Abstract: An illustrative approach to managing snapshots streamlines how and when snapshots are generated in a storage management system, such that fewer snapshots may be generated without diminishing the scope of data protection. A novel unified-snapshot storage policy may govern snapshots for any number of subclients. A unified-snapshot job based on the unified-snapshot storage policy enables the illustrative storage management system to automatically discover relevant components and generate at most one snapshot per target logical unit number (“LUN”) in a storage array. Each snapshot may comprise the data of any number of subclients and/or clients in the storage management system. Accordingly, one unified-snapshot job may yield a minimum but sufficient number of snapshots comprising data of all subclients associated with the governing unified-snapshot storage policy. An enhanced storage manager may manage the unified-snapshot jobs.

Abstract: Data storage systems monitor the performance of data storage operations on a granular level and compile the information for presenting to a user. The system measures the time of execution for individual granular stages of the storage operation and in response to the monitoring results, automatically adjust parameters to optimize performance. Further, the system performs a performance test by simulating the data storage operation, but may not actually write the data to the secondary storage medium.

Abstract: According to various embodiments, systems and methods are provided that relate to shared access to Storage Area Networks (SAN) devices. In one embodiment, a Storage Area Network (SAN) host is provided, comprising: a server component: a first host bus adapter configured to be connected to a SAN client over a first SAN; a second host bus adapter configured to be connected to a SAN storage device over a second SAN; and wherein the server component is configured to manage a data block on the SAN storage device, receive a storage operation request from the SAN client through the first host bus adapter, and in response to the storage operation request, perform a storage operation on the data block, the storage operation being performed over the second SAN through the second host bus adapter.

Abstract: An information management system according to certain aspects may determine whether storage operations will work prior to executing them. The system may check various factors or parameters relating to a storage policy to verify whether the storage policy will work at runtime without actually executing the policy. Some examples of factors can include: availability of primary storage devices, availability of secondary storage devices, license availability for performing that operation, user credentials for connecting to primary and/or second storage devices, available storage capacity, connectivity to storage devices, etc. The system may also check whether a particular system configuration is supported in connection with storage operations. The result of the determination can be provided in the form of a report summarizing any problems found with the storage policy. The report can include recommended courses of action or solutions for resolving any identified issues.

Abstract: A distributed, deduplicated storage system according to certain embodiments is arranged in a parallel configuration including multiple deduplication nodes. Deduplicated data is distributed across the deduplication nodes. The deduplication nodes can be networked together and communicate with one another according using a light-weight, customized communication scheme (e.g., a scheme based on FTP or HTTP). In some cases, deduplication management information including deduplication signatures and/or other metadata is stored separately from the deduplicated data in deduplication management nodes, improving performance and scalability.

Abstract: A system according to certain aspects may include a secondary storage controller computer configured to: in response to a first instruction to obtain a first secondary copy of a first data set from a secondary storage device(s), the first instruction associated with a first restore operation: instantiate a first restore thread on a processor of the secondary storage controller computer; using the first restore thread, retrieve the first secondary copy from the secondary storage device(s); and forward the retrieved first secondary copy to a primary storage subsystem for storage; and in response to a second instruction to obtain a second secondary copy of a second data set from the secondary storage device(s), the second instruction associated with a second restore operation: using the first restore thread, retrieve the second secondary copy from the secondary storage device(s); and forward the retrieved second secondary copy to the primary storage subsystem for storage.

Abstract: According to certain aspects, a method can include receiving an indication that a restoration of a deduplication database using a secondary copy of a file associated with a secondary copy job is complete; retrieving a first data fingerprint from a data storage database, wherein the first data fingerprint is associated with the secondary copy job used to restore the deduplication database; retrieving a second data fingerprint from a deduplication database media agent, wherein the second data fingerprint is associated with the secondary copy job used to restore the deduplication database; comparing the first data fingerprint with the second data fingerprint to determine whether the first data fingerprint and the second data fingerprint match; and transmitting an instruction to the deduplication database media agent to rebuild the restored deduplication database in response to a determination that the first data fingerprint and the second data fingerprint do not match.

Abstract: A stand-alone, network accessible data storage device, such as a filer or NAS device, is capable of transferring data objects based on portions of the data objects. The device transfers portions of files, folders, and other data objects from a data store within the device to external secondary storage based on certain criteria, such as time-based criteria, age-based criteria, and so on. A portion may be one or more blocks of a data object, or one or more chunks of a data object, or other segments that combine to form or store a data object. For example, the device identifies one or more blocks of a data object that satisfy a certain criteria, and migrates the identified blocks to external storage, thereby freeing up storage space within the device. The device may determine that a certain number of blocks of a file have not been modified or called by a file system in a certain time period, and migrate these blocks to secondary storage.

Abstract: An information management system provides a data deduplication system that uses a primary table, a deduplication chunk table, and a chunk integrity table to ensure that a referenced deduplicated data block is only verified once during the data verification of a backup or other replication operation. The data deduplication system may reduce the computational and storage overhead associated with traditional data verification processes. The primary table, the deduplication chunk table, and the chunk integrity table, all of which may be stored in a deduplication database, can also ensure synchronization between the deduplication database and secondary storage devices.

Abstract: An illustrative data storage management system is aware that certain data storage resources for storing/serving primary data operate in a partnered configuration. Illustrative components of the data storage management system analyze the failover status of the partnered primary data storage resources to determine which is currently serving/storing primary data and/or snapshots targeted for backup. When detecting that a first partnered primary data storage resource has failed over to a second primary data storage resource, the example storage manager changes the assignment of backup resources that are pre-administered for the targeted data. Accordingly, the example storage manager assigns backup resources, including at least one media agent, that are associated with the second primary data storage resource, and which are “closer” thereto from a geography and/or network topology perspective, even if the pre-administered backup resources are available for backup.

