Abstract:
A modular data and storage management system. The system includes a time variance interface that provides for storage into a storage media of data that is received over time. The time variance interface of the modular data and storage management system provides for retrieval, from the storage media, of an indication of the data corresponding to a user specified date. The retrieved indication of the data provides a user with an option to access specific information relative to the data, such as content of files that are included in the data.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/328,920, filed on Dec. 16, 2011, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/886,496, filed Sep. 20, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,086,809, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/777,823, filed Jul. 13, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,802,067, issued Sep. 21, 2010, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/302,528, filed Dec. 12, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,315,924, issued Jan. 1, 2008, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/774,302, filed on Jan. 30, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,003,641, issued Feb. 21, 2006, which is based on and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/179,343, filed Jan. 31, 2000, each of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention generally relates to data storage in email systems and more particularly to the logical view with granular access to exchange data managed by a modular data and storage management system. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    Traditional methods have involved restoring the Microsoft Exchange Database in its entirety even if the goal of the operation was to restore just a single object (e-mail message). Such methods take much longer to accomplish operation (because of volume of data transferred during restores), require the Microsoft Exchange database to be taken offline, and may require extra disk storage to store a temporary copy of the restored data. 
         [0006]    Many other problems and disadvantages of the prior art will become apparent to one skilled in the art after comparing such prior art with the present invention as described herein. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    Various aspects of the present invention may be realized through a modular data and storage management system. The system includes a time variance interface that provides for storage into a storage media of data that is received over time. The time variance interface of the modular data and storage management system provides for retrieval, from the storage media, of an indication of the data corresponding to a user specified date. The retrieved indication of the data provides a user with an option to access specific information relative to the data, such as content of files that are included in the data. 
         [0008]    In certain embodiments, the retrieved data of the modular data and storage management system is exchange data. A logical view of the retrieved data may be provided such that only a portion of the data is retrieved until specifically requested by a user. The logical view may create a state of the modular data and storage management system that corresponds to an earlier state of the system. The storage media is often divided into more than one subset of storage media to provide a separate location for the data during the time that it is stored. When the storage media is divided, the data may be migrated from one subset of storage media to another according to conditions such as length of time the data has been stored, type of data that has been stored, user that has stored the data, combinations of the specified conditions and similar conditions. The modular data and storage management system may also include a retrieval manager module having a master storage and backup map that is used to direct access to the data of the storage media such that data is retrieved only when specifically requested by the user. 
         [0009]    Various aspects of the present invention may also be found in a method for a storage management system to display an index of stored data of a computer system. The method allows a user access to a state of the computer system on a user specified date, and involves, not necessarily in this order, the following: receiving data in the computer system; storing the data into a storage media via an organizational scheme that provides a separate storage location for various versions, if any, of the data; indexing the stored data according to the date that modifications were made to the data and according to the storage location of the data; specifying a date on which to view the state of the computer system; and retrieving the stored data that correspond to the state of the computer system on the specified date, the retrieved data including an option to retrieve additional data. if any, with respect to the retrieved data. The method could further include selecting the option to retrieve the additional data to thereby retrieve the additional data from the separate storage location of the storage media. 
         [0010]    Still other aspects may be realized through a method for a computer system to display information regarding data storage in the computer system that corresponds to a state of the computer system on a user specified date. The method may include receiving data in the computer system; indexing the data according to the date the data was originally received; storing the data into a first storage media and a second storage media, the first storage media limited to indexing information of the data and the second storage media storing substantive data that corresponds to the indexing information; specifying a date on which to view the state of the computer system; and retrieving, from the first storage media, the stored data that correspond to the state of the computer system on the specified date, each of the retrieved data including display of an option to retrieve the substantive data, if any, from the second storage media. In this embodiment, the method may also include selecting the option to retrieve the substantive data to thereby transfer data associated with the indexing information from the second storage media to the computer system. 
         [0011]    Other aspects of the present invention will become apparent with further reference to the drawings and specification which follow. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    In one embodiment of the present invention, certain aspects may be realized when data retrieval of an object or small collections of objects take only a small fraction of the time taken by traditional storage methods. Also, users may be allowed to view, in detail, exactly what objects are available for restore and their attributes at a given point-in-time. Users can also search for objects based on their attributes before choosing to retrieve them. All browsing and restoring of data is done without compromising availability of the Microsoft Exchange database. 
           [0013]    Archival, retrieval, and indexing of Microsoft Exchange data as distinct end-user recognizable objects (such as an email message) with ability to browse these objects is enabled using certain aspects of the present invention. Also enabled is browsing of data at a user defined point-in-time, viewing different versions of the same object backed up at different points-in-time, and pattern searches in a logical view that the users are familiar with. Also enabled is the retrieval of objects backed up from one Microsoft Exchange database to a different target Microsoft Exchange target database. 
           [0014]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a data and storage management system built in accordance with principals of the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of an exemplary data and storage management system. 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of another data and storage management system. 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  is an exemplary e-mail browser that may operate in the data and storage management systems of  FIGS. 1 ,  2 , and  3 . 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  is an exemplary diagram of the e-mail browser of  FIG. 4  as it would appear when other options are selected by a user. 
