Backing up a computer application

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9898372-B2
Application number	US-201314029911-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 18, 2013
Priority date	Sep 18, 2013
Publication date	Feb 20, 2018
Grant date	Feb 20, 2018

Abstract

A method and associated systems for backing up a target computer application that comprises identifying and backing up databases and other information repositories upon which the target application depends. The target application is identified and related to a backup requirement that specifies a minimum application-backup frequency. The application's “dependencies” are automatically identified from sources that include configuration files, where each dependency identifies one or more databases or other information repositories that store information upon which the application directly or indirectly depends. If any of these databases or repositories is associated with a backup frequency less than the application's minimum backup frequency, the database or repository is flagged. Each flagged entity's backup schedule is then revised so that the flagged entity's backup frequency is equal to or greater than the application's minimum backup frequency.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for managing backup of databases providing data directly or indirectly to a first application, the method comprising the steps of:
identifying, by one or more processors, from a configuration file for the first application, that a second application has been queried by the first application because the first application must obtain from the second application data necessary for the first application to respond to requests submitted by a user to the first application;
selecting, by the one or more processors, a database that must be accessed by the second application in order for the second application to respond to the query by the first application;
verifying, by the one or more processors, that a current backup frequency for the database is a function of a dependency between the first application and the second application;
determining, by the one or more processors in response to the verifying, the current backup frequency for the database accessed by the second application;
further determining, by the one or more processors, whether the current backup frequency for the database accessed by the second application is greater than or equal to a minimum backup frequency specified for databases used directly or indirectly by the first application, and if not, generating an electronic notification that the backup frequency of the database accessed by the second application should be increased to at least the minimum backup frequency; and
generating an electronic notification that the current backup frequency for the database accessed by the second application should be altered in response to the determining.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the electronic notification is a request to a database manager of the database accessed by the second application to automatically increase the backup frequency of the database accessed by the second application to the minimum backup frequency.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the configuration file is selected from the list comprising a data dictionary, a network-management document, a topology map, an ontology of a knowledgebase, a database log, a document created by an infrastructure-discovery tool, a document created by an application-discovery tool, a business-process model, a workflow diagram, a disaster-recovery plan, and a service registry of a computing system implemented as a service-oriented architecture.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dependency is a function of a business consideration or goal.

5. The method of claim 1 , where the identifying comprises correlating data retrieved from multiple management-information sources, where a source of the multiple management-information sources is chosen from the group comprising a server-management system, a storage-management system, a network-management system, an asset-management system, and a backup-management system, where the correlating comprises reconciling identities of entities described by the multiple management information sources, and where the correlating further comprises performing a statistical confidence-interval analysis upon the retrieved data in order to further identify extrapolated information unavailable from the multiple management-information sources.

6. The method of claim 1 , where a database may comprise a combination of local and remote information repositories, file systems, software applications, backup mechanisms, virtual or physical computing resources, workflow documentation, and system documentation.

7. A computer program product for managing backup of databases providing data directly or indirectly to a first application, the computer program product comprising:
a computer-readable storage device and computer-readable program code stored on the storage device, the program code comprising:
program code for identifying, by one or more processors, from a configuration file for the first application, that a second application has been queried by the first application because the first application must obtain from the second application data necessary for the first application to respond to requests submitted by a user to the first application;
program code for selecting, by the one or more processors, a database that must be accessed by the second application in order for the second application to respond to the query by the first application;
program code for verifying, by the one or more processors, that a current backup frequency for the database is a function of a dependency between the first application and the second application;
program code for determining, by the one or more processors in response to the verifying, the current backup frequency for the database accessed by the second application;
program code for further determining, by the one or more processors, whether the current backup frequency for the database accessed by the second application is greater than or equal to a minimum backup frequency specified for databases used directly or indirectly by the first application, and if not, generating an electronic notification that the backup frequency of the database accessed by the second application should be increased to at least the minimum backup frequency; and
program code for generating an electronic notification that the current backup frequency for the database accessed by the second application should be altered in response to the determining.

8. The computer program product of claim 7 wherein the electronic notification is a request to a database manager of the database accessed by the second application to automatically increase the backup frequency of the database accessed by the second application to the minimum backup frequency.

9. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein the configuration file is selected from the list comprising a data dictionary, a network-management document, a topology map, an ontology of a knowledgebase, a database log, a document created by an infrastructure-discovery tool, a document created by an application-discovery tool, a business-process model, a workflow diagram, a disaster-recovery plan, and a service registry of a computing system implemented as a service-oriented architecture.

10. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein the dependency is a function of a business consideration or goal.

11. The computer program product of claim 7 , where the identifying comprises correlating data retrieved from multiple management-information sources, where a source of the multiple management-information sources is chosen from the group comprising a server-management system, a storage-management system, a network-management system, an asset-management system, and a backup-management system, where the correlating comprises reconciling identities of entities described by the multiple management information sources, and where the correlating further comprises performing a statistical confidence-interval analysis upon the retrieved data in order to further identify extrapolated information unavailable from the multiple management-information sources.

12. The computer program product of claim 7 , where a database may comprise a combination of local and remote information repositories, file systems, software applications, backup mechanisms, virtual or physical computing resources, workflow documentation, and system documentation.

13. A computer system comprising:
a processor, a memory coupled to one or more processors, and a computer-readable storage device coupled to the one or more processors via the memory, and program code that is stored in the storage device and when executed by the one or more processors, performs the steps of:
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Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Brewer Billy S
• Heywood Patrick B
• Klingenberg Bernhard J
• Mandagere Nagapramod S
• Pantridge Steven
• Routray Ramani R

Classifications

• G06F16/22

  Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures · CPC title

• G06F11/1461

  Backup scheduling policy · CPC title

• G06F11/1458 Primary

  Management of the backup or restore process · CPC title

• G06F2201/80

  Database-specific techniques · CPC title

• G06F11/1474

  in transactions (updating of structured data in databases G06F16/23) · CPC title