Patent Application
20250165356
The present disclosure relates generally to data management, including techniques for recovery framework for software-as-a-service data.
A data management system (DMS) may be employed to manage data associated with one or more computing systems. The data may be generated, stored, or otherwise used by the one or more computing systems, examples of which may include servers, databases, virtual machines, cloud computing systems, file systems (e.g., network-attached storage (NAS) systems), or other data storage or processing systems. The DMS may provide data backup, data recovery, data classification, or other types of data management services for data of the one or more computing systems. Improved data management may offer improved performance with respect to reliability, speed, efficiency, scalability, security, or ease-of-use, among other possible aspects of performance.
Software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications (e.g., platforms) such as Salesforce and JIRA may host their customers' information in a distributed environment that is not directly accessible to the customers—e.g., customers of a SaaS application may have access to their associated data only via the SaaS application, such as through one or more application programming interfaces (APIs) associated with the SaaS application. Additionally, many SaaS applications store their customers' data in the form of relational tables, meaning that data is organized in tables that have hierarchical parent and child relationships. For example, for an organization that is a customer of a SaaS application, data for customers of that organization may have parent relationships with sales and location data for those customers. The SaaS data for the organization thus may include a set of hierarchical computing objects that are hosted by the SaaS application within the corresponding distributed environment, and accessing the SaaS data for that organization may involve calling multiple APIs. The hierarchical nature of SaaS data and the use of APIs for access may complicate the provision of backup and recovery services for such data. For example, accessing a single computing object may involve calling multiple APIs, where each API may access multiple tables within the distributed environment associated with the SaaS application.
A data management system (DMS) may maintain and store snapshots of computing objects for a client. To enable restoring client data for relational SaaS applications, the hierarchical relationships between the tables that store the data should be maintained when backing up the client data. For example, if a client requests to restore parent data for a SaaS application, the child data that is associated with the parent data may also be restored. Further, for relational SaaS applications, the ordering of backup and restore operations may be important. For example, an application may require that parent data is backed up or restored before child data in order to maintain the parent-child hierarchical relationships.
Aspects of this disclosure relate to cascading recovery framework for SaaS applications that accommodates multiple associated APIs and maintains hierarchical relationships. For example, snapshots for relational SaaS applications may maintain hierarchical relationships between computing objects and tables in order to enable cascading recovery of SaaS applications. For example, for a particular organization (e.g., customer of a SaaS application), a DMS may identify the computing object (e.g., snappable) hierarchy for that organization's data as hosted by the SaaS application and also may identify the APIs associated with accessing each snappable. Each snappable may include multiple tables, and tables that are accessed (and restored) via a same API may be organized as logical entities (e.g., table groups). The DMS may store the hierarchical relationship between the tables, and as the tables are stored as logical entities, the DMS may organize the tables in the backup database based on which APIs are used to access and restore the relevant tables.
Accordingly, the recovery framework enables a cascading restore associated with the SaaS application. A cascading restore refers to a restore operation or procedure that restores multiple associated hierarchical computing objects or tables based on a selection to restore one or more computing objects or tables in the hierarchy. For example, based on a request to restore a computing object of a relational SaaS application, the DMS may identify the associated computing objects to be recovered with the requested computing object based on the stored hierarchical information, and may call the relevant APIs to restore the requested computing object and the associated computing objects to be recovered with the requested computing object.
The network 120 may allow the one or more computing devices 115, the computing system 105, and the DMS 110 to communicate (e.g., exchange information) with one another. The network 120 may include aspects of one or more wired networks (e.g., the Internet), one or more wireless networks (e.g., cellular networks), or any combination thereof. The network 120 may include aspects of one or more public networks or private networks, as well as secured or unsecured networks, or any combination thereof. The network 120 also may include any quantity of communications links and any quantity of hubs, bridges, routers, switches, ports or other physical or logical network components.
A computing device 115 may be used to input information to or receive information from the computing system 105, the DMS 110, or both. For example, a user of the computing device 115 may provide user inputs via the computing device 115, which may result in commands, data, or any combination thereof being communicated via the network 120 to the computing system 105, the DMS 110, or both. Additionally, or alternatively, a computing device 115 may output (e.g., display) data or other information received from the computing system 105, the DMS 110, or both. A user of a computing device 115 may, for example, use the computing device 115 to interact with one or more user interfaces (e.g., graphical user interfaces (GUIs)) to operate or otherwise interact with the computing system 105, the DMS 110, or both. Though one computing device 115 is shown in
A computing device 115 may be a stationary device (e.g., a desktop computer or access point) or a mobile device (e.g., a laptop computer, tablet computer, or cellular phone). In some examples, a computing device 115 may be a commercial computing device, such as a server or collection of servers. And in some examples, a computing device 115 may be a virtual device (e.g., a virtual machine). Though shown as a separate device in the example computing environment of
The computing system 105 may include one or more servers 125 and may provide (e.g., to the one or more computing devices 115) local or remote access to applications, databases, or files stored within the computing system 105. The computing system 105 may further include one or more data storage devices 130. Though one server 125 and one data storage device 130 are shown in
A data storage device 130 may include one or more hardware storage devices operable to store data, such as one or more hard disk drives (HDDs), magnetic tape drives, solid-state drives (SSDs), storage area network (SAN) storage devices, or network-attached storage (NAS) devices. In some cases, a data storage device 130 may comprise a tiered data storage infrastructure (or a portion of a tiered data storage infrastructure). A tiered data storage infrastructure may allow for the movement of data across different tiers of the data storage infrastructure between higher-cost, higher-performance storage devices (e.g., SSDs and HDDs) and relatively lower-cost, lower-performance storage devices (e.g., magnetic tape drives). In some examples, a data storage device 130 may be a database (e.g., a relational database), and a server 125 may host (e.g., provide a database management system for) the database.
A server 125 may allow a client (e.g., a computing device 115) to download information or files (e.g., executable, text, application, audio, image, or video files) from the computing system 105, to upload such information or files to the computing system 105, or to perform a search query related to particular information stored by the computing system 105. In some examples, a server 125 may act as an application server or a file server. In general, a server 125 may refer to one or more hardware devices that act as the host in a client-server relationship or a software process that shares a resource with or performs work for one or more clients.
A server 125 may include a network interface 140, processor 145, memory 150, disk 155, and computing system manager 160. The network interface 140 may enable the server 125 to connect to and exchange information via the network 120 (e.g., using one or more network protocols). The network interface 140 may include one or more wireless network interfaces, one or more wired network interfaces, or any combination thereof. The processor 145 may execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 150 in order to cause the server 125 to perform functions ascribed herein to the server 125. The processor 145 may include one or more processing units, such as one or more central processing units (CPUs), one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), or any combination thereof. The memory 150 may comprise one or more types of memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM), static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), read-only memory ((ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flash, etc.). Disk 155 may include one or more HDDs, one or more SSDs, or any combination thereof. Memory 150 and disk 155 may comprise hardware storage devices. The computing system manager 160 may manage the computing system 105 or aspects thereof (e.g., based on instructions stored in the memory 150 and executed by the processor 145) to perform functions ascribed herein to the computing system 105. In some examples, the network interface 140, processor 145, memory 150, and disk 155 may be included in a hardware layer of a server 125, and the computing system manager 160 may be included in a software layer of the server 125. In some cases, the computing system manager 160 may be distributed across (e.g., implemented by) multiple servers 125 within the computing system 105.
In some examples, the computing system 105 or aspects thereof may be implemented within one or more cloud computing environments, which may alternatively be referred to as cloud environments. Cloud computing may refer to Internet-based computing, wherein shared resources, software, or information may be provided to one or more computing devices on-demand via the Internet. A cloud environment may be provided by a cloud platform, where the cloud platform may include physical hardware components (e.g., servers) and software components (e.g., operating system) that implement the cloud environment. A cloud environment may implement the computing system 105 or aspects thereof through SaaS or Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) services provided by the cloud environment. SaaS may refer to a software distribution model in which applications are hosted by a service provider and made available to one or more client devices over a network (e.g., to one or more computing devices 115 over the network 120). IaaS may refer to a service in which physical computing resources are used to instantiate one or more virtual machines, the resources of which are made available to one or more client devices over a network (e.g., to one or more computing devices 115 over the network 120).
