Browsing federated backups

A data backup and recovery system for performing federated backups, the system comprising:

• a source storage system including a plurality of storage devices, the plurality of storage devices coupled to a plurality of nodes including a primary node and a plurality of secondary nodes, the plurality of storage devices including a first availability group and a second availability group;
• a backup server configured to manage backing up of the plurality of storage devices associated with the source storage system, the backup server to initiate the backing up of the plurality of storage devices via primary backup logic on the primary node, wherein the primary backup logic initializes a backup session for each of a first backup on the first availability group and a second backup on the second availability group, and direct a first set of backup nodes selected from the plurality of secondary nodes to create the first backup of a first dataset on the first availability group on the plurality of storage devices and direct a second set of backup nodes from the plurality of secondary nodes to create the second backup of a second dataset on the second availability group on the plurality of storage devices to perform backup operations and to generate a unique identifier associated with the backup session;
• wherein the backup server uses a backup algorithm to assign a portion of the first backup to each node in the first set of backup nodes, and assign a portion of the second backup to each node in the second set of backup nodes, wherein the backup algorithm is based on one or more of a plurality of criteria including a specified backup schedule and a size of data associated with the backup;
• wherein each node in the first set of backup nodes and the second set of backup nodes stores the unique identifier associated with their respective backup session in an index of the portion of the backup performed by the each node of the first set of backup nodes and the second set of backup nodes;
• and
• wherein the first backup and the second backup are performed concurrently, wherein the second backup for the plurality of storage devices is performed before the first backup for the plurality of storage devices is completed, wherein each of the first backup and the second backup when completed includes a plurality of separately indexed backups of data on the plurality of storage devices;
• displaying a consolidated view of the first backup or the second backup based on the respective unique identifier, the consolidated view representing separate backups generated by the first set of backup nodes or the second set of backup nodes.

The method of performing federated backups, the method comprising:

• receiving a request to back up data from a plurality of nodes of a source storage system, the plurality of nodes communicatively coupled to a backup server configured to manage backup of a plurality of storage devices associated with the source storage system, the plurality of nodes including a primary node and a plurality of secondary nodes, the plurality of storage devices including a first availability group and a second availability group;
• in response to the request, selecting a first set of backup nodes from the plurality of secondary nodes to create a first backup of a first dataset on the first availability group on the plurality of storage devices, and selecting a second set of backup nodes from the plurality of secondary nodes to create a second backup of a second dataset on the second availability group on the plurality of storage devices;
• initializing a backup session for each of the first backup and the second backup and generating a unique identifier associated with the backup session;
• assigning, using a backup algorithm, a portion of the first backup to each node in the first set of backup nodes, and assigning, using the backup algorithm, a portion of the second backup to each node in the second set of backup nodes, wherein the backup algorithm is based on a plurality of criteria including a specified backup schedule and a size of data associated with the backup, wherein each node in the first set of backup nodes and the second set of backup nodes stores the unique identifier associated with their respective backup session in an index of the portion of the backup performed by the each node of the first set backup nodes and the second set of backup nodes;
• and
• performing the first backup and the second backup concurrently, wherein the second backup for the plurality of storage devices is performed via the first set of backup nodes before completing the first backup, wherein each of the first backup and the second backup when completed includes a plurality of separately indexed backups of selected data on the first data set or the second data set on the plurality of storage devices;
• displaying a consolidated view of the first backup or the second backup based on the respective unique identifier, the consolidated view representing separate backups generated by the first set of backup nodes or the second set of backup nodes.