Data management system for detecting changes in a data management system

A system comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for conducting an incremental backup of a source data base, the instructions when executed by the processor cause the processor to:
• receive a request to identify whether content of a first file directory in a NAS (network attached storage) system is different from content of a second file directory, the first file directory comprising at least one or more files and at least one or more file directories;
• issue a direct call to the NAS system wherein the direct call does not trigger a call through a kernel, the direct call fetching a set of metadata associated with the first file directory;
• and
• determine a file in the first directory that comprises a change from the file in the second directory, wherein determining the file in the first directory that comprises a change from the file in the second directory comprises:
• retrieve, in a single call of the direct call to the NAS system, a collection of directory-level metadata for a first file directory, the directory-level metadata being metadata for a directory instead of a file, wherein the retrieval of the collection of the directory-level metadata is performed without retrieving individual file content and prior to comparing any specific file content;
• determine a first directory checksum derived from the directory-level metadata that is the metadata for the first file directory, wherein the first file directory comprises at least a file and a child file directory,
• compare the first directory checksum to a second directory checksum of the second file directory, and
• conduct, responsive to determining that the first and the second directory checksums match, an iterative search traversing through the first file directory.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for storing executable computer instructions for conducting an incremental backup of a data source, wherein the computer instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations, the instructions comprising instructions to:

• receive a request to identify one or more changes in a file system;
• retrieve, in a single call, a collection of directory-level metadata for a first file directory, the directory-level metadata being metadata for a directory instead of a file, wherein the retrieval of the collection of the directory-level metadata is performed without retrieving individual file content and prior to comparing any specific file content;
• determine a first directory checksum derived from the directory-level metadata that is the metadata for the first file directory, wherein the first file directory comprises at least a file and a child file directory;
• compare the first directory checksum to a second directory checksum of a second file directory;
• compare, responsive to determining that the first and the second directory checksums match, a first child directory checksum associated with the child file directory and a second child directory checksum associated with a respective child file directory in the second file directory;
• conduct, responsive to determining that the first and the second directory checksums match, an iterative search traversing through the first file directory;
• and
• identify a file that is different in the first file directory and the second file directory.