US 7,412,433 B2 · Hierarchical storage management using dynamic tables of contents and sets of tables of contents

Abstract

A system, apparatus, and process creates a table of contents (TOC), including one or more table of contents (TOC) entries, to manage data in a hierarchical storage management system. Each TOC entry contains metadata describing the contents and attributes of a data object within an image, which is an aggregation of multiple data objects into a single object for storage management purposes. The TOC is stored in a storage hierarchy, such as magnetic disk, for fast access of and efficient operation on the aggregated TOC entries. The system, apparatus, and process also provide for aggregating the TOC entries from one or more TOCs into a TOC set in the storage management server database. The TOC set may be manipulated and queried in order to find a particular data object or image referenced by a TOC entry. The TOC entries, TOCs, and TOC sets may be dynamically managed by the hierarchical data storage management system through implementation of a set of policy management constructs that define appropriate creation, retention, and movement of the objects within the database and storage hierarchy.

Claims16

Dependent claims

An automated process for managing data in a hierarchical data storage system, the process comprising:

storing a plurality of data objects in an image in a storage hierarchy, the image configured as a single object to a storage management system, wherein pluralities of data objects are stored to a plurality of images, each image having an image descriptor comprising a name, a client identifier, a table of contents identifier, a storage pool of the image, a storage volume of the image, a location of the image, and a size of the image;
generating a table of contents for each image, each table of contents containing a plurality of entries and comprising the table of contents identifier, each entry comprising information describing characteristics of one of the data objects within the image, the information comprising a data object name, a client path, a data object size, a data object location, permission rights, and a data object version;
generating a table of contents set (TOC set) comprising TOC set descriptor and a plurality of tables of contents, the TOC set descriptor comprising a handle field that identifies the TOC set, a time stamp field that identifies a time stamp associated with the most recent access of the TOC, a table of contents identification list field that identifies data objects that have been accessed and merged in the TOC set, a table of contents count field that identifies a total number of table contents accessed, and a table of contents entry count field that identifies a total number of table of content entries that have been accessed and merged into the TOC set;
dynamically managing a storage location of each table of contents;
and
copying a plurality of entries from at least one of the tables of contents in the storage hierarchy to a storage server database that is a database attendant to the storage management system.

3 more elements

An automated process for managing data in a hierarchical data storage system, the process comprising:

storing a plurality of data objects in an image in a storage hierarchy, the image configured as a single object to a storage management system, wherein pluralities of data objects are stored to a plurality of images, each image having an image descriptor comprising a name, a client identifier, a table of contents identifier, storage pool of the image, a storage volume of the image, a location of the image, and a size of the image;
generating a table of contents for each image, each table of contents containing a plurality of entries and comprising the table of contents identifier, each entry comprising information describing characteristics of one of the data objects within the image, the information comprising data object name, a client path, a data object size, a data object location, permission rights, and a data object version;
generating a TOC set comprising a TOC set descriptor and a plurality of tables of contents, the TOC set descriptor comprising a handle field that identifies the TOC set, a time stamp field that identifies a time stamp associated with the most recent access of the TOC, a table of contents identification list field that identifies data objects that have been accessed and merged in the TOC set, a table of contents count field that identifies a total number of table of contents accessed, and a table of contents entry count field that identifies a total number of table of content entries that have been accessed and merged into the TOC set;
dynamically managing a storage location of each table of contents within the storage hierarchy, within a storage server database, and between the storage hierarchy and the database according to a policy;
moving each table of contents from a first storage media within the storage hierarchy to a second storage media within the storage hierarchy according to a policy;
and
copying a plurality of entries from at least one of the tables of contents in the storage hierarchy to a storage server database that is a database attendant to the storage management system.

4 more elements

A process in a hierarchical data storage management system for merging a plurality of entries from one or more tables of contents to form a TOC set for enhanced query performance in a data storage system, the process comprising:

storing a plurality of data objects in an image in a storage hierarchy, the image configured as a single object to a storage management system, wherein pluralities of data objects are stored to a plurality of images, each image having an image descriptor comprising a name, a client identifier, a table of contents identifier, storage pool of the image, a storage volume of the image, a location of the image, and a size of the image;
generating a table of contents for each image, each table of contents containing a plurality of entries and comprising the table of contents identifier, each entry comprising information describing characteristics of one of the data objects within the image, the information comprising a data object name, a client path, a data object size, a data object location, permission rights, and a data object version;
generating a TOC set comprising a TOC set descriptor and a plurality of tables of contents, the TOC set descriptor comprising a handle field that identifies the TOC set, a time stamp field that identifies a time stamp associated with the most recent access of the TOC, a table of contents identification list field that identifies data objects that have been accessed and merged in the TOC set, a table of contents count field that identifies a total number of table of contents accessed, and a table of contents entry count field that identifies a total number of table of content entries that have been accessed and merged into the TOC set;
copying a plurality of entries from at least one of the tables of contents in the storage hierarchy to a storage server database that is a database attendant to the storage management system;
and
merging the entries from the at least one table of contents into a searchable database table in the storage server database.

3 more elements

storing a plurality of data objects in an image in a storage hierarchy, the image configured as a single object to a storage management system, wherein pluralities of data objects are stored to a plurality of images, each image having an image descriptor comprising a name, a client identifier, a table of contents identifier, storage pool of the image, a storage volume of the image, a location of the image, and a size of the image;
generating a table of contents for each image, each table of contents containing a plurality of entries and comprising the table of contents identifier, each entry comprising information describing characteristics of one of the data objects within the image, the information comprising a data object name, a client path, a data object size, a data object location, permission rights, and a data object version;
generating a TOC set comprising a TOC set descriptor and a plurality of tables of contents, the TOC set descriptor comprising a handle field that identifies the TOC set, a time stamp field that identifies a time stamp associated with the most recent access of the TOC, a table of contents identification list field that identifies data objects that have been accessed and merged in the TOC set, a table of contents count field that identifies a total number of table of contents accessed, and a table of contents entry count field that identifies a total number of table of content entries that have been accessed and merged into the TOC set;
copying a plurality of entries from at least one of the tables of contents in the storage hierarchy to a storage server database that is a database attendant to the storage management system;
merging the entries from the at least one table of contents into a searchable database table in the storage server database, including preserving a version relationship of a data object having more than one corresponding entry in a plurality of tables of contents;
identifying the TOC set with a token;
storing the token in a storage location for future identification of and access to the TOC set;
allowing the TOC set to be extended by adding the entries of an additional table of contents from the storage hierarchy;
allowing the TOC set to be retracted by excluding the entries from one of the tables of contents from the TOC set;
and
retaining the TOC set in the storage server database according to a policy.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Hierarchical storage management using dynamic tables of contents and sets of tables of contents

Life of this patent

Hierarchical storage management using dynamic tables of contents and sets of tables of contents

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims16