Patent ID: 9684739
Date: 2017-06-20
CPC Classifications: G06F

Claim:
1. A method for generating different views of archived data or backups, comprising: repeatedly producing backups of data in a client system, wherein the backups are stored in a data storage management system in a memory separately from the data which is stored by a server in the client system, wherein the backups are natively stored as files and directories, wherein a set of metadata attributes is associated with the backups, the files and directories of the backups being stored according to a first retention policy, wherein the backups correspond to different points in time and wherein new backups are added to the backups over time; receiving user input specifying one or more user-defined criteria for determining which files or directories included in the backups are to be part of a backup view, such that those files or directories that meet the user-defined criteria are determined to be part of the backup view; generating a view definition file that includes the files or directories that are determined to be part of the backup view according to the user-defined criteria, the view definition file including metadata values corresponding to the user-defined criteria, wherein the view definition file is configured to serve as a basis for generating the backup view; generating the backup view from the backups by: storing the generated backup view and corresponding metadata for an associated retention period in the memory of the data storage management system, wherein the specified files or directories in the generated backup view are stored according to a second retention policy that is different than the first retention policy used for the backups; receiving a request for the backup view for processing, wherein processing the requested backup view includes processing data in the backup to identify and display the one or more files that are included in the backup view; periodically applying the view definition file to the backups after the view definition file has been created such that the same backup view is updated to include files or directories that were backed up after the view definition file was generated in addition to the files and directories that were backed up before the view definition file was generated; and exporting the backup view to a client device such that the files and directories included in the backup view are searchable.