Checking and reporting operation readiness in cloud computing environments

Abstract

An information management system according to certain aspects may determine whether storage operations will execute properly prior to executing them in a cloud services environment. The system may check various factors or parameters relating to a storage policy to verify whether the storage policy will work at runtime without actually executing the policy. Some examples of factors can include: availability of primary storage devices, availability of secondary storage devices, license availability for performing that operation, user credentials for connecting to primary and/or second storage devices, available storage capacity, connectivity to storage devices, etc. The system may also check whether a particular system configuration is supported in connection with storage operations. The result of the determination can be provided in the form of a report summarizing any problems found with the storage policy. The report can include recommended courses of action or solutions for resolving any identified issues.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An information management system, the information management system comprising:
 one or more computing devices comprising computer hardware in networked communication with one or more media agents,   wherein the one or more computing devices and the one or more media agents execute in a cloud services environment,   the one or more computing devices configured to:
 determine that a storage operation is scheduled to be executed according to a storage policy,
 wherein the storage policy is a data structure comprising of a set of preferences or criteria for performing information management operations; 
 
 prior to the execution of the storage operation, determine whether one or more primary storage devices or one or more secondary storage devices are available to establish a connection to the one or more media agents; and 
 in response to a verification determination that the one or more primary storage devices or the one or more secondary storage devices are not available to establish a connection to the one or more media agents to complete the storage operation, report results of the verification determination prior to the execution of the storage operation, the results specifying unavailability of the one or more primary storage devices or secondary storage devices. 
   
     
     
         2 . The information management system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more primary storage devices is executed in a cloud services environment. 
     
     
         3 . The information management system of  claim 1 , wherein the verification determination is based on a determination that a logical volume or a physical volume within the one or more primary storage devices or secondary storage devices is not available. 
     
     
         4 . An information management system, the system comprising:
 one or more computing devices comprising computer hardware in networked communication with one or more media agents,
 wherein the one or more computing devices and the one or more media agents execute in a cloud services environment, 
 the one or more computing devices configured to:
 identify a storage operation for verification, wherein the storage operation is to be executed according to a storage policy associated with one or more primary storage devices or the storage operation; 
 prior to the execution of the storage operation, determine whether one or more volumes within the one or more primary storage devices or one or more volumes within one or more secondary storage devices are available to establish a connection to complete the storage operation; and 
 in response to a verification determination that the one or more volumes within the one or more primary storage devices or the one or more volumes within the one or more secondary storage devices are not available to establish a connection to complete the storage operation, report results of the verification determination prior to the execution of the storage operation, the results specifying unavailability of the one or more volumes within the one or more primary storage devices or secondary storage devices. 
 
   
     
     
         5 . The information management system of  claim 4 , wherein the one or more computing devices is further configured to incorporate at least part of the results of the verification determination in a report. 
     
     
         6 . The information management system of  claim 4 , wherein the connection to complete the storage operation includes a connection to the one or more media agents. 
     
     
         7 . The information management system of  claim 4 , wherein the results further specify one or more reasons for the verification determination. 
     
     
         8 . The information management system of  claim 4 , wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to: instruct the one or more volumes within the one or more primary storage devices or the volumes within the one or more secondary storage devices to become available. 
     
     
         9 . The information management system of  claim 4 , wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to determine whether a license associated with an application is valid, wherein the application is configured to perform the storage operation, and the license authorizes the application to perform the storage operation. 
     
     
         10 . The information management system of  claim 4 , wherein:
 the one or more primary storage devices or the one or more secondary storage devices comprise a storage array comprising one or more volumes, the one or more volumes in the storage array being managed by volume manager software; and   the one or more computing devices are further configured to determine whether a configuration of the one or more volumes managed by the volume manager software is compatible with the storage policy.   
     
     
         11 . The information management system of  claim 4 , wherein the storage policy comprises one or more parameters associated with the storage operation, the one or more parameters specifying at least one of:
 (i) frequency of the execution of the storage operation;   (ii) one or more applications associated with the storage operation;   (iii) an event triggering a scheduling of the storage operation; and   (iv) a logical volume in the one or more primary storage devices.   
     
     
         12 . The information management system of  claim 4 , wherein the one or more computing devices are further configured to: determine whether the one or more secondary storage devices have space sufficient to store data resulting from the storage operation. 
     
     
         13 . The information management system of  claim 4 , wherein the one or more media agents is configured to: establish a connection to the one or more primary storage devices or to the one or more secondary storage devices using credentials associated with the storage operation. 
     
     
         14 . The information management system of  claim 4 , wherein the one or more primary storage devices and the one or more secondary storage devices comprise same storage device or devices. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory, computer-readable medium containing instructions for verifying readiness of storage operations in an information management system, the method comprising:
 identifying a storage operation for verification, wherein the storage operation is to be executed according to a storage policy associated with one or more primary storage devices or the storage operation;   prior to the execution of the storage operation, determining whether one or more volumes within the one or more primary storage devices or one or more volumes within one or more secondary storage devices are available to establish a connection to complete the storage operation,
 wherein the one or more primary storage devices or the one or more secondary storage devices execute in a cloud services environment; and 
   in response to a verification determination that the one or more volumes within the one or more primary storage devices or the one or more volumes within the one or more secondary storage devices are not available to establish a connection to complete the storage operation, reporting results of the verification determination prior to the execution of the storage operation, the results specifying unavailability of the one or more volumes within the one or more primary storage devices or secondary storage devices.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the results further specify one or more reasons for the verification determination. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein:
 the one or more primary storage devices or the one or more secondary storage devices comprise a storage array comprising one or more volumes, the one or more volumes in the storage array being managed by a volume manager module; and   the method further comprising determining whether a configuration of the one or more volumes managed by the volume manager module is compatible with the storage policy.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , the method further comprising determining whether a configuration of the one or more volumes managed by the volume manager module is compatible with the storage policy. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the storage policy comprises one or more parameters, the one or more parameters specifying one or both of:
 (i) one or more primary storage devices residing in a primary storage subsystem of the information management system where production data associated with the storage operation is located, and   (ii) one or more secondary storage devices residing in a secondary storage subsystem of the information management system where data resulting from the storage operation is to be stored at.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , the method further comprising: determining whether the one or more secondary storage devices have space sufficient to store data resulting from the storage operation. 
     
     
         21 . The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , the method further comprising: establishing a connection to the one or more primary storage devices or to the one or more secondary storage devices using credentials associated with the storage operation.