           [0019]      FIG. 6  is an exemplary illustration of the e-mail browser of  FIG. 4  as it may be used to find particular messages in the data and storage management systems of  FIGS. 1 ,  2 , and  3 . 
           [0020]      FIG. 7  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a data and storage management system. 
           [0021]      FIG. 8  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of another data and storage management system. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0022]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a data and storage management system  100  built in accordance with principals of the present invention. The data and storage management system  100  includes an e-mail system  102  that communicates with storage media  104  to access and store e-mail that is received in or sent from the e-mail system  102 . The e-mail system  102  includes a retrieval application  106  that has an e-mail browser  108  and a time variance interface  110  for interfacing with an e-mail data retrieval manager  112 . The e-mail data retrieval manager  112  interfaces with the storage media  104  to access e-mail that has been received in the e-mail system  102 . 
         [0023]    The data and storage management system  100  allows a user to access e-mail from the storage media  104  in numerous manners including accessing e-mail from a particular date such that the e-mail browser  108  appears as though it is operating on a given date and time other than the current date and time. Thus, if the user desires to view the system in the past, the user may see the e-mail system  102  as it existed at any time. 
         [0024]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of an exemplary data and storage management system  200 . The data and storage management system  200  includes a computing system  202  that interacts with an e-mail data retrieval manager  204  to retrieve and store messages from storage media  206 . 
         [0025]    The computing system  202  includes an e-mail client browser  208  that includes a time variance interface  210 . The time variance interface  210  includes a user interface  212  and a retrieval interface  214 . The retrieval interface  214  interacts with the e-mail data retrieval manager  204  and accesses information according to directions found in an e-mail storage and backup map  216 . The e-mail storage and backup map  216  includes information that allows the retrieval interface  214  to assist the e-mail client browser  208  in retrieving data from the storage media  206 . The storage media  206  includes numerous types of storage media which are labeled as a first storage media  218  and a second storage media  220 . Of course, many more instances of storage media could exist on the storage media  206  as indicates by the dots representing continued storage media. 
         [0026]    The dashed lines in  FIG. 2  indicate optional variations and additions to the data and storage management system  200 . For example, a time variance interface  222  may be included in the computing system  202  to assist in retrieval of e-mail messages. Also, an e-mail data retrieval manager  224  may be included to alleviate some of the processing that would otherwise take place at the e-mail data retrieval manager  204 . 
         [0027]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of another data and storage management system  300 . The data and storage management system  300  includes an e-mail client system  302 , an e-mail server system  304 , and storage media  306 . The e-mail client system  302  includes a client browser  308  and a time variance interface  310 . The time variance interface  310  includes a user interface  312  and a retrieval interface  314 . 
         [0028]    The e-mail server system  304  includes an e-mail data delivery manager  316  which operates using an e-mail storage and backup map  318 . The e-mail storage and backup map  318  directs the client browser  308  where to go in the storage media  306  to access an e-mail message. The storage media  306  includes numerous storage media, such as, a first storage media  320  and a second storage media  322 . As indicated by the “. . . ” more storage media may be added, as necessary, in the storage media  306  of the storage and management system  300 . 
         [0029]      FIG. 4  is an exemplary e-mail browser  400  that may operate in the data and storage management systems  100 ,  200 , and  300 . The e-mail browser  400  includes a “view as of” box  401  where a user may indicate the date of interest for viewing e-mail. As illustrated, the “view as of” box  401  is labeled current to represent the current date of the storage and retrieval system. 
         [0030]    The e-mail browser  400  includes a mailbox/folder hierarchy  402  where mailboxes are shown as well as folders that may be accessed. The e-mail browser  400  also includes a message list  404  where each of the messages received in the system are listed. A toolbar  406  is illustrated across the top of the e-mail browser  400 . The toolbar  406  includes standard Windows functions such as file, edit, view, find, and help. 
         [0031]    The message list  404  includes a message list display selector  408  that allows a user to select which portions of a message to view in the e-mail browser  400 . In the e-mail browser  400 , the selections shown in the message list display selector  408  are the following: from, to, date, subject, and attachment. 
         [0032]    A user may select a message to view as indicated by a selected message  412 . When the user selects the message, the user may choose to view the history of the message and activate a history dialog box  414 . The history dialog box  414  shows the different stages of the message such as the date the message was first read, forwarded, or replied to. If a user desires to view further states of the messages, the user may activate a scroll bar  416  to view more options for the e-mail message. 
         [0033]      FIG. 5  is an exemplary diagram of the e-mail browser  400  as it would appear when other options are selected by a user. Specifically, a user may choose a different date to view the e-mails as illustrated in a “view as of” box  500  where the date “Sep. 15, 1999” has been selected by the user. 
