Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed 03/12/2026 has been entered. Claims 1, 5, 8 and 15 have been amended. Claims 10-11, 13-14, 17-18 and 20 have been canceled. Claims 1-9, 12, 15-16 and 19 remain pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C.§ 103
Regarding the newly amended independent claim 1, Applicant submits that “ Lu is relied upon for the general concept of an online system and a backup system with databases that may be replicated/synchronized (see, e.g., Lu Fig. 2 and paragraphs cited in the Office Action). However, Lu does not disclose or suggest instructing a file system of the second cloud environment to capture a point-in-time snapshot of one or more persistent storage volumes that store the secondary database. Nor does Lu disclose or suggest that replication between the primary database and the secondary database continues during capture of the snapshot. Ramu is relied upon for snapshot capabilities (including discussion of ZFS as a combined file system and logical volume manager) and for generic snapshot/backup concepts. Even assuming, arguendo, that Ramu teaches a file system and logical volume management creating a snapshot, Ramu does not disclose the particular claimed arrangement where the snapshot is taken of the persistent storage volumes that store the continuously replicated secondary database in a second cloud environment while replication continues. To the contrary, Ramu's disclosure is directed to generalized data management virtualization and snapshot-based copying operations, and does not teach or suggest taking a point-in-time snapshot of the storage volumes hosting a continuously updated secondary database while allowing cross-cloud replication to continue during the capture operation, as now expressly required by claim 1.
In response, Examiner respectfully submits that Lu in paragraph [0035] discloses “data in the second database 221 in the back-up system 220 may be synchronized or replicated though a private network 260. Synchronization may be performed using a data replication operation in the first database 211 and in the second database 221, …such that the back-up system 220 may provide continuous availability for the customer to avoid a long service outage time.”. Therefore, Lu discloses “back-up system may provide continuous availability”. However, Examiner submits that Lu does not disclose “capture of the snapshot”. Examiner respectfully submits that Ramu ,in paragraph [0207], discloses that “the system initiates the copy at step 916, and in the process triggers a snapshot to be made and saved at the snapshot store. The snapshot is then copied from the snapshot store to the backup store.” ,and further in paragraph [0115] discloses “This is required by applications that can only be paused for a short while to fulfill the point-in-time characteristics of a snapshot operation, which in reality takes a finite but non-zero amount of time to accomplish.”. and moreover in paragraph [0123] discloses that “For a Snapshot provider the changes between two points in time are recorded as writes to a given part of the Data Storage Object”.
In response, Examiner relies on a new combination of references.
Further, Applicant argues that “claim 1 requires transmitting the snapshot to a data storage system separate from the second cloud environment for storage. The Office Action cites Ramu's discussion of storage pools and longer-term retention, but those teachings do not disclose or suggest the specific constraint that the snapshot is transmitted to a storage system that is separate from the second cloud environment in which the secondary database and file system reside.”
In response, Examiner respectfully submits that Ramu , in paragraph [0334] discloses that “ingesting the application in the virtual appliance's snapshot pool followed by moving the data from the appliance's snapshot pool to the appliance's de-duplication pool. Data is then replicated from the appliance's deduplication pool to the virtual appliance in the cloud's deduplication pool.”, and further Ramu in paragraph [0282], discloses that “the capacity optimized pool 509 consists of a deduplicating content addressable store on a physically separate device”. Moreover, Ramu ,in paragraph [0274], discloses that “ The SLAs define how long the application is retained and how often it is pushed into the deduplication pool and when it is to replicate out to a remote physical and virtual appliance.”. Furthermore, Ramu in paragraph [0313], discloses that “replication 2408 involves moving the de-duplicated data 2403 from the primary virtual backup appliance 2404 to another cloud based backup appliance 2407 sitting in a public or private cloud infrastructure 2406.”.
Moreover, Applicant submits that “For at least the reasons discussed above with respect to claim 1, Lu in view of Ramu fails to teach or suggest the required point-in-time snapshot of the persistent storage volumes that store the secondary database, transmission to storage separate from the second cloud environment, and continuation of replication during snapshot capture. “
In response, Examiner relies on a new combination of references.
Further, regarding the newly amended independent claim 8, Applicant submits that “Claim 8 incorporates the limitations of claim 1 and further requires that snapshot instructions are generated periodically based on a policy set by an administrator of the secondary database.”
Examiner respectfully submits that Ramu discloses “combination of Service Level Policies may require a large number of snapshots to be preserved for a short time, such as 10 minutes, and a lesser number of snapshots to be preserved for a longer time, such as 8 hours; …the backup data protection function may be given one Policy that operates with one frequency during the work week, and another frequency during the weekend”; “Service Level Agreement fully captures all of the data protection requirements for the entire application, including local snapshots, local long duration stores, off-site storage, archives, etc.”; “Service Policy Schedule…single snapshot taken each hour”, [0206]); Fig. 7, Service Level Policy 1, “Copy Frequency: 110 Minutes”; “The storage resources consist of Primary Storage 310, where the online, active copy of the application data is stored, and Secondary Storage 312 where additional copies of the application data are stored for the purposes such as backup, disaster recovery, archiving, indexing, reporting and other uses.”, [0072].
