Multi-source restore in an information management system

Abstract

According to certain aspects, an information management system may identify a set of secondary storage computing devices residing in a secondary storage subsystem, wherein each of at least two storage devices that each store a separate copy of a first file is associated with at least one of the secondary storage computing devices in the set. The system may also select a subset of the set of secondary storage computing devices based on stored selection criteria. The system can, using a first secondary storage computing device, initiate a restore operation of a first copy of the first file stored in a first storage device associated with at least the first secondary storage computing device and, using a second secondary storage computing device, initiate a restore operation of a second copy of the first file stored in a second storage device associated with at least the second secondary storage computing device.

1 .- 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method of restoring data from multiple storage devices in an information management system, the method comprising:
 receiving a request to restore a set of one or more data blocks from a secondary storage subsystem to a client computing device residing in a primary storage subsystem, wherein the secondary storage subsystem comprises a plurality of secondary storage devices that store at least two secondary copies of the data blocks in a backup format, wherein at least a first secondary copy of the data blocks is stored in the backup format in a first secondary storage device and a second secondary copy of the data blocks is stored in the backup format in a second secondary storage device;   selecting first and second computing devices based on a stored selection criteria;   using the first computing device to initiate a first restore operation of the first secondary copy of the data blocks stored in the backup format in the first secondary storage device, wherein the restore operation restores the first secondary copy of the data blocks to a native format that is different than the backup format; and   using the second computing device to initiate a second restore operation of the second secondary copy of the data blocks stored in the backup format in the second secondary storage device, wherein the restore operation restores the second copy of the data blocks to a native format.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21  wherein at least a portion of the restore operation of the first secondary copy of the data blocks and at least a portion of the restore operation of the second secondary copy of the data blocks overlap in time. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21  further comprising:
 in response determining that the restore operation of the first secondary copy of the data blocks has been completed, notifying the second computing device that the first secondary copy of the data blocks has been restored, wherein the second computing device cancels the restore operation of the second secondary copy of the data blocks upon receipt of the notification that the first secondary copy of the data bocks has been restored. 
 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21  further comprising:
 identifying a first group of the data blocks to restore using the first computing device; 
 identifying a second group of the data blocks to restore using the second computing device; 
 determining a first order for restoring the data blocks in the first group; and 
 determining a second order for restoring the data blocks in the second group. 
 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 21  wherein a user can select parallel restoration of the first and second secondary copies of the data blocks in a user interface. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 21  wherein the stored selection criteria comprises at least one of the group consisting of: a geographical location of the client computing device, a geographical location of a computing device, a speed of network connection, and availability of the network connection. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21  wherein said selecting the first and second computing devices is based on historical data relating to previous restore operations. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27  wherein the historical data relating to previous restore operations comprises at least one of the group consisting of: an average speed of network connection, and historical availability of the network connection. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 21  wherein the data blocks are generated in primary memory by a virtual machine file or a database. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 21  wherein parallel restoration of the first and second secondary copies of the data blocks is defined in a storage policy. 
     
     
         31 . An information management system configured to restore data from multiple storage devices, the system comprising:
 a storage manager comprising computer hardware, the storage manager receives a request to restore a set of one or more data blocks from a secondary storage subsystem to a client computing device residing in a primary storage subsystem, wherein the secondary storage subsystem comprises a plurality of secondary storage devices that store at least two secondary copies of the data blocks in a backup format, wherein at least a first secondary copy of the data blocks is stored the backup format in a first secondary storage device and a second secondary copy of the data blocks is stored in the backup format in a second secondary storage device;   a first computing device comprising computer hardware that is in communication with the storage manager, the first computing device selected by the storage manager based on a stored selection criteria to initiate a first restore operation of the first secondary copy of the data blocks stored in the backup format in the first secondary storage device, wherein the restore operation restores the first secondary copy of the data blocks to a native format; and   a second computing device comprising computer hardware that is in communication with the storage manager, the second computing device selected by the storage manager based on the stored selection criteria to initiate a second restore operation of the second secondary copy of the data blocks stored in the backup format in the second secondary storage device, wherein the restore operation restores the second secondary copy of the data blocks to a native format.   
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 31  wherein at least a portion of the restore operation of the first secondary copy of the data blocks and at least a portion of the restore operation of the second secondary copy of the data blocks overlap in time. 
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 31  wherein the computing system is further configured to:
 in response determining that the restore operation of the first secondary copy of the data blocks has been completed, notify the second computing device that the first secondary copy of the data blocks has been restored, wherein the second computing device cancels the restore operation of the second secondary copy of the data blocks upon receipt of the notification that the first secondary copy of the data blocks has been restored. 
 
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 31  wherein the storage manager:
 identifies a first group of the data blocks to restore using the first computing device; 
 identifies a second group the data blocks to restore using the second computing device, wherein the first and second group both include the first file; 
 determine a first order for restoring the data blocks in the first group; and 
 determine a second order for restoring the data blocks in the second group. 
 
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 31  further comprising a user interface that enables a user to select parallel restoration of the first and second secondary copies of the data blocks. 
     
     
         36 . The system of  claim 31  wherein the stored selection criteria comprises at least one of the group consisting of: a geographical location of the client computing device, a geographical location of a computing device, a speed of network connection, and availability of the network connection. 
     
     
         37 . The system of  claim 31  wherein the storage manager selects the first and second computing devices based on historical data relating to previous restore operations. 
     
     
         38 . The system of  claim 37  wherein the historical data relating to previous restore operations comprises at least one of the group consisting of: an average speed of a network connection and historical availability of the network connection. 
     
     
         39 . The system of  claim 31  wherein the data blocks are generated in primary memory by a virtual machine file or a database. 
     
     
         40 . The system of  claim 31  wherein parallel restoration of the first and second secondary copies of the data blocks is defined in a storage policy.