Network Boot Bare Metal Recovery via Hybrid Cloud P2P
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional backup systems face challenges in efficiently restoring a client machine to a previous operational state, especially when physical media is lost or inaccessible, and they lack the capability to network boot across the Internet to retrieve OS images and data.
Innovation Solution
A network-based backup system that enables a client machine to perform a network boot from a cloud or local network, retrieving and restoring OS images and data from network data stores, reducing reliance on physical media and increasing restoration efficiency by utilizing a hybrid architecture that leverages both cloud and peer-to-peer storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional backup systems are used for system restoration, then physical media (CDs, DVDs, USB drives) are required to boot and restore the operating system, but this approach becomes problematic when physical media is lost, damaged, or inaccessible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical physical media boot system with a network-based boot system. Instead of requiring physical CDs, DVDs, or USB drives to boot and restore the operating system, the system enables direct network booting from remote servers through protocols like PXE. This substitution eliminates the dependency on physical media while maintaining restoration capability, directly resolving the contradiction between reliability and ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a network server as an intermediary between the client machine and the restoration process. The server hosts the operating system images and restoration data, mediating the boot and restore operations remotely. This intermediary enables the client to access restoration resources over the network without requiring local physical media, thereby improving both reliability and accessibility.
2Reliability
If complete system images are restored from remote network locations, then comprehensive system recovery is achieved, but network bandwidth consumption and latency increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the restoration process into distinct phases: network boot phase, system image retrieval phase, and data restoration phase. By dividing the complete system image into manageable components and restoring them in sequence, the system achieves comprehensive recovery while optimizing network resource usage at each stage, thereby reducing overall restoration time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary actions by pre-configuring the client machine with network boot capabilities and pre-positioning system images on remote servers. The network boot environment is prepared in advance with necessary drivers and restoration tools, allowing the actual restoration process to begin immediately upon network connection, thus reducing latency and acceleration the overall recovery time.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided herein are systems and methodologies for bare metal machine restoration of a client computing environment over a network-based backup system. System recovery can be performed by performing a network boot from a predetermined server or set of servers on the Internet and/or an associated local network, followed by retrieving information relating to an operating system and/or environment of a system being recovered, such as incremental or full operating system images. Upon retrieval of information, the information can be used to conduct a full restore of the operating environment of the computing device. Additionally, a user can restore personal or other system data following rebuilding of the system operating environment. A cloud-based structure is provided herein as well as a hybrid peer-to-peer/cloud-based structure, wherein information used in a restore can be obtained from a global network location (e.g., cloud server(s)) and/or from one or more local peers.