Archiving applications in information management systems

Abstract

An information management system according to certain aspects can implement application archiving. The system may archive one or more applications on computing devices to make more storage space available on these devices. The system can determine which applications on client computing device to archive based on various factors. Some examples of factors can include frequency of use, application type, amount of application data and/or storage, user and/or device location, etc. The data to be archived can include one or more executable file(s), metadata, actual data, etc. After an application is archived, the system can generate a placeholder for the application; a placeholder can include information for restoring the archived application.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An information management system configured to archive applications residing on one or more computing devices, the information management system comprising:
 one or more computing devices including computer hardware, the one or more computing devices configured to:
 according to a storage policy, execute data storage operations in the information management system, wherein the storage policy comprises a data structure or file storing a collection of settings or preferences for performing the data storage operations; and 
 execute a data storage operation according to the storage policy and as part of the data storage operation:
 identify a first application to archive to one or more secondary storage devices, the first application being one of a plurality of applications residing on the one or more computing devices; 
 identify, in one or more data stores, one or more executable files associated with the first application; 
 transmit the one or more executable files associated with the first application to the one or more secondary storage devices; and 
 delete the one or more executable files associated with the first application from the one or more data stores. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to:
 detect an update to the first application;   cause the one or more executable files associated with the first application to be restored to the one or more primary storage devices; and   apply the update to the restored first application.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more computing devices are configured to cause the updated restored first application to be re-archived to the one or more secondary storage devices. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more executable files comprise a binary file. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to identify the first application based at least in part on a geographic area associated with the one or more computing devices. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the information management system further comprises one or more secondary storage devices, wherein the one or more secondary storage devices is further configured to receive and store the one or more executable files associated with the first application. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the identifying the first application to archive is performed by a storage manager. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the identifying the first application to archive is performed by a computing device not associated with the first application. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more computing devices is a client computing device residing on a primary storage subsystem and uses an application archiving agent installed on the client computing device to identify the first application for archiving. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the application archiving agent uses application type of the application to identify the first application for archiving. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more data stores are separate from the one or more computing devices. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the data operations are executed in the information management system between a primary storage subsystem and one or more secondary storage devices residing in a secondary storage subsystem. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least some data associated with the first application is also transmitted and removed from the one or more primary storage devices. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein data associated with the first application is not deleted from the one or more primary storage devices. 
     
     
         15 . A method of archiving applications residing on one or more computing devices, the method comprising:
 by one or more computing devices including computer hardware,
 according to a storage policy, executing data storage operations on one or more computing devices including computer hardware, wherein the storage policy comprises a data structure or file storing a collection of settings or preferences for performing the data storage operations; and 
 executing a data storage operation according to the storage policy and as part of the data storage operation:
 identifying a first application to archive to one or more secondary storage devices, the first application being one of a plurality of applications residing on the one or more computing devices; 
 identifying, in one or more data stores, one or more executable files associated with the first application; 
 transmitting the one or more executable files associated with the first application to the one or more secondary storage devices; and 
 deleting the one or more executable files associated with the first application from the one or more data stores. 
 
   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  further comprising:
 by the one or more computing devices,
 detecting an update to the first application; 
 causing the one or more executable files associated with the first application to be restored to the one or more primary storage devices; and 
 applying the update to the restored first application. 
 
 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  further comprising:
 by the one or more computing devices, causing the updated restored first application to be re-archived to the one or more secondary storage devices. 
 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15  further comprising:
 by the one or more computing devices, identifying the first application based at least in part on a geographic area associated with the one or more computing devices. 
 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the identifying the first application to archive is performed by a computing device not associated with the first application. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein application type of the application is used to identify the first application for archiving. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the one or more data stores are separate from the one or more computing devices. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the data operations are executed in the information management system between secondary storage devices residing in a secondary storage subsystem. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein at least some data associated with the first application is also transmitted and removed from the one or more primary storage devices. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein data associated with the first application is not deleted from the one or more primary storage devices.