Furthermore, regarding the newly amended independent claim 8, Applicant submits that “Claim 8 further requires that upon determining that an error occurred to the primary database, restoring both the primary database and the secondary database based on a most recently captured snapshot of the secondary database that was created prior to the error.”
Examiner respectfully submits that the primary reference, Lu, discloses first database , second database (backup database), synchronization/replication between them ([0035], [0039]), rollback mechanism returning database to previous state ([0037]) , failed transaction/error handling, synchronization completion/incompletion logic ([0067], [0074]), online system and backup system, maintaining consistency between primary and secondary databases. Secondary reference, Ramu, discloses point-in-time snapshot capability ([0065]), simultaneous activation of the point-in-time snapshot so that multiple Data Storage Objects … for a logically correct restore ([0117)), restore from snapshot, receives the changes from a recent snapshot, ([0300]), disaster recovery and business continuity system in private and public cloud deployments ([0317]-[0318]), take a snapshot data which includes information about the differences between data at an earlier point in time and a second, current point in time for the snapshot, ([0329]-[0331]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Lu of synchronization and replication system with Ramu’s point in time snapshot and restore mechanism in order to improve disaster recovery and restoration consistency. Ramu expressly teaches that simultaneous action of point in time snapshots allows multiple data storage objects to be captured at precisely the same point in time “for a logically correct restore” [[0117]), and further teaches restoring application data from replicated snapshot data in cloud disaster recover scenarios ([0317]-[0319]). Incorporating Ramu’s snapshot-based restoration techniques into Lu’s replicated primary/secondary database archintecture would have predictably enabled restoration of the databased to a consistent prior state after synchronization failures, rollback events, corruption, or disaster conditions between the primary and backup system.
Additionally, Applicant argues that ”even if Ramu discusses scheduling snapshots generally, that is not a disclosure of generating snapshot instructions periodically based on a policy set by an administrator of the secondary database in the claimed cross-cloud replication context.”
In response, Examiner respectfully submits that Ramu in paragraphs [0179]-[0181] discloses that “snapshot copies be created every hour during regular working hours, but only once every four hours outside of these times;” ; “This form of a Service Level Agreement allows the representation of the schedule of daily, weekly and monthly business activities”; “the backup data protection function may be given one Policy that operates with one frequency during the work week, and another frequency during the weekend;”. Furthermore, Ramu in paragraph [0206] discloses that “Given two policies, one stating “backup every hour, the backup to be kept for 4 hours” and another stating “backup every 2 hours, the backup to be kept for 8 hours,” the result would be a single snapshot taken each hour, the snapshots each being copied to the backup store but retained a different amount of time at both the snapshot store and the backup store. The “backup every 2 hours” policy is scheduled to go into effect at 12:00 P.M by the system administrator”.
Regarding the newly amended independent claim 15, Applicant submits that “Claim 15 likewise incorporates the limitations of claim 1 and further includes the policy-driven periodic snapshot instruction generation and the error-based restoration from the most recently captured pre-error snapshot of the secondary database. Thus, claim 15 is at least patentable for the same reasons as claims 1 and 8. Neither Lu nor Ramu, alone or in combination, discloses or suggests (i) instructing the file system of the second cloud environment to create a point-in-time snapshot of the persistent storage volumes storing the continuously replicated secondary database, (ii) transmitting the snapshot to storage separate from the second cloud environment, and (iii) maintaining replication between the primary and secondary databases during snapshot capture. Moreover, the combination does not disclose or suggest generating snapshot instructions periodically based on an administrator policy of the secondary database in this context, nor restoring both databases based on the most recently captured pre-error snapshot of the secondary database as required by the claim. Accordingly, the rejection of claim 15 should be withdrawn.”
In response, Examiner relies on a new combination of references.
