VIRTUALIZED FILE SERVER BACKUP TO CLOUD

• US 20190079747A1
• Filed: 10/15/2018
• Published: 03/14/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nutanix Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Nutanix Incorporated
• Inventors: SINHA, VISHAL, SHARPE, RICHARD JAMES, BAFNA, KALPESH ASHOK, VENKATESH, ANIL KUMAR GOPALAPURA, ARIKATLA, DURGA MAHESH, RATHI, SHYAMSUNDER PRAYAGCHAND
• Granted Patent: US 10,838,708 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0712 in a virtual computing platform, e.g. logically partitioned systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0751 Error or fault detection not based on redundancy power supply failures G06F1/30; network fault management H04L41/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0793 Remedial or corrective actions recovery from an exception in an instruction pipeline G06F9/3861; by retry G06F11/1402; for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity H04L69/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1451 by selection of backup contents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1464 for networked environments
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1484 involving virtual machines
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/201 between storage system components
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2025 using centralised failover control functionality
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2033 switching over of hardware resources
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2035 without idle spare hardware
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2046 where the redundant components share persistent storage G06F11/2043 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2058 using more than 2 mirrored copies
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2069 Management of state, configuration or failover
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2092 Techniques of failing over between control units
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2094 Redundant storage or storage space G06F11/2056 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3006 where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/301 where the computing system is a virtual computing platform, e.g. logically partitioned systems virtual machines G06F9/45533; logical partitioning of resources G06F9/5077
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3409 for performance assessment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3452 Performance evaluation by statistical analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1727 Details of free space management performed by the file system saving storage space on storage systems G06F3/0608; management of blocks in storage devices G06F3/064
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/176 : Support for shared access to files; File sharing support
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1774 : Locking methods, e.g. locking methods for file systems allowing shared and concurrent access to files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/183 : Provision of network file services by network file servers, e.g. by using NFS, CIFS network file access protocols H04L67/1097
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1844 : Management specifically adapted to replicated file systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2365 : Ensuring data consistency and integrity
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45579 : I/O management, e.g. providing access to device drivers or storage
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45583 : Memory management, e.g. access or allocation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45587 : Isolation or security of virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45595 : Network integration; Enabling network access in virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/53 : by executing in a restricted environment, e.g. sandbox or secure virtual machine
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/56 : Computer malware detection or handling, e.g. anti-virus arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 : to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/78 : to assure secure storage of data address-based protection against unauthorised use of memory G06F12/14; record carriers for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings G06K19/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/80 : Database-specific techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/815 : Virtual
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/825 : the problem or solution involving locking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/84 : Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/87 : Monitoring of transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/034 : Test or assess a computer or a system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2101 : Auditing as a secondary aspect
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2141 : Access rights, e.g. capability lists, access control lists, access tables, access matrices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2145 : Inheriting rights or properties, e.g., propagation of permissions or restrictions within a hierarchy
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0619 : in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0647 : Migration mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/065 : Replication mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0664 : at device level, e.g. emulation of a storage device or system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0665 : at area level, e.g. provisioning of virtual or logical volumes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0683 : Plurality of storage devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0689 : Disk arrays, e.g. RAID, JBOD
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 : Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4406 : Loading of operating system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 : Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/06 : Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/082 : the condition being updates or upgrades of network functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0859 : by keeping history of different configuration generations or by rolling back to previous configuration versions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5009 : Determining service level performance parameters or violations of service level contracts, e.g. violations of agreed response time or mean time between failures [MTBF]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 : in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 : Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 : for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 : involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416