In some examples, the computing system 105 or aspects thereof may implement or be implemented by one or more virtual machines. The one or more virtual machines may run various applications, such as a database server, an application server, or a web server. For example, a server 125 may be used to host (e.g., create, manage) one or more virtual machines, and the computing system manager 160 may manage a virtualized infrastructure within the computing system 105 and perform management operations associated with the virtualized infrastructure. The computing system manager 160 may manage the provisioning of virtual machines running within the virtualized infrastructure and provide an interface to a computing device 115 interacting with the virtualized infrastructure. For example, the computing system manager 160 may be or include a hypervisor and may perform various virtual machine-related tasks, such as cloning virtual machines, creating new virtual machines, monitoring the state of virtual machines, moving virtual machines between physical hosts for load balancing purposes, and facilitating backups of virtual machines. In some examples, the virtual machines, the hypervisor, or both, may virtualize and make available resources of the disk 155, the memory, the processor 145, the network interface 140, the data storage device 130, or any combination thereof in support of running the various applications. Storage resources (e.g., the disk 155, the memory 150, or the data storage device 130) that are virtualized may be accessed by applications as a virtual disk.
The DMS 110 may provide one or more data management services for data associated with the computing system 105 and may include DMS manager 190 and any quantity of storage nodes 185. The DMS manager 190 may manage operation of the DMS 110, including the storage nodes 185. Though illustrated as a separate entity within the DMS 110, the DMS manager 190 may in some cases be implemented (e.g., as a software application) by one or more of the storage nodes 185. In some examples, the storage nodes 185 may be included in a hardware layer of the DMS 110, and the DMS manager 190 may be included in a software layer of the DMS 110. In the example illustrated in
Storage nodes 185 of the DMS 110 may include respective network interfaces 165, processors 170, memories 175, and disks 180. The network interfaces 165 may enable the storage nodes 185 to connect to one another, to the network 120, or both. A network interface 165 may include one or more wireless network interfaces, one or more wired network interfaces, or any combination thereof. The processor 170 of a storage node 185 may execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 175 of the storage node 185 in order to cause the storage node 185 to perform processes described herein as performed by the storage node 185. A processor 170 may include one or more processing units, such as one or more CPUs, one or more GPUs, or any combination thereof. The memory 150 may comprise one or more types of memory (e.g., RAM, SRAM, DRAM, ROM, EEPROM, Flash, etc.). A disk 180 may include one or more HDDs, one or more SDDs, or any combination thereof. Memories 175 and disks 180 may comprise hardware storage devices. Collectively, the storage nodes 185 may in some cases be referred to as a storage cluster or as a cluster of storage nodes 185.
The DMS 110 may provide a backup and recovery service for the computing system 105. For example, the DMS 110 may manage the extraction and storage of snapshots 135 associated with different point-in-time versions of one or more target computing objects within the computing system 105. A snapshot 135 of a computing object (e.g., a virtual machine, a database, a filesystem, a virtual disk, a virtual desktop, or other type of computing system or storage system) may be a file (or set of files) that represents a state of the computing object (e.g., the data thereof) as of a particular point in time. A snapshot 135 may also be used to restore (e.g., recover) the corresponding computing object as of the particular point in time corresponding to the snapshot 135. A computing object of which a snapshot 135 may be generated may be referred to as snappable. Snapshots 135 may be generated at different times (e.g., periodically or on some other scheduled or configured basis) in order to represent the state of the computing system 105 or aspects thereof as of those different times. In some examples, a snapshot 135 may include metadata that defines a state of the computing object as of a particular point in time. For example, a snapshot 135 may include metadata associated with (e.g., that defines a state of) some or all data blocks included in (e.g., stored by or otherwise included in) the computing object. Snapshots 135 (e.g., collectively) may capture changes in the data blocks over time. Snapshots 135 generated for the target computing objects within the computing system 105 may be stored in one or more storage locations (e.g., the disk 155, memory 150, the data storage device 130) of the computing system 105, in the alternative or in addition to being stored within the DMS 110, as described below.
To obtain a snapshot 135 of a target computing object associated with the computing system 105 (e.g., of the entirety of the computing system 105 or some portion thereof, such as one or more databases, virtual machines, or filesystems within the computing system 105), the DMS manager 190 may transmit a snapshot request to the computing system manager 160. In response to the snapshot request, the computing system manager 160 may set the target computing object into a frozen state (e.g., a read-only state). Setting the target computing object into a frozen state may allow a point-in-time snapshot 135 of the target computing object to be stored or transferred.
In some examples, the computing system 105 may generate the snapshot 135 based on the frozen state of the computing object. For example, the computing system 105 may execute an agent of the DMS 110 (e.g., the agent may be software installed at and executed by one or more servers 125), and the agent may cause the computing system 105 to generate the snapshot 135 and transfer the snapshot 135 to the DMS 110 in response to the request from the DMS 110. In some examples, the computing system manager 160 may cause the computing system 105 to transfer, to the DMS 110, data that represents the frozen state of the target computing object, and the DMS 110 may generate a snapshot 135 of the target computing object based on the corresponding data received from the computing system 105.
Once the DMS 110 receives, generates, or otherwise obtains a snapshot 135, the DMS 110 may store the snapshot 135 at one or more of the storage nodes 185. The DMS 110 may store a snapshot 135 at multiple storage nodes 185, for example, for improved reliability. Additionally, or alternatively, snapshots 135 may be stored in some other location connected with the network 120. For example, the DMS 110 may store more recent snapshots 135 at the storage nodes 185, and the DMS 110 may transfer less recent snapshots 135 via the network 120 to a cloud environment (which may include or be separate from the computing system 105) for storage at the cloud environment, a magnetic tape storage device, or another storage system separate from the DMS 110.
Updates made to a target computing object that has been set into a frozen state may be written by the computing system 105 to a separate file (e.g., an update file) or other entity within the computing system 105 while the target computing object is in the frozen state. After the snapshot 135 (or associated data) of the target computing object has been transferred to the DMS 110, the computing system manager 160 may release the target computing object from the frozen state, and any corresponding updates written to the separate file or other entity may be merged into the target computing object.
In response to a restore command (e.g., from a computing device 115 or the computing system 105), the DMS 110 may restore a target version (e.g., corresponding to a particular point in time) of a computing object based on a corresponding snapshot 135 of the computing object. In some examples, the corresponding snapshot 135 may be used to restore the target version based on data of the computing object as stored at the computing system 105 (e.g., based on information included in the corresponding snapshot 135 and other information stored at the computing system 105, the computing object may be restored to its state as of the particular point in time). Additionally, or alternatively, the corresponding snapshot 135 may be used to restore the data of the target version based on data of the computing object as included in one or more backup copies of the computing object (e.g., file-level backup copies or image-level backup copies). Such backup copies of the computing object may be generated in conjunction with or according to a separate schedule than the snapshots 135. For example, the target version of the computing object may be restored based on the information in a snapshot 135 and based on information included in a backup copy of the target object generated prior to the time corresponding to the target version. Backup copies of the computing object may be stored at the DMS 110 (e.g., in the storage nodes 185) or in some other location connected with the network 120 (e.g., in a cloud environment, which in some cases may be separate from the computing system 105).
In some examples, the DMS 110 may restore the target version of the computing object and transfer the data of the restored computing object to the computing system 105. And in some examples, the DMS 110 may transfer one or more snapshots 135 to the computing system 105, and restoration of the target version of the computing object may occur at the computing system 105 (e.g., as managed by an agent of the DMS 110, where the agent may be installed and operate at the computing system 105).
In response to a mount command (e.g., from a computing device 115 or the computing system 105), the DMS 110 may instantiate data associated with a point-in-time version of a computing object based on a snapshot 135 corresponding to the computing object (e.g., along with data included in a backup copy of the computing object) and the point-in-time. The DMS 110 may then allow the computing system 105 to read or modify the instantiated data (e.g., without transferring the instantiated data to the computing system). In some examples, the DMS 110 may instantiate (e.g., virtually mount) some or all of the data associated with the point-in-time version of the computing object for access by the computing system 105, the DMS 110, or the computing device 115.
In some examples, the DMS 110 may store different types of snapshots 135, including for the same computing object. For example, the DMS 110 may store both base snapshots 135 and incremental snapshots 135. A base snapshot 135 may represent the entirety of the state of the corresponding computing object as of a point in time corresponding to the base snapshot 135. An incremental snapshot 135 may represent the changes to the state—which may be referred to as the delta—of the corresponding computing object that have occurred between an earlier or later point in time corresponding to another snapshot 135 (e.g., another base snapshot 135 or incremental snapshot 135) of the computing object and the incremental snapshot 135. In some cases, some incremental snapshots 135 may be forward-incremental snapshots 135 and other incremental snapshots 135 may be reverse-incremental snapshots 135. To generate a full snapshot 135 of a computing object using a forward-incremental snapshot 135, the information of the forward-incremental snapshot 135 may be combined with (e.g., applied to) the information of an earlier base snapshot 135 of the computing object along with the information of any intervening forward-incremental snapshots 135, where the earlier base snapshot 135 may include a base snapshot 135 and one or more reverse-incremental or forward-incremental snapshots 135. To generate a full snapshot 135 of a computing object using a reverse-incremental snapshot 135, the information of the reverse-incremental snapshot 135 may be combined with (e.g., applied to) the information of a later base snapshot 135 of the computing object along with the information of any intervening reverse-incremental snapshots 135.
