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Contents
1. 30 A method for managing storage media in media pools each media pool having a first set of storage media and a second set of storage media the method comprising queuing one or more jobs determining the media pool associated with a job in the queue determining at least one storage medium in the deter mined media pool to store data associated with the job cycling storage media between the first set and the second set such that when the at least one storage medium to which the data associated with the job is to be stored is in the second set the at least one storage medium is cycled to the first set and transferring data to the at least one storage medium cycled to the first set2. The processing units execute instructions which specify the manipulation of data stored within the memory facilities The advent of high capacity memory facilities confined with the necessity for accurate and restorable data available for the host processor makes the cost and performance of computer memory backup critical to the operability of the computer Backup or storage media management has tradi tionally been performed manually The data manager decides when to migrate or backup data and where and how such migrated and backed up files should be stored Accordingly the decisions involve not only what and how often to store data from the computer to the storage media but also how to manage the transfer of the data from the computer to the storage media Such decisions also include how to organize the storage media most efficiently and accurately such that the backup data is available when a restoration is necessary Such decisions are time consuming and transparent to the normal operations of the computer Indeed limitations in storage media management usually become apparent only after the discovery of a problem of reading memory from its primary source At that point resort to the backup system is required In recent years computer software has been developed to automate storage management of such backup media using media rotation techniques One known media rotation tech nique uses a weekly rotation According to this technique s
3. determined media pool to which data associated with the job is to be stored and cvcles the storage media in the media pool between the first set and the second set so that the data associated with the job can be stored on the storage medium cvcled from the second set to the first set and a storage device in communication with the media man ager and adapted for transferring the data associated with the job to the storage medium cycled from the second set to the first set 2 The system according to claim 1 wherein the media manager uses selectable storage rules to determine which media pool to use for the particular job 3 The system according to claim 1 wherein the media manager uses selectable storage rules to determine which storage medium in the determined media pool to store the data associated with the job 4 The system according to claim 1 wherein media manager cycles storage media between the first and second sets in response at least in part to selectable usage rules 5 The system according to claim 1 wherein the size of the first set is not equal to the size of the second set 6 The system according to claim 1 wherein the first set in each media pool is a save set in which at least a portion of the storage media in the first set are not overwritten and wherein the second set in each media pool is a scratch set in which storage media that satisfy selectable usage rules can be cycled to the save set and overwritten 7 T
4. for the backup job The options are dependent on the functionality of the backup software and may include the sources to backup e g servers clients and particular volumes and hard drives on those entities job priorities security passwords and filters At step 520 the user is prompted to enter selectable storage rules which will be used to determine to which media 6a data will be backed up for the selected job In the preferred embodiment the selectable storage rules include the name of the media pool 6 to which data will be backed up The selectable storage rules may include a name of a media 6a in the pool 6 to which data will be backed up a wildcard e g to indicate that the user does not prefer that the data be backed up to a particular media 6a and whether the determined media 6a for the backup will be overwritten or appended to At step 525 the user is asked to provide a date and time that the backup job will run Flexibility may be provided by allowing the user to specify that a job can be run on multiple occasions e g every Tuesday at midnight and to specify certain days that the backup job will not be run e g holidays At step 530 a new job data record 228 is created which corresponds the job being configured The next job identi fication number is generated by the media pool manager 200 as described earlier and is assigned to the job id field 228A The value for the job owner name field 228B is obta
5. good media determined at step 805 to the value of the value of the minimum save set copies field 222C for the pool 6 to which the media 6a belongs If the number of good media is not greater then the media pool manager 200 ends processing at step 815 If the number of good media is determined to be greater at step 810 then at step 820 the media pool manager 200 accesses the first here current media in the save set 152 which has a value in the media status field 224P other than bad indicating that the media 6a is not usable for reading or writing The media pool manager 200 proceeds to step 825 There it is determined whether any other media 6a remain in the save set 152 aside from the current media accessed at step 820 If it is determined at step 825 that other media remain processing proceeds to step 830 where the media pool manager 200 identifies any other media with the same media name 224B as the current media The highest value for the sequence number field 224C for the current media with the same media name is determined At step 835 the media pool manager 200 determines whether the retention period has elapsed This is done by calculating the amount of time between the current date and the date indicated by the last write info field 224F for the current media If the amount of time calculated does not exceed the value for the save set retention period field 222G then the retention period has not elapsed and pro cess
6. media pool associated with a particular job to be performed bv the media management svstem and hav ing a first set of storage media and a second set of storage media managing means for determining at least one storage medium in the media pool to which data associated with the particular job is to be stored and for causing the cycling of the storage media between the first set and the second set in response at least in part to media usage rules and storage means in communication with the managing means for transferring data associated with the particu lar job to the at least one storage medium in the media pool after the at least one storage medium is cycled from the second set to the first set 10 15 20 16 27 The system according to claim 26 wherein the man aging means uses media storage rules to determine the at least one storage medium in the determined media pool to store the data associated with the job 28 The system according to claim 26 wherein managing means causes the cvcling of storage media between the first and second sets in response at least in part to media usage rules 29 The svstem according to claim 26 wherein the first set in the media pool is a save set in which at least a portion of the storage media in the first set are not overwritten and wherein the second set in the media pool is a scratch set in which storage media that satisfy media usage rules can be cycled to the save set and overwritten
