Granular Restore from Volume Image Backup
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for data recovery from volume image backups offer limited granular restore capabilities, requiring significant development effort to reverse engineer application file structures and create specialized code for each application.
Innovation Solution
A method that boots a volume image backup into a virtual environment, allowing a backup manager to interact with a backup system agent to retrieve and restore selected application objects using live APIs, drivers, and tools, leveraging existing backup and restore capabilities for granular restore operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If reverse engineering is used to provide granular recovery capability for specific applications, then granular restore capability is improved, but development effort and time increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the backup recovery process into two distinct modes: volume image backup mode for complete system backups, and application-aware granular restore mode for selective object recovery. This segmentation allows the system to maintain both comprehensive backup capability and targeted recovery capability without requiring reverse engineering for each application.
Solution Approach 2:
The backup system is designed with multi-functionality to perform both volume image backup and application-aware granular restore operations using the same infrastructure. The system can operate as a general-purpose backup solution while also providing application-specific granular recovery without requiring separate reverse-engineered solutions for each application.
2Ease of manufacture
If volume image backup is used to backup large volumes of data, then storage efficiency and simplicity are improved, but granular restore capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a nested structure where application objects and their metadata are embedded within the volume image backup framework. This allows the granular restore capability to be nested within the broader volume backup system, enabling selective recovery of application objects while maintaining the simplicity of volume-based backup operations.
Solution Approach 2:
An intermediary layer of application-aware metadata is introduced between the volume image backup and the restore process. This metadata layer provides information about application objects, their structures, and relationships, enabling granular restore operations without compromising the simplicity of the underlying volume backup mechanism.
3Manufacturing precision
If specialized code is developed for each application to enable granular restore, then application-specific recovery precision is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the approach from developing application-specific code to utilizing application-provided parameters and interfaces. Applications expose their object structures and recovery requirements through standardized interfaces, allowing the backup system to adapt to different applications without requiring custom reverse-engineered code for each one.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for generically performing a granular restore operation from a volume image backup. A volume image backup may be booted into a virtual environment. Input may be received selecting one or more application objects of an application on the volume image backup for restore. The selected application object(s) may be retrieved from the volume image backup by a first backup system agent on the volume image backup. The selected application object(s) may be sent from the first backup system agent to a second backup system agent on a restore target. The selected application object(s) may be restored on the restore target by the second backup system agent.