Abstract: Illustrative storage manager and media agent are enhanced to interoperate with deduplication appliances. Advantages are realized when making secondary and tertiary copies and also when restoring from a deduplication appliance. Tiered indexing minimizes how much data is retained and stored at media agents. Tiered indexing enables media agents to efficiently extract needed information from deduplication appliances to make tertiary copies and to restore backed up copies. Interoperability techniques include media agents generating separate data streams to the deduplication appliance. Each data stream carries a different kind of data, e.g., payload data, metadata content, or high-level index information. On initial backup, the media agent instructs the deduplication appliance to deduplicate the payload data stream but not the other data streams, thus intelligently applying resources to data most likely to benefit from deduplication.

Abstract: Illustrative storage manager and media agent are enhanced to interoperate with deduplication appliances. Advantages are realized when making secondary and tertiary copies and also when restoring from a deduplication appliance. Tiered indexing minimizes how much data is retained and stored at media agents. Tiered indexing enables media agents to efficiently extract needed information from deduplication appliances to make tertiary copies and to restore backed up copies. Interoperability techniques include media agents generating separate data streams to the deduplication appliance. Each data stream carries a different kind of data, e.g., payload data, metadata content, or high-level index information. On initial backup, the media agent instructs the deduplication appliance to deduplicate the payload data stream but not the other data streams, thus intelligently applying resources to data most likely to benefit from deduplication.

Abstract: A method and system for providing information management of data from hosted services receives information management policies for a hosted account of a hosted service, requests data associated with the hosted account from the hosted service, receives data associated with the hosted account from the hosted service, and provides a preview version of the received data to a computing device. In some examples, the system indexes the received data to associate the received data with a user of an information management system, and/or provides index information related to the received data to the computing device.

Abstract: An illustrative approach to managing snapshots streamlines how and when snapshots are generated in a storage management system, such that fewer snapshots may be generated without diminishing the scope of data protection. A novel unified-snapshot storage policy may govern snapshots for any number of subclients. A unified-snapshot job based on the unified-snapshot storage policy enables the illustrative storage management system to automatically discover relevant components and generate at most one snapshot per target logical unit number (“LUN”) in a storage array. Each snapshot may comprise the data of any number of subclients and/or clients in the storage management system. Accordingly, one unified-snapshot job may yield a minimum but sufficient number of snapshots comprising data of all subclients associated with the governing unified-snapshot storage policy. An enhanced storage manager may manage the unified-snapshot jobs.

Abstract: An information management system provides a data deduplication system that uses a primary table, a deduplication chunk table, and a chunk integrity table to ensure that a referenced deduplicated data block is only verified once during the data verification of a backup or other replication operation. The data deduplication system may reduce the computational and storage overhead associated with traditional data verification processes. The primary table, the deduplication chunk table, and the chunk integrity table, all of which are stored in a deduplication database, can also ensure synchronization between the deduplication database and secondary storage devices.

Abstract: An information management system according to certain aspects uses backup copies or other secondary copies of production data for the purposes of replicating production data to another client. The secondary copies can be deduplicated copies. By utilizing available secondary copies of the data for replication, the system can reduce the impact on the production machines associated with replication. Utilizing deduplicated copies not only reduces the amount of stored data, but also reduces the amount of data that is communicated between the source and the destination, increasing the speed of the replication process.

Abstract: An information management system according to certain aspects allows users to share a portion of a file (e.g., a document) stored in secondary storage. The user may specify a portion of a secondary storage file to share and send a link to the portion to another user. The other user can access the shared portion from the link, and just the shared portion may be restored from secondary storage. The system according to certain aspects provides a native view of secondary storage data on a client computing device. The index data and/or metadata relating to secondary storage data may be stored in native application format for access via the native source application.

Abstract: An information management system can manage the removal of data block entries in a deduplicated data store using working copies of the data block entries residing in a local data store of a secondary storage computing device. The system can use the working copies to identify data blocks for removal. Once the deduplication database is updated with the changes to the working copies (e.g., using a transaction based update scheme), the system can query the deduplication database for the database entries identified for removal. Once identified, the system can remove the database entries identified for pruning and/or the corresponding deduplication data blocks from secondary storage.

Abstract: An improved information management system is provided herein for managing secondary storage computing devices when one or more become unavailable. For example, a first secondary storage computing device in a pool of secondary storage computing devices can run a storage manager virtual machine (VM) that manages secondary copy and restore operations. A second secondary storage computing device in the pool can run a virtualization engine that manages the storage manager VM. The virtualization engine can replicate the storage manager VM data to other secondary storage computing devices in the pool. If the first secondary storage computing devices becomes unavailable, the second secondary storage computing device can instruct a third secondary storage computing device in the pool to launch a replicated storage manager VM using the replicated storage manager VM data stored therein. Thus, the third secondary storage computing device can act as the now unavailable first secondary storage computing device.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided herein for automatically configuring newly installed secondary storage computing devices and managing secondary storage computing devices when one or more become unavailable. For example, a storage manager can then detect the computing resources available to the newly installed secondary storage computing device, assign a role to the newly installed secondary storage computing device based on the detected computing resources, configure the newly installed secondary storage computing device with deduplication and storage policies used by the other secondary storage computing devices, re-partition secondary storage devices to allocate memory for the newly installed secondary storage computing device, and instruct other secondary storage computing devices to replicate their managed data such that the newly installed secondary storage computing device has access to the replicated data.