Enabling disk image operations in conjunction with snapshot locking

• US 10,216,585 B2
• Filed: 02/28/2014
• Issued: 02/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat Israel Ltd. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat Israel Ltd. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Aravot, Liron
• Primary Examiner(s): Rones, Charles
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dare, Ryan
• Application Number:
  US14/193,796
• Publication Number:
  US 20150248333A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,824 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1456 Hardware arrangements for backup
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1466 to make the backup process non-disruptive
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/84 Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data

Abstract

Systems and methods for enabling disk image operations in conjunction with snapshot locking. An example method may include: attaching a first snapshot to a first virtual machine the first snapshot being stored within a disk image, generating, in view of the first snapshot, a second snapshot, the second snapshot being stored within the disk image, attaching the first snapshot to a second virtual machine, and causing the first snapshot to be locked in view of the second virtual machine performing one or more operations on the first snapshot, wherein the first virtual machine performs one or more operations on the second snapshot concurrent with the locking of the first snapshot.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

attaching a first snapshot to a first virtual machine, the first snapshot being stored within a disk image, wherein the first snapshot is a copy of a virtual disk at a first point in time;

generating, in view of the first snapshot, a second snapshot while the first snapshot is attached to the first virtual machine, wherein the second snapshot is a copy of the virtual disk at a second point in time;

attaching the second snapshot to a second virtual machine while the first snapshot is attached to the first virtual machine; and

causing, by a processing device, the second snapshot to be locked in view of the second virtual machine performing one or more operations on the second snapshot,

wherein the first virtual machine performs one or more operations on the first snapshot concurrent with the second virtual machine performing one or more operations on the second snapshot while the second snapshot is locked.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein attaching the second snapshot to the second virtual machine comprises attaching the second snapshot to the second virtual machine in response to a selection of the second snapshot.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more operations performed on the second snapshot comprise a backup operation.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more operations performed on the second snapshot are performed in a read-only mode.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the attaching the second snapshot to the second virtual machine comprises attaching the second snapshot to the second virtual machine in response to an efficiency metric reflecting that the second virtual machine performing one or more operations on the second snapshot is more efficient than performing the one or more operations on the disk image.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first snapshot and the second snapshot are stored as a chain of linked snapshots with the disk image.

7. A system comprising:

a memory; and

a processing device, operatively coupled to the memory, to;

attach a first snapshot to a first virtual machine, the first snapshot being stored within a disk image, wherein the first snapshot is a copy of a virtual disk at a first point in time;

generate, in view of the first snapshot, a second snapshot while the first snapshot is attached to the first virtual machine, wherein the second snapshot is a copy of the virtual disk at a second point in time;

attach the second snapshot to a second virtual machine while the first snapshot is attached to the first virtual machine; and

cause the second snapshot to be locked in view of a performance by the second virtual machine of one or more operations on the second snapshot,

wherein the first virtual machine is to perform one or more operations on the second snapshot concurrent with the second virtual machine performing one or more operations on the second snapshot while the second snapshot is locked.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein to attach the second snapshot to the second virtual machine is to attach the second snapshot to the second virtual machine in response to a selection of the second snapshot.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more operations performed on the second snapshot comprise a backup operation.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more operations performed on the second snapshot are performed in a read-only mode.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the processing device is to attach the second snapshot to the second virtual machine in response to an efficiency metric reflecting that the second virtual machine performing one or more operations on the second snapshot is more efficient than performing the one or more operations on the disk image.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the first snapshot and the second snapshot are stored as a chain of linked snapshots with the disk image.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions that, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to:

attach a first snapshot to a first virtual machine, the first snapshot being stored within a disk image, wherein the first snapshot is a copy of a virtual disk at a first point in time;

generate, in view of the first snapshot, a second snapshot while the first snapshot is attached to the first virtual machine, wherein the second snapshot is a copy of the virtual disk at a second point in time;

attach the second snapshot to a second virtual machine while the first snapshot is attached to the first virtual machine; and

cause, by the processing device, the second snapshot to be locked in view of the second virtual machine performing one or more operations on the second snapshot,

wherein the first virtual machine performs one or more operations on the first snapshot concurrent with the second virtual machine performing one or more operations on the second snapshot while the second snapshot is locked.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein to attach the second snapshot to the second virtual machine the processing device is further to attach the first snapshot to the second virtual machine in response to a selection of the first snapshot.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the one or more operations performed on the first snapshot comprise a backup operation.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the one or more operations performed on the first snapshot are performed in a read-only mode.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein to attach the second snapshot to the second virtual machine the processing device is further to attach the second snapshot to the second virtual machine in response to an efficiency metric reflecting that the second virtual machine performing one or more operations on the second snapshot is more efficient than performing the one or more operations on the disk image.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the first snapshot and the second snapshot are stored as a chain of linked snapshots with the disk image.