Methods and systems for validating accessibility and currency of replicated data

摘要

Systems and processes for determining and validating accessibility and currency, i.e., the actual status, of data replicated in a networked environment are disclosed. According to the disclosed process, a replicated-data policy for replicating data is defined, and access paths between network devices or between applications running on the network devices are monitored, for example, by a replicated-data monitor. Also monitored are the data replication activities in the network. The currency, i.e., timeliness, and accessibility of a replica by a network device is then compared with the requirements in the replicated-data policy and discrepancies with the replicated-data policy are identified, optionally accompanied by a notification.

主权项

1. A disaster recovery (DR) policy validation system, in communication with components connected in a network, the system comprising:
a network interface, communicably coupled to the network, wherein a component in the network includes one or more of a network device and an application running on a network device; a memory device, configured to store a DR policy for a data set stored in a network device, wherein the DR policy specifies a DR path type requirement, and a required redundancy of an access path; and a DR policy validation manager, electronically connected to the memory and to the network interface, configured to:
(a) using the network interface, monitor at least one access path associated with the data set, wherein an access path represents a data flow path through a sequence of components including the network device storing the data set and a component storing a replica of the data set,(b) determine a path type associated with each of the at least one access path, wherein the path type represents a sequence of component types corresponding to the sequence of components along the access path,(c) compare the path type associated with each of the at least one access path with the DR path type requirement for the data set stored in the memory device, and(d) indicate a violation if the DR path type requirement of the DR policy is violated.