SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR VIRTUAL MACHINE BACKUP PROCESS BY EXAMINING FILE SYSTEM JOURNAL RECORDS
First Claim
1. A system, comprising:
- a data modification identification engine running on a host, which in operation, is configured toscan a virtual disk associated with a virtual machine during a backup process of data associated with the virtual machine to identify locations of one or more partitions on the virtual disk;
search a file system within each of the one or more partitions to locate a journal for the file system;
examine the journal for the file system to determine if one or more disk operations have been performed by the virtual machine since time of last backup of the data of the virtual machine;
identify portions of a storage device which data have been modified by the one or more disk operations of the virtual machine since time of the last backup if the one or more disk operations have been performed;
submit the portions of the storage device which data have been modified by the disk operations since the time of the last backup to the backup process;
a data backup engine running on a host, which in operation, is configured to back up the portions of the storage device which data have been modified by the disk operations since the time of the last backup to a backup storage device during the backup process.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A new approach is proposed that contemplates systems and methods to support backing up only portions of data associated with a virtual machine that have been changed since the last backup of the data was performed. During a backup process, the proposed approach looks for a journal record of a file system located within one of the partitions on a virtual disk of the virtual machine, wherein the journal record reflects disk operations that have been performed to a storage device associated with a host device/machine running the virtual machine. Once portions of the storage device which data have been modified since the last data backup are identified based on the journal of the file system, only the modified portions of the storage device are submitted to the backup process to be backed up to a backup storage device.
18 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system, comprising:
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a data modification identification engine running on a host, which in operation, is configured to scan a virtual disk associated with a virtual machine during a backup process of data associated with the virtual machine to identify locations of one or more partitions on the virtual disk; search a file system within each of the one or more partitions to locate a journal for the file system; examine the journal for the file system to determine if one or more disk operations have been performed by the virtual machine since time of last backup of the data of the virtual machine; identify portions of a storage device which data have been modified by the one or more disk operations of the virtual machine since time of the last backup if the one or more disk operations have been performed; submit the portions of the storage device which data have been modified by the disk operations since the time of the last backup to the backup process; a data backup engine running on a host, which in operation, is configured to back up the portions of the storage device which data have been modified by the disk operations since the time of the last backup to a backup storage device during the backup process. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
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scanning a virtual disk associated with a virtual machine during a backup process of data associated with the virtual machine to identify locations of one or more partitions on the virtual disk; searching a file system within each of the one or more partitions to locate a journal for the file system; examining the journal for the file system to determine if one or more disk operations have been performed by the virtual machine since time of last backup of the data of the virtual machine; identifying portions of a storage device which data have been modified by the one or more disk operations of the virtual machine since the time of the last backup if the one or more disk operations have been performed; submitting the portions of one or more disks which data have been modified by the disk operations since the time of the last backup to the backup process to be backed up to a backup storage device. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A non-transitory computer readable medium having software instructions stored thereon that when executed cause a system to:
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scan a virtual disk associated with a virtual machine during a backup process of data associated with the virtual machine to identify locations of one or more partitions on the virtual disk; search a file system within each of the one or more partitions to locate a journal for the file system; examine the journal for the file system to determine if one or more disk operations have been performed by the virtual machine since time of last backup of the data of the virtual machine; identify portions of a storage device which data have been modified by the one or more disk operations of the virtual machine since the time of the last backup if the one or more disk operations have been performed; submit the portions of one or more disks which data have been modified by the disk operations since the time of the last backup to the backup process to be backed up to a backup storage device.
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Specification