SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MANAGEMENT OF VIRTUALIZATION DATA

• US 20100070725A1
• Filed: 09/03/2009
• Published: 03/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Varadharajan, Prakash, Bedadala, Pavan Kumar Reddy, Prahlad, Anand, Pawar, Rahul S.
• Granted Patent: US 8,307,177 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/162
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1435 using file system or storage system metadata
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1453 using de-duplication of the data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1456 Hardware arrangements for backup
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1458 Management of the backup or restore process
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1469 Backup restoration techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/14 Details of searching files based on file metadata
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2272 Management thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/383 using metadata automatically derived from the content
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/815 Virtual
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/84 Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/455 Emulation; Interpretation; Software simulation, e.g. virtualisation or emulation of application or operating system execution engines

Abstract

Described in detail herein is a method of copying data of one or more virtual machines being hosted by one or more non-virtual machines. The method includes receiving an indication that specifies how to perform a copy of data of one or more virtual machines hosted by one or more virtual machine hosts. The method may include determining whether the one or more virtual machines are managed by a virtual machine manager that manages or facilitates management of the virtual machines. If so, the virtual machine manager is dynamically queried to automatically determine the virtual machines that it manages or that it facilitates management of. If not, a virtual machine host is dynamically queried to automatically determine the virtual machines that it hosts. The data of each virtual machine is then copied according to the specifications of the received indication.

Claims

1. A method of performing storage operations on data of virtual machines in a heterogeneous computing environment that includes virtual machines and non-virtual machines, wherein the method is performed by one or more computing systems, each computing system having a processor and memory, the method comprising:

automatically detecting, by the one or more computing systems, one or more virtual machines in a heterogeneous computing environment that includes virtual machines and non-virtual machines, wherein automatically detecting one or more virtual machines includes automatically performing at least one of the following;

accessing a virtual machine host that hosts one or more virtual machines, and determining, from information provided by the virtual machine host, the one or more virtual machines hosted by the virtual machine host;

accessing a virtual machine manager that manages one or more virtual machines and determining, from information provided by the virtual machine manager, the one or more virtual machines managed by the virtual machine manager; and

determining a set of member machines in the heterogeneous computing environment, wherein each member machine may be either a virtual machine or a non-virtual machine, querying each member machine in the set to determine if it is a virtual machine, and based upon its response to the query, determining if it is a virtual machine;

associating a storage policy with at least one of the detected virtual machines, wherein the storage policy includes a set of criteria associated with performing a storage operation on the data of the at least one virtual machine, and wherein the storage policy is also associated with at least one non-virtual machine in the heterogeneous computing environment;

receiving an indication to perform a storage operation in accordance with the set of criteria specified in the storage policy; and

performing the storage operation on the data of the at least one virtual machine in accordance with the set of criteria specified in the storage policy.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving an indication to perform the storage operation includes receiving the indication from a storage manager that controls storage operations performed on data of virtual machines and non-virtual machines in the heterogeneous computing environment, wherein the data of the at least one virtual machine is a primary copy of the data, and wherein performing the storage operation specified by the storage policy includes copying at least some of the primary copy of the data of the at least one virtual machine to a storage device that stores secondary copies of data of virtual machines and non-virtual machines.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the data of the at least one virtual machine is a primary copy of the data, performing a storage operation on the data of the at least one virtual machine includes creating a secondary copy of the data, and wherein the method further comprises:

indexing the secondary copy of the data; and

storing the indexed data in an index, wherein the index also includes data associated with at least one non-virtual machine.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the data of the at least one virtual machine is a primary copy of the data, performing a storage operation on the data of the at least one virtual machine includes creating a secondary copy of the data, and wherein the method further comprises:

indexing the secondary copy of the data;

storing the indexed data in an index, wherein the index also includes data associated with at least one non-virtual machine;

receiving a request to query the index; and

returning search results responsive to the request, wherein the search results include search results associated with data of the least one virtual machine and at least one non-virtual machine.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the storage operation on the data of the at least one virtual machine includes receiving a set of data objects, and wherein the method further comprises, for each of the data objects in the set:

generating a substantially unique identifier for the data object;

determining, based on the substantially unique identifier, if an instance of the data object has already been stored on a storage device; and

if an instance of the data object has not already been stored on the storage device, then storing the data object on the storage device.

6. (canceled)

7. (canceled)

8. A method of managing data of one or more virtual machines hosted by a virtual machine host, wherein the method is performed by one or more computing systems, each computing system having a processor and memory, the method comprising:

receiving a request to copy data of at least one virtual machine to a storage device, wherein the at least one virtual machine stores data in at least one virtual machine disk file residing on a filesystem of the virtual machine host;

determining the at least one virtual machine disk file in which the at least one virtual machine stores data;

copying the at least one virtual machine disk file from the filesystem of the virtual machine host to the storage device;

extracting, by the one or more computing systems, information from the at least one virtual machine disk file, wherein extracting information includes extracting at least one of the following;

information that describes a virtual volume utilized by the at least one virtual machine;

information that describes a location of a virtual file allocation table utilized by the at least one virtual machine, wherein the virtual file allocation table provides for locations of virtual files within the virtual volume; and

information that describes a relationship between the at least one virtual machine disk file and another virtual machine disk file in which the at least one virtual machine stores data;

associating the extracted information with the at least one virtual machine; and

storing the extracted information in association with the at least one virtual machine.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving a request to copy a virtual file contained within the virtual machine disk file stored on the storage device to a requested location;