7. storage device in communication with the man aging device adapted for transferring data to the first storage media in accordance with said selectable usage rules so that when data is to be stored to the first storage media the managing device applies the selectable storage rules for determining the first storage media and applies the selectable usage rules for determining the second storage media to be transferred from the second set to the first set The device and method of the present invention will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description of specific embodiments and the attached Fig ures which exemplify and illustrate those embodiments BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Representative embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the following drawings wherein FIG 1 generally depicts the preferred architecture of the present invention FIG 2A depicts the host computer 2 in more detail FIG 2B illustrates a record 222 in the media pool database FIG 2C illustrates a record 224 in the media database FIG 2D illustrates a record 226 in the location database FIG 2E illustrates a record 228 in the job database FIG 2F illustrates a record 230 in the session database FIG 2G illustrates a record 232 in the file database FIG 3 depicts a media pool in more detail FIG 4 is a flow chart illustrating process 400 for setting up the media management system 1 FIG
8. the second set in response at least in part to media usage rules and a storage device in communication with the computer and adapted for transferring data associated with the job between at least one storage medium in the media pool and the computer in response to the particular job 19 The system according to claim 18 wherein the par ticular job is a restore job 20 The system according to claim 18 wherein the par ticular job is a backup job 6 154 817 15 21 The system according to claim 18 wherein the media manager determines the storage medium in the determined media pool to store the data associated with the job in response to media storage rules 22 The svstem according to claim 18 wherein media manager cycles storage media between the first and second sets in response at least in part to media usage rules 23 The system according to claim 18 wherein the first set in the media pool is a save set in which at least a portion of the storage media in the first set are not overwritten and wherein the second set in the media pool is a scratch set in which storage media that satisfy media usage rules can be cycled to the save set and overwritten 24 The system according to claim 18 wherein the media pool is a unitarv pool that includes the first and second sets 25 The system according to claim 18 wherein the media pool comprises a first set and an independent second set 26 A media management system comprising a
9. third media 6a would have a sequence number 224C equal to 1 2 and 3 respectively The random id field 224D is a random value which is assigned to the particular media 6a This tracks the sequence of media with the same media name that belong to the same backup job 6 154 817 5 The media serial number field 224E is the serial number for the particular media 6a It uniquelv identifies the media 6a and is not overwritten at anv time during the life of the media 6a The media serial number 224E is preferably obtained bv the media pool manager 200 from the next serial number field 222E of the media pool data record 222 representing the media pool 6 to which the media 6a belongs In the alternative the media serial number 224E may be assigned by the user for example from a bar code reader The last write info field 224F represents the last date and time when data was written to the particular media 6a The destroved date field 224G is the date when the information contained in the current record 224 is no longer valid This occurs when for example the media 6a repre sented bv the record 224 has been overwritten The media pool id field 224H identifies the particular media pool 6 to which the particular media 6a belongs When the media 6a is in the save set 152 of a media pool 6 it preferablv belongs to a single media pool 6 This field 224H also provides a link relation to the media pool id field 222A of reco
10. to each file which was backed up Each file which was backed up is associated with a session which in turn is associated with job Referring to FIG 2G the file database includes one or more records 232 each having fields 232 A 232E A record 232 thus represents a file which was backed up 6 154 817 7 The session id field 232A indicates the session to which the file belongs This field provides a link relation to the session id field 230A of a record 230 The host id field 232B indicates the source from which the file was backed up The path id field 232C indicates the path of the file for the session FIG 4 is a flow chart illustrating process 400 for setting up the media management svstem 1 The process 400 starts at step 405 At step 410 the media pool manager 200 creates a particular media pool 6 by prompting the user for the media pool name the base serial number and the serial number range for the media pool 6 being created At step 415 the media pool manager 200 creates a new record 222 which represents the media pool 6 being created The value for the media pool id field 222A is determined by the media pool manager 200 as described above The name base serial number and serial number range entered bv the user at step 410 are written to the media pool name field 222B the base serial number field 222D and the serial number range 222F field The value for the next serial number field 222E is also initialized
11. was an overwrite job as inputted at step 520 then the last format date field 224M is updated to reflect the date of the 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 12 backup job The last write info field 224F is updated to reflect the last date and time when data was written to the media 6a The media location status field 224J is updated to reflect that the media 6a is online At step 640 the media pool manager 200 moves the media which was used for the backup to the save set 152 by setting the media pool set field 2241 accordingly At step 645 it is determined whether media are to be moved from the save set 152 into the scratch set 153 This is done according to process 800 of FIG 8 which starts at step 801 At step 805 the media pool manager 200 obtains a count of the number of media 6a in the save set 152 which may be written to or read from This is done by examining the media status flag 224P for each media having its media pool set field 2241 indicating that the media 6a is in the save set 152 If the media status flag 224P has a value other than bad indicating that the media 6a is not usable for reading or writing the count is incremented At step 810 the media pool manager 200 determines whether the number of good media determined at step 805 is greater than the minimum number required to be main tained in the save set 152 This is done by comparing the number of
