US5522037A — Backup control apparatus and method of data proce…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 186 words

A backup control apparatus of a data processing system for performing an automatic backup process, comprising: a backup target medium to store processing data; a backup destination medium to store data copied from said backup target medium; environment defining means for defining a backup operation environment; control information managing means for registering and managing the backup operation environment defined by said environment defining means, the managed backup operation environment defining backup starting conditions; backup instructing means for instructing the start of the automatic backup process; and backup processing means for selecting and executing one of a whole backup process for copying all the data stored in the backup target medium to said backup destination medium as backup data, and a differential backup process for extracting data which was updated in the backup target medium and copying said updated data to said backup destination medium as backup data, the backup processing means selecting and executing one of the whole backup process and the differential backup process each time the backup starting conditions are satisfied when said backup instructing means instructs the start of an automatic backup process.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 186 words

A backup control apparatus of a data processing system for performing an automatic backup process, comprising: a backup target medium to store processing data; a backup destination medium to store data copied from said backup target medium; environment defining means for defining a backup operation environment; control information managing means for registering and managing the backup operation environment defined by said environment defining means, the managed backup operation environment defining backup starting conditions; backup instructing means for instructing the start of the automatic backup process; and backup processing means for selecting and executing one of a whole backup process for copying all the data stored in the backup target medium to said backup destination medium as backup data, and a differential backup process for extracting data which was updated in the backup target medium and copying said updated data to said backup destination medium as backup data, the backup processing means selecting and executing one of the whole backup process and the differential backup process each time the backup starting conditions are satisfied when said backup instructing means instructs the start of an automatic backup process.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 89 words

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each time said backup processing means selects and executes the differential backup process, said backup processing means executes one of a non-accumulating type differential backup process for extracting differential data which was updated by using the just-previous whole backup data or the differential backup data of said backup target medium as a reference, and an accumulating type differential backup process for extracting differential data which was updated by using the previous whole backup data of the backup target medium as a reference.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 57 words

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein information indicative of the position of updated data stored in said backup target medium is provided in said backup target medium or in a control section of an input/output unit of the backup target medium, and an initialization and a writing of the information indicative of the position are executed.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 60 words

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said backup processing means compares the number of present updating data of the backup target medium and a predetermined reference value, executes said whole backup process when said number is equal to or larger than said reference value, and executes said differential backup process when said number is smaller than the reference value.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 47 words

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control information managing means designates a backup target medium on a medium unit basis, and said backup processing means executes the selected one of the whole backup process and the differential backup process on a designation medium unit basis.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 76 words

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the backup target medium includes a plurality of individual backup target media, said control information managing means divides the individual backup target media into backup target groups, each backup target group having at least one individual backup target media, and designates backup target groups and said backup processing means executes the selected one of the whole backup process and the differential backup process for the designated backup target groups.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 36 words

An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said control information managing means divides the individual backup target media into backup target groups hierarchically in accordance with the frequency of use of the individual backup target media.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 28 words

An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said control information managing means divides the individual backup target media into backup target groups hierarchically in accordance with a significance.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 67 words

An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said control information managing means divides the individual backup target media into backup target groups by dividing one backup target group into a plurality of lower groups, to divide the one backup target group into hierarchy groups having a tree structure in a range from upper groups to lower groups, and a backup operation environment is set every group hierarchy.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 63 words

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: said backup operation environment includes backup destination medium information, and table information in which an ID number of the backup target medium, an identifier indicative of a format of the automatic backup process, and an ID number of the backup destination medium are registered in said control information managing means as said backup destination medium information.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 41 words

An apparatus according to claim 10, wherein one of an identifier indicative of a whole backup, a non-accumulating type differential backup, and an accumulating type differential backup is used as said identifier indicative of the format of the automatic backup process.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 44 words

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said backup processing means executes the selected one of the whole backup process and the differential backup process by referring to updating position information indicative of the position of updated data provided in the backup target medium.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 27 words

An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said backup processing means copies the updating position information to the backup destination medium together with the copied updated data.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 37 words

An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said backup processing means registers the updating position information obtained from the backup target medium to said control information managing means and allows said updating position information to be managed.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 70 words

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said backup processing means refers to updating position information indicative of the position of the updating data derived from the backup target medium and information of an effective region of the backup target medium which is accessed, and extracts data at the position where the AND of said updating position information and said information of an effective region is derived as backup data.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 33 words

