Using a data protection server to backup and restore data on virtual servers
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- discovering a plurality of host machines via a network;
connecting a first machine to a host machine of the plurality of host machines via the network and installing an agent on the host machine of the plurality of the host machines, the agent being configured to discover, by querying a directory service, one or more virtual machines hosted by the host machine of the plurality of host machines and communicate the discovered virtual machines to the first machine, the virtual machines associated with storage volumes;
instantiating replicas of the storage volumes based on configuration data discovered by the agent and sent to the first machine by the agent;
receiving, by the first machine from the agent, changes to the storage volumes associated with the discovered virtual machines, saving the changes in a file associated with the discovered virtual machines, and storing the changes in one or more of the replicas, the changes having been monitored by the agent;
receiving information indicative of a request to restore a virtual machine from a corresponding replica that corresponds to the virtual machine associated with the request;
sending data associated with the corresponding replica to the agent; and
causing the agent to restore the requested virtual machine by way of the sent data.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A virtual machine may be discovered through a directory service or via an agent that is installed on the host operating system that is running the virtual machine. If the agent is installed on the virtual machine, the agent monitors changes to a set of protected volumes on the virtual machine. If the agent is installed on the host, the agent monitors changes to the protected volumes, which may contain one or more virtual servers on the host. Periodically, these changes from the host or the virtual server are sent to a data protection server. The data protection server updates its replicas of protected volumes with the sent changes. Versions of files on a data protection server corresponding to a volume of a virtual server may be restored to the virtual machine, to another machine, or may be viewed from the data protection server.
20 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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discovering a plurality of host machines via a network; connecting a first machine to a host machine of the plurality of host machines via the network and installing an agent on the host machine of the plurality of the host machines, the agent being configured to discover, by querying a directory service, one or more virtual machines hosted by the host machine of the plurality of host machines and communicate the discovered virtual machines to the first machine, the virtual machines associated with storage volumes; instantiating replicas of the storage volumes based on configuration data discovered by the agent and sent to the first machine by the agent; receiving, by the first machine from the agent, changes to the storage volumes associated with the discovered virtual machines, saving the changes in a file associated with the discovered virtual machines, and storing the changes in one or more of the replicas, the changes having been monitored by the agent; receiving information indicative of a request to restore a virtual machine from a corresponding replica that corresponds to the virtual machine associated with the request; sending data associated with the corresponding replica to the agent; and causing the agent to restore the requested virtual machine by way of the sent data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructions that upon execution on a computing device cause acts comprising:
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sending an agent, over a computer network, to a host machine of a plurality of host machines, the agent operable to discover, by querying a directory service, a plurality of virtual machines hosted by the host machine of the plurality of host machines and communicate the discovered virtual machines to a first machine, the virtual machines associated with storage volumes; instantiating replicas of the storage volumes based on configuration data discovered by the agent; receiving, by the first machine from the agent, changes to the storage volumes associated with the discovered virtual machines that are monitored by the agent using a file system filter configured to save the changes in a file associated with the discovered virtual machines; receiving from the agent over the computer network the changes to the volumes associated with the discovered virtual machines, the changes saved in the file, and storing the changes in a replica, the changes having been monitored by the agent; receiving information indicative of a request to restore a virtual machine from a corresponding replica that corresponds to the virtual machine associated with the request; sending data associated with the corresponding replica to the agent; and causing the agent to restore the requested virtual machine by way of the sent data. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An apparatus comprising:
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a storage device; a computing device configured to communicate with the storage device when the apparatus is operational; and a memory in communication with the computing device when the apparatus is operational, the memory storing computer instructions that upon execution on a processor at least cause the computing device to; discover, by querying a directory service, a host machine connected to the computing device over a network, the host machine hosting at least one virtual machine, the host machine associated with a network of a plurality of host machines, the at least one virtual machine operable to cause changes to volumes associated with the at least one virtual machine; transmit an agent over a computer network to the discovered host machine and cause an installation of the agent on the discovered host machine, the agent configured to monitor changes to the volumes associated with the at least one virtual machine and communicate the monitored changes to the computing device; cause instantiation of replicas of the volumes based on configuration data discovered by the agent and sent to the computing device by the agent; receive, by the computing device from the agent, the changes to the volumes associated with the at least one virtual machine, the changes having been monitored by the agent and saved in a file associated with the at least one virtual machine; process the received changes and store on the storage device the received changes to the replicas of the volumes; receive information from a client device indicative of a request to restore a virtual machine from a corresponding replica on the storage device that corresponds to a virtual machine associated with the request; send data associated with the corresponding replica to the agent; and cause the agent to restore the requested virtual machine by way of the sent data. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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Specification