Method and system for creation, analysis and navigation of virtual snapshots
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for generation of virtual snapshots comprising:
- (a) activating a Virtual Machine (VM) on a computer system;
(b) acquiring VM context;
(c) generating a virtual snapshot based on the VM context, the virtual snapshot including a state of the VM'"'"'s disk at a particular moment in time for a history of the virtual snapshots, and a state of the VM'"'"'s virtual CPU, including a state of its registers and flags at the particular moment in time;
(d) adding the virtual snapshot to a virtual snapshot tree, wherein the virtual snapshot tree is viewable via a virtual snapshot image viewer that provides a Graphical User Interface for viewing the virtual snapshot tree and the history of the virtual snapshots representing the states of the VM'"'"'s disk at prior moments in time and the states of the VM'"'"'s virtual CPU, including the states of its registers and flags at the prior moments in time;
(e) repeating steps (a)-(d) at least one more time; and
(f) indicating properties of virtual snapshots from the virtual snapshot tree and differences between the properties of the virtual snapshots from the virtual snapshot tree.
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Abstract
A method and system for generating and managing snapshots of Virtual Machine (i.e., virtual snapshots) and creating a centralized integrated backup for the Virtual Machine (VM). Proposed method and system allow users to roll back to any previous version of the VM and instantiate this version using the logic encapsulated in a virtual snapshot of the VM. The virtual snapshots taken at various times are combined into a chronological tree viewable via a virtual snapshot image viewer. The snapshot trees for different VMs are combined into centralized integrated system backup (CIB) that can be managed by a central console including a GUI of the virtual snapshot image viewer.
97 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for generation of virtual snapshots comprising:
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(a) activating a Virtual Machine (VM) on a computer system; (b) acquiring VM context; (c) generating a virtual snapshot based on the VM context, the virtual snapshot including a state of the VM'"'"'s disk at a particular moment in time for a history of the virtual snapshots, and a state of the VM'"'"'s virtual CPU, including a state of its registers and flags at the particular moment in time; (d) adding the virtual snapshot to a virtual snapshot tree, wherein the virtual snapshot tree is viewable via a virtual snapshot image viewer that provides a Graphical User Interface for viewing the virtual snapshot tree and the history of the virtual snapshots representing the states of the VM'"'"'s disk at prior moments in time and the states of the VM'"'"'s virtual CPU, including the states of its registers and flags at the prior moments in time; (e) repeating steps (a)-(d) at least one more time; and (f) indicating properties of virtual snapshots from the virtual snapshot tree and differences between the properties of the virtual snapshots from the virtual snapshot tree. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A non-transitory computer useable medium having computer executable program logic stored thereon for executing on a processor for generation of virtual snapshots, computer executable program logic comprising:
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(a) computer program code means for activating a Virtual Machine (VM) on a computer system; (b) computer program code means for acquiring state parameters of the VM; (c) computer program code means for generating a virtual snapshot based on the state parameters, the virtual snapshot including a state of the VM'"'"'s disk at a particular moment in time for a history of the virtual snapshots and a state of the VM'"'"'s virtual CPU, including a state of its registers and flags at the particular moment in time; (d) computer program code means for adding the virtual snapshot to a virtual snapshot tree, wherein the virtual snapshot tree is viewable via a virtual snapshot image viewer that provides a Graphical User Interface for viewing the virtual snapshot tree and the history of the virtual snapshots representing the states of the VM'"'"'s disk at prior moments in time and the states of the VM'"'"'s virtual CPU including the states of its registers and flags at the prior moments in time; and (e) computer program code means for implementing (a)-(d) at least one more time.
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20. A method for creating a centralized integrated backup (CIB) of a computer system comprising:
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activating a plurality of Virtual Machines (VMs) on a computer system; acquiring context for each VM; generating a virtual snapshot of each VM based on the context, the virtual snapshot including a state of the VM'"'"'s disk at a particular moment in time for a history of the virtual snapshots and a state of the VM'"'"'s virtual CPU, including a state of its registers and flags at the particular moment in time; creating a virtual snapshot tree for each VM; adding the virtual snapshot of each VM to the corresponding virtual snapshot tree; and combining virtual snapshot trees of all the VMs into the CIB of the computer system, wherein the virtual snapshots and the CIB are viewable via a virtual snapshot image viewer that provides a Graphical User Interface for viewing the CIB and the history of the virtual snapshots representing the states of the VM'"'"'s disk at prior moments in time and the states of the VM'"'"'s virtual CPU, including the states of its registers and flags at the prior moments in time. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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Specification