Abstract: Techniques described herein relate to a method for performing data protection services. The method includes identifying a restoration event associated with an network attached storage (NAS) asset stored in a backup storage; obtaining backup information associated with the NAS asset; making a determination that the restoration is associated with cross platform restoration; and in response to the determination; identifying an available cross platform host of a multi-platform host environment (MPHE) using host information; and initiating restoration of the NAS asset using the cross platform host.

Abstract: A method for managing network attached storage (NAS) assets includes obtaining, by a backup manager, a backup request for backing up the NAS assets, in response to the backup request: determining a number of streams available to be performed in parallel by a set of backup agents, obtaining a set of slices associated with the NAS assets, assigning a portion of the set of slices to the streams based on the number of streams, initiating a backup operation based on the portion of the set of slices, monitoring, after initiating the backup operation, the backup operation to identify a stream of the streams is available, and assigning, based on the identifying, a slice of the set of slices to the stream.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention relate to methods and systems for efficiently backing up a production host. In one or more embodiments, assets are assigned to one or more slices. Depending on the type of assets assigned to a slice such as directory information versus data, the slices are assigned a flag. This flag may then be used to determine which streams a slice should be assigned to and based on the specific flags of the slices assigned to each stream, the order by which the streams are transferred to backup containers located in a backup storage may be determined. This may result in better or more efficient utilization of available connections between the containers and the production host, resulting in better utilization of system and network resources as well as a better backup and recovery performance.

Abstract: Techniques described herein relate to a method for performing pre-backup tasks. The method includes obtaining, by a proxy host, a snapshot request associated with an incremental backup of a file system stored in a network attached storage (NAS) from a backup manager; in response to obtaining the snapshot request: instantiating a NAS container to obtain a snapshot of the file system; providing the snapshot to the NAS container; after providing the snapshot to the NAS container: retrieving a previously generated slice list and backup metadata associated with the file system; identifying, using the backup metadata and the slice list, data types associated with each of the slices; grouping the slices based on the data types and group criteria to generate slice groups; generating an updated slice list specifying the slices and the slice groups; and providing the updated slice list to the backup manager.

Abstract: Techniques described herein relate to a method for performing pre-backup tasks. The method includes obtaining, by a proxy host, a snapshot request associated with an incremental backup of a file system stored in a network attached storage (NAS) from a backup manager; in response to obtaining the snapshot request: instantiating a NAS container to obtain a snapshot of the file system; providing the snapshot to the NAS container; after providing the snapshot to the NAS container: retrieving a previously generated slice list associated with the file system; identifying, using the slice list, changed data include in the file system; generating change rates associated with each slice; grouping the slices based on the change rates and group criteria to generate slice groups; generating an updated slice list specifying the slices and the slice groups; and providing the updated slice list to the backup manager.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention relate to methods and systems for efficiently restoring a production host. Selected assets are restored from a plurality of slices stored on a plurality of containers in a backup storage system. In order to restore the selected assets, a hierarchical mapping of the slices is produced by analyzing a backup's metadata, from which the assets are to be restored. The hierarchical mapping is then searched for highest level slice containing the assets and then searching the lower-level slices associated with the highest-level slice to efficiently discover the slices containing the selected assets. This invention reduces and/or eliminates the need to crawl the entire slice list once the highest level is discovered; only its children need to be searched for the asset. Once the slices associated with an asset are found, they can be quickly restored from the corresponding containers which hold the assets.

Abstract: A method for managing network attached storage (NAS) assets includes obtaining, by a backup manager, a backup request for backing up the NAS assets, in response to the backup request: determining a number of streams available to be performed in parallel by a set of backup agents, obtaining a set of slices associated with the NAS assets, assigning a portion of the set of slices to the streams based on the number of streams, initiating a backup operation based on the portion of the set of slices, monitoring, after initiating the backup operation, the backup operation to identify a stream of the streams is available, and assigning, based on the identifying, a slice of the set of slices to the stream.

Abstract: A method for managing network attached storage (NAS) assets includes obtaining, by a backup manager, a backup request for backing up the NAS assets, in response to the backup request: determining a number of streams available to be performed in parallel by a set of backup agents, assigning a pre-backup operation to a first stream of the streams to obtain a set of slices for a first NAS asset of the NAS assets, initiating a first slice distribution of the set of slices to the set of backup agents based on the number of streams, assigning a second pre-backup operation to a second stream of the streams to obtain a second set of slices for a second NAS asset of the NAS assets, and storing the set of slices and the second set of slices in a backup storage system.

Abstract: A method for managing network attached storage (NAS) assets obtaining, by a backup manager, a backup request for backing up the NAS assets, in response to the backup request: determining a number of streams available to be performed in parallel by a set of backup agents, obtaining a set of slices associated with the NAS assets, performing a categorization on the set of slices based on metadata associated with the set of slices to obtain a set of batches, initiating a slice distribution of the set of slices to the set of backup agents based on the set of batches and the number of streams, and storing the set of slices in a backup storage system.

