included in the file system at a time the backup was generated;

obtaining current file system metadata associated with the file system from a file system metadata repository on a storage of the host;

identifying non-matching files and matching files using the backup metadata and the current file system metadata;

storing local copies of the matching files on the host to restore the matching files;

identifying, based on the current file system metadata and the backup metadata, matching portions of the non-matching files, non-matching portions of the non-matching files, and completely unique files of the non-matching files;

storing local copies of the matching portions of the non-matching files on the host to restore the matching portions of the non-matching files; and

restoring the completely unique files of the non-matching files and the non-matching portions of the non-matching files from a backup storage that includes the backup.

14. The CRM of claim 13 , wherein identifying, based on the current file system metadata and the backup metadata, matching portions of the non-matching files, non-matching portions of the non-matching files, and completely unique files of the non-matching files comprises:

obtaining current data runs associated with the non-matching files from the current file system metadata;

obtaining backup data runs associated with the non-matching files from the backup metadata; and

identifying, based on the current data runs and the backup data runs, matching portions of the non-matching files, non-matching portions of the non-matching files, and completely unique files of the non-matching files.

15. The CRM of claim 14 , wherein:

a matching portion of the matching portions of the non-matching files comprises the same data block stored on the host as is included in the backup; and

a non-matching portion of the non-matching portions of the non-matching files comprises a different data block stored on the host as is included in the backup.

16. The CRM of claim 14 , wherein:

a current data run of the current data runs specifies an offset and a length of a data block of a file of the files currently stored in a storage volume associated with the file system; and

a backup data run of the backup data runs specifies an offset and a length of the file that was stored in a storage volume associated with the file system at a point in time the backup was generated.

17. The CRM of claim 13 , wherein storing the local copies of the matching files comprises performing a block cloning operation on the matching files.

18. The CRM of claim 13 , wherein storing local copies of the matching portions of the non-matching files on the host comprises performing a block cloning operation on the matching portions of the non-matching files.

19. The CRM of claim 13 , wherein identifying the non-matching files and the matching files comprises:

selecting a first file of the files;

in response to selecting the first file:

making a first determination that a first portion of the backup metadata corresponding to the first file and a first portion of the current file system metadata corresponding to the first file do not match;

making, in response to the first determination, a second determination that the non-matching files comprise the first file; and

selecting a second file of the files.

20. The CRM of claim 19 , the method further comprising:

in response to selecting the second file:

making a third determination that a second portion of the backup metadata corresponding to the second file and a second portion of the current file system metadata corresponding to the second file match; and

making, in response to the third determination, a fourth determination that the matching files comprise the second file.

Assignments (1)

References Cited (18)

Cited By (1)

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