In some examples, the DMS 110 may provide a data classification service, a malware detection service, a data transfer or replication service, backup verification service, or any combination thereof, among other possible data management services for data associated with the computing system 105. For example, the DMS 110 may analyze data included in one or more computing objects of the computing system 105, metadata for one or more computing objects of the computing system 105, or any combination thereof, and based on such analysis, the DMS 110 may identify locations within the computing system 105 that include data of one or more target data types (e.g., sensitive data, such as data subject to privacy regulations or otherwise of particular interest) and output related information (e.g., for display to a user via a computing device 115). Additionally, or alternatively, the DMS 110 may detect whether aspects of the computing system 105 have been impacted by malware (e.g., ransomware). Additionally, or alternatively, the DMS 110 may relocate data or create copies of data based on using one or more snapshots 135 to restore the associated computing object within its original location or at a new location (e.g., a new location within a different computing system 105). Additionally, or alternatively, the DMS 110 may analyze backup data to ensure that the underlying data (e.g., user data or metadata) has not been corrupted. The DMS 110 may perform such data classification, malware detection, data transfer or replication, or backup verification, for example, based on data included in snapshots 135 or backup copies of the computing system 105, rather than live contents of the computing system 105, which may beneficially avoid adversely affecting (e.g., infecting, loading, etc.) the computing system 105.
In some examples, the DMS 110, and in particular the DMS manager 190, may be referred to as a control plane. The control plane may manage tasks, such as storing data management data or performing restorations, among other possible examples. The control plane may be common to multiple customers or tenants of the DMS 110. For example, the computing system 105 may be associated with a first customer or tenant of the DMS 110, and the DMS 110 may similarly provide data management services for one or more other computing systems associated with one or more additional customers or tenants. In some examples, the control plane may be configured to manage the transfer of data management data (e.g., snapshots 135 associated with the computing system 105) to a cloud environment 195 (e.g., Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services). In addition, or as an alternative, to being configured to manage the transfer of data management data to the cloud environment 195, the control plane may be configured to transfer metadata for the data management data to the cloud environment 195. The metadata may be configured to facilitate storage of the stored data management data, the management of the stored management data, the processing of the stored management data, the restoration of the stored data management data, and the like.
Each customer or tenant of the DMS 110 may have a private data plane, where a data plane may include a location at which customer or tenant data is stored. For example, each private data plane for each customer or tenant may include a node cluster 196 across which data (e.g., data management data, metadata for data management data, etc.) for a customer or tenant is stored. Each node cluster 196 may include a node controller 197 which manages the nodes 198 of the node cluster 196. As an example, a node cluster 196 for one tenant or customer may be hosted on Microsoft Azure, and another node cluster 196 may be hosted on Amazon Web Services. In another example, multiple separate node clusters 196 for multiple different customers or tenants may be hosted on Microsoft Azure. Separating each customer or tenant's data into separate node clusters 196 provides fault isolation for the different customers or tenants and provides security by limiting access to data for each customer or tenant.
The control plane (e.g., the DMS 110, and specifically the DMS manager 190) manages tasks, such as storing backups or snapshots 135 or performing restorations, across the multiple node clusters 196. For example, as described herein, a node cluster 196-a may be associated with the first customer or tenant associated with the computing system 105. The DMS 110 may obtain (e.g., generate or receive) and transfer the snapshots 135 associated with the computing system 105 to the node cluster 196-a in accordance with a service level agreement for the first customer or tenant associated with the computing system 105. For example, a service level agreement may define backup and recovery parameters for a customer or tenant such as snapshot generation frequency, which computing objects to backup, where to store the snapshots 135 (e.g., which private data plane), and how long to retain snapshots 135. As described herein, the control plane may provide data management services for another computing system associated with another customer or tenant. For example, the control plane may generate and transfer snapshots 135 for another computing system associated with another customer or tenant to the node cluster 196-n in accordance with the service level agreement for the other customer or tenant.
To manage tasks, such as storing backups or snapshots 135 or performing restorations, across the multiple node clusters 196, the control plane (e.g., the DMS manager 190) may communicate with the node controllers 197 for the various node clusters via the network 120. For example, the control plane may exchange communications for backup and recovery tasks with the node controllers 197 in the form of transmission control protocol (TCP) packets via the network 120.
In some examples, the DMS 110 may manage the extraction and storage of snapshots of a SaaS application. For example, the computing system 105 may be a SaaS application. SaaS applications may host customer information in a distributed environment that is not directly accessible to the customers—e.g., customers of a SaaS application may have access to their associated data only via the SaaS application, such as through one or more APIs associated with the SaaS application. Relational SaaS applications may store data in the form of relational tables, meaning that data is organized in tables that have hierarchical parent and child relationships. The SaaS data for the organization thus may include a set of hierarchical computing objects that are hosted by the SaaS application within the corresponding distributed environment, and accessing the SaaS data for that organization may involve calling multiple APIs. For example, SaaS applications may expose information via REST APIs.
To enable restoring client data for relational SaaS applications, the DMS 110 may maintain hierarchical relationships between the tables that store the data when backing up the client data. For example, if a client requests to restore parent data for a SaaS application, the DMS 110 may also restore child data that is associated with the parent data.
The DMS 110 may include a cascading recovery framework for SaaS applications that accommodates multiple associated APIs and maintains hierarchical relationships. For example, snapshots 135 for relational SaaS applications may maintain hierarchical relationships between computing objects and tables in order to enable cascading recovery of SaaS applications. For example, for a particular organization (e.g., customer of a SaaS application), the DMS 110 may identify the computing object (e.g., snappable) hierarchy for that organization's data as hosted by the SaaS application and also may identify the APIs associated with accessing each snappable. Each snappable may include multiple tables, and tables that are accessed (and restored) via a same API may be organized as logical entities (e.g., table groups). The DMS 110 may store the hierarchical relationship between the tables, and as the tables are stored as logical entities, the DMS 110 may organize the tables in the backup database (e.g., at storage nodes 185 or at the cloud environment 195) based on which APIs are used to access and restore the relevant tables. Accordingly, the DMS 110 may perform a cascading restore associated with the SaaS application. For example, based on a request to restore a computing object of a relational SaaS application, the DMS 110 may identify the associated computing objects to be recovered with the requested computing object based on the stored hierarchical information, and may call the relevant APIs to restore the requested computing object and the associated computing objects to be recovered with the requested computing object.
The schema used to store data by a DMS 110 (e.g., at the storage nodes 185 or at the node clusters 196 at the cloud environment 195) may not be the same as how the SaaS vendor stores data internally. The schema design may be driven by how the APIs expose information (e.g., which may determine how tables are grouped into entities). In some examples, not all relationships that are backed up may be considered during a restore operation. For example, how and when to cascade may depend on multiple factors including SaaS application type, the direction of the relationship to traverse, the nature of the restore, or custom options available to the backup administrator initiating the restore. Full restorations or bulk restorations may ensure ordering. For example, parent computing objects or tables may be restored before child objects or tables. As another example, a subtask may be restored after a parent task (e.g., a sales record may be restored after the customer record associated with the sales record).
The DMS 110-a may include a DMS manager 190-a, which may be an example of a DMS manager 190 as described herein. The DMS 110-a may support a generic framework that works for backup and restore of multiple relational SaaS applications. For example, the DMS 110-a may support multiple relational SaaS applications via including generic application frameworks 210 that may work with SaaS data protection applications 205 that are specific to different types of SaaS applications. An administrator of the DMS 110-a may specify a schema for a particular SaaS application and build connectors for the SaaS data protection applications 205 to the application frameworks 210, the DMS manager 190-a, and infrastructure 215 of the DMS 110-a. The infrastructure 215 may include data stores (e.g., storage nodes 185 as described with reference to
As described herein, the DMS 110-a may include one or more SaaS data protection applications 205 configured to perform backup and recovery operations for different respective SaaS applications. For example, one SaaS data protection application 205 may be configured to perform backup and recovery operations for JIRA, and another SaaS data protection application 205 may be configured to perform backup and recovery operations for Salesforce. Each of the SaaS data protection applications 205 may include an application specific code and an application specific user interface (e.g., which may be displayed at a computing device 115 as described with reference to
The application frameworks 210 may include common code shared across the one or more SaaS data protection applications 205. Application frameworks 210 may be realized via libraries, interfaces, or automated code generation. The application frameworks 210 may include a data source management framework 220, a backup framework 225, a view framework 230, and a restore framework 235.