Abstract: A method for managing network attached storage (NAS) assets includes obtaining, by a backup manager, a backup request for backing up the NAS assets, in response to the backup request: determining a number of streams available to be performed in parallel by a set of backup agents, assigning a pre-backup operation to a first stream of the streams to obtain a set of slices for a first NAS asset of the NAS assets, initiating a first slice distribution of the set of slices to the set of backup agents based on the number of streams, assigning a second pre-backup operation to a second stream of the streams to obtain a second set of slices for a second NAS asset of the NAS assets, and storing the set of slices and the second set of slices in a backup storage system.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention relate to methods and systems for efficiently restoring a production host. Selected assets are restored from a plurality of slices stored on a plurality of containers in a backup storage system. In order to restore the selected assets, a hierarchical mapping of the slices is produced by analyzing a backup's metadata, from which the assets are to be restored. The hierarchical mapping is then searched for highest level slice containing the assets and then searching the lower-level slices associated with the highest-level slice to efficiently discover the slices containing the selected assets. This invention reduces and/or eliminates the need to crawl the entire slice list once the highest level is discovered; only its children need to be searched for the asset. Once the slices associated with an asset are found, they can be quickly restored from the corresponding containers which hold the assets.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention relate to methods and systems for efficiently backing up a production host. In one or more embodiments, assets are assigned to one or more slices. Depending on the type of assets assigned to a slice such as directory information versus data, the slices are assigned a flag. This flag may then be used to determine which streams a slice should be assigned to and based on the specific flags of the slices assigned to each stream, the order by which the streams are transferred to backup containers located in a backup storage may be determined. This may result in better or more efficient utilization of available connections between the containers and the production host, resulting in better utilization of system and network resources as well as a better backup and recovery performance.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention relate to methods and systems for efficiently performing one or more backups of assets stored on a shared storage. In one or more embodiments, the assets are sliced into a plurality of slices and the size of the slices is determined based on a maximum recommended number of connections that can be used and either a previous backups number of connections used, or the total number of connections currently used. The recommended number of connections to use is also calculated based on system telemetry. By changing the size of the slices, one or more embodiments of the invention may ensure that the backup is performed as efficiently as possible. This may result in better utilization of system and network resources as well as a better backup and recovery performance.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention relate to methods and systems for efficiently backing up a production host. In one or more embodiments, the size of slices associated with certain preset asset types are altered. By leveraging metadata of previous backups performed on the assets/hosts, one or more embodiments of the invention are able to determine the types of assets being backed up. Based on these determinations, some asset types may be assigned to slices having a larger size, while other assets may be assigned to slices having smaller sizes as appropriate for type of asset. Thus, various embodiments may improve the utilization of system and network resources.

Abstract: Techniques described herein relate to a method for backing up a file system. The method includes identifying, by a backup manager, a backup generation event associated with a file system stored in a network-attached storage; in response to identifying the backup generation event: initiating performance of pre-backup tasks to obtain a snapshot of the file system and a slice list associated with the file system; assigning priorities to slice groups specified by the slice list based on priority criteria; distributing backup jobs associated with the slice groups to available proxy hosts based on priority; initiating performance of the backup jobs on the available proxy hosts; making a determination that additional slice groups are remaining; and in response to the determination: adding the remaining slice groups to a slice queue.

Abstract: A portable, self-contained data mover container with all required packages for data management, and which can be hosted on a physical host, VM, cloud or appliance, such as a storage array. The data mover container protects multiple workloads such as NAS, native OS filesystem, applications, and so on. An automated process spins up and tears down containers without any impact on the host. If a container fails to run on a host if desired resources are not available, it automatically runs on other hosts for same data set. Minimal user intervention to achieve scale and performance is required, as the system automatically computes the desired number of containers required depending upon dataset and available resources. Containers can be patched and upgraded independently on a host without making any change to the hosting environment.

Abstract: Embodiments are described for storing array snapshots of a block-based system in networked storage, such as an NAS or SAN device. A system and process determines a size of the block device and splits it into a number of slices based on the size of the block device, with each slice comprising slice data. The slice data is written to protection storage either directly or through temporary buffer memory. The slice number and memory location for the slice data is stored in a key/value map, where the key comprises the slice number, and the value comprises the location. Backup agents are deployed to back up the slice data for each slice of the block device to the networked storage, and the slice data is stored as array snapshots in the network storage.

Abstract: Techniques described herein relate to a method for backing up a file system. The method includes identifying, by a backup manager, a backup generation event associated with a file system stored in a network-attached storage; in response to identifying the backup generation event: initiating performance of pre-backup tasks to obtain a snapshot of the file system and a slice list associated with the file system; assigning priorities to slice groups specified by the slice list based on priority criteria; distributing backup jobs associated with the slice groups to available proxy hosts based on priority; initiating performance of the backup jobs on the available proxy hosts; making a determination that additional slice groups are remaining; and in response to the determination: adding the remaining slice groups to a slice queue.

Abstract: Techniques described herein relate to a method for performing pre-backup tasks. The method includes obtaining, by a proxy host, a snapshot request associated with an incremental backup of a file system stored in a network attached storage (NAS) from a backup manager; in response to obtaining the snapshot request: instantiating a NAS container to obtain a snapshot of the file system; providing the snapshot to the NAS container; after providing the snapshot to the NAS container: retrieving a previously generated slice list and backup metadata associated with the file system; identifying, using the backup metadata and the slice list, data types associated with each of the slices; grouping the slices based on the data types and group criteria to generate slice groups; generating an updated slice list specifying the slices and the slice groups; and providing the updated slice list to the backup manager.

Abstract: Techniques described herein relate to a method for performing pre-backup tasks. The method includes obtaining, by a proxy host, a snapshot request associated with an incremental backup of a file system stored in a network attached storage (NAS) from a backup manager; in response to obtaining the snapshot request: instantiating a NAS container to obtain a snapshot of the file system; providing the snapshot to the NAS container; after providing the snapshot to the NAS container: retrieving a previously generated slice list associated with the file system; identifying, using the slice list, changed data include in the file system; generating change rates associated with each slice; grouping the slices based on the change rates and group criteria to generate slice groups; generating an updated slice list specifying the slices and the slice groups; and providing the updated slice list to the backup manager.