Systems, methods, and computer products for replication of disk sectors of a target machine

• US 10,002,052 B1
• Filed: 06/30/2014
• Issued: 06/19/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MidCap Financial Trust
• Original Assignee: Acronis International GmbH (Acronis AG)
• Inventors: Lyadvinsky, Maxim V., Manukyan, Emil, Beloussov, Serguei M., Dragnev, Andrey
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehrmanesh, Elmira
• Application Number:
  US14/320,540
• Time in Patent Office: 1,450 Days
• Field of Search: 714 63
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0757 by exceeding a time limit, i.e. time-out, e.g. watchdogs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/14 Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in operation G06F11/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1435 using file system or storage system metadata
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1448 Management of the data involved in backup or backup restore
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1451 by selection of backup contents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1461 Backup scheduling policy
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1464 for networked environments
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1469 Backup restoration techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1484 involving virtual machines
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/815 Virtual middleware or OS functionality using virtual machines to implement generic software techniques for error detection or fault masking G06F11/1484
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/84 Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0619 in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0647 Migration mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0664 at device level, e.g. emulation of a storage device or system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0673 Single storage device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0683 Plurality of storage devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

A method, computer program product, computing system, and system for machine replication are described. The method may include creating a crash-consistent replica of a source machine by replicating sectors from a source drive on the source machine to a target drive on a target machine wherein the sectors on the target drive have the same offset as the sectors on the source drive. The method may further include, in response to determining that a sector replicated from the source drive to the target drive has changed on the source drive, replicating the sector that changed on the source drive to the target drive on the target machine out-of-order. The method may also include creating an application-consistent replica version of the source machine by creating a snapshot of the source machine and replicating sectors from the snapshot to the target drive on the target machine.

Claims

1. A method for machine replication comprising:

creating a crash-consistent replica of a source machine by replicating sectors from a source drive on the source machine to a target drive on a target machine;

in response to determining that a sector replicated from the source drive to the target drive has changed on the source drive, replicating the sector that changed on the source drive to the target drive on the target machine out-of-order;

creating an application-consistent replica version of the source machine by creating a snapshot of the source machine and replicating sectors from the snapshot to the target drive on the target machine; and

in response to determining that a sector from the source drive on the source machine changed after the snapshot was created, replicating the sector that changed on the source drive on the source machine after the snapshot was created to the target drive on the target machine out-of-order;

generating a marker code indicating that all sectors of the source drive on the source machine have been replicated from the source drive to the target drive of the target machine; and

transmitting the marker code to the target machine.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

integrating one or more hardware drivers at the target machine wherein the one or more hardware drivers correspond to hardware used by the target machine to boot at least one of;

the crash-consistent replica and the application consistent replica version of the source machine.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

continuously replicating the source drive of the source machine to the target drive of the target machine in a sector-by-sector mode.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

establishing a heartbeat signal between the source machine and the target machine; and

in response to determining that the heartbeat signal timed-out, re-creating the crash-consistent replica of the source machine.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an indication to boot at least one of;

the crash-consistent replica and the application consistent replica version of the source machine at the target machine.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the sectors on the target drive have the same offset as the sectors on the source drive.

7. A computer program product residing on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having a plurality of instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations for machine replication, the operations comprising:

creating a crash-consistent replica of a source machine by replicating sectors from a source drive on the source machine to a target drive on a target machine;

in response to determining that a sector replicated from the source drive to the target drive has changed on the source drive, replicating the sector that changed on the source drive to the target drive on the target machine out-of-order;

creating an application-consistent replica version of the source machine by creating a snapshot of the source machine and replicating sectors from the snapshot to the target drive on the target machine;

in response to determining that a sector from the source drive on the source machine changed after the snapshot was created, replicating the sector that changed on the source drive on the source machine after the snapshot was created to the target drive on the target machine out-of-order;

generating a marker code indicating that all sectors of the source drive on the source machine have been replicated from the source drive to the target drive of the target machine; and

transmitting the marker code to the target machine.

8. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise:

integrating one or more hardware drivers at the target machine wherein the one or more hardware drivers correspond to hardware used by the target machine to boot at least one of;

the crash-consistent replica and the application consistent replica version of the source machine.

9. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise:

continuously replicating the source drive of the source machine to the target drive of the target machine in a sector-by-sector mode.

10. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise:

establishing a heartbeat signal between the source machine and the target machine; and

in response to determining that the heartbeat signal timed-out, re-creating the crash-consistent replica of the source machine.

11. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving an indication to boot at least one of;

the crash-consistent replica and the application consistent replica version of the source machine at the target machine.

12. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein the sectors on the target drive have the same offset as the sectors on the source drive.

13. A computing system for machine replication, the computing system comprising one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:

create a crash-consistent replica of a source machine by replicating sectors from a source drive on the source machine to a target drive on a target machine;

in response to determining that a sector replicated from the source drive to the target drive has changed or that the sector will be changed in response to a write request on the source drive, replicate content of the sector on the source drive to the target drive on the target machine out-of-order; and

create an application-consistent replica version of the source machine by creating a snapshot of the source machine and replicating sectors from the snapshot to the target drive on the target machine;

establish a heartbeat signal between the source machine and the target machine; and

in response to determining that the heartbeat signal timed-out, re-create the crash-consistent replica of the source machine.

14. The computing system of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

in response to determining that a sector from the source drive on the source machine changed after the snapshot was created, replicate the sector that changed on the source drive on the source machine after the snapshot was created to the target drive on the target machine out-of-order.

15. The computing system of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

integrate one or more hardware drivers at the target machine wherein the one or more hardware drivers correspond to hardware used by the target machine to boot at least one of;

the crash-consistent replica and the application consistent replica version of the source machine.

16. The computing system of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

generate a marker code indicating that all sectors of the source drive on the source machine have been replicated from source drive to the target drive of the target machine and transmitting the marker code to the target machine.

17. The computing system of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

continuously replicate the source drive of the source machine to the target drive of the target machine in a sector-by-sector mode.

18. The computing system of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

receive an indication to boot at least one of;

the crash-consistent replica and the application consistent replica version of the source machine at the target machine.

19. The computing system of claim 13, wherein the sectors on the target drive have the same offset as the sectors on the source drive.

20. A system comprising:

a source machine including a source drive, the source machine running an application;

a target machine including a target drive; and

a computing device running a replication application for replicating sectors from the source drive on the source machine to the target drive on the target machine, wherein the sectors on the target drive have the same offset as the sectors on the source drive, wherein the replication application is configured to generate a marker code indicating that all sectors of the source drive on the source machine have been replicated from the source drive to the target drive of the target machine and transmitting the marker code to the target machine.