APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR FILE SYSTEM SHARING

• US 20090249331A1
• Filed: 03/31/2008
• Published: 10/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lenovo PC International Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Lenovo Singapore Pte Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: Waltermann, Rod D., Davis, Mark Charles, Novak, Joshua N.
• Granted Patent: US 7,930,328 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45583 Memory management, e.g. access or allocation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects

Abstract

An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for file system sharing. A Read-Only File System (ROFS) organization module organizes a single ROFS for a plurality of operating systems. Each operating system executes on a distinct virtual machine. Each virtual machine executes on a computer. A Read/Write File System (RWFS) organization module organizes an RWFS for each operating system. An access module accesses the RWFS and ROFS for each operating system. The RWFS and ROFS appear to each operating system as a single, private file system. Each RWFS comprises at least one pointer to the ROFS.

Claims

1. A computer program product comprising a tangible storage device having a:

computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to;

organize a single read-only file system for a plurality of operating systems, each operating system executing on a distinct virtual machine, each virtual machine executing on the computer;

organize a read/write file system for each operating system; and

access the read/write file system and read-only file system for each operating system, wherein the read/write file system and read-only file system appear to each operating system as a single, private file system and each read/write file system comprises at least one pointer to the read-only file system.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the read-only file system is compressed.

3. The computer program product of claim 2, wherein the read-only file system is compressed with a squash file system.

4. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the pointer is comprises a Linux soft link.

5. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein at least two operating systems share a read-only kernel.

6. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein at least two operating systems are loaded from a same image.

7. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein at least two operating systems are distinct.

8. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein a plurality of read/write file system and read-only file system pairs each support a different operating system.

9. An apparatus comprising:

a read-only file system organization module configured to organize a single read-only file system for a plurality of operating systems, each operating system executing on a distinct virtual machine, each virtual machine executing on a computer;

a read/write file system organization module configured to organize a read/write file system for each operating system; and

an access module configured to access the read/write file system and read-only file system for each operating system, wherein the read/write file system and read-only file system appear to each operating system as a single, private file system and each read/write file system comprises at least one pointer to the read-only file system.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the read-only file system is compressed.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the read-only file system is compressed with a squash file system.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the pointer is comprises a Linux soft link.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein at least two operating systems share a read-only kernel.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein at least two operating systems are loaded from a same image.

15. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein at least two operating systems are distinct.

16. A system comprising:

a memory module configured to store software instructions and data;

a processor module configured to execute the software instructions and process the data, the software instructions comprising

a plurality of virtual machines;

a plurality of operating systems, each operating system executing on a distinct virtual machine;

a hypervisor configured to manage the plurality of operating systems;

a read-only file system organization module configured to organize a single read-only file system for the operating systems;

a read/write file system organization module configured to organize a read/write file system for each operating system; and

the plurality of operating systems, each further comprising an access module configured to access the read/write file system and read-only file system for each operating system, wherein the read/write file system and read-only file system appear to each operating system as a single, private file system and each read/write file system comprises at least one pointer to the read-only file system.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the read-only file system is compressed.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the read-only file system is compressed with a squash file system.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the pointer is comprises a Linux soft link.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the hypervisor executes under an operating system.