         [0034]    Selection of the “Sep. 15, 1999” date alters the mailboxes and folders that appear in the mailbox/folder hierarchy  402 . As illustrated, only one mailbox appears and not all folder names appear that appeared when the “view as of” date was selected to be “current”. Also different in  FIG. 5 , are the messages that appear in the message list  404 . Only messages that were received prior to Sep. 15, 1999, are illustrated in the message list  404 . The toolbar  406  and the message list display selector  408  are both identical to the e-mail browser  400  as previously illustrated. 
         [0035]    When a view menu  512  is selected, a user may choose which options they desire for their particular needs of the e-mail browser  400 . A “view as of” box  514  may be activated by the user and a date box  516  appears which the user can use to enter the date of interest in the e-mail browser  400 . After the date has been selected, the user may enter the date into the system by pressing an okay button  518 . If the user decides to exit the “view as of” box  514  without making changes, the user can press a cancel button  520 . 
         [0036]      FIG. 6  is an exemplary illustration of the e-mail browser  400  as it may be used to find particular messages in the data and storage management systems  100 ,  200  and  300 . A find menu  600  may be selected by the user from the toolbar  406  and a find message dialog box  602  may be selected to appear on the e-mail browser  400 . The find message dialog box  602  includes a boxname selector box  604  where the user can select which mailbox they would like to perform the search in. A search text box  606  is available for the user to enter particular terms of the message for which they would like to search. Of course, the search terms can include wild cards or other custom text for which to find. Upon entry of the search text in the search text box  606 , the user presses a find button  608  which causes a search to be performed and all messages which are found appear in a message list  610 . The user may use a scroll bar  611  to find the particular message of interest. Upon finding the particular message of interest, the user may press an open button  612  to view the message. The user may also press a backup button  614  to view the usage history of the particular message of interest. When the backup button  614  is pressed, a history box  616  appears and the history of the selected message appears. A scroll bar  618  is available for the user to scroll through the messages if the list goes beyond the bounds of the history box  616 . As with typical Windows applications, a help button  620  is available for the user to press when in need of help using the find message dialog box  602 . The user may also press a cancel button  622  to exit the find message dialog box  602 . 
         [0037]      FIG. 7  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a data and storage management system  700 . The data and storage management system  700  includes computing devices  702 ,  704 ,  706 , and  708  which interact across a network  710 , such as an Ethernet network. A computing system  712  is also available to interact with the computing devices  702 - 708 . The computing system  712  includes an e-mail server  714  for receiving and sending e-mails to and from the data and storage management system  700 . 
         [0038]    When the data and storage management system  700  is in operation, an e-mail client application  716  on the computing device  702  may request to view an e-mail message. Installed file system/interface module  718  interacts with a retrieval manager  720  of the computing device  704 . The retrieval manager  720  includes a master storage and backup map  722  that directs the request to one of the computing devices  706  and  708 . At the computing devices  706  and  708 , respective media modules  724  and  726  exist to help the retrieval request know where the desired message is located. For further assistance in locating the desired message, the media module  724  and  726  include respective data indexes  728  and  730 . In this manner, the e-mail client application  716  is able to request a message and the message is retrieved from one of the storage media, i.e., magnetic disk media  732 , optical media  734 , or magnetic tape media  636 . 
         [0039]    Of course, the storage media illustrated in  FIG. 7  is exemplary storage media and additional storage media could be used while the data management scheme is continually tracked by the media modules  724  and  726  of the data and storage management system  700 . 
         [0040]      FIG. 8  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a data and storage management system  800 . The data and storage management system  800  includes computing devices  802 ,  804 , and  806  which communicate across a network  808 , such as an Ethernet network. An e-mail client application  810  is illustrated in the computing device  802  and may request to view an e-mail message through an installed file system  812 . Similarly, an e-mail server application  814  operates on the computing device  804  and interacts with an installed file system  816 . The computing devices  802  and  804  commonly interact with the computing device  806  across the network  808  where a manager module  818  is accessed and a master map  820  is available to retrieve more detailed information on the location of messages in the data and storage management system  800 . If the e-mail client application  810  has requested an e-mail, the installed file system  812  may interact with a network attached storage  822  where a media module  824  interacts with storage media  826  to retrieve the desired e-mail message requested by the e-mail client application  810 . 
         [0041]    Alternatively, the installed file system  812  may interact with a storage area network  828  across a network  830 , the network  830  commonly being a high speed fibre network. The storage area network  828  makes accessing storage media such as magnetic disk media  832 , optical media  834 , and magnetic tape media  836  available without significant processing in the computing device  802 . To find the exact location or the message, a media module  838  (shown in dashed lines to represent the optional nature of it&#39;s location within the storage area network  828 ) may be used to locate the message. In addition, a media module  840  shown in dashed lines may be available to find the exact location of the message. Also shown in dashed lines is an extension of the network  830  where the network attached storage  822  may include a high speed connection with the computing devices  802 ,  804 , and  806 . Finally, the storage area network  828  may communicate directly with the network  808  as indicated by dashed lines  842 . 
         [0042]    As those skilled in the art will understand upon viewing the present disclosure, certain aspects of the invention may be integrated with other applications (such as document management systems, workflow management systems, etc.) that have been built a top of Microsoft Exchange which allows end users of such systems to access their data transparently across time and versions.