Archiving virtual machines in a data storage system
First Claim
1. A method of restoring archived virtual machines (VMs) in a networked data storage system, comprising:
- using one or more computing devices comprising one or more hardware processors coupled to memory;
archiving a VM, wherein the VM is executed by a hypervisor on a client computing device onto one or more secondary storage devices such that the VM is no longer active;
creating a VM placeholder configured to consume less computing resources than the VM, wherein the VM placeholder is executed by the hypervisor, the VM placeholder including information for restoring the VM from the one or more secondary storage devices;
subsequent to archiving the VM, displaying a representation of the VM on the client computing device such that the VM continues to appear to be active after being archived;
detecting user selection of the representation of the VM; and
in response to detecting the user selection of the representation of the VM, using the information for restoring the VM from the one or more secondary storage devices, reactivating the VM by restoring at least a portion of the VM.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The data storage system according to certain aspects can manage the archiving of virtual machines to (and restoring of virtual machines from) secondary storage. The system can determine whether to archive virtual machines based on usage data or information. The usage information may include storage usage, CPU usage, memory usage, network usage, events defined by a virtual machine software or application, etc. The system may archive virtual machines that are determined to have a low level of utilization. For example, a virtual machine can be archived when its usage level falls below a threshold level. The system may create a virtual machine placeholder for an archived virtual machine, which may be a “light” or minimal version of the virtual machine that acts as if it is the actual virtual machine. By using a virtual machine placeholder, a virtual machine may appear to be active and selectable by the user.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of restoring archived virtual machines (VMs) in a networked data storage system, comprising:
using one or more computing devices comprising one or more hardware processors coupled to memory; archiving a VM, wherein the VM is executed by a hypervisor on a client computing device onto one or more secondary storage devices such that the VM is no longer active; creating a VM placeholder configured to consume less computing resources than the VM, wherein the VM placeholder is executed by the hypervisor, the VM placeholder including information for restoring the VM from the one or more secondary storage devices; subsequent to archiving the VM, displaying a representation of the VM on the client computing device such that the VM continues to appear to be active after being archived; detecting user selection of the representation of the VM; and in response to detecting the user selection of the representation of the VM, using the information for restoring the VM from the one or more secondary storage devices, reactivating the VM by restoring at least a portion of the VM. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 19, 20)
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11. A data storage system configured for restoring archived virtual machines (VMs), comprising:
one or more computing devices comprising memory and one or more hardware processors coupled to the memory, the one or more computing devices configured to; archive a VM executing on a client computing device onto one or more secondary storage devices such that the VM is no longer active; create a VM placeholder configured to consume less computing resources than the VM, wherein the VM placeholder is executed by a hypervisor, the VM placeholder including information for restoring the VM from the one or more secondary storage devices; subsequent to archiving the VM, display a representation of the VM on the client computing device such that the VM continues to appear to be active after being archived; detect user selection of the representation of the VM; and in response to detecting the user selection of the representation of the VM, using the information for restoring the VM from one or more secondary storage devices, reactivate the VM by restoring at least a portion of the VM; and wherein the one or more computing devices are in networked communication with the client computing device. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
Specification