Claim Objections
Claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 5 recites, “the data storage system separate from of the second cloud environment”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 3-8, 12, 15 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu (US 2018/0341562) in view of RAMU (US 2015/0227602 Al) in further view of Dewall (US9672126B2)
Regarding claim 1, Lu discloses: A computer-implemented method for managing backup of a database, the method comprising: receiving, by a secondary database stored in a second cloud environment, a continuous replication of a primary database stored in a first cloud environment;
(Lu, Fig. 2, e.g. first database, second database ; [0034], e.g. A back-up system 220 may be a backup of the on-line system 210, and may also comprise an application server, and a second database 221 which can be a backup of the first database 211, … The on-line system 210 and the back-up system 220 may each comprise one or more computer system/servers 12 as shown in FIG. 1, and may each comprise a cloud computing system; [0035], e.g. Synchronization may be performed using a data replication operation in the first database 211 and in the second database 221, and a network switch may quick switch from the on-line system 210 to the back-up system 220 such that the back-up system 220 may provide continuous availability for the customer to avoid a long service outage time)
However Lu does not clearly disclose:
wherein the secondary database is stored in one or more persistent storage volumes of a file system of the second cloud environment; instructing the file system of the second cloud environment to capture a point-in- time snapshot of the one or more persistent storage volumes that store the secondary database; and transmitting the snapshot to a data storage system separate from the second cloud environment for storage, wherein the file system of the second cloud environment utilizes logical volume management to create the point-in-time snapshot of the one or more persistent storage volumes,
However RAMU discloses:
wherein the secondary database is stored in one or more persistent storage volumes of a file system of the second cloud environment; (RAMU, [0278], e.g. Storage virtualization layer 1802a-c can aggregate storage volumes from a hypervisor and presents them as disks to copy data virtualization software...a combined file system and logical volume manager can be used for storage virtualization ( e.g., ZFS). ZFS is a combined file system and logical volume manager…Zpools (ZFS Pools) can be created over individual storage volumes presented to the virtual machine. ZFS snapshots can also be used for capturing data and presenting mounts back to a host….Likewise, a zpool includes one or more vdevs. Each vdev can be viewed as a group of hard disks (or partitions, or files, etc.)… In cloud environments ZFS provides; [0334] replicating to a virtual data appliance in the cloud includes ingesting the application in the virtual appliance's snapshot pool followed by moving the data from the appliance's snapshot pool to the appliance's de-duplication pool ; [0280] The hardware abstraction is also built into the platform of the virtual appliance and the platform that comprises of ZFS aggregated disks presented by the hypervisor in a single logical volume.;[0062] If the Storage System is a disk array that supports the capability of creating a snapshot or clone of a data volume, the Data Management Virtualization System will take advantage of this capability and use a snapshot [0069] For longer term retention of local backup, a copy is made efficiently into long-term local storage 204; [0014] The result is a copy of the source Data Object in a target Data Object in the storage pool.)
instructing the file system of the second cloud environment to capture a point-in- time snapshot of the one or more persistent storage volumes that store the secondary database; (RAMU, [0278] Storage virtualization layer 1802a-c can aggregate storage volumes from a hypervisor and presents them as disks to copy data virtualization software...a combined file system and logical volume manager can be used for storage virtualization (e.g., ZFS). ZFS is a combined file system and logical volume manager designed by Sun Microsystems. The features of ZFS include .. snapshots…can be created over individual storage volumes presented to the virtual machine. ZFS snapshots can also be used for capturing data and presenting mounts back to a host.…In cloud environments ZFS provides the capability to add storage and grow as you go; [0329] A virtual appliance protects the database. The virtual appliance will then replicate the data to another virtual appliance in a cloud infrastructure. In the event, the database in the company's data center is corrupted or destroyed, another copy of the database can be created from the replicated copy on virtual appliance in the cloud; [0065] the Data Management Virtualization system takes advantage of a point-in-time snapshot capability of an underlying storage device to make the initial copy of the data; [0147] The incoming request identifies the object (volume) in the primary storage pool by name, and the combination of name and operation (snapshot) determines that the snapshot provider should be invoked which can make point-in-time snapshots from the primary pool using the underlying snapshot capability.)
and transmitting the snapshot to a data storage system separate from the second cloud environment for storage, (RAMU, [0282] the primary pool 507 consists of local storage on a host virtualization server 1910, the performance optimized pool 508 consists of a set of virtual snapshots on the same physical storage, managed by the virtualization server, and the capacity optimized pool 509 consists of a deduplicating content addressable store on a physically separate device 1920; [0334] Referring to step 2602, replicating to a virtual data appliance in the cloud includes ingesting the application in the virtual appliance's snapshot pool followed by moving the data from the appliance's snapshot pool to the appliance's de-duplication pool.)
wherein the file system of the second cloud environment utilizes logical volume management to create the point-in-time snapshot of the one or more persistent storage volumes, (RAMU, [0278] a combined file system and logical volume manager can be used for storage virtualization (e.g., ZFS). ZFS is a combined file system and logical volume manager designed by Sun Microsystems…In cloud environments ZFS provides the capability to add storage and grow as you go. This alleviates the need for dedicating large volume of storage upfront; [0065], e.g. where the primary storage for the application is a modern disk array or storage virtualization appliance, the Data Management Virtualization system takes advantage of a point-in-time snapshot capability of an underlying storage device to make the initial copy of the data.)
wherein replication between the primary database and the secondary database continues during the capture of the snapshot. (RAMU, [0207] If these checks are passed, the system initiates the copy at step 916, and in the process triggers a snapshot to be made and saved at the snapshot store. The snapshot is then copied from the snapshot store to the backup store.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Lu with the teaching of RAMU to take advantage of a point-in-time snapshot capability of an underlying storage device to make the initial copy of the data. This virtual copy mechanism is a fast, efficient and low-impact technique of creating the initial copy (RAMU, [0065]) and also to manage the data protection lifecycle, moving data across the various storage repositories, with improved storage capacity and network bandwidth(RAMU,[0059]) and also to provide the capability to add storage and grow as you go. This alleviates the need for dedicating large volume of storage upfront. This capability helps with efficient data management and also helps cloud service providers allocate resources in a predictable fashion, (RAMU,[0278]).