An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said backup processing means copies the updating position information and the information of the effective region to the backup destination medium together with the backup data.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 35 words

An apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said updating position information and said effective region information are bit map information in which updating data of a predetermined length is made to correspond to one bit.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 41 words

An apparatus according to claim 17, wherein, when using a disk medium as the backup target medium, said backup processing means forms the bit map information in which one track of the disk medium is made to correspond to one bit.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 83 words

An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the backup destination medium includes a plurality of individual backup destination media, the plurality of individual backup destination media including one whole backup destination medium and a plurality of differential backup destination media, the apparatus further comprising: merge processing means for merging the backup data of the one whole backup destination medium and the plurality of differential backup destination media and for storing the merged backup data into a smaller number of individual backup destination media.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 69 words

An apparatus according to claim 19, wherein: said environment defining means defines executing conditions of a merging process to merge the backup destination medium after completion of the automatic backup process; said control information managing means registers and manages the executing conditions of said merging process defined by said environment defining means; and said merge processing means automatically executes the merging process on the basis of managed executing conditions.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 46 words

An apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the backup destination medium includes an input/output unit, and said merge processing means executes merging when a work load of the data processing system decreases and there is a vacancy in the input/output unit of said backup destination medium.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 60 words

An apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said merge processing means executes merging in accordance with a result of discrimination regarding whether a format of a differential backup destination medium as a merge target derived from said control information managing means is one of a non-accumulation type merge process, an accumulating type merge process, and a mixture type merge process.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 58 words

An apparatus according to claim 22, wherein, when a plurality of differential backup destination media as merge targets are the non-accumulating type, said merge processing means merges so that the newest data among the whole backup destination medium and all of the differential backup destination media is left as effective data, thereby producing one whole backup destination medium.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 53 words

An apparatus according to claim 22, wherein, when a plurality of differential backup destination media as merge targets are the non-accumulating type, said merge processing means merges so that the newest data among all of the differential backup destination media is left as effective data, thereby producing one accumulating type differential backup medium.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 58 words

An apparatus according to claim 22, wherein, when the differential backup destination medium as a merge target is the accumulating type, said merge processing means merges so that the newest data in the whole backup destination medium and the newest accumulating type differential backup destination medium is left as effective data, thereby producing one whole backup destination medium.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 29 words

An apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said control information managing means designates the merge process by said merge processing means according to a backup target medium unit basis.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 57 words

An apparatus according to claim 19, wherein: said backup target medium includes a plurality of individual backup target media, and said control information managing means divides the individual backup target media into backup target groups, each backup target group having at least one individual backup target media, and designates the merge process by said merge processing means.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 66 words

An apparatus according to claim 27, wherein said control information managing means divides the individual backup target medium into backup target groups by dividing one backup target group into a plurality of lower groups, to divide the one backup target group into hierarchy groups having a tree structure in a range from upper groups to lower groups, and merge executing conditions are set every group hierarchy.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 125 words

An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: recovery operation environment defining means for defining a recovery operation environment on the basis of predetermined definition information; recovery instructing means for instructing the start of a recovery process; and recovery processing means for determining whether an identifier of the backup destination medium used for the recovery process indicates the a differential backup process with reference to said control information managing means, for copying the data of the whole backup destination medium to the recovery destination medium when no differential backup destination medium is included, and for producing recovery data from the whole backup destination medium and the differential backup destination medium and copying to the recovery destination medium when the differential backup destination medium is included.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 75 words

An apparatus according to claim 29, wherein, when executing the recovery process by using a plurality of differential backup destination media, said recovery processing means discriminates the differential backup destination media which are not used for the recovery process on the basis of the updating position information of the differential backup destination media registered in the control information managing means at the time of the backup process and eliminates said discriminated differential backup destination media.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 82 words

An apparatus according to claim 30, wherein said recovery processing means changes the effective bits in an updating bit map existing at the same positions as those of the effective bits in an updating bit map indicative of the newest updating position in a plurality of differential backup destination media to the invalid bits and eliminates the differential backup destination medium of the updating bit map in which all of the bits were changed to the invalid bits from the processing targets.

Claim 33

Dependent Claim 66 words

An apparatus according to claim 29, wherein, when executing the recovery process by using a plurality of differential backup destination media, when the number of input/output units for backup which are used for reading the backup destination medium is equal to one, said recovery processing means sequentially reads the data from the newest differential backup destination medium and leaves the newest updating data as backup data.