12. 2 037 5 1996 Kitagawa 395 183 16 5 664 186 9 1997 Bennett 707 204 30 Claims 11 Drawing Sheets POOL CLIENT HOST COMPUTER MEDIA jooo MEDIA SAVE SET 6a MEDJA MEDIA 7 MEDIA MEDIA MEDIA POOL MEDIA POOL SCRATCH SET 0 U S Patent Nov 28 2000 Sheet 1 of 11 6 154 817 HOST COMPUTER MEDIA POOL MEDIA POOL Or JO Q FIG U S Patent Nov 28 2000 Sheet 2 of 11 6 154 817 MEDIA POOL MANAGER HOST COMPUTER FIG 2A U S Patent Nov 28 2000 Sheet 3 of 11 6 154 817 222 MEDIA POOL RECORD MEDIA POOL ID 222A MEDIA POOL NAME 222B MIN SAVE COPIES BASE SERJAL NUMBER NEXT SERJAL NUMBER SERIAL NUMBER RANGE SAVE SET RETENTION PERIOD FIG 2B 224 MEDIA RECORD SEQUENCE NUMBER MEDIA SERIAL NUMBER LAST WRITE INFO DESTROVED DATE 24 24K MEDIA PO0L ID 224H MEDIA POOL SET 2241 2 MEDIA LOCATION STATUS FIRST FORMAT DATE 224L LAST FORMAT DATE 224M LAST READ DATE 224N MEDIA STATUS 224P FIG 2C U S Patent Nov 28 2000 Sheet 4 of 11 6 154 817 FIG 2D FIG 2E FIG 2F 232 FILE RECORD HOST ID PATH ID 232C FIG 2G U S Patent Nov 28 2000 Sheet 5 of 11 6 154 817 MEDIA POOL 6a 6a 6a 6a MEDIA ME
13. 5 is a flow chart illustrating process 500 for placing jobs in the job queue 240 FIG 6 is a flow chart illustrating process 600 for pro cessing jobs in the job queue 240 6 154 817 3 FIGS 7A and 7B are flow charts illustrating process 700 for determining which media 6a in the save set 152 to use for a backup FIG 8 is a flow chart illustrating process 800 for moving media 6a from a save set to a scratch set DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Reference is now made to the appended Figures for the purpose of describing in detail the preferred embodiments of the present invention The Figures and accompanying detailed description are not intended to limit the scope of the claims appended hereto The preferred architecture of the present invention is generally depicted in FIG 1 FIG 1 shows a media man agement system 1 which includes a host computer 2 a storage device 5 and one or more media pools 6 The host computer 2 executes the processes which drive the present invention and is preferably a server on a local area network LAN Other servers and clients PCs and or workstations may be connected to the host computer 2 The host computer 2 is preferably coupled to a client 3 over a connection 3a which is well known in the art The client computer 3 serves as a means for a user to input and provide data to the host computer 2 The storage device 5 is connected to the host computer 2 over a connection 4 The storage devic
14. DIA SCRATCH SET FIG 3 U S Patent Nov 28 2000 Sheet 6 of 11 6 154 817 PROCESS 400 405 PROMPT USER FOR INFORMATION STORE DATA IN RECORD 222 415 PROMPT USER FOR INFORMATION AND STORE DATA IN RECORD 226 425 430 CREATE ANOTHER OFFSITE LOCATION 435 PREASSIGN MEDIA INSERT MEDIA AND 440 FORMAT GET AND STORE DATA FIG 4 U S Patent PROCESS 500 Nov 28 2000 Sheet 7 of 11 6 154 817 902 505 RESTORE SELECT FILES TO RESTORE PROVIDE INFORMATION TO USER 545 FIG 5 U S Patent Nov 28 2000 Sheet 8 of 11 6 154 817 PROCESS 600 605 610 PICKUP JOB FROM QUEUE 613 Y ACCESS BACKUP OPTIONS PERFORM PROCESS 700 INSERT MEDIA RUN RESTORE JOB 660 RUN BACKUP JOB MOVE MEDIA USED PERFORM PROCESS 800 635 FIG 6 U S Patent Nov 28 2000 Sheet 9 of 11 6 154 817 PROCESS 700 705 FROM 754 740 710 PROMPT TO INSERT MEDIA WITH SPECIFIED MEDIA NAME IF NOT OR A LIST OF MEDIA FROM THE SCRATCH SET IF IT IS AN OVERWRITE JOB OR A BLANK MEDIA CLEAR MEDIA CANDIDATE LIST INCLUDE ONE BLANK MEDIA 712 ARE THERE ANY ARE THERE ANV MORE MEDIA IN THE MEDIA IN THE MEDIA FROM 744 DATABASE CANDIDATE LIST TO 742 DOES THE MEDIA POOL MATCH 716 IS THE MEDIA IN THE SCRATCH SET NAME ONLY 730 IS THE MEDIA IN THE SCRATCH SET DOES THE
15. E indicates the type of job submitted In the preferred embodiment these are backup and restore jobs Each job has one or more sessions associated with it A session is a source from which data is backed up For each server backed up a session relates to a volume on the server from which the data was backed up For each client backed up a session relates to a hard drive on the client from which the data was backed up The session database includes data relating to sessions Referring to FIG 2F it includes one or more records 230 each having fields 230A 230E A record 230 thus represents a session The session id field 230A identifies a particular session The values for this field are generated preferably in sequence by the media pool manager 200 The job id field 230B indicates the particular job to which the session belongs This field 230B provides a link relation to the job id field 228A of job database record 228 The media id field 230C indicates the particular media 6a to which data was backed up to for the session The session type field 230D indicates the operating or file system from which data was backed up for the session e g Netware 4 Windows 95 The session number field 230E indicates a physical portion on the media 6a to which data was backed up if the media 6a is a tape The host id field 230F indicates the source of the data which was backed up during the session The file database includes information relating
16. MEDIA NAME MATCH PERMANENT OR BAD ADD MEDIA TO CANDIDATE LIST FIG 7A U S Patent Nov 28 2000 Sheet 10 of 11 6 154 817 PROCESS 700 742 FROM 734 SORT MEDIA CANDIDATE LIST TO 740 TO 710 756 REMOVE MEDIA FROM THE LIST 794 746 15 MEDIA IN THE LIST ONLINE PROMT FOR THE HIGHSET SEQUENCE 758 FORMAT THE MEDIA FIG B U S Patent Nov 28 2000 Sheet 11 of 11 6 154 817 SN 805 GET NUMBER OF PROCESS 800 815 840 YES YES GET HIGHEST SEQUENCE NUMBER FOR MEDIA UPDATE MEDIA POOL SET 870 DOCUMENT MEDIA IN SAVE SET MEDIA PREVIOUSLY MARKED NO IS CURRENT MEDIA OLDER THAN MARKED MEDIA MARK MEDIA FIG 8 6 154 817 1 DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MANAGING STORAGE MEDIA BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1 Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the management of stor age media used to store computer data and more particularly to a device and method for maximizing the efficiency and accuracy of the management of storage media containing backup data bv the automated tracking and management of the storage media using media pools 2 Description of the Prior Art Todav s computer data processing svstems generallv include a host processor having one or more central pro cessing units The host processor is supported by one or more memorv facilities and input output interfaces
