Using disassociated images for computer and storage resource management

#The present invention relates generally to computer storage and other computer resources. The invention provides tools and techniques used on one computer to browse or modify a copy of stored data from another computer, in order to help manage resources of that other computer. For classification purposes, it may also be helpful to note that computer operations discussed herein comprise taking inventory of computer state and components, communicating across a network, copying, indexing, loading, searching, and writing data, as well as data operations such as partition manipulation.

#A wide variety of tools and techniques are known for making backup copies of data stored on a computer's disk(s), and for restoring that data to those disk(s) or to their replacement(s) on the computer. For instance, data may be copied from a permanently installed local hard disk onto a removable medium, such as a floppy, an Iomega ZIP brand drive, or a USB portable disk drive that is temporarily attached to the computer. Data may also be copied over a network or other communications link, e.g., to archive client data on a server, or to mirror data from one server to another server. Data may be copied a few files at a time, or it may be copied in larger amounts in a file-by-file image or a sector-by-sector image. Data may be copied in a single snapshot or other archive that matches the computer's storage contents at a given point in time, in which case the snapshot may be subsequently supplemented by incremental images, to update the snapshot so that it matches the state of the computer's storage at later times. Data in a remote copy may also be continuously updated by a mirroring process, so a secondary computer's storage is updated each time a sector of data is written to a corresponding primary computer's storage.

#Often data is backed up simply as a precaution, so it can be restored if a hard drive fails or a virus corrupts it, for instance. If no disaster strikes, the backup copy is often not used. On occasion, data that has been backed up is also made available as a read-only copy. This can be done, for instance, using the V2i Protector product from PowerQuest Corporation, which provides a driver that lets users mount a sector-by-sector image file as a drive on a computer running a file system under a Microsoft Windows brand operating system. (V2I and V2I PROTECTOR are marks of PowerQuest Corporation). But in general, the data produced on one computer and then stored elsewhere as a backup is often simply stored and then left alone. The backup is rarely read, except to be restored to the computer on which it was originally produced. It is rarely written, except to be updated to match a more current active state of the computer that first produced it.

#To illustrate the manner in which the advantages and features of the invention are obtained, a more particular description of the invention will be given with reference to the attached drawings. These drawings only illustrate selected aspects of the invention and thus do not fully determine the invention's scope.

#FIG. 1 is a data flow diagram generally illustrating the present invention.

#FIG. 2 is a data flow diagram further illustrating some embodiments of the present invention.

#In describing the invention, the meaning of several important terms is clarified, so the claims must be read with careful attention to these clarifications. Specific examples are given to illustrate aspects of the invention, but those of skill in the relevant art(s) will understand that other examples may also fall within the meaning of the terms used, and hence within the scope of one or more claims. Important terms may be defined, either explicitly or implicitly, above, here in the Detailed Description, and/or elsewhere in the application file.

#Some Definitions and Examples

#An “ample image” is a copy of data stored at a computer, such as a backup copy, but not every backup copy is an ample image. An ample image contains at least file names, file contents, and sector allocation information. It may contain a boot sector. It may contain attributes of individual files and/or attributes of an entire file system, such as access permissions.