Archiving virtual machines in a data storage system
First Claim
1. A method of managing resources associated with virtual machines in a networked data storage system, comprising:
- using one or more computing devices comprising computer hardware;
monitoring usage of a virtual machine (VM) executing on one or more client computing devices in primary storage;
determining whether to reallocate one or more resources associated with the VM based on the usage and a plurality of factors; and
in response to determining that the one or more resources associated with the VM should be reallocated;
reducing an amount of resources for the VM when the usage of the VM is above or equal to a threshold value; and
archiving the VM to secondary storage when the usage of the VM is below the threshold value, wherein the VM appears to be accessible to a user after being archived from the primary storage,wherein said monitoring usage of a VM, said determining whether to reallocate one or more resources associated with the VM, said reducing an amount of resources for the VM, and said archiving the VM occur during a backup of data from the primary storage to the secondary storage.
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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.
167 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of managing resources associated with virtual machines in a networked data storage system, comprising:
using one or more computing devices comprising computer hardware; monitoring usage of a virtual machine (VM) executing on one or more client computing devices in primary storage; determining whether to reallocate one or more resources associated with the VM based on the usage and a plurality of factors; and in response to determining that the one or more resources associated with the VM should be reallocated; reducing an amount of resources for the VM when the usage of the VM is above or equal to a threshold value; and archiving the VM to secondary storage when the usage of the VM is below the threshold value, wherein the VM appears to be accessible to a user after being archived from the primary storage, wherein said monitoring usage of a VM, said determining whether to reallocate one or more resources associated with the VM, said reducing an amount of resources for the VM, and said archiving the VM occur during a backup of data from the primary storage to the secondary storage. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A data storage system configured for managing resources associated with virtual machines, comprising:
one or more computing devices comprising computer hardware configured to; monitor usage of a virtual machine (VM) executing on one or more client computing devices in a primary storage subsystem; determine whether to reallocate one or more resources associated with the VM based on the usage and a plurality of factors; and in response to determining that the one or more resources associated with the VM should be reallocated; reduce an amount of resources for the VM when the usage of the VM is above or equal to a threshold value; and archive the VM to a secondary storage subsystem when the usage of the VM is below the threshold value, wherein the VM appears to be accessible to a user after being archived from the primary storage subsystem, wherein the monitoring of the usage of the VM, the determination of whether to reallocate the one or more resources associated with the VM, the reducing of the amount of resources for the VM, and the archiving of the VM occur during a backup of data from the primary storage subsystem to the secondary storage subsystem. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
Specification