Virtual machine backup using snapshots and current configuration

• US 10,713,183 B2
• Filed: 11/28/2012
• Issued: 07/14/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat Israel Ltd. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat Israel Ltd. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Frenkel, Omer, Kolesnik, Mike
• Primary Examiner(s): Thammavong, Prasith
• Assistant Examiner(s): Olson, Alex G
• Application Number:
  US13/687,486
• Publication Number:
  US 20140149696A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,785 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1451 by selection of backup contents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1469 Backup restoration techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/16 Protection against loss of memory contents contains no material, see G06F11/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45562 Creating, deleting, cloning virtual machine instances
• 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 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects

Abstract

A computer system generates snapshot backups of a virtual machine by creating a metadata snapshot and a backup snapshot. The computer system identifies a backup request for a virtual machine operating on a host computing system, initiates a backup snapshot of storage devices in use by the virtual machine, generates a metadata snapshot of a configuration of the virtual machine, and maintains the metadata snapshot in a data store.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying, by a processing device, a snapshot request for a virtual machine operating on a host computing system;

initiating, by the processing device, generation of a pair of snapshots responsive to the snapshot request, the pair of snapshots comprising;

a storage snapshot of one or more storage devices in use by the virtual machine, the storage snapshot comprising a copy of data in the one or more storage devices; and

a metadata snapshot of a configuration of the virtual machine, the metadata snapshot comprising an execution state of the virtual machine and a resource usage of the host computing system, the resource usage corresponding to the virtual machine;

storing the storage snapshot of the one or more storage devices in use by the virtual machine on a storage device of the host computing system on which the virtual machine is operating;

attaching a first identifier comprising a first timestamp to the storage snapshot of the one or more storage devices in use by the virtual machine;

storing the metadata snapshot of the configuration of the virtual machine in a network attached data store, wherein the network attached data store is separate from the storage device of the host computing system storing the storage snapshot, such that the metadata snapshot is not stored in the same data store as the storage snapshot;

attaching a second identifier comprising a second timestamp to the metadata snapshot of the configuration of the virtual machine, wherein the first timestamp and the second timestamp are the same, and the first identifier and the second identifier create a link between the storage snapshot and the metadata snapshot;

updating the data in the one or more storage devices; and

generating an updated storage snapshot to reflect at least one change to the data resulting from updating the data, without changing the configuration of the virtual machine stored in the metadata snapshot.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a restore request to restore the virtual machine;

retrieving the metadata snapshot;

retrieving the storage snapshot in view of the link between the metadata snapshot and the storage snapshot;

verifying an integrity of the storage snapshot;

providing a preview of the virtual machine in view of the metadata snapshot and the storage snapshot; and

provisioning the virtual machine in view of the metadata snapshot and the storage snapshot.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the restore request further comprises the first identifier indicative of a specific storage snapshot based upon the first timestamp.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein initiating generation of the storage snapshot comprises instructing the host computing system to generate the storage snapshot, and wherein the data store is separate from the backup storage device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata snapshot further comprises virtual machine configuration information that comprises at least one of a virtual machine name, a virtual machine type, time zone of the virtual machine, permissions of the virtual machine, processor configuration, or memory configuration.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising requesting, from one of a virtualization manager or the host computing device, the virtual machine configuration information.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the restore request further comprises an identifier indicative of one of a virtual machine identifier, or a nondeterministic generated identifier.

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

identify, by the processing device, a snapshot request for a virtual machine operating on a host computing system;

initiate, by the processing device, generation of a pair of snapshots responsive to the snapshot request, the pair of snapshots comprising;

a storage snapshot of one or more storage devices in use by the virtual machine, the storage snapshot comprising a copy of data in the one or more storage devices; and

a metadata snapshot of a configuration of the virtual machine, the metadata snapshot comprising an execution state of the virtual machine and a resource usage of the host computing system, the resource usage corresponding to the virtual machine;

store the storage snapshot of the one or more storage devices in use by the virtual machine on a storage device of the host computing system on which the virtual machine is operating;

attach a first identifier comprising a first timestamp to the storage snapshot of the one or more storage devices in use by the virtual machine;

