Using metadata to manage data and report usage

Abstract

A data storage system can scan one or more information stores and analyze the metadata of files stored in the one or more information stores to identify secondary copy operations (e.g., archiving) that can be performed on the files. The storage system can also identify storage usage information of each file during the scan and use that information to generate reports regarding the usage of the storage.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for using a computer system to manage data in information stores, the method comprising:
 copying metadata of a plurality of files stored in one or more non-volatile information stores to an index,
 wherein the copied metadata comprises modification data of each file of the plurality of files; 
   identifying a first set of one or more files of the plurality of files that have been modified after a previous backup;   backing up the first set of one or more files of the plurality of files;   review the copied metadata to identify a second set of one or more files of the plurality of files that satisfy at least one criterion for archiving,
 wherein the criteria for archiving is specified by a storage policy associated with the plurality of files, 
 wherein a storage policy is a collection of settings or preferences for performing secondary storage operations on data assigned to the storage policy; and 
   archiving the second set of one or more files of the plurality of files,
 wherein said archiving comprises replacing each file of the second set of one or more files with a placeholder file representing that file. 
   
     
     
         2 . The non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 1 , wherein the criteria for archiving uses at least one of: creation date, last access date, and last modify date of each file. 
     
     
         3 . The non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 1 , wherein the criteria for archiving uses an identity of at least one of: a user of the particular file and a creator of the particular file. 
     
     
         4 . The non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 1 , wherein the criteria for archiving uses a rating of each file. 
     
     
         5 . The non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises collecting storage usage data associated with the plurality of files using the copied metadata. 
     
     
         6 . The non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 5 , wherein the storage usage data comprises one or more of: file size data, disk type data, and volume type data. 
     
     
         7 . The non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 5 , further comprising generating a report of the storage usage data. 
     
     
         8 . The non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 7 , wherein the report comprises one or more of:
 usage trending,   fault trending,   number of mount points,   number of volumes,   types of disks in the storage,   and disk trending.   
     
     
         9 . The non-transitory computer readable media of  claim 1 , wherein the placeholder file comprises location information indicating a location of one or more copies of associated file in the secondary storage. 
     
     
         10 . A system, comprising:
 one or more processors configured to:   copy metadata of a plurality of files stored in one or more non-volatile information stores to an index,
 wherein the copied metadata comprises modification data of each file of the plurality of files; 
   identify a first set of one or more files of the plurality of files that have been modified after a previous backup;   backup the first set of one or more files of the plurality of files;   review the copied metadata to identify a second set of one or more files of the plurality of files that satisfy at least one criterion for archiving,
 wherein the criteria for archiving is specified by a storage policy associated with the plurality of files, 
 wherein a storage policy is a collection of settings or preferences for performing secondary storage operations on data assigned to the storage policy; and 
   archive the second set of one or more files of the plurality of files,
 wherein said archiving comprises replacing each file of the second set of one or more files with a placeholder file representing that file. 
   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the criteria for archiving uses at least one of: creation date, last access date, and last modify date of each file. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the criteria for archiving uses an identity of at least one of: a user of the particular file and a creator of the particular file. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the criteria for archiving uses a rating of each file. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises collecting storage usage data associated with the plurality of files using the copied metadata. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the storage usage data comprises one or more of: file size data, disk type data, and volume type data. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , further comprising generating a report of the storage usage data. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the report comprises one or more of:
 usage trending,   fault trending,   number of mount points,   number of volumes,   types of disks in the storage,   and disk trending.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the placeholder file comprises location information indicating a location of one or more copies of associated file in the secondary storage.