However Lu in view of RAMU does not clearly disclose:
wherein replication between the primary database and the secondary database continues during the capture of the snapshot.
However Dewall discloses:
wherein replication between the primary database and the secondary database continues during the capture of the snapshot. Dewall (US9672126B2) column 4,line 28- manages the hybrid replication processing for replicating data from a primary database 204 to a replicate database 206 by controlling a snapshot replication module 208 and continuous replication module 210, …line 38- the processes for snapshot and continuous replication may run in parallel)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Lu in view of RAMU with the teaching of Dewall of the capable utilization of multiple replication approaches ( e.g., snapshot and continuous replication capabilities) in order to allow greater flexibility without negatively impacting performance and/or data integrity, (Dewall, column 2, line 47) and also in order to improve replication efficiency, reduce downtime/service interruption.
Regarding claim 3, Lu in view of RAMU in view of Dewall discloses all of the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above. Lu does not clearly disclose:
wherein the instructions to capture the snapshot of the secondary database are generated periodically.
However RAMU discloses:
wherein the instructions to capture the snapshot of the secondary database are generated periodically. (RAMU, Fig. 7, Service Level Policy 1, “Copy Frequency: 110 Minutes”; [0072] The storage resources consist of Primary Storage 310, where the online, active copy of the application data is stored, and Secondary Storage 312 where additional copies of the application data are stored for the purposes such as backup, disaster recovery, archiving, indexing, reporting and other uses; [0009] Such a snapshot might be made weekly, depending on development schedules; [0179] Business requirements may dictate for example that snapshot copies be created every hour during regular working hours, but only once every four hours outside of these times; [0180] This form of a Service Level Agreement allows the representation of the schedule of daily, weekly and monthly business activities; [0179]-[0181], e.g. “snapshot copies be created every hour during regular working hours, but only once every four hours outside of these times”; “This form of a Service Level Agreement allows the representation of the schedule of daily, weekly and monthly business activities”; “the backup data protection function may be given one Policy that operates with one frequency during the work week, and another frequency during the weekend;”; [0206] Given two policies, one stating “backup every hour, the backup to be kept for 4 hours” and another stating “backup every 2 hours, the backup to be kept for 8 hours,” the result would be a single snapshot taken each hour, the snapshots each being copied to the backup store but retained a different amount of time at both the snapshot store and the backup store. The “backup every 2 hours” policy is scheduled to go into effect at 12:00 P.M by the system administrator”.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Lu with the teaching of RAMU to take advantage of a point-in-time snapshot capability of an underlying storage device to make the initial copy of the data. This virtual copy mechanism is a fast, efficient and low-impact technique of creating the initial copy (RAMU, [0065]) and also to manage the data protection lifecycle, moving data across the various storage repositories, with improved storage capacity and network bandwidth(RAMU,[0059]) and also to provide the capability to add storage and grow as you go. This alleviates the need for dedicating large volume of storage upfront. This capability helps with efficient data management and also helps cloud service providers allocate resources in a predictable fashion, (RAMU,[0278]).
Regarding claim 4, Lu in view of RAMU in view of Dewall discloses all of the features with respect to claim 3 as outlined above. Lu does not clearly disclose:
wherein a frequency of the instructions to capture the snapshot of the secondary database are determined by a policy set by an administrator of the secondary database.
However RAMU discloses:
wherein a frequency of the instructions to capture the snapshot of the secondary database are determined by a policy set by an administrator of the secondary database. (RAMU, Fig. 7, Service Level Policy 1, “Copy Frequency: 110 Minutes”; [0072] The storage resources consist of Primary Storage 310, where the online, active copy of the application data is stored, and Secondary Storage 312 where additional copies of the application data are stored for the purposes such as backup, disaster recovery, archiving, indexing, reporting and other uses; [0181] the backup data protection function may be given one Policy that operates with one frequency during the work week, and another frequency during the weekend; [0206] Given two policies, one stating “backup every hour, the backup to be kept for 4 hours” and another stating “backup every 2 hours, the backup to be kept for 8 hours,” the result would be a single snapshot taken each hour, the snapshots each being copied to the backup store but retained a different amount of time at both the snapshot store and the backup store. The “backup every 2 hours” policy is scheduled to go into effect at 12:00 P.M by the system administrator; [0177] Each Service Level Policy consists of at least the following… the frequency for the creation of copies 714)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Lu with the teaching of RAMU to take advantage of a point-in-time snapshot capability of an underlying storage device to make the initial copy of the data. This virtual copy mechanism is a fast, efficient and low-impact technique of creating the initial copy (RAMU, [0065]) and also to manage the data protection lifecycle, moving data across the various storage repositories, with improved storage capacity and network bandwidth(RAMU,[0059]) and also to provide the capability to add storage and grow as you go. This alleviates the need for dedicating large volume of storage upfront. This capability helps with efficient data management and also helps cloud service providers allocate resources in a predictable fashion, (RAMU,[0278]).