accessing the at least one virtual machine disk file stored on the storage device;

accessing the stored extracted information;

determining, based on the stored extracted information, the location of the virtual file within the at least one virtual machine disk file;

extracting the virtual file from within the at least one virtual machine disk file; and

copying the virtual file to the requested location.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving a request to copy a virtual volume contained within the virtual machine disk file stored on the storage device to a requested location;

accessing the at least one virtual machine disk file stored on the storage device;

accessing the stored extracted information;

determining, based on the stored extracted information, the location of the virtual volume within the at least one virtual machine disk file;

extracting the virtual volume from within the at least one virtual machine disk file; and

copying the virtual volume to the requested location.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving a request to copy the at least one virtual machine disk file stored on the storage device to a requested location;

accessing the at least one virtual machine disk file stored on the storage device; and

copying the at least one virtual machine disk file to the requested location.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the virtual machine disk file is in a first format, and further comprising:

receiving a request to convert the at least one virtual machine disk file to a second format;

accessing the at least one virtual machine disk file stored on the storage device; and

converting the at least one virtual machine disk file to the second format.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining distinct data objects within the at least one virtual machine disk file based at least in part upon the extracted information;

indexing distinct data objects within the at least one virtual machine disk file; and

storing the indexed distinct data objects in an index, wherein the index also includes data associated with at least one non-virtual machine.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining distinct data objects within the at least one virtual machine disk file based at least in part upon the extracted information;

indexing distinct data objects within the at least one virtual machine disk file;

storing the indexed distinct data objects in an index, wherein the index also includes data associated with at least one non-virtual machine;

receiving a request to query the index; and

returning search results responsive to the request, wherein the search results include search results associated with distinct data objects of the least one virtual machine and with distinct data objects at least one non-virtual machine.

15. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining distinct data objects within the at least one virtual machine disk file based at least in part upon the extracted information; and

for each of the distinct data objects;

generating a substantially unique identifier for the distinct data object;

determining, based on the substantially unique identifier, if an instance of the distinct data object has already been stored on a single instance storage device; and

if an instance of the distinct data object has not already been stored on the single instance storage device, then storing the data object on the single instance storage device.

16-31. -31. (canceled)

32. A computing system for managing data of one or more virtual machines hosted by a virtual machine host, the computing system comprising:

means for receiving a request to copy data of a virtual machine, wherein the virtual machine stores data in a virtual machine disk file residing on a filesystem of the virtual machine host;

means for determining the virtual machine disk file in which the virtual machine stores data;

means for copying the virtual machine disk file from the filesystem of the virtual machine host to the storage device;

means for extracting information from the virtual machine disk file, wherein extracting information includes extracting information that either describes locations of data objects within the virtual machine disk file or describes a location of a data object location data structure within the virtual machine disk file; and

means for associating the extracted information with the virtual machine; and

means for storing the extracted information in association with the virtual machine.

33. The computing system of claim 32, further comprising:

means for determining, based at least in part upon the extracted information, data objects within the virtual machine disk file;

means for indexing data objects within the virtual machine disk file; and

means for storing the indexed data objects in an index, wherein the index also includes data associated with at least one non-virtual machine.

34. The computing system of claim 32, further comprising:

means for determining data objects within the virtual machine disk file based at least in part upon the extracted information;

means for generating a substantially unique identifier for at least one of the data objects;

means for determining, based on the substantially unique identifier, if an instance of the at least one data object has already been stored; and

means for storing the at least one data object if an instance of the data object has not already been stored.

35-38. -38. (canceled)

39. A method of managing data of one or more virtual machines hosted by a virtual machine host, wherein the method is performed by one or more computing systems, each computing system having a processor and memory, the method comprising:

receiving a request to copy a volume of a virtual machine to a storage device, wherein the virtual machine volume resides on a filesystem of the virtual machine host;

determining, by the one or more computing systems, the virtual machine volume; and

copying the virtual machine volume from the filesystem of the virtual machine host to the storage device.

40. The method of claim 39 wherein the virtual machine volume is copied directly from the filesystem of the virtual machine host to the storage device, without copying the virtual machine volume from the filesystem of the virtual machine host to an intermediate location.

41. The method of claim 39, further comprising:

receiving a request to copy the virtual machine volume stored on the storage device to a requested location;

accessing the virtual machine volume stored on the storage device; and

copying the virtual machine volume to the requested location.

42. The method of claim 39, wherein the virtual machine volume is in a first format, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a request to copy the virtual machine volume stored on the storage device to a requested location;

accessing the virtual machine volume stored on the storage device;

converting the virtual machine volume to a second format other than the first format; and

copying the virtual machine volume to the requested location.

43. The method of claim 39, further comprising:

extracting information from the virtual machine volume that describes locations of data objects within the virtual machine volume;

associating the extracted information with the virtual machine; and

storing the extracted information in association with the virtual machine.

44. The method of claim 39, further comprising:

extracting information from the virtual machine volume that describes locations of data objects within the virtual machine volume;

associating the extracted information with the virtual machine;

storing the extracted information in association with the virtual machine;

receiving a request to copy a data object contained within the virtual machine volume stored on the storage device to a requested location;

accessing the virtual machine volume stored on the storage device;

accessing the stored extracted information;

determining, based at least in part on the stored extracted information, the location of the data object within the virtual machine volume;

extracting the data object from within the virtual machine volume; and

copying the data object to the requested location.

45-50. -50. (canceled)