Systems and methods to load applications and application data into a virtual machine using hypervisor-attached volumes

• US 9,639,385 B2
• Filed: 08/13/2014
• Issued: 05/02/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vmware LLC (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: VMware, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Conover, Matthew
• Primary Examiner(s): Puente, Emerson
• Assistant Examiner(s): DO, STEVEN M
• Application Number:
  US14/458,586
• Publication Number:
  US 20140351815A1
• Time in Patent Office: 993 Days
• Field of Search: 718 1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45579 I/O management, e.g. providing access to device drivers or storage
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45533 Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects

Abstract

Systems, methods, and software are described herein for operating a data management system, including a virtual machine agent running within a virtual machine responding to an attach-triggering event, determining selected storage volumes to be attached to the virtual machine based on a request generated by the virtual agent in response to the attach-triggering event, and dynamically attaching the selected storage volumes to the virtual machine.

Claims

1. A method of operating a data management system, comprising:

detecting, at a virtual machine agent running within a virtual machine, an attach-triggering event;

transmitting from the virtual machine agent, in response to detecting the attach-triggering event, a first indication to a virtual machine manager, the first indication comprising a first request to attach one or more storage volumes to the virtual machine, wherein the virtual machine manager comprises a separate appliance from the hypervisor or a virtual appliance supported by the hypervisor;

determining, at the virtual machine manager, one or more selected storage volumes to be attached to the virtual machine based on the first request and transferring a second request to dynamically attach the one or more selected storage volumes to the virtual machine;

receiving, at a hypervisor, the second request to dynamically attach the one or more selected storage volumes to the virtual machine; and

dynamically attaching, by the hypervisor, the one or more selected storage volumes to the virtual machine in response to receiving the second request.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the hypervisor is configured to operate a plurality of virtual machines, the method further comprising making at least one application stored on the one or more selected storage volumes available to a plurality of virtual machines concurrently via the hypervisor.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the hypervisor comprises one of a plurality of hypervisors managed by a datacenter manager, the method further comprising:

receiving, at the datacenter manager, a third request to attach the one or more selected storage volumes to the virtual machine; and

wherein receiving, at the hypervisor, the second request to dynamically attach the one or more selected storage volumes to the virtual machine comprises receiving, at the hypervisor, an instruction from the datacenter manager to attach the one or more selected storage volumes to the virtual machine.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the attach-triggering event is a user logon or a virtual machine startup event.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the one or more selected storage volumes include data specific to a user associated with the user logon event or specific to the virtual machine associated with a virtual machine startup event.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the one or more selected storage volumes include applications in a read-only state associated with a user identified by the user logon event or associated with a virtual machine identified by the virtual machine startup event.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising tracking instances of each application running on the plurality of virtual machines.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining, at the virtual machine manager, the one or more selected storage volumes to be attached to the virtual machine comprises transmitting a request to an application broker configured to select the one or more storage volumes corresponding to the applications associated with the identified user or virtual machine.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting available storage volumes.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting, at the virtual machine agent, a detach-triggering event;

contacting, by the virtual machine agent, the virtual machine manager to report the detach-triggering event;

receiving, at the hypervisor, a second request generated by the virtual machine manager to detach the one or more selected storage volumes from the virtual machine; and

detaching, by the hypervisor, the one or more selected storage volumes from the virtual machine in response to receiving the second request generated by the virtual machine manager.

10. A data management system, comprising:

a plurality of storage volumes;

a hypervisor executed by a processing system and configured to operate a plurality of virtual machines, wherein at least one of the virtual machines includes a virtual machine agent configured to transmit, in response to an attach-triggering event, a first indication comprising a first request to attach one or more storage volumes to the at least one virtual machine; and

a virtual machine manager configured to receive the first indication and, in response, identify one or more selected storage volumes to be attached to the at least one virtual machine based on the first request and transfer a second request to dynamically attach the one or more selected storage volumes to the virtual machine, wherein the virtual machine manager comprises a separate appliance from the hypervisor or a virtual appliance supported by the hypervisor,

wherein the hypervisor is further configured to dynamically attach the one or more selected storage volumes to the at least one virtual machine in response to receiving the second request.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the hypervisor is configured to mount the one or more selected storage volumes and make at least one application stored on the one or more selected storage volumes available to two or more of the plurality of virtual machines concurrently via the hypervisor.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the hypervisor comprises one of a plurality of hypervisors, the system further comprising datacenter manager responsible for managing the plurality of hypervisors, and wherein the virtual machine manager is further configured to instruct the datacenter manager to cause the hypervisor to attach the one or more selected storage volumes to the at least one virtual machine.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the attach-triggering event is a user logon event or a virtual machine startup event.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more selected storage volumes include data specific to a user associated with the user logon event or specific to a virtual machine associated with the virtual machine startup event.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more selected storage volumes include applications in a read-only state associated with a user identified by the user logon event or associated with a virtual machine identified by the virtual machine startup event.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising a license tracker configured to track instances of each application running on the plurality of virtual machines.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium having program instruction stored thereon for operating a data management system, wherein the program instructions are configured to, when executed by the data management system, direct the data management system to:

detect, at a virtual machine agent running within a virtual machine, an attach-triggering event;

transmit from the virtual machine agent, in response to detecting the attach-triggering event, a first indication to a virtual machine manager, the first indication comprising a first request to attach one or more storage volumes to the virtual machine, wherein the virtual machine manager comprises a separate appliance from the hypervisor or a virtual appliance supported by the hypervisor;

determine, at the virtual machine manager, one or more selected storage volumes to be attached to the virtual machine based on the first request and transfer a second request to dynamically attach the one or more selected storage volumes to the virtual machine;

receive, at a hypervisor, the second request to dynamically attach the one or more selected storage volumes to the virtual machine; and

dynamically attach, by the hypervisor, the one or more selected storage volumes to the virtual machine in response to receiving the second request.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, further having program instructions stored thereon configured to, when executed by the data management system, direct the data management system to:

mount the one or more selected storage volumes with the hypervisor, the hypervisor being configured to operate a plurality of virtual machines; and

make at least one application stored on the one or more selected storage volumes available to two or more of the plurality of virtual machines concurrently via the hypervisor.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, further having program instructions stored thereon configured to, when executed by the data management system, direct the data management system to:

detect, at the virtual machine agent, a detach-triggering event;

contact, by the virtual machine agent, the virtual machine manager to report the detach-triggering event;

receive, at the hypervisor, a second request generated by the virtual machine manager to detach the one or more selected storage volumes from the virtual machine; and

detach, by the hypervisor, the one or more selected storage volumes from the virtual machine in response to receiving the second request generated by the virtual machine manager.