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 . An information management system comprising:
 a client computing system comprising computer hardware and having a database application executing thereon configured to generate structured database data 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 data blocks and metadata associated with the plurality of data blocks; and   one or more secondary storage controller computers including computing hardware configured to copy data between the primary storage subsystem and a secondary storage subsystem;   the client computing system further configured to:
 map the stored database data into a plurality of data extents, each data extent comprising data blocks and metadata associated with the data blocks; 
 store a mapping of the data extents to the to the data blocks and the metadata associated with the data blocks; 
 monitor the one or more storage devices in the primary storage subsystem to identify when the database application modifies the metadata associated with the data blocks, but the data blocks remain unchanged; 
 in response to instructions to create a secondary copy of the database data on the one or more storage devices the primary storage subsystem:
 identify modified metadata where the data blocks associated with the modified metadata remain unchanged; and 
 forward the modified metadata to the one or more secondary storage controller computers without forwarding unchanged data blocks associated with the modified metadata. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a table that maps the data extents to the multiple data units. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the table includes the mapping of the data extents to the multiple data blocks 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 3 , wherein the client computing system is further configured to:
 determine one or more of the data blocks affected by the write operation from a byte offset of the write operation;   identify one or more data extents that include the one or more data blocks affected by the write operation using the mapping of the data extents to the data blocks; and   indicate the identified one or more data extents as changed in the table.   
     
     
         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 data extent for storing metadata of files, the data extent 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 data extents. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the data extents in the one or more storage devices in the secondary storage subsystem has an archive identifier (ID) and an offset. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein one or more indexes associated with the one or more secondary storage controller computers include the archive IDs and the offsets associated with at least a portion of the data extents in the one or more storage devices in the secondary storage subsystem. 
     
     
         13 . A method of backing up application 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 structured database data 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 data blocks and metadata associated with the plurality of data blocks:
 mapping the stored database data into a plurality of data extents, each data extent comprising data blocks and metadata associated with the data blocks; 
 storing a mapping of the data extents to the data blocks and the metadata associated with the data blocks; 
 monitoring the one or more storage devices in the primary storage subsystem to identify when the database application modifies the metadata associated with the data blocks, but the data blocks remain unchanged; 
 in response to instructions to create a secondary copy of the database data on the one or more storage devices the primary storage subsystem:
 identifying modified metadata where the data blocks associated with the modified metadata remain unchanged; and 
 forwarding the modified metadata to one or more secondary storage controller computers without forwarding unchanged data blocks associated with the modified metadata; and 
 
   using the one or more secondary storage controller computers, copying the forwarded second data units to one or more storage devices in the secondary storage subsystem.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the table includes the mapping of the data extents to the data blocks and the metadata associated with the data blocks. 
     
     
         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 14 , further comprising:
 determining one or more data blocks affected by the write operation from a byte offset of the write operation;   identifying one or more data extents that include the one or more data blocks affected by the write operation using the mapping of the data extents to the data blocks; and   indicating the identified one or more data extents 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 data extent for storing metadata of files, the data extent residing on the one or more storage devices in the secondary storage subsystem. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein a at least one of the data extents in the one or more storage devices in the secondary storage subsystem has an archive identifier (ID) and an offset.