Claim 34

Dependent Claim 126 words

An apparatus according to claim 32, wherein: said recovery processing means sequentially repeats processes such that an effective region bit map indicative of effective regions is developed from a plurality of backup destination media which are used for recovery, an updating bit map indicative of the updating position is developed, the updating data corresponding to the effective bit position of the newest updating bit map is written to the recovery destination medium, and the effective bits which have already been written into the newest effective region bit map are switched to invalid bits in such a direction from the new backup destination medium to the old backup destination medium until all of the bits in the effective region bit map are switched to the invalid bits.

Claim 35

Dependent Claim 66 words

An apparatus according to claim 29, wherein, when a plurality of input/output units are used for reading the backup destination media, said recovery processing means simultaneously reads the backup data from a plurality of backup destination media, and when a plurality of updating data overlap at the same position, said recovery processing means writes the newest updating data as effective data to the recovery destination medium.

Claim 36

Dependent Claim 81 words

An apparatus according to claim 34, wherein said recovery means: designates the read-out position information of the backup destination medium to each of said plurality of input/output units, designates the write position information of the recovery data to the input/output unit of the recovery destination medium, and allocates a use right of a central processing unit to each of the reading process and the writing process of said plurality of input/output units, thereby allowing said processes to be executed in parallel.

Claim 37

Dependent Claim 169 words

A backup control method of a data processing system for performing an automatic backup process, comprising: an environment defining step of defining a backup operation environment; a control information managing step of registering and managing a backup operation environment defined in said environment defining step, the managed backup operation environment defining backup starting conditions; a backup instructing step of instructing the start of the automatic backup process; and a backup processing step of selecting and executing one of a whole backup process for copying all the data stored in the backup target medium to said backup destination medium as backup data, and a differential backup process for extracting data which was updated in the backup target medium and copying said updated data to the backup destination medium as backup data, the backup processing means selecting and executing one of the whole backup process and the differential backup process each time the backup starting conditions are satisfied when said backup instruction step instructs the start of an automatic backup process.

Claim 38

Dependent Claim 169 words

A backup control method of a data processing system for performing an automatic backup process, comprising: an environment defining step of defining a backup operation environment; a control information managing step of registering and managing a backup operation environment defined in said environment defining step, the managed backup operation environment defining backup starting conditions; a backup instructing step of instructing the start of the automatic backup process; and a backup processing step of selecting and executing one of a whole backup process for copying all the data stored in the backup target medium to said backup destination medium as backup data, and a differential backup process for extracting data which was updated in the backup target medium and copying said updated data to the backup destination medium as backup data, the backup processing means selecting and executing one of the whole backup process and the differential backup process each time the backup starting conditions are satisfied when said backup instruction step instructs the start of an automatic backup process.

Claim 39

Dependent Claim 91 words

A method according to claim 36, wherein every time said backup processing step executes the differential backup process, said backup processing step further comprises executing one of a non-accumulating type differential backup process for extracting the differential data which was updated by setting the just-previous whole backup data or the differential backup data of the backup target medium to a reference, and an accumulating type differential backup process for extracting the differential data which was updated by setting the previous whole backup data of the backup target medium to a reference.

Claim 40

Dependent Claim 59 words

A method according to claim 36, further comprising the steps of: providing information indicative of the position of updated data stored in the backup target medium for the backup target medium or in a control section of an input/output unit of the backup target medium, and executing an initialization and a writing of the information indicative of the position.

Claim 41

Dependent Claim 71 words

A method according to claim 36, wherein in said backup processing step further comprises: comparing the number of present updating data of the backup target medium with a predetermined reference value, executing the whole backup process when the number of present updating data is equal to or larger than said reference value, and executing the differential backup process when the number of present updating data is smaller than the reference value.

Claim 42

Dependent Claim 51 words

A method according to claim 36, wherein: said control information managing step further comprises designating the backup target medium on a medium unit basis, and said backup processing step further comprises executing and selecting one of the whole backup process and the differential backup process on a designation medium unit basis.

Claim 43

Dependent Claim 65 words

A method according to claim 36, wherein: said control information managing step further comprises dividing individual backup target media into groups, each backup target group having at least one individual backup target media, and designating backup target groups, and said backup processing step further comprises executing the selected one of the whole backup process and the differential backup process for the designated backup target groups.

