ARCHIVING VIRTUAL MACHINES IN A DATA STORAGE SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A method of archiving virtual machines in a networked data storage system, comprising:
- monitoring usage of a virtual machine (VM) executing on one or more client computers in primary storage with computer hardware comprising one or more computer processors;
determining whether to archive the VM based on usage data;
in response to determining that the VM should be archived, copying the VM and its associated data from the primary storage to secondary storage; and
deleting the VM and the associated data from the primary storage, wherein the VM appears to be accessible to a user after being deleted from the primary storage.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
The data storage system according to certain aspects can manage the archiving of virtual machines to (and restoring of virtual machines from) secondary storage. The system can determine whether to archive virtual machines based on usage data or information. The usage information may include storage usage, CPU usage, memory usage, network usage, events defined by a virtual machine software or application, etc. The system may archive virtual machines that are determined to have a low level of utilization. For example, a virtual machine can be archived when its usage level falls below a threshold level. The system may create a virtual machine placeholder for an archived virtual machine, which may be a “light” or minimal version of the virtual machine that acts as if it is the actual virtual machine. By using a virtual machine placeholder, a virtual machine may appear to be active and selectable by the user.
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Citations
1 Claim
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1. A method of archiving virtual machines in a networked data storage system, comprising:
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monitoring usage of a virtual machine (VM) executing on one or more client computers in primary storage with computer hardware comprising one or more computer processors; determining whether to archive the VM based on usage data; in response to determining that the VM should be archived, copying the VM and its associated data from the primary storage to secondary storage; and deleting the VM and the associated data from the primary storage, wherein the VM appears to be accessible to a user after being deleted from the primary storage.
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Specification