Snapshots of the SaaS applications may be stored in the storage system 240. For example, the storage system may be one or more storage nodes 185 as described with reference to
The DMS 110-a may include a security and compliance framework 255. For example, the security and compliance framework 255 may encrypt data in the storage system (e.g., using bring your own key (BYOK) or key rotation encryption techniques) or may monitor for compliance with encryption requirements. In some examples, the security and compliance framework 255 may include security applications, configurations or controls, such as internal access controls (e.g., for administrators of the DMS 110-a).
The view framework 230 may control a user interface (e.g., displayed at a computing device 115 as described with reference to
The data source management framework 220 may include authentication framework (e.g., to access customer accounts at the SaaS applications). The data source management framework 220 may also include an API framework which may store which APIs are associated with each of the SaaS applications associated with the SaaS data protection applications 205. The API framework may control data rates (e.g., throttle data) retrieved or pushed through the APIs. The backup framework 225 may control backup operations for each of the SaaS applications associated with the SaaS data protection applications 205 (e.g., backup scheduling, skipping of items, failsafe, and resumability) in accordance with the data source management framework 220 or any instructions or commands received from the view framework 230. The restore framework 235 may control restore operations for each of the SaaS applications associated with the SaaS data protection applications 205 (e.g., restore scheduling, cascading restore, conflict resolution) in accordance with the data source management framework 220 or any instructions or commands received from the view framework 230.
The SaaS data protection applications 205 may enable automated discovery of objects for the associated SaaS applications. Each SaaS data protection application 205 may implement an interface which defines computing objects by calling source APIs.
The backup framework 225 may implement a data access object (DAO) interface which supports statically defined schemas and dynamically fetched schemas from the source SaaS application for each snapshot. As described with reference to
The restore framework 235 may use a generic cascading search and restore to facilitate the restoration of dependencies in a relational SaaS application. The restore framework 235 may build a generic table graph with pre-defined schemas and relationships per application, which table graph may be pruned based on exclusions received from an administrator (e.g., via the view framework 230). The restore framework 235 may order restore operations based on an entity graph, where the entity graph may be based on the table graph. For example, as dependencies between computing objects and tables in relational SaaS applications may determine the order in which computing objects and tables are restored, and the entity graphs may be used to determine the ordering. The entity graph may also be used to execute the actual restorations by calling restore functions which may be defined per entity. The restore framework 235 may include a task runner to run tasks associated with restore operations in a specified order. The restore framework 235 may include post processing functions which may perform tasks such as linking objects.
The SaaS data protection applications 205 and the application frameworks 210 may be agnostic to the way that the SaaS application vendors store data. The format in which data is stored in the relational storage 245 may depend on the APIs that are used to retrieve the data from the SaaS applications. For example, if a relational SaaS application completely changes its backend schema, but does not change its APIs, no changes would be implemented at the DMS 110-a (e.g., at the associated SaaS data protection applications 205 or the application frameworks 210) as the design of the DMS 110-a may not be directly dependent on the actual storage schema of the SaaS application vendor. The schema design for storage of backup data for relational SaaS applications may be based on the APIs input and output for a particular relational SaaS application. Thus absent API changes for a particular relational SaaS application, changes may not be made to the SaaS data protection applications 205 or the way that data is stored in the relational storage 245. If a relational SaaS application changes APIs, but fundamentals of the relational SaaS application remain the same, code changes may be made to the associated SaaS data protection applications 205 to account for the changed APIs (e.g., such changes may not involve large scale data transformation or schema migration for existing customers). Such avoidance of large scale changes may be achieved via the implementation of logical entities. For example, if APIs change for a relational SaaS application, the set of entities or the definition of entities may be changed accordingly (e.g., entities may be defined based on the APIs used to retrieve or restore tables). For example, the code for a SaaS data protection application 205 may be updated to reflect the tables or rows backed up or restored using the same APIs. If a relational SaaS application changes both APIs and the way that data is stored, depending on the change, the SaaS data protection applications 205 or the stored data for the relational SaaS application in the relational storage 245 may be changed. Such changes may involve schema migration for new incoming data.
Tables may be the lowest level of definition for a relational SaaS hierarchy which are directly stored into the relational storage 245. As used herein, the term “record” may refer to a row in a table. Tables may have relationships between each other that may be stored as metadata in the relational storage 245. Table relationships may be used during cascading restores or ordering for backup or restore. Table relationships for a computing object may change across snapshots (e.g., the relational storage 245 may provide write and read APIs for relationship changes across snapshots. Table relationships may be similar to foreign key relationships in databases. The table relationship may be between a primary key of one table A (referred to as a parent table) and any column of another table B (referred to as the child table). The column in table B may store an indication of the primary key directly (e.g., as a single key) or may store indications of multiple primary keys into table A (e.g., as an array which point to multiple parents) to allow for multiple cascading. Hence, different types of relationships may be pre-defined in code. Relationships between tables for a relational SaaS application may be defined by an associated SaaS data protection application 205 and stored in the relational storage 245. For example, Table 1 below shows an example relationship structure for relational tables.
Table schemas may be encoded in the relational storage 245. Schemas may be changed across snapshots (e.g., columns may be added, deleted, or renamed) on the fly during an initial phase of a backup of any snapshot. For example, any table may be defined by a type DAO interface which retrieves the unique name of the table (e.g., via a tablename( ) function) and retrieves the set of all dependency relationships for the table (e.g., via a GetDependencyRelationships( )(function).
Tables may be static or dynamic. Static tables may be encoded into the backup framework 225 or the SaaS data protection applications 205 for a particular SaaS application. The source APIs may not create or change static tables. Static tables may generally be tables that are application specific. The schema for a static table may be mutated via a code change. If the schema of a static table is changed and deployed into production, the next snapshot will change the schema of that table in the relational storage 245 on the fly (e.g., during the backup).
Dynamic tables may generally be used for custom tables in the source side which are not application specific but customer or snapshot specific. Schemas of dynamic tables may be fetched on the go (e.g., during the backup) and persisted into the relational storage 245.
The schema of static tables may be encoded in golang DAO structs. For example, each table schema may be stored in DAO structs in .go files. There may be one DAO struct for each table which indicates the table's SQL type and other information embedded into struct attributes. Golang reflections may be used to extract additional information to form the table SQL schema. Such DAO structs may also serve as objects to store table rows in a strongly typed manner. For example, a static DAO interface may be given by: type StaticDAO interface {DAO}. Table 2 below shows an example static DAO struct.
In some examples, the columnID field may be mandatory and may be used to detect column renames and type changes. Reflections may automatically interpret the SQL type from corresponding golang types (e.g., “int” for integer, “bool” for Boolean). In some examples, complex types such as varchar and json may be specified using the “SQL” tag. A field may generally not be removed from the DAO struct once added unless that field in not used during restore operations at all, as upon removal, that field may no longer be filled during reads from the datastore. The static DAO struct may be used in schema backup, data backup, search, and restore. The structure of the static DAO struct may first be used during the schema backup, and the API objects may be used at a later time to fill in the DAOs.
Dynamic tables may be used when the full table schema or schema modifications are not known before a backup job and may be fetched from the source SaaS application using APIs during backup. Some SaaS applications, such as JIRA, may not use dynamic tables. A dynamic DAO interface may be given by: type DynamicDAO interface{//implement DAO interface}. Dynamic tables may be mapped during runtime of a backup operation based on the objects provided from a SaaS application via APIs.
A SaaS application 305 may be hosted in a distributed environment (e.g., a first storage environment). The DMS 110-b may retrieve information stored at the SaaS application via a set of APIs 310 (e.g., REST APIs). The DMS 110-b may communicate via a network connection 320 with the cloud environment 195-a. In some examples, the DMS 110-b may transfer snapshots from the DMS 110-b to the cloud environment 195-a (e.g., a second storage environment) via the network connection 320. In some examples, based on a command from the DMS 110-b, the cloud environment 195-a may retrieve information stored at the SaaS application via a set of APIs 315 (e.g., REST APIs).
Similarly, for restore functions, in some examples, the DMS 110-b may retrieve snapshots from the cloud environment 195-a via the network connection and may restore the snapshots to the SaaS application 305 via the set of APIs 310. In other examples, for restore functions, the DMS 110-b may send a command to the cloud environment 195-a indicating the snapshots to restore, and the cloud environment 195-a may restore the indicated snapshots to the SaaS application 305 via the set of APIs 315.