Regarding claim 5, Lu in view of RAMU in view of Dewall discloses all of the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above. Lu does not clearly disclose:
wherein the snapshot of the secondary database is stored in a persistent volume of the second cloud environment in addition to being transmitted to the data storage system separate from of the second cloud environment for storage.
However RAMU discloses:
wherein the snapshot of the secondary database is stored in a persistent volume of the second cloud environment in addition to being transmitted to the data storage system separate from of the second cloud environment for storage.
(RAMU, [0278], e.g. Zpools (ZFS Pools) can be created over individual storage volumes presented to the virtual machine. ZFS snapshots can also be used for capturing data and presenting mounts back to a host. [0062] If the Storage System is a disk array that supports the capability of creating a snapshot or clone of a data volume, the Data Management Virtualization System will take advantage of this capability and use a snapshot [0069] For longer term retention of local backup, a copy is made efficiently into long-term local storage 204; [0014] The result is a copy of the source Data Object in a target Data Object in the storage pool; [0334] ingesting the application in the virtual appliance's snapshot pool followed by moving the data from the appliance's snapshot pool to the appliance's de-duplication pool. Data is then replicated from the appliance's deduplication pool to the virtual appliance in the cloud's deduplication pool; [0282] the capacity optimized pool 509 consists of a deduplicating content addressable store on a physically separate device; [0274] The SLAs define how long the application is retained and how often it is pushed into the deduplication pool and when it is to replicate out to a remote physical and virtual appliance; [0313] replication 2408 involves moving the de-duplicated data 2403 from the primary virtual backup appliance 2404 to another cloud based backup appliance 2407 sitting in a public or private cloud infrastructure 2406.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Lu with the teaching of RAMU to take advantage of a point-in-time snapshot capability of an underlying storage device to make the initial copy of the data. This virtual copy mechanism is a fast, efficient and low-impact technique of creating the initial copy (RAMU, [0065]) and also to manage the data protection lifecycle, moving data across the various storage repositories, with improved storage capacity and network bandwidth(RAMU,[0059]) and also to provide the capability to add storage and grow as you go. This alleviates the need for dedicating large volume of storage upfront. This capability helps with efficient data management and also helps cloud service providers allocate resources in a predictable fashion, (RAMU,[0278]).
Regarding claim 6, Lu in view of RAMU in view of Dewall discloses all of the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above. Lu does not clearly disclose:
comprising based on determining that an error occurred to the primary database, restoring the secondary database and the primary database based on a previously saved snapshot of the secondary database that was captured prior to the error.
However RAMU discloses:
based on determining that an error occurred to the primary database, restoring the secondary database and the primary database based on a previously saved snapshot of the secondary database that was captured prior to the error. (RAMU, snapshot capability ([0065]), simultaneous activation of the point-in-time snapshot so that multiple Data Storage Objects … for a logically correct restore ([0117)), restore from snapshot, receives the changes from a recent snapshot, ([0300]), disaster recovery and business continuity system in private and public cloud deployments ([0317]-[0318]), take a snapshot data which includes information about the differences between data at an earlier point in time and a second, current point in time for the snapshot, ([0329]-[0331]); [0207], [0208], e.g. Combining and coalescing these snapshots results…there are more hourly copies kept than two-hour copies, resulting in more granularity for restore at times that are closer to the present. For example, in the previous system, if at 7:30 P.M. damage is discovered (corresponding to “determining that an error occurred”) from earlier in the afternoon, a backup will be available for every hour for the past four hours: 4, 5, 6, 7 P.M. As well, two more backups will have been retained from 2 P.M. and 12 P.M; [0181] a combination of Service Level Policies require a large number of snapshots to be preserved for a short time, such as 10 minutes, and a lesser number of snapshots to be preserved for a longer time, such as 8 hours; this allows a small amount of information that has been accidentally deleted can be reverted to a state not more than 10 minutes before, while still providing substantial data protection at longer time horizons without requiring the storage overhead of storing all snapshots taken every ten minutes; )
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Lu with the teaching of RAMU to take advantage of a point-in-time snapshot capability of an underlying storage device to make the initial copy of the data. This virtual copy mechanism is a fast, efficient and low-impact technique of creating the initial copy (RAMU, [0065]) and also to manage the data protection lifecycle, moving data across the various storage repositories, with improved storage capacity and network bandwidth(RAMU,[0059]) and also to provide the capability to add storage and grow as you go. This alleviates the need for dedicating large volume of storage upfront. This capability helps with efficient data management and also helps cloud service providers allocate resources in a predictable fashion, (RAMU,[0278]).