17. US006154817A United States Patent Patent Number 6 154 817 Mohan et al 45 Date of Patent Nov 28 2000 54 DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MANAGING 5 673 382 9 1997 Cannon et 395 182 04 STORAGE MEDIA 5 734 894 3 1998 Adamson 707 200 75 Inventors Deepak Mohan Huntington OTHER PUBLICATIONS Christopher Alonzo Babylon Harry Ozone Backup 2 02 Reference amp User Manual Chap Gosden Amity Harbor Maoping Cao ter 3 pp 3 1 through 3 6 Chapter 9 pp 9 1 through Bayside Dwayne Rambarran South 9 37 and two cover pages Edition 4 2 Copyright Ozone Park all of N Y 1990 1993 Ozone Systems Pty Ltd I UCC One User Manual Section 1 pp 1 1 through 1 9 73 Assignee Cheyenne Software International author s unknown May 1987 Sales Corp Dallas Tex Chapter 3 Setting Options and Organizing Tape Pools pp Notice This patent issued on a continued pros 2 19 Pl alone and date unknowii ecution application filed under 37 CFR Primary Examiner Hiep T Nguyen 1 53 d and is subject to the twenty year Attorney Agent or Firm Robert D Schaffer Clifford patent term provisions of 35 U S C Chance Rogers amp Wells LLP 154 a 2 57 ABSTRACT 21 Appl No 08 767 161 A device and method for managing storage media is dis 22 Filed Dec 16 1996 closed herein The storage media is initially associated with a first set or a second
18. a 6a may be stored If the user selects yes then processing returns to step 425 If the user selects no then at step 435 the media pool manager 200 asks the user whether he or she desires to a preassign media 6a to one of the media pools 6 If the user selects no at step 435 then the process 400 ends at step 450 If the user selects yes at step 435 then the media pool manager 200 proceeds to step 440 There the user causes a media 6a to be inserted into the drive the storage device 5 and the media 6a is formatted The user is prompted to enter the name of the media pool 6 to which the newly formatted media 6a will belong Alternatively a default name may be used A new media record 224 is created which represents the newly formed media 6a The media pool record 222 matching to the name of the pool entered by the user is accessed The value of the media pool id 222A is written to the media pool id field 224H The value for the media serial number field 224E is assigned to the newly formatted media 6a using the value of the next serial number field 222E Alternatively a bar code reader can be used by the 10 15 20 25 35 40 45 50 55 65 8 user to assign the next serial number to the media 6a The value of the serial number is also written to the header of the newly formatted media 6a The media id field 224A is updated as described above The media pool name field 224B is set to a default value preferably a
19. and increase a likelihood that a media containing currently needed backup data will be inadvertently overwritten In addition previous storage management devices handle each media within a media pool as a single unit of storage rather than organizing and monitoring individual portions of the media which may be available for additional storage This approach prevents efficient use of each portion of the media as well as efficient use of the media in its entirety This results in the quantity of storage media being needlessly high which places more strain on the system and the persons managing the system In view of the foregoing considerations there is a need for an improved system which automates the organization and handling of backup media and in particular tapes SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of the invention a device and method for managing storage media is disclosed herein The storage media is initially associated with a first set or a second set in the device The device comprises a managing device for executing selectable storage rules The selectable storage rules are for determining a first storage media initially in the first set to which data is to be stored The managing device is also for executing selectable usage rules wherein the selectable usage rules are for determining a second storage media initially in the second set to be transferred from the second set to the first set The device also has a
20. at step 613 processing continues at step 615 where the backup options inputted by the user at step 510 are accessed The backup software configures the job accordingly At step 620 a media 6a from scratch set 153 for the backup job preferably from its media pool is selected as follows Referring to FIG 7A the process 700 for determining which media 6a in the scratch set 153 to use for the backup job starts at step 705 At step 710 a candidate list is created which will indicate records 224 of the potential media 6a candidates to which data can be backed up For the first iteration through the process 700 the candidate list is created empty and a blank media is added to it At step 712 the media data records 224 are examined to determine if any media 6a exist If a media 6a does exist the media pool id field 224H of the first media record 224 found to exist the current media is accessed and processing continues at step 714 There the value of the media pool id field 224H is used to access the corresponding media pool record 222 The media pool name 222B is compared against the media pool name designated by the user at step 520 for 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 10 the backup job If the values do not match then processing returns to step 712 where the next media record 224 found to exist the current media is accessed If the values do match there is a media 6a in the tar
21. concatenation of the values of the medial pool name field 222B and the media serial number field 224E The sequence number field 224C is initialized to the value 1 The random id field 224D is generated as described above The last write info first format date and last format date fields 224F 224L and 224M are set to the current date The destroyed date field 224G is set to zero The media pool set field 2241 is set to indicate the scratch set 153 and the media location status field 224J is set to online The location id field 224K is initialized to blank The last read date field 224N is set to nil The retire date field 224N is set to one year from the current date The media status field 224P and the number of passes field 224Q are initialized to zero At step 445 the user is presented with a processing option by the media pool manager 200 of whether to preassign another media 6a If the user selects yes then processing returns to step 440 If the user selects no at step 445 then the process 400 ends at step 450 FIG 5 is a flow chart illustrating process 500 which is used to place jobs in the job queue 240 The process 500 starts at step 502 At step 505 the user is asked to select the type of job to be performed In the preferred embodiment the selected job is a backup job or a restore job If the user selects the backup job then at step 510 the user is prefer ably presented with the choice of selecting options
22. cord 224 is permanent or bad then processing continues at step 712 If the current media represented by the record 224 is not permanent or bad then the current media is added to the candidate list at step 732 If the job is not an append job at step 716 processing proceeds to step 718 There it is determined whether the current media represented by the record 224 is in the scratch set 153 as reflected by the value of the media pool set field 2241 If the current media represented by the record 224 is not in the scratch set 153 it is not added to the candidate list and processing returns to step 712 If the media represented by the record 224 is determined to be in the scratch set 153 at step 718 processing continues to step 724 There if the selectable storage rules indicate an overwrite job as inputted at step 520 to a media 6a with the specified name not a wildcard processing proceeds to step 728 which is described above If the job is not is an overwrite job to a media with the specified name pro cessing proceeds to step 726 which is described above At step 712 if there are no more media 6a as represented by the records 224 processing proceeds to step 734 where it is determined whether there are media 6a in the candidate list If there are no such media 6a in the candidate list processing continues to step 740 There if the media name specified for current backup job is not a wildcard
