Systems and methods for performing storage operations using network attached storage

Abstract

Systems and methods for performing hierarchical storage operations on electronic data in a computer network are provided. In one embodiment, the present invention may store electronic data from a network device to a network attached storage (NAS) device pursuant to certain storage criteria. The data stored on the NAS may be migrated to a secondary storage and a stub file having a pointer pointing to the secondary storage may be put at the location the data was previously stored on the NAS. The stub file may redirect the network device to the secondary storage if a read request for the data is received from the network device.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A method for controlling a networked storage device, the method comprising:
 with a computing device, controlling a first storage device coupled to a network to write electronic data to a first storage location in the first storage device, the first storage device comprising first computer hardware and an internal operating system, the electronic data generated by a software application running on a first client computing device of a plurality of client computing devices coupled to the network;   consulting a stored storage criteria to determine that the electronic data is to be moved to a second storage location in a second storage device different than the first storage device;   in response to the determination that the electronic data is to be moved to the second storage location, copying the electronic data to the second storage location with a computing device;   subsequent to said copying, receiving a read request to access the electronic data from the first storage device;   in response to the read request, controlling the first storage device with a computing device to access re-direction information from the first storage device, the re-direction information pointing to the second storage location on the second storage device;   using the re-direction information to control the second storage device with a computing device to obtain the electronic data from the second storage location without transferring the electronic data to the first storage location in the first storage device; and   in response to a write request received subsequent to the obtaining the electronic data,
 storing a modified version of the electronic data in the second storage device, and 
 updating the re-direction information without transferring the electronic data to the first storage location in the first storage device. 
   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the first storage device is configured to support one or more of the Unix network file system (NFS) protocol or server message block/common Internet file system (SMB/CIFS) protocol. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the first storage device is configured to support one or more of Ethernet and Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2  wherein said copying is part of an archive operation. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2  wherein said read request is satisfied without de-migrating the electronic data from the second storage device to the first storage device. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2  further comprising decompressing or otherwise decoding the electronic data obtained from the second storage device. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the first storage device is a network attached storage (NAS) device and further comprises an internal file management system. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the re-direction information is included in a Windows shortcut or a Unix softlink. 
     
     
         10 . A system comprising:
 a first storage device coupled to a network and comprising first computer hardware and an internal operating system;   one or more computing devices externally located with respect to the first storage device configured to:
 control the first storage device to write electronic data to a first storage location in the first storage device, the electronic data generated by a software application running on a first client computing device of a plurality of client computing devices coupled to the network; 
 consult a stored storage criteria to determine that the electronic data is to be moved to a second storage location in a second storage device different than the first storage device; 
 in response to the determination that the electronic data is to be moved to the second storage location, copy the electronic data to the second storage location with a computing device; 
 subsequent to said copying, receive a read request to access the electronic data; 
 in response to the read request, control the first storage device with a computing device to access re-direction information from the first storage device, the re-direction information pointing to the second storage location on the second storage device; 
 use the re-direction information to control the second storage device with a computing device to obtain the electronic data from the second storage location, without transferring the electronic data to the first storage location in the first storage device; and 
 in response to a write request received subsequent to the obtaining the electronic data,
 store a modified version of the electronic data in the second storage device, and 
 update the re-direction information without transferring the electronic data to the first storage location in the first storage device. 
 
   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the first storage device is configured to support one or more of the Unix network file system (NFS) protocol or server message block/common Internet file system (SMB/CIFS) protocol. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the first storage device is configured to support one or more of Ethernet and Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the re-direction information is included in a Windows shortcut or a Unix softlink. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 10  wherein said copying is part of an archive operation. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 10  wherein said read request is satisfied without de-migrating the electronic data from the second storage device to the first storage device. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 10  further comprising decompressing or otherwise decoding the electronic data obtained from the second storage device. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the first storage device further comprises an internal file management system. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the re-direction information is contained in a Windows shortcut or a Unix softlink. 
     
     
         19 . Non-transitory computer-readable storage comprising computer-readable instructions that, when executed cause computer hardware to perform operations defined by the computer-readable instructions, the operations comprising:
 with a computing device, controlling a first storage device coupled to a network to write electronic data to a first storage location in the first storage device, the first storage device comprising first computer hardware and an internal operating system, the electronic data generated by a software application running on a first client computing device of a plurality of client computing devices coupled to the network;   consulting a stored storage criteria to determine that the electronic data is to be moved to a second storage location in a second storage device different than the first storage device;   in response to the determination that the electronic data is to be moved to the second storage location, copying the electronic data to the second storage location with a computing device;   subsequent to said copying, receiving a read request to access the electronic data from the first storage device;   in response to the read request, controlling the first storage device with a computing device to access re-direction information from the first storage device, the re-direction information pointing to the second storage location on the second storage device;   using the re-direction information to control the second storage device with a computing device to obtain the electronic data from the second storage location without transferring the electronic data to the first storage location in the first storage device; and   in response to a write request received subsequent to the obtaining the electronic data,
 storing a modified version of the electronic data in the second storage device, and 
 updating the re-direction information without transferring the electronic data to the first storage location in the first storage device.