For an organization that is a customer of a SaaS application, the organization may be represented as a set of computing objects (e.g., snappables) in a hierarchy. The computing objects may be defined for that SaaS application through an interface (e.g., at the corresponding SaaS data protection application 205 as described with reference to
For example, discovery interfaces that may be implemented by the DMS 110-b may include: 1) GetNextBatch( ) which queries the next page of APU results and returns a managed object batch with contains all details of that managed computing object; 2) GetManagedObjectType( ) which indicates the managed object type that the object iterator handles; and 3) Close(taskUpdater,tcConfig) which may be called when the DMS 110-b has completed iterating the batches. Any custom tasks for a SaaS workflow may be added after the GetManagedObjectType( ) interface (e.g., to write any bookkeeping done during the batch retrieval to the task configuration for subsequent tasks to utilize). In some examples, the DMS 110-b may perform a refresh job periodically. For example, every X duration, the DMS 110-b may fetch all of the computing objects associated with an organization or site for a SaaS application and identify the differences between the new set of computing objects and the last set of computing objects for the organization or site for the SaaS application to discover and archive the current set of computing objects.
Each SaaS application 305-a includes a set of computing objects 405 (e.g., a computing object 405-a, a computing object 405-b, and a computing object 405-c) as shown. Each computing object 405 may involve a separate restore job and a separate backup job. At backup side (e.g., in the relational storage 245 described with reference to
There may be a many:many (many to many) relationship between restore or backup APIs and tables 410. Accordingly, multiple tables may be backed up or restored via a single API, which may complicate generalization of backup and restore jobs as the interfaces may be independently implemented at the snappable level. Accordingly a DMS 110 may implement a logical restore unit and a logical storage unit, where a logical restore unit may be referred to as a logical entity.
As described herein, each SaaS application 305-b includes a set of computing objects 405 (e.g., a computing object 405-d, a computing object 405-e, and a computing object 405-f) as shown. Each computing object 405 may include a set of tables 410. For example, the data of the computing object 405-e may be stored in a table 410-d, a table 410-e, and a table 410-f. As described above, to simplify backup and restore operations for relational SaaS applications, tables 410 may be grouped into logical entities 515, where a logical entity includes a group of tables 410 associated with a same set of APIs for backup or restore operations. For example, the table 410-d and the table 410-e may be included in the first entity 515-a and the table 410-f may be included in the second entity 515-b.
An entity 515 may be a single unit for backup or restoration operations. An entity 515 may be a group of tables 410 which are associated with a same source API (or same set of source APIs) via which the DMS 110 performs backup or restoration operations for the SaaS application. For example, in JIRA, “Issues” may be an entity which contains IssueMetadata, IssueData, IssueComment, and IssueAttachment tables. For example, all tables 410 which are restored via the same API may below to the same entity 515. One computing object or snappable may have multiple entities 515, and each entity 515 may have multiple tables. Each entity 515 has at least one table. Table relationships may be within any two tables, within an entity 515, or across entities 515. There may be no restriction on the kinds of relationships within tables of the same entity. An entity may be defined as: Entity: List [Tables]. The concept of an entity allows the DMS 110 to generalize jobs for every new SaaS application by implementing interfaces at an entity level. Table 3 shows an example entity interface. The functions GetBackupRecordsBatchlterator( ) and RestoreRecordsBatcho are defined below.
As entities are collections of tables, entities may support both static and dynamic tables. A single entity may be static or dynamic. For example, a single entity may include static tables or may include dynamic tables. In some examples, a single entity may not include both static and dynamic tables.
As described above, in JIRA, the “Issues” may be an entity which contains IssueMetadata, IssueData, IssueComment, and IssueAttachment tables An example table schema of a project (e.g., Issues) snappable in JIRA may be represented as the list of DAO objects in code returned from the GetDAOs( ) function as: [ ]StaticDao {&IssureMetaData{ }, &IssueData{ }, &IssueComment{ }, &IssueAttachment{ }, &Project{ }}.
Each snappable or computing object 405 may be a set of entities 515. When building a new application (e.g., a SaaS data protection application 205 for a new SaaS application to backup as described with reference to
The SaasSnappable interface may support both static and dynamic entities 515. For example, in Atlassian, each of the entities may be static (e.g., include only static tables) and the list of entities may depend on the type of the computing object 405. For a dynamic computing object, for example, as in some Salesforce computing objects, a list of specific entities may be returned based on the configuration of the computing object.
In some examples, the DMS 110 may split tables 410 into multiple tables to assist with deduplication. For example, an Issue table in JIRA may be split into separate IssueMetadata, IssueComments, and IssueAttachments tables.
Relationships may denote cascading and ordering for restore operations. Relationship information may be added to cascade from one table to another. Relationship information may not be added for foreign key mapping. For example, there may be no reason for cascading or ordering to add relationship information between an IssueMetadata table and an IssueComments table in JIRA as these tables may not have parent-child relationships between them, though they may share a same parent. In some examples, table relationship directed graphs (e.g., from parent to child) may not have loops, except for self-loops. In some examples, entity relationship directed graphs (e.g., from parent to child) may not have loops, except for self-loops. In some examples, the DMS 110 may run a periodic validator job or operation may per organization (e.g., customer of a SaaS application) to validate such constraints across snappables or computing objects for that organization.
As described with reference to
The schema backup phase may make any modifications to the schema (e.g., the schema and the outgoing references) of the tables for each entity. A temporally first snapshot of a particular computing object may create the table(s) in the computing object and may initialize the outgoing references (e.g., references to parent tables and child tables). The schema backup phase may be performed for subsequent snapshots of a computing object if there are modifications to one or more tables in the computing object. The schema backup phase may iterate over all of the entities in a computing object and may retrieve the latest DAOs of all of the tables in each entity to check if the schema has changed since the last snapshot. Once the schema backup phase is complete, the DMS 110-a may store a synchronization token to store the place of the backup operation. The DMS 110-a may synchronize the schemas in the relational storage 245 based on the scheme backup phase (e.g., using a synchronization token).
The data backup phase may be performed after the schema backup phase. In the data backup phase, data may be fetched or retrieved from the source SaaS application and written into the relational storage 245 in the identified schema format (e.g., identified in the schema backup phase). The data backup phase involves fetching or retrieving relevant data from APIs, transforming the data into DAO objects, and ingesting the DAOs into the datastore (e.g., the relational storage 245). For example, the backup of one page of API objects may be split into the following stages: 1) fetch a page of API objects; 2) convert the page to DAO objects; and 3) ingest the DAO objects into datastore (e.g., the relational storage 245). The first and second stages may be specific to each snappable type and may be defined by the entity interface. The third stage may be generalized across entities.
For relational SaaS applications, the third stage may be generalized by iterating over all the entities in each computing object. Each entity may have its own backup function which may provide the records for all of the tables included in the entity. The order of entities to backup may be important to avoid conflicts during restoration operations as entities may be interrelated. For example, a child entity may be backed up before a parent entity to minimize conflicts (e.g., as additions of child objects may be more common than deletions). The ordering of tables within an entity may be handled within the entity definition.
The BackupRecordsBatchIterator interface described above in Table 3 may define a function to fetch records of an entity in batches to backup. The BackupRecordsBatchlterator interface may hold next page information and may specify whether to synchronize or commit each table in the entity. Each entity may have its own implementation of the BackupRecordsBatchlterator interface. An example of the BackupRecordsBatchlterator interface is provided in table 5, where each entity has its own BackupRecordsBatchlterator interface.
As shown in table 5, the per entity BackupRecordsBatchIterator interface method may be used to define the first and second stages of the data backup by fetching all records of the tables in the given entity in a paginated way and converting the fetched records into the table DAOs. A common backup function may handle iterating through the entities and ingesting DAOs into the relational storage, and in some examples, along with resiliency and resumability requirements. For example, a function RelationalSaasSnapshotRunnerImpl may fetch entities to backup first, and then may proceed to backup each entity individually (e.g., in the relational storage). Each entity backup phase may involve schema backup and data backup, as described herein. A snapshot runner may track which backups of which entities have been completed for resumability purposes. For example, the DMS 110-a may use synchronization tokens for resumability purposes (e.g., after each entity is complete or within an entity after every X records, where X may be an entity level decision). Synchronization tokens may have details encoded which indicate which entities have been completely or partially backed up, and if partially backed up, up until which point. Table 6 shows an example of a RelationalSaasSnapshotRunnerImpl function.
The backup framework 225 may also be responsible for handling skipping items in tables or entities (e.g., based on errors), retries based on errors in the relational storage 245, and fail safe full requests.
The restore framework 235 may control restore operations for each SaaS application. The view framework 230 may enable browse and search functions on a user interface, for example, as described with reference to
Relational SaaS computing objects may have cascading demands, meaning that a selection to restore one table or computing object for a customer or organization may result in a number of other restores via cascading. Cascading may be dependent on a number of factors such as snappable type, relationships between tables, and customer selected options.
The view framework 230 may provide an application specific user interface to customers to select rows to restore along with the snapshot from which to restore (e.g., which point in time). The user interface may also provide customization options that may drive the cascading criteria. The cascading effects of a particular selection may be shown to the customer or administrator on the user interface, and the customer or administrator may be allowed to select or deselect cascading effects to restore, for example, as shown in
Once the customer or administrator makes a final selection of items to restore, that information may be sent to the restore framework 235 for a restore job. Cascading may be based on the tables stored in the relational storage 245 for the given SaaS application and may be determined based on entity relationships. Actual restorations may occur on an entity basis.