23. e session id field 230A is generated as described above The value of the job id field 230B is obtained from the current job record 228 The media id field 230C is obtained from the media which was determined for the backup job accord ing to the process 700 The session type field 230D is updated based on the source of the data being backed up as described above The session number field 230E is updated based on the position on the media to which the data was written as described above The host id and path id fields 230F and 230G are updated based on the source of the data and the path on the source of the data respectively The file records 232 are updated as follows The values for the session id field 232A host id field 232B and path id field 232C are obtained from the session id field 230A host id field 230F and path id field 230G of the corresponding session record 230 At step 635 information relating to the media to which data was backed up in step 630 is updated as follows The serial number of the media 6a is accessed from the header of the media and the corresponding media record 224 is accessed The media name field 224A is updated from the users input at step 520 and the random id and sequence number fields 224D and 224C are updated by the media pool manager 200 The media serial number field 224E is assigned if the media 6a was blank The first format date field 224L is updated if the media was blank If the job
24. e 5 may be a tape drive a tape autochanger having a tape drive an optical drive an optical jukebox having an optical drive or the like The connection 4 is well known in the art therefore it is not further described here The storage device 5 is connected to one or more media pools 6 over associations 5a A media pool is a collection of media which are managed as a unit The associations 5a associate either logically or physically the media pools 6 with the storage device 5 Each media pool 6 includes one or more backup media 6a which stores data from the host computer 2 the client 3 or other computer on the LAN The media pools 6 can be a physical entity e g a shelf or some logical grouping of media The backup media 6a are pref erably tapes but they can also be other machine readable media such as an optical or magnetic disk or the like FIG 2A illustrates the host computer 2 in more detail As shown there the host computer 2 includes a media pool manager 200 which is adapted to write to and read from a database 220 and a job queue 240 FIG 3 depicts a media pool 6 in more detail The media pool 6 includes a save set 152 and a scratch set 153 In a preferred embodiment each media pool includes one save set 152 and one scratch set 153 Alternatively a single scratch set 153 may be provided for common use by all of the media pools 6 The save set 152 is a logical or physical collection of one or more media 6a in the media
25. e includes data representing each of the media 6a included in the media pool 6 of the media management system 1 As FIG 2C illustrates the media database includes one or more records 224 each having fields 224A 224Q A record 224 thus represents a particular individual media 6a that is in a media pool 6 The media id field 224A identifies the particular media 6a The values for this field are generated preferably in sequence by the media pool manager 200 The media name field 224B also identifies the same particular media 6a The value of the media name field 224B is preferably assigned to the media 6a when the media 6a is formatted for the first time The value for this field may be designated by the user as an alphanumerical or numerical string For example a media may be named after one of the days of the week to indicate that the media is to be used on that day In addition the media name 224B may be modified each time the media 6a is overwritten Sometimes a backup job will cause data to span across two or more Thus it is permitted that two or more media 6a may have the same media name 224B In the case where a backup job causes data to span across two or more media the sequence number field 222C is used to identify a particular media 6a within the two or more media For example if three media were required for a backup job the three media would have the same media name 224B However the first second and
26. even backup media are used that is each individual media Is assigned one for each day of the week On a given day e g a Monday the backup media for Monday is used Thus each backup media gets reused on its assigned day during successive weeks This is a simple rotation technique however it has the disadvantage of not being able to save data for more than seven days Another known technique is Grandfather Father Son or GFS The GFS technique is often not practical because it requires the user to keep many backup media which may become unmanageable Also a GFS rotation is fixed so that users cannot set up their own rotation parameters The Tower of Hanoi is another known rotation tech nique which utilizes the backup media differently than GFS However this technique stores incremental and full backups on many different backup media Thus during a restore process the user may be required to use several different backup media to restore the desired data Under the Tower of Hanoi approach it is difficult to manage the backup media Further it is well known to combine two or more backup storage media for example tapes together in what are referred to as media pools However the pools are usually 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 2 manually labeled and managed according to a user s indi vidual handling system Such manual operations reduce the efficiency selecting backup media
27. get media pool 6 and processing continues to step 716 There certain of the selectable storage rules are examined If the selectable storage rules indicate that the backup job is an append job as inputted at step 520 FIG 5 processing continues at step 720 There it is determined if the user entered a wildcard as the target media name such that the data may be appended to any allowable media 6a in the save set 152 for the media pool 6 If a wildcard was entered or the field is left blank then at step 730 it is determined whether the current media represented by the record 224 is in the scratch set 153 as reflected in the media pool set field 2241 Media 6a in the scratch set 153 preferably are not to be appended to Therefore if the current media represented by the record 224 is in the scratch set 153 it is not added to the candidate list and processing returns to step 712 If the current media represented by the record 224 is not in the scratch set 153 at step 730 or if a wildcard was not found at step 720 processing continues at step 728 There the value of the media name field 224B is compared to the name of the media specified by the user for the job at step 520 If the names do not match processing continues at step 712 If the names do match at step 728 processing continues at step 726 where the media status flag 224P of the current media is examined If that flag indicates that the current media represented by the re