Regarding claim 7, Lu in view of RAMU in view of Dewall discloses all of the features with respect to claim 6 as outlined above. Lu does not clearly disclose:
wherein the previously saved snapshot is a most recently saved snapshot.
However RAMU discloses:
wherein the previously saved snapshot is a most recently saved snapshot. (RAMU [0300] For example, when protecting an end-user's virtual environment the virtual appliance only receives the changes from a recent snapshot; [0208], e.g. Combining and coalescing these snapshots results…there are more hourly copies kept than two-hour copies, resulting in more granularity for restore at times that are closer to the present; simultaneous activation of the point-in-time snapshot so that multiple Data Storage Objects … for a logically correct restore ([0117)), restore from snapshot, receives the changes from a recent snapshot, ([0300]), disaster recovery and business continuity system in private and public cloud deployments ([0317]-[0318]), take a snapshot data which includes information about the differences between data at an earlier point in time and a second, current point in time for the snapshot, ([0329]-[0331])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Lu with the teaching of RAMU to take advantage of a point-in-time snapshot capability of an underlying storage device to make the initial copy of the data. This virtual copy mechanism is a fast, efficient and low-impact technique of creating the initial copy (RAMU, [0065]) and also to manage the data protection lifecycle, moving data across the various storage repositories, with improved storage capacity and network bandwidth(RAMU,[0059]) and also to provide the capability to add storage and grow as you go. This alleviates the need for dedicating large volume of storage upfront. This capability helps with efficient data management and also helps cloud service providers allocate resources in a predictable fashion, (RAMU,[0278]).
Regarding claim 8, Lu discloses: A computing system having a memory having computer readable instructions and one or more processors for executing the computer readable instructions, the computer readable instructions controlling the one or more processors to perform operations comprising: receiving, by a secondary database stored in a second cloud environment, a continuous replication of a primary database stored in a first cloud environment;
(Lu, Fig. 2, e.g. first database, second database ; [0034], e.g. A back-up system 220 may be a backup of the on-line system 210, and may also comprise an application server, and a second database 221 which can be a backup of the first database 211, … The on-line system 210 and the back-up system 220 may each comprise one or more computer system/servers 12 as shown in FIG. 1, and may each comprise a cloud computing system; [0035], e.g. Synchronization may be performed using a data replication operation in the first database 211 and in the second database 221, and a network switch may quick switch from the on-line system 210 to the back-up system 220 such that the back-up system 220 may provide continuous availability for the customer to avoid a long service outage time)
However Lu does not clearly disclose:
wherein the secondary database is stored in one or more persistent storage volumes of a file system of the second cloud environment; instructing the file system of the second cloud environment to capture a point-in- time snapshot of the one or more persistent storage volumes that store the secondary database; and transmitting the snapshot to a data storage system separate from the second cloud environment for storage, wherein the file system of the second cloud environment utilizes logical volume management to create the point-in-time snapshot of the one or more persistent storage volumes, wherein the instructions to capture the snapshot of the secondary database are generated periodically based on a policy set by an administrator of the secondary database; upon determining that an error occurred to the primary database, restoring both the primary database and the secondary database based on a most recently captured snapshot of the secondary database that was created prior to the error; and wherein replication between the primary database and the secondary database continues during the capture of the snapshot.
However RAMU discloses:
wherein the secondary database is stored in one or more persistent storage volumes of a file system of the second cloud environment;
(RAMU, [0278], e.g. Storage virtualization layer 1802a-c can aggregate storage volumes from a hypervisor and presents them as disks to copy data virtualization software...a combined file system and logical volume manager can be used for storage virtualization ( e.g., ZFS). ZFS is a combined file system and logical volume manager…Zpools (ZFS Pools) can be created over individual storage volumes presented to the virtual machine. ZFS snapshots can also be used for capturing data and presenting mounts back to a host….Likewise, a zpool includes one or more vdevs. Each vdev can be viewed as a group of hard disks (or partitions, or files, etc.)… In cloud environments ZFS provides; [0334] replicating to a virtual data appliance in the cloud includes ingesting the application in the virtual appliance's snapshot pool followed by moving the data from the appliance's snapshot pool to the appliance's de-duplication pool ; [0280] The hardware abstraction is also built into the platform of the virtual appliance and the platform that comprises of ZFS aggregated disks presented by the hypervisor in a single logical volume.;[0062] If the Storage System is a disk array that supports the capability of creating a snapshot or clone of a data volume, the Data Management Virtualization System will take advantage of this capability and use a snapshot [0069] For longer term retention of local backup, a copy is made efficiently into long-term local storage 204; [0014] The result is a copy of the source Data Object in a target Data Object in the storage pool.)
