Diagnosing errors in data storage and archiving in a cloud or networking environment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016253254-A1
Application number	US-201514743790-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 18, 2015
Priority date	Feb 27, 2015
Publication date	Sep 1, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system for assisting in diagnosing or troubleshooting an information management system technical problem includes, in some examples, an interface with selectable options, which assist in diagnosing or troubleshooting the technical problem. Via the interface, a software developer or troubleshooting representative can select one or more of the options. For example, a software developer may select an option to automatically receive log data from a component of an information management system that has failed. Other features are also disclosed. The system also comprises functionality for configuring a target system to allow for certain system data about data storage operations to be transmitted to a cloud location from where the data may be accessed for troubleshooting.

First claim

I/We claim:

1 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium carrying instructions to perform a method for diagnosing or troubleshooting software running on a data storage system, the method comprising:
automatically receiving, at a developer system, an indication that a technical issue exists in the data storage system,
wherein the developer system is geographically remote from the data storage system,
wherein the technical issue relates to data management software running on the data storage system, and
wherein the developer system is associated with a company that developed the data management software;
providing, at the developer system, a developer interface for assisting in diagnosing or troubleshooting the technical issue in the data storage system,
wherein the developer interface includes selectable options for viewing or retrieving information relevant to the technical issue in the data storage system,
wherein the information relevant to the technical issue in the data storage system is automatically received from the data storage system,
wherein the information automatically received from the data storage system is provided after the developer system is provided permission to automatically receive the information from the data storage system,
wherein one selectable option of the selectable options is to view or retrieve at least one log file from the data storage system, and
wherein the at least one log file includes details of operations that occurred, are occurring, or will occur in the data storage system; and

receiving, at the developer system via the developer interface, a selection of at least one selectable option to at least partially view or retrieve the information relevant to the technical issue in the data storage system.

2 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
providing, via the interface, a selectable option to activate a virtual machine with the information relevant to the data storage system issue, wherein the virtual machine is capable simulating the technical issue in the data storage system.

3 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
providing, via the developer interface, a selectable option to be notified when information relevant to the data storage system is ready to be viewed or retrieved; providing, via the developer interface, a notification that the information relevant to the data storage system issue is available to view or retrieve.

4 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the developer interface permits a developer to find and view log files based on a specific job identifier, wherein the job identifier is related to a specific data backup job that failed to execute in the data storage system.

5 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises: providing, via the interface, a selectable option to escalate the data storage system technical issue to a team of experts or a supervisor.

6 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
pre-populating the interface with a selection to retrieve information related to a specific issue the data storage system is experiencing or has experienced.

7 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the interface includes options to select to download files or log files for a specific media agent in the data storage system.

8 . A method for assisting in troubleshooting an information management system, the method comprising:
automatically receiving, at a troubleshooting system, an indication that the information management system is experiencing or has experienced a technical problem; providing, at the troubleshooting system, an interface for diagnosing or troubleshooting the information management system technical problem,
wherein the interface includes selectable options for receiving technical information related to the technical problem of the information management system,
wherein the interface automatically provides the technical information to the troubleshooting system,
wherein one selectable option of the selectable options is to at least partially view or retrieve a log from the information management system, and
wherein the log includes details of information management operations that occurred, are occurring, or will occur in the information management system; and

receiving, via the interface, a selection of at least one selectable option to receive selected information related to the information management system technical problem.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising: providing, via the interface, a selectable option to activate a virtual machine with the technical information related to the information management system technical problem.

10 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
providing, via the interface, a selectable option to notify a user of the interface when related information to the information management system is ready to be viewed or retrieved; displaying, via the interface, a notification that the information related to the information management system technical problem is available to view or retrieve.

11 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
providing a selectable option to retrieve information related to the information management technical problem on a cloud network.

12 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
providing, via the interface, a selectable option to escalate the information management system technical problem to a team of experts or a supervisor.

13 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
pre-populating or pre-selecting a selectable option to retrieve information related to the information management system technical problem the system is experiencing or has experienced.

14 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium carrying instructions to perform a method for assisting in diagnosing or troubleshooting an information management system technical problem, the method comprising:
providing, at a client computer device system, a customer interface for the information management system,
wherein the user interface, the user system, and the information management system are geographically remote from a troubleshooting system;
providing, via the customer interface, a menu with selectable options,
wherein the selectable options include an option to provide permission to automatically send technical information from the information management system to the troubleshooting system,
wherein the technical information relates to the information management system technical problem, and
wherein the selectable options include an option that allows a user to determine what type of technical information will be sent and when it will be sent,
wherein the type of technical information includes information management system log data, and
wherein the information management system log data includes details of information management operations that occurred, are occurring, or will occur in the information management system.

15 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the selectable option that allows a user to determine what type of technical information will be sent and when it will be sent further includes a selectable option to send documents, files, or job specific information related to the information management system technical problem.

16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim

Assignees

• Commvault Systems Inc

Inventors

• Krishnan Praveen Kumar
• Gokhale Parag

Classifications

• G06F11/3612 Primary

  by runtime analysis (performance monitoring G06F11/3466) · CPC title

• G06F11/0766

  Error or fault reporting or storing · CPC title

• G06F11/0709

  in a distributed system consisting of a plurality of standalone computer nodes, e.g. clusters, client-server systems · CPC title