A table graph may be a graph where each node is a table and edges are parent-child relationships between the tables. Except for self-loops, table graphs may not have any cycles (e.g., dependency loops). The view framework 230 may compute a table graph for selected tables, and the displayed cascading effect may be based on the table graph. Example functions TableVertex and TableGraph may be used to generate a table graph as shown in Table 7.
An entity graph may be a graph where each node is an entity and edges are parent-child relationships between the entities. Except for self-loops, entity graphs may not have any cycles (e.g., dependency loops). A restoration job may compute an entity graph for selected tables. Entity graphs may be constructed using table graphs, where all the tables which belong to the same entity are grouped together into a single node. The child-parent reference from one entity to another may be indicated if there is any child-parent reference from any table of any entity to any other table of another entity. Example functions EntityVertex and EntityGraph may be used to generate an entity graph as shown in Table 8.
The DMS 110-a may implement a genenic algorithm for cascading search that may be applied to all SaaS computing objects. As the table relationship information is encoded in the relational storage 245, the relationships may be traced recursively to find cascading effects for a user to select. The starting point for cascading may be the keys (e.g., tables) that a customer or administrator has requested to restore (e.g., via a user interface), which may result in a table graph. The table graph may be passed on to a restore job at the restore framework 235. The inputs for cascading may be the keys to restore (e.g., a primary key iterator which may generally be within a single table) and cascading criteria. In some examples, the cascading criteria may include which relationships to traverse for every node (e.g., in some cases parent relationships may be traversed and in some cases just child relationships may be traversed) which may be provided by the function Entity.CascadingTypes( ) for each entity. In some examples, the cascading criteria may include any exclusions that the customer or administrator defined in the user interface (e.g., which tables not to restore).
Cascading by the view framework 230 may involve creation of a lazy table graph where nodes are tables and the keys to restore in the tables and edges are relationships between the tables based on the cascading criteria. The view framework 230 may perform a breadth-first search (BFS) to identify the keys to restore for every table. The table graph may be referred to as a lazy table graph because the BFS may not be a complete BFS, but may only be completed to show options to the customer or administrator on the user interface. For example, only the tables shown on the interface may be shown and not the entirety of the chain of dependencies. A full cascade of the dependencies may be performed by the restore job based on a selection by the customer or administrator on the user interface of the user tables to restore. The table dependencies may be in different computing objects. For example, a table in one computing object may be a child of a table in another computing object. In some cases, snapshots of the different computing objects may occur at different times. and in such cases where a selected table in a first computing object depends on a table in a second computing object, the DMS 110-a may select for cascading the table in the snapshot of the second computing object that is closest in time to the selected snapshot of the first computing object. Table 9 shows an example of an ExclusionInterface function and a CascadingSearch function which may be used by the view framework 230 to display tables in a hierarchical relationship with a selected table.
Once the view framework 230 has the cascading results, the summary page may be displayed to a customer or administrator who may select or deselect some of the keys to restore. The table graph may be pruned based on the selections from the administrator before being sent to the restore framework 235.
The restore framework 235 may be a generic restore taskchain that may operate with any relational SaaS snappable which has a common implementation built on top of entities defined per SaaS snappable. A restore operation may be a granular restore, a partial restore, or a full restore.
A granular restore may originate from a search or browse function provided by the view framework 230. In a granular restore, the DMS 110-a may be provided the exact keys that the customer or administrator selects to restore and then performs a cascade operation to retrieve additional keys from other tables in hierarchical relationships with the selected tables (e.g., keys). For example, the lazy table graph may be provided by the view framework 230, and as part of the restore framework 235, the DMS 110-a may construct an entire table graph (e.g., using a BFS) in memory and may convert the entire table graph into an entity graph, which may be used to perform the restoration.
A partial restore may be similar to a granular restore except the volume of information may be higher. For example, a partial restore may involve one or more selected computing objects (e.g., in JIRA, one or more projects). For example, a partial restore may involve restoration of a logical component of an application. In a partial restore, the DMS 110-a may be provided partial restore nodes via a table graph and creates a full table graph which may then be converted into an entity graph which may be used to perform the restoration. The keyiterator of the DMS 110-a may not have sufficient memory to construct the entire table graph, and accordingly the keyiterator may fetch data lazily (e.g., as needed) in a paginated form.
A full or bulk restore may involve restoring an entire SaaS application for an organization or customer of the SaaS application. A full restore may not involve cascading as each computing object and table may be restored. Full restores may involve ordering. A full restore may involve the DMS 110-a creating an entity graph by adding relationships to all of the entities and restoring the entities using the entity graph in an ordered fashion (e.g., parent before child). For full or bulk restores, the fundamental logic may be similar to granular and partial restores, but more parallelism may be involved.
Restore operations may involve a stitching operation. For example, when a record is restored from the relational storage to the SaaS application, the SaaS application may generate a new primary key for the record. For example, when a deleted issue is restored in JIRA, JIRA may create a new Issue ID for the restored Issue. In such a case, when the dependents of the record are also restored (for example, parent issues), the restore job performed by the DMS 110-a may stitch back the dependency at the SaaS application with the new ID and not the original ID of the restored record, which process may be referred to as stitching. The scope of the stitching operation may be limited to the restore process. For example, assuming a 100 bytes per key, 1 million entries may use around 200 MB of memory, thus the stitcher may be implemented in memory. In some examples, the stitcher may be implemented in a disk store.
Restore operations may involve other post processing operations based on the new mapping of IDs after the restore of individual records to the SaaS application are completed. For example, functions that may be called include: a Stitcher interface which replaces old keys with new keys; a function that restores each node in an entity graph in BFS order (e.g., using an Entity.RestoreRecords function); a function that keeps a map of all restored table IDs and passes the map onto the next node; an entity handle function (EntityHandler.Restore) that may return post processing steps which may be called at the end. Restoring all records in an entity may also involve ordering records within the entity if a table has a self-reference.
Additionally, restore operations may involve conflict or dependency resolution operations. Backups or snapshots may not be 100% consistent as there may not be a single API which fetches all entries in a SaaS application at a particular time (e.g., backup operations may occur over a duration of time and may not be instantaneous). Dependencies may be across computing objects, and snapshots of computing objects may occur at different points in time, so it is possible that a dependency of a row in a snapshot of a different computing object may not exist. Such issues may be resolved through a conflict resolution process and may be performed at the end of a restore operation. If a relationship is from one computing object A to another computing object B and the restore operation restores rows from snapshot S1 of computing object A, then the DMS 110-a may select the snapshot of the computing object B that is closest to the timestamp of S1 for any dependencies in the computing object B to restore. This snapshot of computing object B may then be used to read the corresponding entries in the dependency. If the dependency was broken, then there may be a partial restore where some links have not been restored. Information regarding broken dependencies may be provided to a customer or administrator through restore events (e.g., via a user interface).
The user interface view 600 may be presented on a display 605, which may be a display of a computing device 115 as described herein. For example, the user interface view 600 may be presented to a customer or administrator of the DMS 110-a via a view framework 230 as described with reference to
For example, using a search bar 625, an administrator or customer may search for a computing object or table to restore (e.g., shown as Issue 1). The user interface view 600 may include selectable elements 610 to select or deselect computing objects or tables to restore. For example, the administrator or customer may select Issue 1. The user interface view 600 may lazily display items in hierarchical relationships with the selected computing object or table. For example, the user interface view 600 may display the quantity of different categories of computing objects or tables in a hierarchical relationship with the selected computing objects or tables, and the administrator or customer may use a dropdown element 615 to view the items in each category. For example, as shown, 202 account contact records may be in a hierarchical relationship with Issue 1, 3 case records may be in a hierarchical relationship with Issue 1, and 202 Account Contact Relation Records may be in a hierarchical relationship with Issue 1. As shown, the administrator or customer may have selected to view the three case records in a hierarchical relationship with Issue 1, and the administrator or customer may have selected to restore Case 1 and Case 2 but not case 3.
The administrator or customer may submit the restore selection, for example using a submit element 620. The DMS 110-a may pass the selection of computing objects or tables to restore to the restore framework 235, and the DMS 110-a may restore the selected computing objects or tables to the SaaS application as described herein.
At 710, the DMS 110-c may receive a request to restore a first computing object of a SaaS application using a set of snapshots of a set of computing objects of the SaaS application, where the set of computing objects includes the first computing object.
At 715, the DMS 110-c may identify, based on the request, one or more second computing objects in a hierarchical relationship with the first computing object.