Abstract

In one embodiment, a system for managing a virtualization environment comprises a plurality of host machines, one or more virtual disks comprising a plurality of storage devices, a virtualized file server (VFS) comprising a plurality of file server virtual machines (FSVMs), wherein each of the FSVMs is running on one of the host machines and conducts I/O transactions with the one or more virtual disks, and a virtualized file server backup system configured to back up data stored in a VFS located a cluster of host machines to an object store, and retrieve the backed-up data as needed to restore the data in the VFS. The object store may be located in a public cloud. The object store may include a low-cost storage medium within the cluster. An FSVM of the VFS may provide an object store interface to low-cost storage media.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a plurality of host machines, wherein each of the host machines is configured to host a hypervisor, one or more user virtual machines (user VMs), and a virtual machine controller;

one or more virtual disks comprising a plurality of storage devices;

a virtualized file server (VFS) comprising a plurality of file server virtual machines (FSVMs), wherein each of the FSVMs is configured to run on one of the host machines and configured to conduct I/O transactions with the one or more virtual disks; and

a backup system configured to retrieve backed-up data stored in an object store via at least one of the FSVMs.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the backup system is further configured to provide, by the at least one of the FSVMs, an object store interface used to retrieve the stored backed-up data from the object store via the object store interface.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more virtual disks are accessible by the virtual machine controllers, and

wherein the virtual machine controllers are configured to conduct I/O transactions with the one or more virtual disks.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the backup system is further configured to:

backup data stored in the VFS, and

store the backed up data in the object store via an object store interface to provide the stored backed-up data.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the object store is located in a public cloud.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the host machines form a cluster, and

wherein the object store comprises a low-cost storage medium within the cluster.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein at least one of the FSVMs is configured to act as a backup server for virtual machines running on the host machines.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the object store comprises a low-cost storage medium within the cluster, and

wherein, to retrieve the backed-up data, the backup system is further configured to:

back up data stored in the VFS to the low-cost storage medium via the object store interface, and

retrieve the backed-up data from the low-cost storage medium.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the object store comprises a low-cost storage medium located in a public cloud.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the VFS includes a plurality of clusters, and a cluster among the plurality of clusters includes at least one FSVM of the plurality of FSVMs.

11. One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software for managing a virtualization environment, the media comprising instructions operable when executed to:

control a virtual machine controller to;

access at least one virtual disk of a plurality of virtual disks,

conduct I/O transactions with the plurality of virtual disks,

control each of a plurality of file server virtual machines (FSVMs) to conduct I/O transactions with the at least one virtual disk, and

receive stored backed-up data retrieved from an object store via the plurality of VSVMs.

12. The media of claim 11, wherein the instructions are operable when executed to:

further control the virtual machine controller to;

backup data stored in a virtualized file server (VFS), and

store the backed up data in the object store to provide the stored backed-up data via an object store interface in at least one of the plurality of FSVMs.

13. The media of claim 12, wherein the virtual machine controller is included in each host machine of a plurality of host machines,

wherein each of the host machines further includes a hypervisor and a plurality of user virtual machines (user VMs), and

wherein the virtual machine controllers are configured to conduct I/O transactions with the at least one virtual disk.

14. The media of claim 11, wherein the plurality of VSVMs are included in a virtualized file server (VFS).

15. The media of claim 11, wherein the virtual machine controller is included in each host machine of a plurality of host machines, and

wherein each of the FSVMs is running on one of the host machines.

16. The media of claim 11, wherein the virtual machine controller is included in each host machine of a plurality of host machines, and

wherein the object store comprises a low-cost storage medium within a cluster formed by the host machines.

17. A method for managing a virtualization environment, the method comprising:

accessing, by a virtual machine controller in at least one computing device, at least one virtual disk of a plurality of virtual disks;

controlling, by the virtual machine controller, each of a plurality of file server virtual machines (FSVMs) to conduct I/O transactions with the at least one virtual disk; and

controlling, by the virtual machine controller, the at least one computing device to retrieve backed-up data as needed via the plurality of FSVMs.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the backed-up data is retrieved as needed from an object store comprising a low-cost storage medium.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the virtual machine controller is included in each host machine of a plurality of host machines.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the backed-up data is retrieved as needed from an object store located in a public cloud.