28. have fields 222A 222C A record 226 thus represents a location at which media may be stored The location id field 226A identifies a particular location at which the media may be stored The values for this field are generated preferably in sequence by the media pool manager 200 This field provides a link relation to the location id field 224K of a media record 224 thus providing the location of the media 6a The location info field 226B indicates a name address telephone number contact name account number of the particular location at which the media 6a may be stored The senders info field 226C indicates the name company address telephone number and contact person of the entity maintaining their media 6a at the location The fields 226B and 22C may be divided into more specific fields if desir able The job database includes data representing jobs to be performed by the management system 1 Referring to FIG 2E the job database includes one or more records 228 each having fields 228A 228D A record 228 thus represents a particular job to be performed by the media management system 1 The job id field 228A identifies a particular job The values for this field are generated preferably in sequence by the media manger 200 The job owner name field 228B indicates the user who submitted the job The job start date field 228C indicates the date on which the user requested that the job be run The job type field 228
29. he system according to claim 1 wherein the each media pool is a unitarv pool that includes the first and second sets 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 14 8 The system according to claim 1 wherein the each media pool comprises a first set and an independent second set 9 A media management system comprising a plurality of media pools each media pool being asso ciated with a particular Job to be performed by the media management system and each media pool hav ing a first set of storage media and a second set of storage media a computer having a media manager wherein the media manager determines which media pool is to be used for the particular job and determines at least one storage medium in the media pool to which data associated with the particular job is to be stored and wherein the media manager causes the cvcling of the storage media between the first set and the second set in response at least in part to media usage rules and a storage device in communication with the computer and adapted for transferring data associated with the job between the storage medium on which the data is stored and the computer in response to the particular job 10 The system according to claim 9 wherein the job is a restore job 11 The system according to claim 9 wherein the job is a backup job 12 The system according to claim 9 wherein the media manager uses media storage rules to determine which media pool to u
30. ined from the system and is written to that field The time for the job to run as inputted by the user in step 525 is stored in the job start date field 228C The value for the job type field 228D is also set to indicate the type of job here a backup job The backup job is placed in the job queue 240 which preferably is any array of pointers to records 228 The job queue 240 is configured to store jobs in the order that they 6 154 817 9 are submitted The subsequent execution of the jobs is done a prioritized basis with the earliest scheduled job run first as indicated by the job start date field 228C The process 500 ends at step 535 If the user selects a restore job at step 505 then processing proceeds to step 540 There the user selects which files are to be restored The files may be indicated directly e g by entering the file name and path or browsing the database records 224 228 230 and 232 according to well known techniques At step 545 the media pool manager 200 provides the media pool name 222A and the media name 224B that is needed to restore the files selected at step 540 as follows The record 232 corresponding to the file entered by the user is accessed The session id field 232A is accessed to deter mine the session during which the selected file was backed up The media id field 230C of the corresponding session record 230 is accessed from which the corresponding media record 224 is accessed From the
31. ined whether the status of the candidate media as reflected by the value of the media location status field 224J is online If it is not processing continues at step 756 where the candidate media is removed from the candidate list After step 756 process ing returns to step 744 If the candidate media is determined to be online at step 746 the candidate media is checked to determine if it is blank at step 748 If the candidate media is blank it is formatted at step 758 to be used for the backup job The process 700 ends at step 760 If the media 6a is not blank at step 748 it is determined at step 750 if the job as entered by the user is an overwrite job If it is processing continues at step 758 as described above If it is not an overwrite job processing proceeds to step 752 where it is determined if the media is full If it is not full the candidate media will be used for the backup job and the process 700 ends at step 760 If the candidate media is full at step 752 the user is prompted at step 754 to insert the candidate media with the highest sequence number for the media name After the user inserts that media 6a processing returns to step 710 which was described above Processing returns after step 760 to step 630 of FIG 6 There the backup job is run and session records 230 and file records 232 are created for each session and file respec tively The session records 230 are updated as follows Th
32. ing proceeds to step 840 There the next media 6a now the current media in the save set 152 which has a value in the media status field 224P other than bad indicating that the media 6a is not usable for reading or writing is accessed Processing returns to step 825 as described above If the amount of time calculated does exceeds the value for the save set retention period field 222G then the reten tion period has elapsed and processing proceeds to step 845 There the media pool manager 200 determines whether any media have been previously marked to be moved to the scratch set 153 of the pool 6 For the first iteration no such media has been marked and processing continues at step 855 described below If there are media 6a which have been marked then at step 850 the media pool manager 200 determines whether the current media is older than the media which has been marked This is done by comparing 6 154 817 13 the values of the last write info field 224F for both media If the current media is older than the media which was marked then the current media is marked to be moved to the scratch set 153 at step 855 Processing proceeds to step 840 as described above If it is determined at step 825 that no media remain processing proceeds to step 860 where the media pool manager 200 determines whether anv media 6a have been moved to the scratch set 153 If media 6a have not been moved to the scratch set 153
