Cross-Platform Application Migration Using Incremental VM Snapshots
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies face challenges in efficiently managing and storing data across different virtual machine platforms, particularly in cases of failure, where applications and data need to be ported between various virtualization platforms like VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V, Microsoft Azure, GCP, Nutanix AHV, Linux KVM, and Xen, without being machine-agnostic.
Innovation Solution
A data management and storage (DMS) cluster with peer DMS nodes manages application migration between primary and secondary compute infrastructures by generating primary snapshots, transferring them to the secondary infrastructure, and deploying them as virtual machines, with incremental snapshots for failover and failback, ensuring data portability and redundancy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If applications and data are ported between different virtualization platforms, then data portability is improved, but platform compatibility and ease of migration are worsened due to machine-specific formats
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a third-party storage system that acts as an intermediary between different virtualization platforms. This storage system uses a unified file-based format that is independent of specific platform formats (VMware, Hyper-V, Azure, etc.), enabling seamless data portability across platforms without requiring direct compatibility between incompatible systems
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the data storage into a standardized third-party format that separates the data from platform-specific wrappers. By dividing the data into platform-agnostic components stored in a universal format, the system enables migration between platforms without requiring the source and destination platforms to directly understand each other
2Reliability
If full snapshots are transferred during failover, then data integrity is improved, but network traffic and data transfer time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by maintaining a third-party storage system that continuously receives and stores data in advance. During failover events, this pre-stored data is immediately available without requiring large network transfers, as the data has already been segmented and stored in the intermediary system
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the data transfer requirement from the failover process by using a third-party storage system as a buffer. Instead of transferring full snapshots during failover, only necessary data is extracted and transferred as needed, significantly reducing network traffic while maintaining data integrity
3Reliability
If production environment is recreated from scratch after failover, then data recovery is achieved, but time loss and operational disruption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by maintaining a third-party storage system that continuously stores data in advance of any failover event. When failover is needed, the system can immediately retrieve and restore data from this pre-stored state, eliminating the need to recreate the production environment from scratch and significantly reducing recovery time
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a copy of the production environment in the third-party storage system that can be rapidly deployed during failover. Instead of recreating the environment from scratch, the system uses the pre-created copy stored in the intermediary system, enabling fast recovery while maintaining data integrity
Data Source
AI summary
A data management and storage (DMS) cluster of peer DMS nodes manages migration of an application between a primary compute infrastructure and a secondary compute infrastructure. The secondary compute infrastructure may be a failover environment for the primary compute infrastructure. Primary snapshots of virtual machines of the application in the primary compute infrastructure are generated, and provided to the secondary compute infrastructure. During a failover, the primary snapshots are deployed in the secondary compute infrastructure as virtual machines. Secondary snapshots of the virtual machines are generated, where the secondary snapshots are incremental snapshots of the primary snapshots. In failback, the secondary snapshots are provided to the primary compute infrastructure, where they are combined with the primary snapshots into construct a current state of the application, and the application is deployed in the current state by deploying virtual machines on the primary compute infrastructure.