Agent-less Partition Backup via Hypervisor Proxy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional backup methods in virtualized environments either require manual exclusion of unnecessary data or necessitate running the entire virtual machine to back up specific partitions, lacking flexibility and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
Implementing an agent-less proxy-based method that allows for centralized partition-level backup and restore operations without requiring the virtual machine to be running, using a virtual machine disk API to mount and read partition data directly from the backup proxy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If manual data exclusion is used in proxy-based backup, then backup scope can be controlled, but operation complexity increases and efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the backup operation into partition-level units rather than requiring whole-disk or manual file-by-file exclusion. The backup proxy can selectively backup individual partitions by specifying partition identifiers, automatically handling the granularity control without requiring manual intervention for each file or folder.
Solution Approach 2:
The backup proxy acts as an intermediary between the backup server and the virtual machine disk. It receives backup requests with partition specifications from the backup server, automatically identifies the target partitions, and executes the backup without requiring manual user intervention for data exclusion.
2Adaptability or versatility
If agent-based backup is used to backup specific partitions, then backup flexibility improves, but system requirements increase as the virtual machine must be running
Solution Approach 1:
The backup proxy serves as an intermediary that operates at the hypervisor level rather than requiring guest OS-level agents. This allows the backup operation to access virtual machine disk partitions directly through the virtualization layer, enabling backups whether the virtual machine is running or stopped, thus improving system availability for backup operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical requirement of running guest OS agents inside virtual machines with a hypervisor-level backup proxy that operates externally. This substitution eliminates the dependency on the virtual machine being in a running state, as the proxy can access disk partitions through the virtualization infrastructure regardless of the VM's operational state.
3Reliability
If whole virtual machine backup is performed, then backup completeness is ensured, but backup efficiency decreases when only partition-level backup is needed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements segmentation by allowing backup operations to target individual partitions rather than requiring whole virtual machine disk backups. The backup proxy can identify and backup only the specified partition(s) by partition identifier, ensuring backup completeness for the required data while improving efficiency by excluding unnecessary data from other partitions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by performing backup only on the specific partition(s) needed rather than the entire virtual machine disk. This allows users to specify exactly which partitions to backup, performing the minimum necessary backup action to achieve the required backup completeness, thereby improving backup efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a method, apparatus, and system for performing proxy-based partition backup in a virtualized environment, the operations comprising: mounting a backup source virtual machine disk to a backup proxy; obtaining, at the backup proxy, partition information for a backup source partition on the backup source virtual machine disk; and reading, by the backup proxy, partition data of the backup source partition based on the partition information and backing up the partition data to a data store.