SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO IDENTIFY UNPROTECTED VIRTUAL MACHINES

• US 20140181045A1
• Filed: 06/28/2013
• Published: 06/26/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Pawar, Rahul S., Kottomtharayil, Rajiv, Gokhale, Parag, Deshpande, Sumer Dilip, Dornemann, Henry Wallace
• Granted Patent: US 9,740,702 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/654
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1451 by selection of backup contents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1458 Management of the backup or restore process
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1461 Backup scheduling policy
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1464 for networked environments
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1484 involving virtual machines
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/13 File access structures, e.g. distributed indices arrangements of input from, or output to, record carriers G06F3/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/27 Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/815 Virtual

Abstract

Virtualization sprawl can lead to virtual machines with no designated periodic backup. If the data associated with these unprotected virtual machines is not backed up, it cannot be restored if needed, leading to system failures. A data storage system identifies and protects the unprotected virtual machines. For instance, the system compares a list of virtual machines with a list of computing devices having a designated backup policy in the data storage system and determines which of the virtual machines are unprotected. The system further automatically categorizes the unprotected virtual machines, identifies those unprotected virtual machines that remain uncategorized, and applies a default backup policy to the uncategorized and unprotected virtual machines to provide protected virtual machines.

Claims

1. A method to identify virtual machine backup policies in a data management system, the method comprising:

automatically requesting with one or more computer processors a first list of virtual machines in a data management system from virtual machine management software;

receiving the first list of the virtual machines in the data management system in response to the request;

automatically retrieving with one or more computer processors a second list of virtual machines in the data management system from a storage manager associated with the data management system, each virtual machine on the second list associated with a backup policy;

automatically comparing with one or more computer processors the first list with the second list; and

automatically identifying with one or more computer processors the virtual machines not associated with a backup policy based at least in part on the comparison.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the storage manager queries the virtual machine management software for the first list of the virtual machines in the data management system.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the first list of virtual machines in the data management system is stored in a database associated with the virtual machine management software.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the second list of virtual machines is stored in a management database associated with the storage manager.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the virtual machines not associated with any backup policy comprise unprotected virtual machines.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising providing a notification of the unprotected virtual machines to a system administrator through a graphical user interface.

7. The method of claim 5 further comprising storing an indication of the unprotected virtual machines.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the indication is stored in a management database associated with the storage manager.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the virtual machine management software interfaces with the virtual machines in the data management system to retrieve information about the virtual machines.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the information comprises one or more of the number of virtual machines in the data management system and a physical server associated with each virtual machine in the data management system.

11. A system to identify virtual machine backup policies in an information management cell, the system comprising:

computer hardware including one or more computer processors; and

computer-readable storage comprising computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer hardware to perform operations defined by the computer-readable instructions, the computer-readable instructions configured to;

automatically request a first list of virtual machines in an information management cell from virtual machine management software;

receive the first list of virtual machines in the information management cell in response to the request;

automatically retrieve a second list of virtual machines in the information management cell from a storage manager associated with the information management cell, each virtual machine on the second list associated with a backup policy;

automatically compare the first list with the second list; and

automatically identify the virtual machines not associated with a backup policy based at least in part on the comparison.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the storage manager queries the virtual machine management software for the first list of the virtual machines in the information management cell.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein the first list of virtual machines in the information management cell is stored in a database associated with the virtual machine management software.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein the list of computing devices is stored in a management database associated with the storage manager.

15. The system of claim 11 wherein the virtual machines not associated with any backup policy comprise unprotected virtual machines.

16. The system of claim 15 further comprising providing a notification of the unprotected virtual machines to a system administrator through a graphical user interface.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein the computer-readable instructions are further configured to store an indication of the unprotected virtual machines.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the indication is stored in a management database associated with the storage manager.

19. The system of claim 11 wherein the virtual machine management software interfaces with the virtual machines in the data management system to retrieve information about the virtual machines.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the information comprises one or more of the number of virtual machines in the data management system and a physical server associated with each virtual machine in the data management system.