33. media name field 224B the name of the media for the user to retrieve is obtained The name of the media pool 6 is obtained from the media pool id field 224H as it provides a link to a corresponding record 222 which includes the media pool name field 222B Processing proceeds to step 525 where it continues as described above FIG 6 is a flow chart illustrating process 600 for pro cessing jobs in the job queue 240 The process 600 starts at step 605 At step 610 the media pool manager 200 accesses the job queue 240 which indicates a job record 228 for the next job to be run The value of the job type field 228D stored at step 530 in process 500 as shown in FIG 5 is retrieved from the job data record 228 At step 613 if the value corresponds to a restore job processing continues at step 655 where the media 6a determined at step 545 FIG 5 is placed in the drive of the storage device 5 At step 660 the media pool manager 200 causes the restore job to be executed At step 665 information relating to the media 6a from which data was restored in step 660 is updated as follows The serial number written to the header of the media 6a is used to retrieve the corresponding media record 224 using the serial number field 224E The last read date 224N is updated to the date that the restore job was run The number of passes field 224Q is incremented The process 600 is completed at step 650 If the type of job is determined to be a backup job
34. ool name field 222B also identifies the par ticular media pool 6 The values for this field are preferably provided by the user via the client 3 The min save copies field 222C represents the minimum number of media 6a included in the save set 152 of the particular media pool 6 before any of the media 6a can be recycled moved to the scratch set 153 of the media pool 6 The particular media pool 6 has a serial number range and each media 6a included in the media pool 6 is assigned a serial number within the range The base serial number field 222D represents the lowest or starting serial number for the media in the media pool 6 The next serial number field 222E represents the next serial number which can be assigned to a media in the media pool 6 The serial number range field 222F is the number of serial numbers for the media 6a in the media pool 6 The user of the media management system 1 may assign the values to the fields 222D 222E and 222F relating to the base serial number next serial number and the serial number range However in a representative embodiment the media management system 1 is adapted to use default values The save set retention period 222G is a period of time the retention period preferably a number of days that the media 6a in the particular media pools 6 has not been used before it will be moved from the save set 152 of the media pool 6 to the scratch set 153 of the media pool 6 The media databas
35. pool 6 which cannot be overwritten The scratch set 153 is a logical or physical collection of one or more media 6a in the media pool 6 The media 6a in the scratch set 153 are recycled from the save set 152 which may be overwritten for the media pool 6 based on selectable usage rules In the preferred embodiment the selectable usage rules include the retention period and the minimum number of save set copies fields 222G and 222C The database 220 in FIG 2A includes a media pool database a media database a location database a job database a session database and a file database Each of these databases is now described in detail appreciating that specific data structures and formats are not critical to and are not considered part of the present invention Therefore any modifications to the data structures and formats would be within the scope of the appended claims 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 4 The media pool database includes data representing each of the media pools 6 in the media management system 1 As FIG 2B illustrates the media pool database includes one or more records 222 each having fields 222A 222G A record 222 thus represents a particular media pool 6 which is part of the media management system 1 The media pool id field 222A a identifies the particular media pool 6 The values for this field are generated preferably in sequence by the media pool manager 3 The media p
36. rd 222 The media pool set field 2221 indicates whether the par ticular media 6a is currently in the save set 152 or the scratch set 153 of its media pool 6 The media location status field 224J indicates a status of the location of the particular media 6a in terms of its physical availability for use In preferred embodiment where the storage devices is a tape drive the location status field 224J has one of the following values 1 online means the media 6a is physically positioned in the drive 2 offline means that the media 6a is physically positioned outside of the drive and 3 offsite means that the media 6a is physically positioned outside of the premises on which the storage device 5 is located The location id field 224K identifies a physical location of the particular media 6a if the field 224J indicates that the media is offsite The first format date 224L is the date that the particular media 6a first became part of the media management system 1 The last format date 224M is the date when data on the particular media was overwritten from the beginning of the media 6a The last read date 224N is the date on which data was most recently read from the particular media 6a The retire date field 2240 is the date that the particular media 6a is to be removed from the media management system 1 It is preferred that this date be set by default to one year after the first format date 224L The media s
37. se for the particular job 13 The system according to claim 9 wherein the media manager uses media storage rules to determine which stor age media in the determined media pool to store the data associated with the job 14 The system according to claim 9 wherein media manager cycles storage media between the first and second sets in response at least in part to media usage rules 15 The system according to claim 9 wherein the first set in each media pool is a save set in which at least a portion of the storage media in the first set are not overwritten and wherein the second set in each media pool is a scratch set in which storage media that satisfy media usage rules can be cycled to the save set and overwritten 16 The system according to claim 9 wherein the each media pool is a unitary pool that includes the first and second sets 17 The system according to claim 9 wherein the each media pool comprises a first set and an independent second set 18 A media management system comprising a media pool associated with a particular job to be performed by the media management system the media pool having a first set of storage media and a second set of storage media a computer having a media manager wherein the media manager determines a storage medium in the media pool to which data associated with the particular job is to be stored and wherein the media manager causes the cycling of the storage media between the first set and