At 720, the DMS 110-c may identify, based on the request, a set of APIs interfaces associated with the SaaS application, the set of APIs for access of the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects.
At 725, the DMS 110-c may restore, using the set of snapshots, the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects to the first storage environment via the set of APIs. For example, the DMS 110-c may use the set of APIs to restore snapshots of the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects to the first storage environment from the second storage environment 705.
In some examples, respective computing objects within the set of computing objects include respective sets of tables, tables included in the respective sets of tables are assigned to respective table groups (e.g., entities), and a table group includes one or more tables associated with a same group of one or more APIs from among the set of APIs. In some examples, the DMS 110-c may identify an order in which to restore the respective sets of tables associated with the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects based on a second hierarchical relationship associated with the respective sets of tables (e.g., based on dependencies within the sets of tables). In some examples, the DMS 110-c may identify the one or more second computing objects based on identifying second respective sets of tables in hierarchical relationships with first respective sets of tables associated with (e.g., included in) the first computing object. In some examples, the DMS 110-c may perform a BFS on using the table graph to identify the second respective sets of tables in hierarchical relationships with first respective sets of tables. In some examples, the DMS 110-c may generate a table graph for the first respective sets of tables as described herein, and identifying the second respective sets of tables is based on the table graph. In some examples, the DMS 110-c may identify from among the respective table groups, one or more table groups that include the first respective sets of tables associated with the first computing object and the second respective sets of tables, and identifying the set of APIs is based on identifying the one or more table groups. In some examples, the DMS 110-c may create an entity graph (e.g., a graph of table groups) based on the table graph, and the restoring at 725 may be based on the entity graph (e.g., which entities and thus which computing objects to restore or the ordering of the restore). In some examples, the request at 710 includes a request to restore a table of the respective sets of tables, and the DMS 110-c may identify the first computing object based on the indicated table.
In some examples, the request may include a request to restore a logical component (e.g., a portion of a SaaS application), and the DMS 110-c may determine that the first computing object is included in a group of computing objects associated with the logical component. For example, an administrator of the DMS 110-c may request to perform a partial restore of a SaaS application for a logical component that includes the first computing object.
In some examples, the DMS 110-c may cause presentation, at a user interface (e.g., of a computing device 115), of a set of multiple computing objects in hierarchical relationships with the first computing object (e.g., as described with reference to
In some examples, the DMS 110-c may select one or more second snapshots associated with the one or more second computing objects based on a proximity in time to a first time, the first time of a first snapshot associated with the first computing object. For example, as described herein, for cascading restores, snapshots of different computing objects may not occur simultaneously, and thus the one or more second computing objects may be selected by the DMS 110-c based on a proximity in time to a time of the snapshot of the first computing object.
In some examples, the DMS 110-c may update dependencies associated with one or more third computing objects at the first storage environment based on restoring the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects (e.g., may perform stitching at the SaaS application as described herein after restoring the computing objects 725).
The input interface 810 may manage input signaling for the system 805. For example, the input interface 810 may receive input signaling (e.g., messages, packets, data, instructions, commands, or any other form of encoded information) from other systems or devices. The input interface 810 may send signaling corresponding to (e.g., representative of or otherwise based on) such input signaling to other components of the system 805 for processing. For example, the input interface 810 may transmit such corresponding signaling to the DMS 820 to support recovery framework for SaaS data. In some cases, the input interface 810 may be a component of a network interface 1025 as described with reference to
The output interface 815 may manage output signaling for the system 805. For example, the output interface 815 may receive signaling from other components of the system 805, such as the DMS 820, and may transmit such output signaling corresponding to (e.g., representative of or otherwise based on) such signaling to other systems or devices. In some cases, the output interface 815 may be a component of a network interface 1025 as described with reference to
For example, the DMS 820 may include a restore request manager 825, a hierarchical relationship manager 830, an API manager 835, a restore manager 840, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the DMS 820, or various components thereof, may be configured to perform various operations (e.g., receiving, monitoring, transmitting) using or otherwise in cooperation with the input interface 810, the output interface 815, or both. For example, the DMS 820 may receive information from the input interface 810, send information to the output interface 815, or be integrated in combination with the input interface 810, the output interface 815, or both to receive information, transmit information, or perform various other operations as described herein.
The restore request manager 825 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, by a DMS, a request to restore a first computing object of a SaaS application using a set of snapshots of a set of computing objects of the SaaS application, where the set of computing objects includes the first computing object, and where the SaaS application is associated with a first storage environment. The hierarchical relationship manager 830 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for identifying, by the DMS and based on the request, one or more second computing objects in a hierarchical relationship with the first computing object. The API manager 835 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for identifying, by the DMS and based on the request, a set of APIs associated with the SaaS application, the set of APIs for access of the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects. The restore manager 840 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for restoring, by the DMS and using the set of snapshots, the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects to the first storage environment via the set of APIs.
The restore request manager 925 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, by a DMS, a request to restore a first computing object of a SaaS application using a set of snapshots of a set of computing objects of the SaaS application, where the set of computing objects includes the first computing object, and where the SaaS application is associated with a first storage environment. The hierarchical relationship manager 930 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for identifying, by the DMS and based on the request, one or more second computing objects in a hierarchical relationship with the first computing object. The API manager 935 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for identifying, by the DMS and based on the request, a set of APIs associated with the SaaS application, the set of APIs for access of the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects. The restore manager 940 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for restoring, by the DMS and using the set of snapshots, the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects to the first storage environment via the set of APIs.
In some examples, respective computing objects within the set of computing objects include respective sets of tables. In some examples, tables included in the respective sets of tables are assigned to respective table groups. In some examples, a table group includes one or more tables associated with a same group of one or more APIs from among the set of APIs.
In some examples, the ordering manager 955 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for identifying, by the DMS, an order in which to restore the respective sets of tables associated with the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects based on a second hierarchical relationship associated with the respective sets of tables.
In some examples, to support identifying the one or more second computing objects, the hierarchical relationship manager 930 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for identifying second respective sets of tables in hierarchical relationships with first respective sets of tables associated with the first computing object.
In some examples, the table graph manager 965 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for generating a table graph for the first respective sets of tables, where identifying the second respective sets of tables is based on the table graph.
In some examples, the API manager 935 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for identifying, from among the respective table groups, one or more table groups that include the first respective sets of tables associated with the first computing object and the second respective sets of tables, where identifying the set of APIs is based on identifying the one or more table groups.
In some examples, the entity graph manager 975 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for creating an entity graph based on the table graph, where the restoring is based on the entity graph.
In some examples, to support identifying the second respective sets of tables, the BFS manager 970 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for performing a breadth-first search using the table graph.
In some examples, the request includes a request to restore a table of the respective sets of tables, and the restore request manager 925 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for identifying the first computing object based on the request to restore the table.
In some examples, the request includes a request to restore a logical component of the SaaS application, and the restore request manager 925 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for determining that the first computing object is included in a group of computing objects associated with the logical component.
In some examples, to support receiving the request, the restore request manager 925 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving the request via a user interface associated with a user account associated with the SaaS application.
In some examples, to support identifying the one or more second computing objects, the cascading view manager 960 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for presenting, via the user interface, a set of multiple computing objects in hierarchical relationships with the first computing object, the set of multiple computing objects including the one or more second computing objects. In some examples, to support identifying the one or more second computing objects, the restore request manager 925 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, via the user interface, a selection of the one or more second computing objects of the set of multiple computing objects.
In some examples, the conflict resolution manager 945 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for selecting one or more second snapshots associated with the one or more second computing objects based on a proximity in time to a first time, the first time of a first snapshot associated with the first computing object.
In some examples, the computing object dependency manager 950 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for updating dependencies associated with one or more third computing objects at the first storage environment based on restoring the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects.
