System and method for analyzing file system data using a virtual file system generated using a metadata backup

A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable program code, which when executed by a computer processor enables the computer processor to perform a method for managing data, the method comprising:

• obtaining, by a file system metadata manager, a data access request for a file system managed by a client environment (CE), wherein the data access request is obtained from an analytics engine operating on a cloud environment that is external to the CE, wherein the data access request specifies providing a virtual file system (VFS) to the analytics engine;
• in response to the data access request:
• obtaining a metadata backup, wherein the metadata backup is associated with the file system;
• extracting file system metadata from the metadata backup;
• in order to remove a need to access the file system directly from the CE, generating, using the file system metadata, the VFS associated with the file system, wherein the VFS is stored in the cloud environment, wherein the VFS comprises at least a pointer to a file of the file system based on a file path of the file;
• and
• providing the VFS to the analytics engine,
• wherein the analytics engine performs an analysis on the file system using the VFS.

A system comprising:

• a processor,
• a file system metadata manager operating on the processor;
• an analytics engine,
• wherein the file system metadata manager is programmed to:
• obtain a data access request for a file system managed by a client environment (CE), wherein the data access request is obtained from the analytics engine operating on a cloud environment that is external to the CE, wherein the data access request specifies providing a virtual file system (VFS) to the analytics engine;
• in response to the data access request:
• obtain a metadata backup, wherein the metadata backup is associated with the file system;
• extract file system metadata from the metadata backup;
• in order to remove a need to access the file system directly from the CE, generate, using the file system metadata, the VFS associated with the file system, wherein the VFS is stored in the cloud environment, wherein the VFS comprises at least a pointer to a file of the file system based on a file path of the file;
• and
• provide the VFS to the analytics engine, wherein the analytics engine is programmed to:
• obtain access to the VFS;
• perform an analysis on the file system using the VFS to generate a processed result;
• and
• provide the processed result to an application.