Systems and methods for backup of virtual machines

• US 9,471,441 B1
• Filed: 06/30/2014
• Issued: 10/18/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MidCap Financial Trust
• Original Assignee: Acronis International GmbH (Acronis AG)
• Inventors: Beloussov, Serguei M., Miroshkin, Vladimir, Ruslyakov, Alexey, Lyadvinsky, Maxim V.
• Primary Examiner(s): Giardino, Jr., Mark
• Application Number:
  US14/320,555
• Time in Patent Office: 841 Days
• Field of Search: 711/162
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0757 by exceeding a time limit, i.e. time-out, e.g. watchdogs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/14 Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in operation G06F11/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1435 using file system or storage system metadata
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1448 Management of the data involved in backup or backup restore
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1451 by selection of backup contents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1461 Backup scheduling policy
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1464 for networked environments
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1469 Backup restoration techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1484 involving virtual machines
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/815 Virtual middleware or OS functionality using virtual machines to implement generic software techniques for error detection or fault masking G06F11/1484
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/84 Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data
• 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 3/0664 at device level, e.g. emulation of a storage device or system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0673 Single storage device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0683 Plurality of storage devices
• 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

Abstract

Various embodiments are directed to systems and methods for backing up a plurality of virtual machines, the method comprising. A computer system may initiate creation of a snapshot for each of the plurality of virtual machines. The computer system may select a first virtual machine from the plurality of virtual machines based on the input/output loads for each of the plurality of virtual machines and generate a backup archive of the first virtual machine.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented system for backing up a plurality of virtual machines, the system comprising at least one processor and operatively associated memory, wherein the at least one processor is programmed to:

receive data describing an input/output load for each of the plurality of virtual machines;

initiate creation of a snapshot for each of the plurality of virtual machines at a snapshot time;

select a first virtual machine from the plurality of virtual machines based on the data describing the input/output load for each of the plurality of virtual machines;

generate a backup archive of the first virtual machine based on the snapshot for the first virtual machine;

after beginning to generate the backup archive of the first virtual machine, select a second virtual machine from the plurality of virtual machines based on the data describing the input/output load for each of the plurality of virtual machines; and

generate a backup archive of the second virtual machine based on the snapshot for the second virtual machine.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein a backup time of the backup archive for the first virtual machine and a backup time of the backup archive for the second virtual machine is the snapshot time.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein a backup time of the backup archive for the third virtual machine is the snapshot time.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to:

determine that the plurality of virtual machines comprises additional virtual machines;

select a third virtual machine from the additional virtual machines based on the data describing the input/output load for each of the plurality of virtual machines; and

generate a backup archive of the third virtual machine based on the snapshot for the third virtual machine.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the first virtual machine has a higher input/output load than the second virtual machine.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the first virtual machine has the highest input/output load of the plurality of virtual machines and the second virtual machine has the second highest input/output load of the plurality of virtual machines.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to collect the data describing an input/output load for each of the plurality of virtual machines.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the snapshot for the first virtual machine is deleted before completion of the backup archive for the second virtual machine.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to select the plurality of virtual machines from a set of virtual machines based on input/output load data.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the plurality of virtual machines comprises a predetermined number of virtual machines.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to:

after beginning generating the backup archive for the first virtual machine and before beginning generating the backup archive of the second virtual machine, select a third virtual machine from the plurality of virtual machines based on the data describing the input/output load for each of the plurality of virtual machines; and

in parallel with the generating the backup archive of the first virtual machine, generate a backup archive of the third virtual machine.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to receive tenant setup data, wherein the tenant setup data indicates the plurality of virtual machines and a schedule for backing up the virtual machines.

13. A computer-implemented method for backing up a plurality of virtual machines, the method comprising:

receiving, by a computer system, data describing an input/output load for each of the plurality of virtual machines, wherein the computer system comprises at least one processor and operatively associated memory;

initiating, by the computer system, creation of a snapshot for each of the plurality of virtual machines at a snapshot time;

selecting, by the computer system, a first virtual machine from the plurality of virtual machines based on the data describing the input/output load for each of the plurality of virtual machines;

generating, by the computer system, a backup archive of the first virtual machine based on the snapshot for the first virtual machine;

after generating the backup archive of the first virtual machine, selecting, by the computer system, a second virtual machine from the plurality of virtual machines based on the data describing the input/output load for each of the plurality of virtual machines; and

generating, by the computer system, a backup archive of the second virtual machine based on the snapshot for the second virtual machine.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first virtual machine has a higher input/output load than the second virtual machine.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the first virtual machine has the highest input/output load of the plurality of virtual machines and the second virtual machine has the second highest input/output load of the plurality of virtual machines.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising collecting, by the computer system, the data describing an input/output load for each of the plurality of virtual machines.

17. A computer-implemented system for backing up a plurality of virtual machines implemented by a plurality of virtualization hosts, the system comprising at least one processor and operatively associated memory, wherein the at least one processor is programmed to:

receive data describing an input/output load for each of the plurality of virtual machines;

initiate creation of a snapshot for each of the plurality of virtualization hosts at a snapshot time;

select a first virtualization host from the plurality of virtualization hosts based on the data describing the input/output load for each of the plurality of virtual machines;

generate a backup archive for each of a first set of virtual machines selected from the plurality of virtual machines that are hosted by the first virtualization host;

after beginning to generate the backup archive for each of the first set of virtual machines, select a second virtualization host from the plurality of virtualization hosts based on the data describing the input/output load for each of the plurality of virtual machines; and

generate a backup archive for each of a second set of virtual machines selected from the plurality of virtual machines that are hosted by the second virtualization host.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein backup times for the first set of virtual machines and the second set of virtual machines are equal to the snapshot time.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the first set of virtual machines hosted by the first virtualization host have a collective input/output load greater than the collective input/output load of the second set of virtual machines hosted by the second virtualization host.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to:

determine that the plurality of virtualization hosts comprises additional virtualization hosts;

select a third virtualization host machine from the additional virtualization hosts machines based on the data describing the input/output load for each of the plurality of virtual machines; and

generate a backup archive for each of a third set of virtual machines selected from the plurality of virtual machines that are hosted by the third virtualization host.

21. A computer-implemented method for backing up a plurality of computing devices, the method comprising:

receiving, by a computer system, data describing an input/output load for each of the plurality of computing devices, wherein the computer system comprises at least one processor and operatively associated memory;

initiating, by the computer system, creation of a snapshot for each of the plurality of computing devices at a snapshot time;

selecting, by the computer system, a first computing device from the plurality of computing devices based on the data describing the input/output load for each of the computing devices;

generating, by the computer system, a backup archive of the first computing device based on the snapshot for the first computing device;

after generating the backup archive of the first computing device, selecting, by the computer system, a second computing device from the plurality of computing devices based on the data describing the input/output load for each of the plurality of computing devices; and

generating, by the computer system, a backup archive of the second computing device based on the snapshot for the second computing device.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the first computing device and the second computing device are selected from a group consisting of a server, a virtualization host server, a data repository, a disk, a mobile device, a game console, a laptop computer, and a desktop computer.

23. The method of claim 21 wherein the computer system is one of the plurality of computing devices.

24. The method of claim 21 wherein the computer system is one of the first computing device or the second computing device.

25. The method of claim 21 wherein the snapshot is a hardware snapshot.