Backup Analysis Tool for Application Data Evaluation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Secondary storage systems face challenges in evaluating and managing application-level data stored in multiple backup copies, as each snapshot has its own encoding and storage format, making it difficult to access and analyze data at an application level for regulatory compliance or data removal purposes.
Innovation Solution
A backup analysis tool uses application programming interfaces (APIs) to reconstruct and interpret backup objects, allowing for the evaluation of application-level data by piercing the encoding format and structure of the secondary storage system, enabling search, analysis, and data modification at a granular level.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the secondary storage system stores multiple backups in its own encoding and storage format, then data protection and backup capabilities are improved, but data accessibility and ease of evaluation at application level deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a backup analysis tool as an intermediary component that sits between the secondary storage system and users. This tool translates the proprietary backup formats into accessible application-level data representations, allowing users to evaluate backup contents without needing to understand or work with the complex internal encoding formats of the storage system.
Solution Approach 2:
The backup analysis tool segments the backup evaluation process into distinct layers: it separately handles the storage system's encoding format, the backup structure, and the application-level data format. This segmentation allows each layer to be processed independently, making the overall system more manageable and accessible while preserving data protection.
2Productivity
If the secondary storage system uses proprietary encoding and storage formats for backups, then storage efficiency and system integrity are improved, but ease of data removal and compliance evaluation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The backup analysis tool serves as a mediator that enables data removal operations without requiring direct manipulation of the proprietary storage formats. It provides an application-level interface for identifying and removing specific data, compliance with regulations, while the actual storage operations continue to use the efficient proprietary formats.
3Adaptability or versatility
If administrators manually evaluate each backup snapshot to remove specific content, then data control capability is improved, but time consumption and operational complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The backup analysis tool enables self-service evaluation of backup data by providing automated capabilities to search, analyze, and evaluate backup contents at the application level. Administrators can specify search criteria and the tool automatically processes multiple snapshots, identifying and facilitating removal of specific content without requiring manual inspection of each backup.
Solution Approach 2:
The tool performs preliminary evaluation and analysis of backup data before actual data removal operations. It pre-identifies content that matches removal criteria across multiple snapshots, allowing administrators to make informed decisions about what to remove and streamlining the subsequent deletion process.
Data Source
AI summary
Application-level data in a storage system are evaluated. For example, a backup analysis tool retrieves a backup object stored in the storage system. The backup analysis tool reconstructs an application object from the backup object. The backup analysis tool accesses the first application object according to a native application format associated with the first object.