Dynamic resizing and re-distribution of destination data storage resources for bare metal restore operations in a data storage management system

A data storage management system comprising:

• a first computing device comprising one or more hardware processors and executing a media agent;
• and
• a target computing device comprising one or more hardware processors;
• wherein the first computing device is configured to:
• generate a first backup copy of source data stored at a first data storage resource;
• store the first backup copy to a second data storage resource;
• receive from a first data agent associated with the source data, a usage value that represents an amount of storage used by the source data at the first data storage resource;
• and
• back up a file associated with the first backup copy, wherein the file comprises the usage value, and wherein the file is stored in one or more of:
• the second data storage resource and the first computing device;
• wherein the target computing device is configured to:
• execute a second data agent downloaded from a boot disk;
• by one of one or more scripts downloaded from the boot disk, cause a soft reboot of the target computing device after the file has been restored thereto;
• by one of the one or more scripts, enumerate destination data storage available to the target computing device, wherein the destination data storage is distinct from the second data storage resource;
• by one of the one or more scripts, cause a logical volume manager to create a first logical volume at the destination data storage, wherein the first logical volume is sized to the usage value plus a pre-defined margin amount, which add up to less storage capacity than a storage capacity configured for the source data at the first data storage resource;
• execute the second data agent again after the soft reboot;
• restore the first backup copy from the second data storage resource, resulting in restored data stored at the first logical volume;
• mount the first logical volume to the target computing device;
• and
• by an application executing at the target computing device, natively access the restored data in the first logical volume.

A method for dynamically selecting downsized destination storage for bare metal restore operations, the method comprising:

• generating a first backup copy of source data stored at a first data storage resource comprising one or more data storage devices;
• after the generating of the first backup copy, determining a usage value that represents an amount of storage used by the source data at the first data storage resource;
• backing up a file comprising the usage value, wherein the file is associated with the first backup copy, and wherein the file is stored in at least one of:
• a second data storage resource that comprises the first backup copy, and a media agent that stored the first backup copy to the second data storage resource;
• at a target computing device comprising one or more hardware processors and computer memory, executing a data agent from a boot disk;
• restoring the file to the target computing device;
• causing a soft reboot of the target computing device;
• enumerating destination data storage devices available to the target computing device, wherein the destination data storage devices are distinct from the second data storage resource;
• based on the usage value obtained from the restored file at the target computing device, selecting a first destination data storage device that has storage capacity sufficient to accommodate the usage value plus a pre-defined margin amount and has less storage capacity than a storage capacity configured for the source data at the first data storage resource;
• executing the data agent again after the soft reboot;
• restoring the first backup copy from the second data storage resource, resulting in restored data stored at the first destination data storage device;
• mounting the first destination data storage device to the target computing device;
• by an application executing at the target computing device, natively accessing the restored data in the first destination data storage device;
• and
• wherein the source data is restored to the first destination data storage device based on using the usage value of the source data backed up in the file after the first backup copy is generated from the source data.