Remote backup and restore

摘要

In one embodiment of the present invention, a data-backup method includes partitioning a fingerprint namespace among a cluster of backup servers, the fingerprint namespace comprising fingerprints for representing units of data, each backup server of the cluster of backup servers managing units of data having fingerprints corresponding to an assigned partition of the fingerprint namespace. The method further includes receiving backup information from a client computing device for a block of data comprising units of data, the backup information including at least a fingerprint for each of the units of data and client-specific backup information. In addition, the method includes, utilizing the fingerprint for each of the units of data, deduplicating the units of data in parallel at the cluster of backup servers in accordance with the partitioning step, the deduplicating step comprising identifying ones of the units data already stored by the cluster of backup servers.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
receiving backup information from a client computing device for a block of data comprising chunks of data, the backup information including at least a fingerprint for each of the chunks and client-specific backup information, the client-specific backup information having been created on the client computing device using a process comprising:
dividing data files of the block of data into the chunks;applying a cryptographic hash to each of the chunks, thereby creating a fingerprint of contents of each of the chunks;creating a chunk tree of the block of data, wherein each chunk tree includes at least a root chunk;compiling and preserving file metadata using a process that includes at least, for each file data of the block of data, packaging the root chunk of a corresponding chunk tree with metadata about the data file; andcreating a backup tree for the block of data based on a result of the compiling and preserving; and utilizing the fingerprint for each of the chunks of data, deduplicating the chunks of data in parallel at a cluster of backup servers in accordance with a fingerprint namespace comprising a universe of fingerprints for representing data chunks, each backup server of the cluster of backup servers managing data chunks having fingerprints corresponding to an assigned partition of the fingerprint namespace, the deduplicating comprising identifying ones of the chunks of data already stored by the cluster of backup servers.