instructing the file system of the second cloud environment to capture a point-in- time snapshot of the one or more persistent storage volumes that store the secondary database; (RAMU, [0278] Storage virtualization layer 1802a-c can aggregate storage volumes from a hypervisor and presents them as disks to copy data virtualization software...a combined file system and logical volume manager can be used for storage virtualization (e.g., ZFS). ZFS is a combined file system and logical volume manager designed by Sun Microsystems. The features of ZFS include .. snapshots…can be created over individual storage volumes presented to the virtual machine. ZFS snapshots can also be used for capturing data and presenting mounts back to a host.…In cloud environments ZFS provides the capability to add storage and grow as you go; [0329] A virtual appliance protects the database. The virtual appliance will then replicate the data to another virtual appliance in a cloud infrastructure. In the event, the database in the company's data center is corrupted or destroyed, another copy of the database can be created from the replicated copy on virtual appliance in the cloud; [0065] the Data Management Virtualization system takes advantage of a point-in-time snapshot capability of an underlying storage device to make the initial copy of the data; [0147] The incoming request identifies the object (volume) in the primary storage pool by name, and the combination of name and operation (snapshot) determines that the snapshot provider should be invoked which can make point-in-time snapshots from the primary pool using the underlying snapshot capability.)
and transmitting the snapshot to a data storage system separate from the second cloud environment for storage, (RAMU, [0282] the primary pool 507 consists of local storage on a host virtualization server 1910, the performance optimized pool 508 consists of a set of virtual snapshots on the same physical storage, managed by the virtualization server, and the capacity optimized pool 509 consists of a deduplicating content addressable store on a physically separate device 1920; [0334] Referring to step 2602, replicating to a virtual data appliance in the cloud includes ingesting the application in the virtual appliance's snapshot pool followed by moving the data from the appliance's snapshot pool to the appliance's de-duplication pool.)
wherein the file system of the second cloud environment utilizes logical volume management to create the point-in-time snapshot of the one or more persistent storage volumes, (RAMU, [0278] a combined file system and logical volume manager can be used for storage virtualization (e.g., ZFS). ZFS is a combined file system and logical volume manager designed by Sun Microsystems…In cloud environments ZFS provides the capability to add storage and grow as you go. This alleviates the need for dedicating large volume of storage upfront; [0065], e.g. where the primary storage for the application is a modern disk array or storage virtualization appliance, the Data Management Virtualization system takes advantage of a point-in-time snapshot capability of an underlying storage device to make the initial copy of the data.)
wherein the instructions to capture the snapshot of the secondary database are generated periodically based on a policy set by an administrator of the secondary database; (RAMU, Fig. 7, Service Level Policy 1, “Copy Frequency: 110 Minutes”; [0072] The storage resources consist of Primary Storage 310, where the online, active copy of the application data is stored, and Secondary Storage 312 where additional copies of the application data are stored for the purposes such as backup, disaster recovery, archiving, indexing, reporting and other uses; [0181] the backup data protection function may be given one Policy that operates with one frequency during the work week, and another frequency during the weekend; [0206] Given two policies, one stating “backup every hour, the backup to be kept for 4 hours” and another stating “backup every 2 hours, the backup to be kept for 8 hours,” the result would be a single snapshot taken each hour, the snapshots each being copied to the backup store but retained a different amount of time at both the snapshot store and the backup store. The “backup every 2 hours” policy is scheduled to go into effect at 12:00 P.M by the system administrator; [0177] Each Service Level Policy consists of at least the following… the frequency for the creation of copies 714)
upon determining that an error occurred to the primary database, restoring both the primary database and the secondary database based on a most recently captured snapshot of the secondary database that was created prior to the error;
(RAMU, snapshot capability ([0065]), simultaneous activation of the point-in-time snapshot so that multiple Data Storage Objects … for a logically correct restore ([0117)), restore from snapshot, receives the changes from a recent snapshot, ([0300]), disaster recovery and business continuity system in private and public cloud deployments ([0317]-[0318]), take a snapshot data which includes information about the differences between data at an earlier point in time and a second, current point in time for the snapshot, ([0329]-[0331]); [0207], [0208], e.g. Combining and coalescing these snapshots results…there are more hourly copies kept than two-hour copies, resulting in more granularity for restore at times that are closer to the present. For example, in the previous system, if at 7:30 P.M. damage is discovered (corresponding to “determining that an error occurred”) from earlier in the afternoon, a backup will be available for every hour for the past four hours: 4, 5, 6, 7 P.M. As well, two more backups will have been retained from 2 P.M. and 12 P.M; [0181] a combination of Service Level Policies require a large number of snapshots to be preserved for a short time, such as 10 minutes, and a lesser number of snapshots to be preserved for a longer time, such as 8 hours; this allows a small amount of information that has been accidentally deleted can be reverted to a state not more than 10 minutes before, while still providing substantial data protection at longer time horizons without requiring the storage overhead of storing all snapshots taken every ten minutes; )
and wherein replication between the primary database and the secondary database continues during the capture of the snapshot. (RAMU, [0207] If these checks are passed, the system initiates the copy at step 916, and in the process triggers a snapshot to be made and saved at the snapshot store. The snapshot is then copied from the snapshot store to the backup store.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Lu with the teaching of RAMU to take advantage of a point-in-time snapshot capability of an underlying storage device to make the initial copy of the data. This virtual copy mechanism is a fast, efficient and low-impact technique of creating the initial copy (RAMU, [0065]) and also to manage the data protection lifecycle, moving data across the various storage repositories, with improved storage capacity and network bandwidth(RAMU,[0059]) and also to provide the capability to add storage and grow as you go. This alleviates the need for dedicating large volume of storage upfront. This capability helps with efficient data management and also helps cloud service providers allocate resources in a predictable fashion, (RAMU,[0278]).
