Abstract: A computer program product, system, and method for generating coded fragments comprises determining a set of available data protection plans; determining one or more parameters associated with a customer, a host, or a data protection system; generating a recommended host protection configuration for the host using the parameters, wherein the recommended host protection configuration includes one or more of the available data protection plans; and assigning the recommended host protection configuration to the host.

Abstract: Metadata from a file system in a data storage environment is obtained. The obtained metadata from the file system is indicative of one or more properties of one or more data blocks storable in the data storage environment. One or more data optimizations performed in a data protection operation for the data storage environment with respect to the one or more data blocks are controlled based on at least a portion of the metadata obtained from the file system.

Abstract: An aspect of performing dual splitting functions in a data replication system include receiving an I/O from a host computer. The host computer includes a first splitter configured to perform control path functions. An aspect also includes adding, via the first splitter, metadata for the I/O to a backlog at the host computer, and sending the I/O to a storage array. The storage array includes a second splitter configured to perform data path functions. An aspect further includes receiving, by the storage array, the I/O from the host computer, and sending, via the second splitter, the I/O to at least one storage device of the storage array and to a data protection appliance (DPA). The control path functions include tracking I/Os and maintaining backlogs including the backlog at the host computer, and the data path functions include mirroring operations in the storage array.

Abstract: A computer program product, system, and method for receiving an I/O from a host; at a first splitter, adding metadata for the I/O to a backlog; and at a second splitter, sending the I/O to both a storage array and to a data protection appliance (DPA). In some embodiments, the first splitter is located at the host and both the DPA and the second splitter is located within the storage array.

Abstract: In one aspect, a method includes powering down a target virtual machine (VM), removing the target VM from an inventory of virtual machine hosts after powering down the virtual VM, configuring a shadow VM by assigning an ID to the shadow VM to be the same as the target VM and by attaching a target VMDK to the shadow VM, adding the shadow VM to the inventory and powering up the shadow VM to run no more than a BIOS and to enable access of the target VMDK.

Abstract: Method and system for point-in-time recovery from a deduplicated data system is discussed. A request specifying a point-in-time may be received. A backup snapshot nearest that point-in-time may be identified, and a recovery snapshot may be synthesized.

Abstract: A storage system comprises a storage array in operable communication with and responsive to instructions from a host. The storage array comprises a logical unit (LU), a privileged zone, a data protection appliance (DPA), and an intermediary device. The privileged zone is configured within the storage array and permits at least one predetermined process to have access to the LU. The DPA is configured to operate within the privileged zone. The intermediary device is in operable communication with the host, LU, and DPA and is configured to receive read and write instructions from the DPA and to ensure that I/O's passing through the intermediary device to at least one of the LU and the DPA, in response to the reads and writes, are formatted to a first predetermined standard, for at least one of the LU and the DPA.

Abstract: A computer program product, system, and method for generating coded fragments comprises generating a plurality of thin differential virtual machine disks (VMDKs) associated with a VMDK; receiving, during a first time period starting after the first point in time, one or more first I/Os to be written from a virtual machine (VM) to the VMDK; writing the first I/Os to a first one of the thin differential VMDKs; receiving, during a second time period starting after the first time period, one or more second I/Os to be written from the VM to the VMDK; writing the second I/Os to a second one of the thin differential VMDKs; and generating a second snapshot of the VMDK for a second point in time after the second time period by applying data written to the first and second thin differential VMDKs to a first snapshot of the VMDK for a first point in time.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a method includes measuring a first parameter associated with copying a storage entity to a first backup site, measuring a second parameter associated with copying the storage entity to a second backup site and determining a replication mode to copy the storage entity to the first backup site and a replication mode to copy the storage entity to the second backup site in response to a replication policy and the first and second parameters measured.

Abstract: The system, process, and methods herein describe a mechanism for aligning IOs with block sizes. The alignment may occur on a storage system as part of a continuous replication process. The TO offset may be rounded down, and the size may be rounded up, so that each is a multiple of the block size.