Claim 44

Dependent Claim 37 words

A method according to claim 41, wherein said control information managing step further comprises: dividing the individual target media into backup target groups hierarchically in accordance with the frequency of use of the individual backup target media.

Claim 45

Dependent Claim 28 words

A method according to claim 41, wherein said control information managing step further comprises: dividing the individual target media into target groups hierarchically in accordance with a significance.

Claim 46

Dependent Claim 68 words

A method according to claim 41, wherein said control information managing step further comprises: dividing the individual backup target media into backup target groups by dividing one backup target group into a plurality of lower groups, to divide the one backup target group into hierarchy groups having a tree structure in a range from upper groups to lower groups, and setting a backup operation environment every group hierarchy.

Claim 47

Dependent Claim 63 words

A method according to claim 36, wherein the backup operation environment includes backup destination medium information, and said control information managing step further comprises: registering table information in which an ID number of the backup target medium, an identifier indicative of a format of the automatic backup process, and an ID number of the backup destination medium as said backup destination medium information.

Claim 48

Dependent Claim 44 words

A method according to claim 45, further comprising the step of: using one of an identifier indicative of the whole backup, the non-accumulating type differential backup, and the accumulating type differential backup as said identifier indicative of the format of the automatic backup process.

Claim 49

Dependent Claim 47 words

A method according to claim 36, wherein in said backup processing step further comprises: executing the selected one of the whole backup process and the differential backup process by referring to updating position information indicative of the position of updated data provided in the backup target medium.

Claim 50

Dependent Claim 30 words

A method according to claim 47, wherein in said backup processing step further comprises: copying the updating position information to the backup destination medium together with the copied updated data.

Claim 51

Dependent Claim 38 words

A method according to claim 48, wherein: said backup processing step further comprises registering the updating position information obtained from the backup target medium, and said control information managing step further comprises managing the registered updated position information.

Claim 52

Dependent Claim 73 words

A method according to claim 36, wherein in said backup processing step further comprises: referring to updating position information indicative of the position of the updating data obtained from the backup target medium and information of an effective region of the backup target medium which is accessed, and extracting data at the position where the AND of said updating position information and said information of an effective region is derived as backup data.

Claim 53

Dependent Claim 35 words

A method according to claim 50, wherein said backup processing step further comprises: copying the updating position information and the information of the effective region to the backup destination medium together with the backup data.

Claim 54

Dependent Claim 35 words

A method according to claim 51, wherein said updating position information and said effective region information are bit map information in which updating data of a predetermined length is made to correspond to one bit.

Claim 55

Dependent Claim 43 words

A method according to claim 52, wherein, when using a disk medium as said backup target medium, said backup processing step further comprises: forming the bit map information in which one track of the disk medium is made to correspond to one bit.

Claim 56

Dependent Claim 83 words

A method according to claim 36, wherein the backup destination medium includes a plurality of individual backup destination media, the plurality of individual backup destination media including one whole backup destination medium and a plurality of differential backup destination media, the method further comprising: a merge processing step of merging the backup data of the one whole backup destination medium and the plurality of differential backup destination media, thereby storing the merged backup data to a smaller number of individual backup destination media.

Claim 57

Dependent Claim 39 words

A method according to claim 54, wherein in said merge processing step further comprises the step of: automatically executing the merging process on the basis of executing conditions which have previously been registered in said control information managing step.

Claim 58

Dependent Claim 42 words

A method according to claim 55, wherein in said merge processing step further comprises: executing said merge process when a work load of the data processing system decreases and there is a vacancy in an input/output unit of the backup destination medium.

Claim 59

Dependent Claim 62 words

A method according to claim 54, wherein said merge processing step further comprises: executing merging in accordance with a result of discrimination regarding whether a format of a differential backup destination medium as a merge target obtained in said control information managing step is one of a non-accumulating type merge process, the accumulating type merge process, and a mixture type merge process.

Claim 60

Dependent Claim 62 words

A method according to claim 57, wherein said merge processing step further comprises: when a plurality of differential backup destination media as merge targets are the non-accumulating type, executing a merge so that the newest data among the whole backup destination medium and all of the differential backup destination media is left as effective data, thereby producing one whole backup destination medium.

Claim 61

Dependent Claim 57 words

A method according to claim 57, wherein said merge processing step further comprises: when a plurality of differential backup destination media as merge targets are the non-accumulating type, executing a merge so that the newest data among all of the differential backup destination media is left as effective data, thereby producing one accumulating type differential backup medium.

