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:
 one or more computer processors configured to:   at a first time, combine data blocks from primary storage into data extents for storage in one or more secondary storage devices, each data extent stored in the one or more secondary storage devices is larger in size than a single data block stored in primary storage;   determine data extent size based at least in part on whether the data blocks are stored in primary storage in contiguous memory space;   maintain an extent table structure that maps metadata stored in primary memory into metadata extents stored in the one or more secondary storage devices; and   at a second time occurring after the first time, identify changed metadata in the primary storage where associated data blocks remain unchanged, and map the changed metadata to the metadata extents in the one or more secondary storage devices.   
     
     
         2 . The information management system of  claim 1  wherein the extent table structure maps the data extents and the metadata extents to the data blocks. 
     
     
         3 . The information management system of  claim 1  wherein the one or more computer processors is further configured to detect a write operation by a database application using a filter driver associated one or more database files. 
     
     
         4 . The information management system of  claim 2  wherein the one or more computer processors is further configured to:
 determine metadata associated with one or more of the data blocks affected by a write operation; 
 identify one or more metadata extents that include metadata affected by the write operation using a mapping of the metadata extents in the extent table structure; and 
 indicate in the extent table structure the one or more metadata extents that changed. 
 
     
     
         5 . The information management system of  claim 1  wherein the one or more computer processors is further configured to detect a change to only metadata in one or more database files by obtaining a changed time and a modified time of the one or more database files, wherein the changed time indicates a change to the metadata and the modified time indicates a change to the data blocks. 
     
     
         6 . The information management system of  claim 5 , wherein one or more computer processors is further configured to determine that only the metadata of the one or more database files is changed when the changed time has changed, and the modified time has not changed. 
     
     
         7 . The information management system of  claim 1 , wherein contiguous memory space comprises data blocks stored adjacent to each other in primary storage. 
     
     
         8 . The information management system of  claim 1  wherein the one or more computer processors is further configured to:
 obtain at the second time, a content indication of a change to the data blocks; and 
 determine that a change occurred to both the metadata and the data blocks based on the changed metadata and the content indication. 
 
     
     
         9 . The information management system of  claim 1  wherein at least one of the data extents comprises one or more blocks for a first database file stored in the primary storage and one or more blocks of a second database file stored in the primary storage. 
     
     
         10 . The information management system of  claim 1  wherein the extent table structure comprises identifiers that identify the metadata extents in the one or more secondary storage devices. 
     
     
         11 . A method of protecting data in an information management system, the method comprising:
 combining with one or more computer processors at a first time, data blocks in primary storage into data extents for storage in one or more secondary storage devices, each data extent stored in the one or more secondary storage devices is larger in size than a single data block stored in primary storage;   determining data extent size based at least in part on whether the data blocks are stored in primary storage in contiguous memory space;   maintaining an extent table structure that maps metadata stored in primary memory into metadata extents stored in the one or more secondary storage devices; and   identifying, at a second time occurring after the first time, changed metadata in the primary storage where associated data blocks remain unchanged, and mapping the changed metadata to the metadata extents in the one or more secondary storage devices.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the extent table structure maps the data extents and the metadata extents to the data blocks. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the one or more computer processors is further configured to detect a write operation by a database application using a filter driver associated one or more database files. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the one or more computer processors is further configured to:
 determine metadata associated with one or more of the data blocks affected by the write operation; 
 identify one or more metadata extents that include metadata affected by the write operation using a mapping of the metadata extents in the extent table structure; and 
 indicate in the extent table structure the one or more metadata extents that changed. 
 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the one or more computer processors is further configured to detect a change to only metadata in one or more database files by obtaining a changed time and a modified time of the one or more database files, wherein the changed time indicates a change to the metadata and the modified time indicates a change to the data blocks. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein one or more computer processors is further configured to determine that only the metadata of the one or more database files is changed when the changed time has changed, and the modified time has not changed. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein contiguous memory space comprises data blocks stored adjacent to each other in primary storage. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the one or more computer processors is further configured to:
 obtain at the second time, a content indication of a change to the data blocks; and 
 determine that a change occurred to both the metadata and the data blocks based on the changed metadata and the content indication. 
 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12  wherein at least one of the data extents comprises one or more blocks for a first database file stored in the primary storage and one or more blocks of a second database file stored in the primary storage. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the extent table structure comprises identifiers that identify the metadata extents in the one or more secondary storage devices.