Abstract: A computer implemented method, system, and computer program product for use in replication comprising receiving an IO at a splitter at a production site from a host, determining if the IO is to a predicted location, wherein a predicted location is a location predicted to correspond to a future write to an image on the production site, and splitting the IO based on the decision.

Abstract: A method, system, and computer program product for replication comprising exposing, via a virtualization layer, a storage entity; wherein the virtualization layer runs on a virtual machine and wherein the storage entity corresponds to a virtual disk, and splitting IO in a splitter, wherein the splitter runs in the virtualization layer and the splitting creates a copy of the IO sent to the virtual disk.

Abstract: A computer implemented method, system, and program product for asynchronous splitting in a virtual replication environment, the method comprising intercepting IO directed to one or more volumes, adding, at a splitter, ordering info to the IOs, and sending the IOs to an appliance.

Abstract: A computer implemented method, computer program product, and system for continuous replication in a virtual environment comprising recovering, replication of, a volume on a first site after the crash of the first site, receiving, using an API, the differences between a previous point in time of the first volume and the current point in time of the first volume wherein the volume is being replicated to a second site, and using the determined differences to restore replication of the first volume of the replication site at the second site.

Abstract: A method and system for maintaining backups on deduplicated storage using continuous data replication is discussed. A backup snapshot may be initialized. Application IO's may thereafter be transmitted to the deduplicated storage and placed in a journal. A second backup snapshot may be synthesized using the initial backup snapshot and/or the application IO's.

Abstract: A method, system, and program product for enabling a virtual service layer to consume a storage medium of a first site and a storage medium of a second site, enabling the virtual service layer to map the storage mediums of the first and second sites as one or more virtual storage volumes, wherein the one or more storage volumes are mirrored between the first and second site, and enabling the virtual service layer to create a write order fidelity delta set of the virtual storage volumes by writing the delta set to backend storage and notifying a splitter to which delta set the IO belongs.

Abstract: In one aspect, a method includes copying an oldest snapshot of a first volume of a first storage array to a second volume of a second storage array and copying a log to the second storage array to form a replica log. The log includes write I/Os applied to the first volume and bookmarks denoting when snapshots of the first volume are generated. The method further includes generating a first snapshot of the second volume, applying data from the replica log to the second volume until a bookmark is reached and generating a second snapshot of the second volume after the bookmark is reached. The first snapshot is a copy of the oldest snapshot.

Abstract: A method, system, and program product for intercepting an IO from a host running a virtual machine directed to a virtual machine disk at a splitter, wherein the host is being replicated by data protection appliances, adding ordering information to the IO, sending the IO to the virtual machine disk, determining one data protection appliance of the data protection appliances to replication the IO, and sending the IO to the one of the data protection appliances.

Abstract: In distributed storage environments (e.g., VPLEX®, from EMC Corporation) a director may be added while the distributed data is being replicated. However, the new director may have new splitters that do not know what to replicate and how to handle new I/Os. If I/Os are missed or lost, that information is gone forever and may be recovered only by a full resync of the volume. However, example embodiments of the present invention overcome these and other deficiencies by allowing adding a director and new splitters without interruption of the replication. Example embodiments of the present invention provide a method, an apparatus and a computer-program product for adding a director to storage with network-based replication without data resynchronization. The method includes obtaining distributed storage system node configuration information and performing replication in a network-based replication system according to the configuration information.

Abstract: Example embodiments of the present invention relate to a method, a system, and a computer program product for tiering metadata. The method includes selecting a consecutive range of addresses of a logical device having a parent data structure associated therewith maintaining a first set of hash values at a first granularity of the logical device. A second hash value then may be calculated over the consecutive range of addresses of the logical device at a second granularity of the logical device and inserted into a child data structure associated with the parent data structure. Entries in the parent data structure at the first granularity for the consecutive range of addresses then may be freed in favor of the second hash value at the second granularity for the consecutive range of addresses inserted into the child data structure, for storing hash values for other addresses of the logical device.