Claim 62

Dependent Claim 62 words

A method according to claim 57, wherein said merge processing step further comprises: when the differential backup destination medium as a merge target is the accumulating type, executing a merge so that the newest data in the whole backup destination medium and the newest accumulating type differential backup destination medium is left as effective data, thereby producing one whole backup destination medium.

Claim 63

Dependent Claim 31 words

A method according to claim 54, wherein said control information managing step further comprises: designating the merge process executed in said merge processing step on a backup target medium unit basis.

Claim 64

Dependent Claim 62 words

A method according to claim 54, wherein the backup target medium includes a plurality of individual backup target media and said control information managing step further comprises: dividing the individual backup target media are divided into backup target groups, each backup target group having at least one individual backup target media, and designating the merge process executed in said merge processing step.

Claim 65

Dependent Claim 56 words

A method according to claim 54, wherein said control information managing step further comprises: dividing one backup target group into a plurality of lower groups, to divide the one backup target group into hierarchy groups having a tree structure in a range from upper groups to lower groups, and setting merge executing conditions every group hierarchy.

Claim 66

Dependent Claim 130 words

A method according to claim 36, further comprising: an environment defining step of defining a recovery operation environment on the basis of predetermined definition information; a recovery instructing step of instructing the start of a recovery process; and a recovery processing step of discriminating whether an identifier of the backup destination medium used for the recovery process indicates a differential backup process with reference to the information derived in said control information managing step, copying the data of the whole backup destination medium to a recovery destination medium when no differential backup destination medium is included, and producing recovery data from the whole backup destination medium and the differential backup destination medium and copying said recovery data to the recovery destination medium when the differential backup destination medium is included.

Claim 67

Dependent Claim 81 words

A method according to claim 64, wherein said recovery processing step further comprises, when executing the recovery process by using a plurality of differential backup destination media: discriminating the differential backup destination media which are not used for the recovery process on the basis of the updating position information of the differential backup destination media registered in said control information managing step at the time of said backup process, and eliminating said discriminated differential backup destination media from the processing targets.

Claim 68

Dependent Claim 78 words

A method according to claim 65, wherein said recovery processing step further comprises: changing the effective bits in another updating bit map at the same positions as the effective bits in an updating bit map indicative of the newest updating position in a plurality of differential backup destination media, to invalid bits, and eliminating the differential backup destination media in the updating bit map in which all bits are changed to the invalid bits, from the processing targets.

Claim 69

Dependent Claim 73 words

A method according to claim 64, wherein said recovery processing step further comprises, when executing the recovery process by using a plurality of differential backup destination media and the number of input/output units for backup which are used for reading the backup destination media is equal to one: sequentially reading the data in accordance with the order from the newest differential backup destination medium, and leaving the newest updating data as backup data.

Claim 70

Dependent Claim 143 words

A method according to claim 67, wherein said recovery processing step further comprises: developing processes of an effective region bit map indicative of the effective region from a plurality of backup destination media which are used for recovery, developing the updating bit map indicative of the updating position, writing the updating data corresponding to the effective bit positions in the newest updating bit map to the recovery destination medium, and switching the effective bits which have already been written in the newest effective region bit map, to the invalid bits, wherein the steps of developing processes, developing the updating bit map, writing the updating data and switching the effective bits are successively repeated in a direction from the new backup destination medium to the old backup destination medium until all bits in the effective region bit map are switched to the invalid bits.

Claim 71

Dependent Claim 65 words

A method according to claim 64, wherein said recovery processing step further comprises: when a plurality of input/output units are used for reading to the backup destination media, simultaneously reading the backup data from a plurality of backup destination media, and when a plurality of updating data overlap at the same position, writing the newest updating data as effective data to the recovery destination medium.

Claim 72

Dependent Claim 84 words

A method according to claim 69, wherein said recovery step further comprises: designating read-out position information of the backup destination medium to each of said plurality of input/output units, designating write position information of the recovery data to the input/output unit of the recovery destination medium, and allocating a use right of a central processing unit to each of the reading process and the writing process of said plurality of input/output units, thereby allowing said reading and writing processes to be executed in parallel.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1999-05-28	1999-11-27	2000-05-28	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2003-05-28	2003-11-27	2004-05-28	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2007-05-28	2007-11-27	2008-05-28	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Backup control apparatus and method of data processing system

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