38. set in the device The device comprises 517 FAX 6 KGA G06F 12 16 a managing device for executing selectable storage rules 52 US EL uu L 711 162 711 165 707 204 The selectable storage rules are for determining a first 58 Field of Search 711 161 162 storage media initially in the first set to which data is to be 711 111 112 165 707 204 stored The managing device is also for executing selectable usage rules whercin the selectable usage rules are for 56 References Cited determining a second storage media initiallv in the second set to be transferred from the second set to the first set The U S PATENT DOCUMENTS device also has a storage device in communication with the 3 751797 21093 VU aie o 395 821 managing device adapted for transferring data to the first 5 267 351 11 1993 Reber et al 707 104 storage media in accordance with said selectable usage rules 5 276 867 1 1994 Kenley 707 204 so that when data is to be stored to the first storage media 5 287 459 2 1994 Gniewek l 369 34 the managing device applies the selectable storage rules for 5 317 728 5 1994 Tevis et al ka determining the first storage media and applies the selectable gee ae ie 1 395 712 usage rules for determining the second storage media to 469 cGill ka 5 475 834 12 1995 Anglin et al 7 707 203 transferred from the second set to the first set 5 52
39. tatus field 224P is a flag indicating a status for the particular media 6a In a preferred embodiment the status field 224P has one of the following values 1 save indicating that the data contained on the media 6a should not overwritten 2 bad indicating that the media 6a is not usable for either reading or writing e g because it is destroyed or retired as reflected by fields 224G and 2240 respectively 3 marginal indicating that the media 6a is usable solely for reading e g because it is worn out for writing 4 append only indicating that the media 6a is usable solely for appending data and not for overwriting data which already exists on the media 6a and 5 permanent indicating that the media 6a is not usable for writing because the data contained on it is to be maintained permanently The number of passes field 224Q indicates the number of times which data has been written to or read from the particular media 6a This field may be divided into two 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 6 separate fields one of which tracks the number of times which data has been read from the media 6a the other of which tracks the number of writes to the media 6a The location database includes data representing a set of possible physical locations at which media 6a can be stored Referring to FIG 2D the location database includes one or more records 226 each of which
40. the user is prompted to insert the particular media 6a having the media name specified at step 520 into the storage device 5 at step 740 If the media name inputted at step 520 for current job is a wildcard the user is presented with a list of media 6a from the scratch set 153 or a blank media from which to choose After the chosen media is inserted into the drive of the storage device 5 processing proceeds to step 710 If there are media in the candidate list at step 734 processing continues at step 742 shown in FIG 7B There the candidate list representing candidate media for backup 6 154 817 11 are sorted The media 6a from the candidate list in the save set 152 are placed in the sorted candidate list before media in the scratch set 153 The media 6a from the candidate list in the save set 152 are sorted first in descending order by the value of the last write info field 224F The candidate media with the same values in the media name field 224B and random id field 224D are sorted in descending order by the value of the sequence number 224E The candidate media in the scratch set 153 are sorted in ascending order by the value of the last format date 224M Processing continues to step 744 where it is determined whether there are more candidate media in the candidate list If there are not processing continues at step 740 of FIG 7A as described above If there are candidate media in the candidate list at step 746 it is determ
41. then processing ends at step 865 If it is determined at step 860 that media have been moved to the scratch set 153 then processing continues at step 870 where the media pool manager 200 updates the media pool set field 2241 for all media having the same media name 224B as the marked media to indicate the media 6a are in the scratch set 153 Processing proceeds to step 875 where a counter indicting the number of media in the save set 152 is decremented Processing continues at step 810 where another iteration of process 800 is performed When the process 800 ends at cither of steps 815 or 865 processing returns to step 650 of FIG 6 where process 600 ends Although the particular embodiments shown and described above will prove to be useful in many applications relating to the arts to which the present invention pertains further modifications of the present invention herein dis closed will occur to persons skilled in the art All such modifications are deemed to be within the scope and spirit of the present invention as defined bv the appended claims We claim 1 Asvstem for storing data on storage media organized in media pools the svstem comprising a pluralitv of media pools each media pool being asso ciated with a job and having at least a first set of storage media and a second set of storage media a media manager that determines which media pool is to be used for a particular job and that determines a storage medium in the
42. to a starting value The user is also prompted to enter selectable usage rules In the preferred embodiment the user enters the minimum number of save set copies and the retention period for the save set of the media pool 6 being created These values are stored in the min save copies field 222C the save set retention period field 222G respectively Alternatively the selectable usage rules may be obtained from default values At step 420 the media pool manager 200 presents the user with the option of creating another media pool 6 If the user selects yes then processing returns to step 410 If the user selects no at step 420 then the media pool manager 200 creates a location data record 226 at step 425 This location data record 226 represents a physical location at which media 6 may be stored The value for the location id field 226A is obtained from the media pool manager 200 as described above The user is prompted to enter a name address telephone number contact name and the account number of a particular location at which media 6a may be stored This inputted information is stored in the location info field 226B of the record 226 The user is also prompted to enter his or her name company company address company telephone number and company contact name which are stored in the sender info field 226C At step 430 the media pool manager 200 presents the user with an option of whether to create another location at which medi
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