Virtual disk replication using log files
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a virtual machine configured to provide storage access requests targeting a virtual disk;
a storage request processing module coupled to the virtual machine to receive the storage access requests and update the virtual disk as directed by the storage access requests;
a replication management module coupled to the virtual machine to receive the storage access requests in parallel with the storage request processing module, and store information associated with the storage access requests in at least one log file; and
a transmitter configured to transfer the at least one log file to a destination as a recovery replica of at least a portion of the virtual disk.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques involving replication of virtual machines at a target site are described. One representative technique includes an apparatus including a virtual machine configured to provide storage access requests targeting a virtual disk. A storage request processing module is coupled to the virtual machine to receive the storage access requests and update the virtual disk as directed by the storage access requests. A replication management module is coupled to the virtual machine to receive the storage access requests in parallel with the storage request processing module, and to store information associated with the storage access requests in a log file(s). The log file may be transferred to a destination as a recovery replica of at least a portion of the virtual disk.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a virtual machine configured to provide storage access requests targeting a virtual disk; a storage request processing module coupled to the virtual machine to receive the storage access requests and update the virtual disk as directed by the storage access requests; a replication management module coupled to the virtual machine to receive the storage access requests in parallel with the storage request processing module, and store information associated with the storage access requests in at least one log file; and a transmitter configured to transfer the at least one log file to a destination as a recovery replica of at least a portion of the virtual disk. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. Computer-readable media having instructions stored thereon which are executable by a computing system for performing functions comprising:
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queuing write requests issued by a primary virtual machine in a first queue; queuing the write requests issued by the primary virtual machine in a second queue in parallel with the queuing of the write requests in the first queue; updating data in a virtual disk utilized by the primary virtual machine using the write requests from the first queue; updating a log file using the write requests in the second queue; and transferring the log file for use in generating a replicated virtual disk accessed by a recovery virtual machine. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer-implemented method for facilitating replication of virtual machines, comprising:
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receiving a log file of changes duplicating changes made to primary virtual storage of a primary virtual machine, the log file including a log file header, blocks of data that changed in the primary virtual storage, and metadata blocks to specify locations of the data in the log file; locating a first metadata block in the log file using information from the log file header, and storing the address of the first metadata block; locating one or more additional metadata blocks in the log file, each metadata block being located using information from its respectively preceding one of the metadata blocks in the log file; storing the addresses of each of the one or more additional metadata blocks that are located in the log file; locating the data identified by each of the stored metadata blocks; and storing the located data in replicated virtual storage operable by a recovery virtual machine to replicate the primary virtual machine. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification