Methods for backup and recovery

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11593231-B2
Application number	US-202117238836-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 23, 2021
Priority date	Dec 18, 2020
Publication date	Feb 28, 2023
Grant date	Feb 28, 2023

Abstract

Methods for backup and recovery are disclosed. The method includes determining, based on attributes of at least one of one or more files included in data to be backed up, priorities of data blocks associated with the at least one file and storing the data to be backed up and indications of the determined priorities of the data blocks to a second storage device. The methods may determine data blocks that are more important for recovery while backing up data, so that backup data can be recovered faster in future.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for backup, including:
determining, based on attributes of at least one of one or more files included in data to be backed up, priorities of data blocks associated with the at least one file; and
storing the data to be backed up and indications of the determined priorities of the data blocks to a second storage device, wherein storing the indications of the determined priorities of the data blocks to the second storage device includes:
storing the indications and offset addresses of the data blocks in an associated manner to the second storage device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data to be backed up is included in a virtual disk device, and the method further includes:
generating a metadata file including the attributes of the at least one file using a file system of the virtual disk device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the attributes include an accessed time of the at least one file, and determining the priorities of the data blocks associated with the at least one file includes:
determining a start time of a machine where the data to be backed up is located and a current time; and
if it is determined that a first accessed time of a first file associated with a first data block is closer to the start time than a second accessed time of a second file associated with a second data block, or if it is determined that the first accessed time is closer to the current time than the second accessed time, determining that the first data block has a higher priority than that of the second data block.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining the priorities of the data blocks associated with the at least one file includes:
dividing time from the start time to the current time into multiple time intervals,
determining that the first accessed time is within a first time interval and the second accessed time is within a second time interval; and
if it is determined that the first time interval is closer to the start time than the second time interval, or if it is determined that the first time interval is closer to the current time than the second time interval, determining that the first data block has a higher priority than that of the second data block.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the priorities of the data blocks associated with the at least one file includes:
if it is determined that a third data block is associated with a start file of a machine where the data to be backed up is located, setting a priority of the third data block to the highest priority.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indications and the offset addresses are stored in a table form.

7. A method for recovery, including:
receiving from a second storage device an indication of a first priority and an indication of a second priority that are related to data to be recovered, wherein the first priority is associated with a first set of data blocks, the second priority is associated with a second set of data blocks, and the first priority is higher than the second priority;
receiving the first set of data blocks from the second storage device;
receiving, after the first set of data blocks is completely received, the second set of data blocks from the second storage device;
determining a first set of offset addresses of the first set of data blocks;
requesting the first set of data blocks from the second storage device using the first set of offset addresses;
determining a second set of offset addresses of the second set of data blocks; and
requesting the second set of data blocks from the second storage device using the second set of offset addresses.

8. The method of claim 7 , further including:
storing, in a first storage device, the data blocks received from the second storage device; and
recording the stored data blocks in a data block table at the first storage device.

9. The method of claim 8 , further including:
searching the data block table for a data block to be accessed; and
accessing the data block to be accessed from the first storage device if the data block to be accessed has been recorded in the data block table; otherwise, requesting the data block to be accessed from the second storage device.

10. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable program code, which when executed by a computer processor enables the computer processor to perform a method for backup, the method comprising:
determining, based on attributes of at least one of one or more files included in data to be backed up, priorities of data blocks associated with the at least one file: and
storing the data to be backed up and indications of the determined priorities of the data blocks to a second storage device, wherein storing the indications of the determined priorities of the data blocks to the second storage device includes:
storing the indications and offset addresses of the data blocks in an associated manner to the second storage device.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the data to be backed up is included in a virtual disk device, and the method further includes:
generating a metadata file including the attributes of the at least one file using a file system of the virtual disk device.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the attributes include an accessed time of the at least one file, and determining the priorities of the data blocks associated with the at least one file includes:
determining a start time of a machine where the data to be backed up is located and a current time; and
if it is determined that a first accessed time of a first file associated with a first data block is closer to the start time than a second accessed time of a second file associated with a second data block, or if it is determined that the first accessed time is closer to the current time than the second accessed time, determining that the first data block has a higher priority than that of the second data block.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein determining the priorities of the data blocks associated with the at least one file includes:
dividing time from the start time to the current time into multiple time intervals,
determining that the first accessed time is within a first time interval and the second accessed time is within a second time interval; and
if it is determined that the first time interval is closer to the start time than the second time interval, or if it is determined that the first time interval is closer to the current time than the second time interval, determining that the first data block has a higher priority than that of the second data block.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein determining the priorities of the data blocks associated with the at least one file includes:
if it is determined that a third data block is associated with a start file of a machine where the data to be backed up is located, setting a priority of the third data block to the highest priority.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the indications and the offset addresses are stored in a table form.

Assignees

• Emc Ip Holding Co Llc

Inventors

• Liao mengze
• Su Lihui
• Liu Weiyang
• Zhang Yun
• Liang Yujun

Classifications

• G06F3/0665

  at area level, e.g. provisioning of virtual or logical volumes · CPC title

• G06F11/1464

  for networked environments · CPC title

• G06F11/1451

  by selection of backup contents · CPC title

• G06F11/1484

  involving virtual machines · CPC title

• G06F3/0619 Primary

  in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors · CPC title