Smart cataloging of excluded data

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11947424-B2
Application number	US-202217721388-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 15, 2022
Priority date	Apr 15, 2022
Publication date	Apr 2, 2024
Grant date	Apr 2, 2024

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention relate to generating backups of applications. The user or administrator that monitors the backup is notified of those files and/or folders that have not been backed up in the most recent backup. Further, embodiments of the invention enable alerts to be initiated when a particular file or folder has not been backed up over multiple backups or over a predetermined period. As a result, the user or administrator can have a better understanding of the protection and lack of protection that the present backups are providing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for performing a backup, the method comprising:
crawling a target file system of a target production host;
identifying, based on the crawling, files that will not be backed up;
identifying, for at least one file of the files that will not be backed up, a reason that the at least one file will not be backed up;
storing details of the files that will not be backed up to a separate file, wherein the details comprise a listing of the at least one file and the reason;
notifying, using the separate file, a user of the files that will not be backed up, wherein notifying comprises:
presenting a table on a graphical user interface that includes the details; and

performing the backup of remaining files, wherein the remaining files are not listed in the separate file, wherein performing the backup comprises:
generating a backup copy of the remaining files;
causing to store the backup copy in a backup storage device; and
causing to store the separate file in the backup storage device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reason comprises at least one of an access control reason, a prohibition reason, an exclusion list reason, a permission reason, and a storage size reason.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the table includes an indication of when each of the files that will not be backed up was last backed up.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the notifying the user comprises alerting a user when an individual file of the files that will not be backed up has not been backed up in a predetermined amount of time.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the predetermined amount of time is set by the user.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the predetermined amount of time is specified on a per-file type basis.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the separate file is one of a database or a meta-data file stored with the backup in a backup storage device.

8. 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 performing a backup, the method comprising:
crawling a target file system of a target production host;
identifying, based on the crawling, files that will not be backed up;
identifying, for at least one file of the files that will not be backed up, a reason that the at least one file will not be backed up;
storing details of the files that will not be backed up to a separate file, wherein the details comprise a listing of the at least one file and the reason;
notifying, using the separate file, a user of the files that will not be backed up, wherein notifying comprises:
presenting a table on a graphical user interface that includes the details; and

performing the backup of remaining files, wherein the remaining files are not listed in the separate file, wherein performing the backup comprises:
generating a backup copy of the remaining files;
causing to store the backup copy in a backup storage device; and

causing to store the separate file in the backup storage device.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the reason comprises at least one of an access control reason, a prohibition reason, an exclusion list reason, a permission reason, and a storage size reason.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the table includes an indication of when each of the files that will not be backed up was last backed up.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the notifying the user comprises of alerting a user when an individual file of the files that will not be backed up, has not been backed up in a predetermined amount of time.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the predetermined amount of time is set by the user.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11 , wherein the predetermined amount of time is specified on a per-file type basis.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the separate file is one of a database or a meta-data file stored with the backup in a backup storage device.

15. A system comprising:
a storage device associated with a target production host which includes a target file system comprising of folders and files;
a processor; and
memory comprising instructions, which when executed by the processor, perform a method for performing a backup comprising:
crawling the target file system of the target production host;
identifying, based on the crawling, files that will not be backed up;
identifying, for at least one file of the files that will not be backed up, a reason that the at least one file will not be backed up;
storing details of the files that will not be backed up to a separate file, wherein the details comprise a listing of the at least one file and the reason;

notifying, using the separate file, a user of the files that will not be backed up, wherein notifying comprises:
presenting a table on a graphical user interface that includes the details; and

performing the backup of remaining files, wherein the remaining files are not listed in the separate file, wherein performing the backup comprises:
generating a backup copy of the remaining files;
causing to store the backup copy in a backup storage device; and
causing to store the separate file in the backup storage device.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the reason comprises at least one of an access control reason, a prohibition reason, an exclusion list reason, a permission reason, and a storage size reason.

17. The system of claim 15 , wherein the notifying the user comprises alerting a user when an individual file of the files that will not be backed up has not been backed up in a predetermined amount of time.

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Chopra Shelesh
• Yadav Sunil
• Sharma Manish
• Bansal Aaditya

Classifications

• G06F11/1451 Primary

  by selection of backup contents · CPC title

• G06F2201/84

  Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data · CPC title

• G06F11/1461

  Backup scheduling policy · CPC title