Redundant backup elimination

摘要

A method, article of manufacture, and apparatus for efficiently restoring a target system are disclosed. In some embodiments, a set of computer systems to be restored to a common state is determined. An image is then created from a computer system from the set of computer systems. A profile is generated from each of the computer systems in the set of computer systems. A profile is associated with the image. The profiles and images are then stored in a storage device. The image may be modified. In some embodiments, software components are removed from the image. In some embodiments, software components are added to the image.

主权项

1. A method to backup multiple computer systems, comprising:
determining a set of computer systems to be restored to a common state; identifying a single computer system of the set of computer systems as a source computer system; identifying each remaining computer system of the set of computer systems as a target computer system; creating a single image for the source computer system; generating a profile from each of the computer systems in the set of computer systems, wherein the profile includes device driver information and configuration settings; associating a source profile generated from the source computer system with the single image; storing software components identified in the profiles in a software component repository; storing the profiles in a system profile database, wherein the system profile database is separate from the software component repository; comparing each generated profile to the source profile; creating a profile difference file for each generated profile, wherein the profile difference files comprises differences between the generated profile and the source profile; storing the single image in a storage device; modifying a copy of the single image based on the differences in the profile difference file; and storing the modified image on a target computer system from the set of computer systems.