store the metadata snapshot of the configuration of the virtual machine in a network attached data store, wherein the network attached data store is separate from the storage device of the host computing system storing the storage snapshot, such that the metadata snapshot is not stored in the same data store as the storage snapshot;

attach a second identifier comprising a second timestamp to the metadata snapshot of the configuration of the virtual machine, wherein the first timestamp and the second timestamp are the same, and the first identifier and the second identifier create a link between the storage snapshot and the metadata snapshot;

update the data in the one or more storage devices; and

generate an updated storage snapshot to reflect at least one change to the data resulting from updating the data, without changing the configuration of the virtual machine stored in the metadata snapshot.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the processing device to:

identify a restore request to restore the virtual machine;

retrieve the metadata snapshot;

retrieve the storage snapshot in view of the link between the metadata snapshot and the storage snapshot;

verify an integrity of the storage snapshot of the storage devices;

provide a preview of the virtual machine in view of the metadata snapshot and the storage snapshot; and

provision the virtual machine in view of the metadata snapshot and the storage snapshot.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the restore request further comprises the first identifier indicative of a specific storage snapshot based upon the first timestamp.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein initiating generation of the storage snapshot comprises instructing the host computing system to generate the storage snapshot, and wherein the data store is separate from the backup storage device.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the metadata snapshot further comprises virtual machine configuration information that comprises at least one of a virtual machine name, a virtual machine type, time zone of the virtual machine, permissions of the virtual machine, processor configuration, or memory configuration.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, the instructions further cause the processing device to:

request, from the host computing device, the virtual machine configuration information.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the restore request further comprises an identifier indicative of one of a virtual machine identifier, or a nondeterministic generated identifier.

15. A computing apparatus comprising:

a memory to store a storage snapshot and a metadata snapshot; and

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

identify a snapshot request for a virtual machine operating on a host computing system;

initiate generation of a pair of snapshots responsive to the snapshot request, the pair of snapshots comprising;

the storage snapshot of one or more storage devices in use by the virtual machine, the storage snapshot comprising a copy of data in the one or more storage devices; and

the metadata snapshot of a configuration of the virtual machine, the metadata snapshot comprising an execution state of the virtual machine and a resource usage of the host computing system, the resource usage corresponding to the virtual machine;

store the storage snapshot of the one or more storage devices in use by the virtual machine on a storage device of the host computing system on which the virtual machine is operating;

attach a first identifier comprising a first timestamp to the storage snapshot of the one or more storage devices in use by the virtual machine;

store the metadata snapshot of the configuration of the virtual machine in a network attached data store, wherein the network attached data store is separate from the storage device of the host computing system storing the storage snapshot, such that the metadata snapshot is not stored in the same data store as the storage snapshot;

attach a second identifier comprising a second timestamp to the metadata snapshot of the configuration of the virtual machine, wherein the first timestamp and the second timestamp are the same, and the first identifier and the second identifier create a link between the storage snapshot and the metadata snapshot;

update the data in the one or more storage devices; and

generate an updated storage snapshot to reflect at least one change to the data resulting from updating the data, without changing the configuration of the virtual machine stored in the metadata snapshot.

16. The computing apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processing device is further to:

identify a restore request to restore the virtual machine;

retrieve the metadata snapshot;

retrieve the storage snapshot in view of the link between the metadata snapshot and the storage snapshot;

verify an integrity of the storage snapshot;

provide a preview of the virtual machine in view of the metadata snapshot and the storage snapshot; and

provision the virtual machine in view of the metadata snapshot and the storage snapshot.

17. The computing apparatus of claim 16, wherein the restore request further comprises the first identifier indicative of a specific storage snapshot based upon the first timestamp.

18. The computing apparatus of claim 15, wherein the processing device is further to instruct the host computing system to generate the storage snapshot, and wherein the data store is separate from the backup storage device.

19. The computing apparatus of claim 15, wherein the metadata snapshot further comprises virtual machine configuration information that comprises at least one of a virtual machine name, a virtual machine type, time zone of the virtual machine, permissions of the virtual machine, processor configuration, or memory configuration.

20. The computing apparatus of claim 16, wherein the restore request further comprises an identifier indicative of one of a virtual machine identifier, or a nondeterministic generated identifier.