The network interface 1025 may enable the system 1005 to exchange information (e.g., input information 1010, output information 1015, or both) with other systems or devices (not shown). For example, the network interface 1025 may enable the system 1005 to connect to a network (e.g., a network 120 as described herein). The network interface 1025 may include one or more wireless network interfaces, one or more wired network interfaces, or any combination thereof. In some examples, the network interface 1025 may be an example of may be an example of aspects of one or more components described with reference to
Memory 1030 may include RAM, ROM, or both. The memory 1030 may store computer-readable, computer-executable software including instructions that, when executed, cause the processor 1035 to perform various functions described herein. In some cases, the memory 1030 may contain, among other things, a basic input/output system (BIOS), which may control basic hardware or software operation such as the interaction with peripheral components or devices. In some cases, the memory 1030 may be an example of aspects of one or more components described with reference to
The processor 1035 may include an intelligent hardware device, (e.g., a general-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof). The processor 1035 may be configured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory 1030 to perform various functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting recovery framework for SaaS data). Though a single processor 1035 is depicted in the example of
Storage 1040 may be configured to store data that is generated, processed, stored, or otherwise used by the system 1005. In some cases, the storage 1040 may include one or more HDDs, one or more SDDs, or both. In some examples, the storage 1040 may be an example of a single database, a distributed database, multiple distributed databases, a data store, a data lake, or an emergency backup database. In some examples, the storage 1040 may be an example of one or more components described with reference to
For example, the DMS 1020 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for receiving, by a DMS, a request to restore a first computing object of a SaaS application using a set of snapshots of a set of computing objects of the SaaS application, where the set of computing objects includes the first computing object, and where the SaaS application is associated with a first storage environment. The DMS 1020 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for identifying, by the DMS and based on the request, one or more second computing objects in a hierarchical relationship with the first computing object. The DMS 1020 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for identifying, by the DMS and based on the request, a set of APIs associated with the SaaS application, the set of APIs for access of the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects. The DMS 1020 may be configured as or otherwise support a means for restoring, by the DMS and using the set of snapshots, the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects to the first storage environment via the set of APIs.
By including or configuring the DMS 1020 in accordance with examples as described herein, the system 1005 may support techniques for recovery framework for SaaS data, which may provide one or more benefits such as, for example, improved reliability, reduced latency, improved user experience, more efficient utilization of computing resources, network resources or both, improved scalability, or improved security, among other possibilities.
At 1105, the method may include receiving, by a DMS, a request to restore a first computing object of a SaaS application using a set of snapshots of a set of computing objects of the SaaS application, where the set of computing objects includes the first computing object, and where the SaaS application is associated with a first storage environment. The operations of block 1105 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1105 may be performed by a restore request manager 925 as described with reference to
At 1110, the method may include identifying, by the DMS and based on the request, one or more second computing objects in a hierarchical relationship with the first computing object. The operations of block 1110 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1110 may be performed by a hierarchical relationship manager 930 as described with reference to
At 1115, the method may include identifying, by the DMS and based on the request, a set of APIs associated with the SaaS application, the set of APIs for access of the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects. The operations of block 1115 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1115 may be performed by an API manager 935 as described with reference to
At 1120, the method may include restoring, by the DMS and using the set of snapshots, the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects to the first storage environment via the set of APIs. The operations of block 1120 may be performed in accordance with examples as disclosed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1120 may be performed by a restore manager 940 as described with reference to
A method by an apparatus is described. The method may include receiving, by a DMS, a request to restore a first computing object of a SaaS application using a set of snapshots of a set of computing objects of the SaaS application, where the set of computing objects includes the first computing object, and where the SaaS application is associated with a first storage environment, identifying, by the DMS and based on the request, one or more second computing objects in a hierarchical relationship with the first computing object, identifying, by the DMS and based on the request, a set of APIs associated with the SaaS application, the set of APIs for access of the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects, and restoring, by the DMS and using the set of snapshots, the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects to the first storage environment via the set of APIs.
An apparatus is described. The apparatus may include one or more memories storing processor executable code, and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories. The one or more processors may individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the apparatus to receive, by a DMS, a request to restore a first computing object of a SaaS application using a set of snapshots of a set of computing objects of the SaaS application, where the set of computing objects includes the first computing object, and where the SaaS application is associated with a first storage environment, identify, by the DMS and based on the request, one or more second computing objects in a hierarchical relationship with the first computing object, identify, by the DMS and based on the request, a set of APIs associated with the SaaS application, the set of APIs for access of the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects, and restore, by the DMS and using the set of snapshots, the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects to the first storage environment via the set of APIs.
Another apparatus is described. The apparatus may include means for receiving, by a DMS, a request to restore a first computing object of a SaaS application using a set of snapshots of a set of computing objects of the SaaS application, where the set of computing objects includes the first computing object, and where the SaaS application is associated with a first storage environment, means for identifying, by the DMS and based on the request, one or more second computing objects in a hierarchical relationship with the first computing object, means for identifying, by the DMS and based on the request, a set of APIs associated with the SaaS application, the set of APIs for access of the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects, and means for restoring, by the DMS and using the set of snapshots, the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects to the first storage environment via the set of APIs.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code is described. The code may include instructions executable by a processor to receive, by a DMS, a request to restore a first computing object of a SaaS application using a set of snapshots of a set of computing objects of the SaaS application, where the set of computing objects includes the first computing object, and where the SaaS application is associated with a first storage environment, identify, by the DMS and based on the request, one or more second computing objects in a hierarchical relationship with the first computing object, identify, by the DMS and based on the request, a set of APIs associated with the SaaS application, the set of APIs for access of the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects, and restore, by the DMS and using the set of snapshots, the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects to the first storage environment via the set of APIs.
In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, respective computing objects within the set of computing objects include respective sets of tables, tables included in the respective sets of tables may be assigned to respective table groups, and a table group includes one or more tables associated with a same group of one or more APIs from among the set of APIs.
Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for identifying, by the DMS, an order in which to restore the respective sets of tables associated with the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects based on a second hierarchical relationship associated with the respective sets of tables.
In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, identifying the one or more second computing objects may include operations, features, means, or instructions for identifying second respective sets of tables in hierarchical relationships with first respective sets of tables associated with the first computing object.
Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for generating a table graph for the first respective sets of tables, where identifying the second respective sets of tables may be based on the table graph.
Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for identifying, from among the respective table groups, one or more table groups that include the first respective sets of tables associated with the first computing object and the second respective sets of tables, where identifying the set of APIs may be based on identifying the one or more table groups.
Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for creating an entity graph based on the table graph, where the restoring may be based on the entity graph.
In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, identifying the second respective sets of tables may include operations, features, means, or instructions for performing a breadth-first search using the table graph.
In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the request includes a request to restore a table of the respective sets of tables and the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium may include further operations, features, means, or instructions for identifying the first computing object based on the request to restore the table.
In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the request includes a request to restore a logical component of the SaaS application and the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium may include further operations, features, means, or instructions for determining that the first computing object may be included in a group of computing objects associated with the logical component.
In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, receiving the request may include operations, features, means, or instructions for receiving the request via a user interface associated with a user account associated with the SaaS application.
In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein, the identifying the one or more second computing objects may include operations, features, means, or instructions for presenting, via the user interface, a set of multiple computing objects in hierarchical relationships with the first computing object, the set of multiple computing objects including the one or more second computing objects and receiving, via the user interface, a selection of the one or more second computing objects of the set of multiple computing objects.
Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for selecting one or more second snapshots associated with the one or more second computing objects based on a proximity in time to a first time, the first time of a first snapshot associated with the first computing object.
Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for updating dependencies associated with one or more third computing objects at the first storage environment based on restoring the first computing object and the one or more second computing objects.
It should be noted that the methods described above describe possible implementations, and that the operations and the steps may be rearranged or otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible. Furthermore, aspects from two or more of the methods may be combined.
The description set forth herein, in connection with the appended drawings, describes example configurations and does not represent all the examples that may be implemented or that are within the scope of the claims. The term “exemplary” used herein means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration,” and not “preferred” or “advantageous over other examples.” The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques. These techniques, however, may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the described examples.
In the appended figures, similar components or features may have the same reference label. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a second label that distinguishes among the similar components. If just the first reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label irrespective of the second reference label.
Information and signals described herein may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.
The various illustrative blocks and modules described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration).
The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are within the scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, functions described above can be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or combinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may also be physically located at various positions, including being distributed such that portions of functions are implemented at different physical locations. Further, a system as used herein may be a collection of devices, a single device, or aspects within a single device.
Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A non-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, non-transitory computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM) compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transitory medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code means in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include CD, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media.
As used herein, including in the claims, the article “a” before a noun is open-ended and understood to refer to “at least one” of those nouns or “one or more” of those nouns. Thus, the terms “a,” “at least one,” “one or more,” and “at least one of one or more” may be interchangeable. For example, if a claim recites “a component” that performs one or more functions, each of the individual functions may be performed by a single component or by any combination of multiple components. Thus, “a component” having characteristics or performing functions may refer to “at least one of one or more components” having a particular characteristic or performing a particular function. Subsequent reference to a component introduced with the article “a” using the terms “the” or “said” refers to any or all of the one or more components. For example, a component introduced with the article “a” shall be understood to mean “one or more components,” and referring to “the component” subsequently in the claims shall be understood to be equivalent to referring to “at least one of the one or more components.”
Also, as used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items (for example, a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of” or “one or more of”) indicates an inclusive list such that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Also, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall not be construed as a reference to a closed set of conditions. For example, an exemplary step that is described as “based on condition A” may be based on both a condition A and a condition B without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shall be construed in the same manner as the phrase “based at least in part on.”
The description herein is provided to enable a person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
