Managing structured data in a data storage system

Abstract

According to certain aspects, a client computing system can be configured to map stored database data into a plurality of second data units having a second level of granularity larger than first data units; store a mapping of the second data units to the first data units; monitor writes to the database data by the database application; identify of the writes changed first data units of the first data units which have changed as a result of the writes; use the mapping to identify changed second data units of the second data units which each include at least one of the changed first data units; maintain a table listing the changed second data units; and in response to instructions to create a secondary copy of the database data, consult the table to identify the changed second data units, and forward the changed second data units to secondary storage controller computer(s).

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A data storage system configured to generate secondary copies of database data, comprising:
 a client computing system comprising computer hardware and having a database application executing thereon configured to generate structured database data corresponding to one or more files and which is stored on one or more storage devices in a primary storage subsystem, wherein the database application organizes the database data as a plurality of first data units having a first level of granularity; and   one or more secondary storage controller computers including computing hardware configured to copy data to one or more secondary storage devices in a secondary storage subsystem,   the client computing system configured to:
 map the stored database data into a plurality of second data units having a second level of granularity larger than the first data units; 
 store a mapping of the second data units to the first data units; 
 monitor writes to the database data by the database application; 
 identify, based on the monitoring, of the writes changed first data units of the first data units which have changed as a result of the writes; 
 use the mapping to identify changed second data units of the second data units which each include at least one of the changed first data units; 
 maintain a table listing the changed second data units; and 
 in response to instructions to create a secondary copy of the database data:
 consult the table to identify the changed second data units; and 
 forward the changed second data units to the one or more secondary storage controller computers. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the table includes the mapping of the second data units to the first data units. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the table includes the mapping of the second data units to the first data units for each of the one or more files. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the client computing system is further configured to detect a write operation by the database application using a filter driver associated with the database application. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein the client computing system is further configured to:
 determine one or more first data units affected by the write operation from a byte offset of the write operation; and   identify one or more second data units that include the one or more first data units using the mapping of the second data units to the first data units.   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the client computing system is further configured to detect a change to only metadata of a first file of the one or more files by obtaining a changed time of the first file and a modified time of the first file, wherein the changed time indicates a change to content or the metadata or both of the first file and the modified time indicates a change to the content of the first file. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the client computing system is further configured to determine that only the metadata of the first file is changed when the changed time is changed and the modified time is not changed. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the one or more secondary storage controller computers are further configured to, in response to the determination that only the metadata of the first file is changed, copy the metadata of the first file to a second data unit for storing metadata of files, the second data unit residing on the one or more storage devices in the secondary storage subsystem. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the client computing system is further configured to:
 obtain a first time of a first file of the one or more files that indicates a change to content or metadata of the first file;   obtain a second time of the first file that indicates a change to the content of the first file; and   determine that only the metadata of the first file has changed when the first time is changed and the second time is not changed.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein a file of the one or more files includes multiple second data units. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein a second data unit in the one or more storage devices in the secondary storage subsystem has an archive identifier (ID) and an offset associated with the second data unit. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein one or more indexes associated with the one or more secondary storage controller computers include the archive ID and the offset associated with the second data unit in the one or more storage devices in the secondary storage subsystem. 
     
     
         13 . A method of managing database data in an information management system, the method comprising:
 using a client computing system comprising computer hardware and having a database application executing thereon configured to generate database data corresponding to one or more files and which is stored on one or more storage devices in a primary storage subsystem, wherein the database application organizes the database data as a plurality of first data units having a first level of granularity:
 mapping the stored database data into a plurality of second data units having a second level of granularity larger than the first data units; 
 storing a mapping of the second data units to the first data units; 
 monitoring writes to the database data by the database application; 
 identifying, based on said monitoring, changed first data units of the first data units which have changed as a result of the writes; 
 using the mapping to identify changed second data units of the second data units which each include at least one of the changed first data units; 
 maintaining a table listing the changed second data units; and 
 in response to instructions to create a secondary copy of the database data:
 consulting the table to identify the changed second data units; and 
 forwarding the changed second data units to one or more secondary storage controller computers which are configured to copy the changed second data units to one or more secondary storage devices in a secondary storage subsystem. 
 
   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the table includes the mapping of the second data units to the first data units. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising, using the client computing system, detecting a write operation by the database application using a filter driver associated with the database application. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 determining one or more first data units affected by the write operation from a byte offset of the write operation;   identifying one or more second data units that include the one or more first data units using the mapping of the second data units to the first data units; and   indicating the identified one or more second data units as changed in the table.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising, using the client computing system, detecting a change to only metadata of a first file of the one or more files by obtaining a changed time of the first file and a modified time of the first file, wherein the changed time indicates a change to content or the metadata or both of the first file and the modified time indicates a change to the content of the first file. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising, using the client computing system, determining that only the metadata of the first file is changed when the changed time is changed and the modified time is not changed. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising, using the one or more secondary storage controller computers, in response to the determination that only the metadata of the first file is changed, copying the metadata of the first file to a second data unit for storing metadata of files, the second data unit residing on the one or more storage devices in the secondary storage subsystem. 
     
     
         20 . An information management system, comprising:
 a computing system comprising computer hardware and having a application executing thereon configured to generate structured data corresponding to one or more files and which is stored on one or more storage devices in a primary storage subsystem, wherein the application organizes the structured data as a plurality of first data units having a first level of granularity; and   the computing system further configured to:
 map the stored structured data into a plurality of second data units having a second level of granularity larger than the first data units; 
 monitor writes to the structured data by the application; 
 based on the monitoring of the writes, generate a table listing changed second data units of the second data units that include data changed by the identified writes; and 
 in response to instructions to create a secondary copy of the structured data:
 identify the changed second data units using the table; and 
 forward the changed second data units to one or more secondary storage controller computers.