However Lu in view of RAMU does not clearly disclose:
and wherein replication between the primary database and the secondary database continues during the capture of the snapshot.
However Dewall discloses:
and wherein replication between the primary database and the secondary database continues during the capture of the snapshot. (Dewall (US9672126B2) column 4,line 28- manages the hybrid replication processing for replicating data from a primary database 204 to a replicate database 206 by controlling a snapshot replication module 208 and continuous replication module 210, …line 38- the processes for snapshot and continuous replication may run in parallel)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Lu in view of RAMU with the teaching of Dewall of the capable utilization of multiple replication approaches ( e.g., snapshot and continuous replication capabilities) in order to allow greater flexibility without negatively impacting performance and/or data integrity, (Dewall, column 2, line 47) and also in order to improve replication efficiency, reduce downtime/service interruption.
Claim 15 corresponds to claim 8, and is rejected accordingly.
Regarding claim 12, Lu in view of RAMU in view of Dewall discloses all of the features with respect to claim 8 as outlined above. Lu does not clearly disclose:
wherein the second cloud environment is further configured to store the snapshot of the secondary database in a persistent volume of the second cloud environment.
However RAMU discloses:
wherein the second cloud environment is further configured to store the snapshot of the secondary database in a persistent volume of the second cloud environment. (RAMU, [0278], e.g. a combined file system and logical volume manager can be used for storage virtualization (e.g., ZFS). ZFS is a combined file system and logical volume manager designed by Sun Microsystems…Zpools (ZFS Pools) can be created over individual storage volumes presented to the virtual machine. ZFS snapshots can also be used for capturing data and presenting mounts back to a host. [0334] replicating to a virtual data appliance in the cloud includes ingesting the application in the virtual appliance's snapshot pool followed by moving the data from the appliance's snapshot pool to the appliance's de-duplication pool ; [0280] The hardware abstraction is also built into the platform of the virtual appliance and the platform that comprises of ZFS aggregated disks presented by the hypervisor in a single logical volume [0062] If the Storage System is a disk array that supports the capability of creating a snapshot or clone of a data volume, the Data Management Virtualization System will take advantage of this capability and use a snapshot [0069] For longer term retention of local backup, a copy is made efficiently into long-term local storage 204; [0014] The result is a copy of the source Data Object in a target Data Object in the storage pool.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Lu with the teaching of RAMU to take advantage of a point-in-time snapshot capability of an underlying storage device to make the initial copy of the data. This virtual copy mechanism is a fast, efficient and low-impact technique of creating the initial copy (RAMU, [0065]) and also to manage the data protection lifecycle, moving data across the various storage repositories, with improved storage capacity and network bandwidth(RAMU,[0059]) and also to provide the capability to add storage and grow as you go. This alleviates the need for dedicating large volume of storage upfront. This capability helps with efficient data management and also helps cloud service providers allocate resources in a predictable fashion, (RAMU,[0278]).
Claim 19 corresponds to claim 12, and is rejected accordingly.
Claims 2, 9 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu (US 2018/0341562) in view of RAMU (US 2015/0227602 Al) in view of Dewall (US9672126B2) in further view of Goodman (US9575848B2)
Regarding claim 2, Lu in view of RAMU in view of Dewall discloses all of the features with respect to claim 1 as outlined above. Lu in view of RAMU in view of Dewall does not clearly disclose:
wherein the file system of the second cloud environment includes one of an OpenShift Data Foundation file system and a General Parallel Filesystem.
However Goodman discloses:
wherein the file system of the second cloud environment includes one of an OpenShift Data Foundation file system and a General Parallel Filesystem. (Goodman, column 1, line 15- general parallel file system based networked (e.g. cloud) storage computing environment; column 11, line 28- create a GPFS snapshot.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Lu in view of RAMU in view of Dewall with the teaching of Goodman to protect and restore data within a networked ( e.g. cloud) storage computing environment and for protecting data at both the file system level and application level (Goodman, abstract)
Claims 9 and 16 correspond to claim 2, and are rejected accordingly.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Faezeh Forouharnejad whose telephone number is (571)270-7416. The examiner can normally be reached on generally Monday through Friday.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Shah Sanjiv can be reached on (571)272-4098. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from Patent Center and the Private Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from Patent Center or Private PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Patent Center and Private PAIR to authorized users only. Should you have questions about access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free)
/F.F. /
Examiner, Art Unit 2166
/SANJIV SHAH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2166
Prosecution Insights