Cloud-based air-gapped data storage management system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022012134-A1
Application number	US-202017120555-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 14, 2020
Priority date	Jul 10, 2020
Publication date	Jan 13, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

An illustrative cloud-based air-gapped data storage management (destination) system obtains authorized access to other (source) systems' backup copies, replicates those copies within the destination system, parses supplemental metadata included in the source backup copies, and integrates the replica copies into the destination system as though natively created there. Replica copies are integrated as backup copies without first restoring the source backup copies to a native data format. The source system lacks knowledge of or connectivity with the destination system, thus maintaining an “air gap” between the systems. The destination system preferably operates in a cloud computing environment. The destination system uses supplemental metadata from the replica copies to re-create or mimic the source's computing environment and to restore backed up data from the replica copies. The destination system also operates as an autonomous analytics engine, applying value-added services to backed up data pulled from source system(s).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system comprising:
a source data storage management system that is configured to:
back up data generated by a data processing resource executing an application,
extract metadata from a first management database of the source data storage management system,
generate a first backup copy comprising a supplemental metadata portion comprising the extracted metadata and a backup portion comprising the data in a backup format that is distinct from a primary data format generated by the application at the data processing resource, and
store the first backup copy to a cloud computing environment, wherein the first backup copy is governed by the source data management system; and
a destination data storage management system configured in the cloud computing environment, wherein the destination data storage management system is configured to:
read the first backup copy stored in the cloud computing environment,
wherein the source data storage management system is distinct from and lacks information about the destination data storage management system,
replicate at least the backup portion of the first backup copy to generate a second backup copy,
store the second backup copy to a data storage resource at the cloud computing environment, wherein the second backup copy is governed by the destination data storage management system,
store at least some of the supplemental metadata to a second management database of the destination data storage management system, wherein the second management database comprises preferences for governing the second backup copy within the destination data storage management system,
restore data in the second backup copy to primary data in the cloud computing environment, wherein the primary data is in the primary data format of the application, and
cause a virtual machine instantiated in the cloud computing environment to consume the restored primary data.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the source data storage management system is further configured to: identify in the first management database certain metadata associated with one or more of: the data generated by the data processing resource, the data processing resource, and the application; and is further configured to: include the certain metadata in the supplemental metadata of the first backup copy.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the destination data storage management system is further configured to: integrate the second backup copy, which is based on the first backup copy, into the destination data storage management system without first restoring the data in the first backup copy.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the destination data storage management system is further configured to: apply policies to the second backup copy that are stored in the second management database.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the destination data storage management system is further configured to: check the second backup copy against aggregate information in the supplemental metadata.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the destination data storage management system is further configured to: use machine learning technology to determine whether the second backup copy is infected by ransomware.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the destination data storage management system is further configured to: apply sensitive data governance rules to the restored data.

8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the destination data storage management system is further configured to one or more of: apply a compliance search to the restored data, and apply e-discovery to the restored data.

9 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the destination data storage management system is further configured to: apply file optimization to the restored data.

10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the destination data storage management system is further configured to one or more of: perform file indexing of the second backup copy, and perform content indexing of the second backup copy.

11 . A method comprising:
by a source data storage management system:
backing up data generated by a data processing resource executing an application,
extracting metadata from a management database of the data storage management system,
generating a first backup copy comprising a supplemental metadata portion comprising the extracted metadata and a backup portion comprising the data in a backup format that is distinct from a primary data format generated by the application at the data processing resource, and
storing the first backup copy to a cloud computing environment, wherein the first backup copy is governed by the source data management system; and
by a destination data storage management system configured in the cloud computing environment:
reading the first backup copy stored in the cloud computing environment,
wherein the source data storage management system is distinct from and lacks information about the destination data storage management system,
based on at least some of the supplemental metadata, recognizing that the first backup copy is compatible with the destination data storage management system,
replicating the backup portion of the first backup copy generating a second backup copy by to generate a second backup copy without first restoring the data in the first backup copy, wherein the second backup copy is governed by the destination data storage management system and not by the source data storage management system, and
restoring data in the second backup copy to primary data in the cloud computing environment, wherein the primary data is in the primary data format of the application, and wherein an application executing on a virtual machine in the cloud computing environment consumes the restored primary data.

12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
storing the second backup copy to a data storage resource at the cloud computing environment; and storing the supplemental metadata to a second management database of the destination data storage management system, wherein the second management database comprises preferences for governing the second backup copy within the destination data storage management system.

13 . The method of claim 11 further comprising: by the destination data storage management system, integrating the second backup copy, which is based on the first backup copy, into the destination data storage management system without first restoring the data in the first backup copy to a primary data format.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the integrating is based at least in part on the destination data storage management system parsing the supplemental metadata.

15 . The method of claim 11 further comprising: by the destination data storage management system:
using information in the supplemental metadata to instantiate the virtual machine in the cloud computing environment, wherein the virtual machine corresponds to the data processing resource that generated the data in the first backup copy, and wherein the virtual machine is instantiated with a designation of the data processing resource found in the supplemental metadata.

16 . A method comprising:
by a destination data storage management system configured in a cloud computing environment: using an authentication technology to read at least part of supplemental metadata in a first backup copy that is stored in the cloud computing environment, wherein the first backup copy was generated and stored in the cloud computing environment by a source data storage management system that is disti

Assignees

• Commvault Systems Inc

Inventors

• Chatterjee Tirthankar
• Nara Prasad
• Vijayan Manoj Kumar

Classifications

• G06F11/1464 Primary

  for networked environments · CPC title

• G06F11/1453

  using de-duplication of the data · CPC title

• G06F11/1469

  Backup restoration techniques · CPC title

• G06F2201/86

  Event-based monitoring · CPC title

• G06F11/301

  where the computing system is a virtual computing platform, e.g. logically partitioned systems (virtual machines G06F9/45533; logical partitioning of resources G06F9/5077) · CPC title