Backup Proxy Server Intercepts SAN Data Streams
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing backup solutions for virtual machines require full copies of virtual machine disks to be made to a backup proxy, consuming resources and time, and cannot capture a complete backup of the virtual machine when performed from within the guest operating system.
Innovation Solution
A backup proxy server intercepts data streams from a storage area network (SAN), compresses data blocks in memory, and redirects them to a backup location without occupying disk space, using a differential engine to identify block-level changes and reduce the amount of data written to disk.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a full copy of the virtual machine disk is made to a backup proxy, then the backup completeness is improved, but the storage time and resource consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the changed data blocks from the virtual machine disk since the last backup, rather than copying the entire disk. The backup agent identifies modified blocks and transfers only those to the backup server, significantly reducing storage time while maintaining backup completeness for recovery purposes
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by maintaining a change log that tracks modified data blocks between backups. This preliminary tracking enables the backup process to quickly identify and transfer only the necessary changed blocks without scanning or copying unchanged data, reducing storage time while ensuring complete backup coverage
2Reliability
If a full copy of the virtual machine disk is made to a backup proxy, then the backup completeness is improved, but the resource consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The backup agent extracts and transfers only the changed data blocks rather than the entire virtual machine disk. This extraction approach significantly reduces network bandwidth consumption, processor utilization, and memory usage during backup operations while maintaining the ability to restore complete virtual machine states
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs partial backup actions by transferring only the necessary changed blocks rather than excessive full disk copies. This partial action reduces resource consumption during backup operations while the change log ensures that sufficient data is captured for complete virtual machine recovery when needed
3Ease of operation
If backup data is stored to an intermediate location on the proxy server, then the backup process is simplified, but the disk space consumption and storage time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a change log as an intermediary data structure that tracks modified blocks between backups. This intermediary enables the system to directly identify and transfer only changed blocks from the virtual machine disk to the backup server, eliminating the need for intermediate full disk copies and reducing storage time while maintaining operational simplicity
Solution Approach 2:
The backup process is segmented into identifying changed blocks through the change log and transferring only those specific blocks. This segmentation allows the system to bypass intermediate full disk copy stages, directly moving only the necessary data portions and reducing overall storage time while keeping the process manageable and simple
4Ease of operation
If backup data is stored to an intermediate location on the proxy server, then the backup process is simplified, but the disk space consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the changed data blocks using the change log information, rather than storing full disk copies at intermediate locations. This extraction approach minimizes disk space consumption on the backup proxy server while maintaining the simplified backup process through direct transfer of necessary data portions
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs partial backup actions by transferring only the necessary changed blocks rather than excessive full disk copies to intermediate storage. This partial action significantly reduces disk space consumption on the backup proxy server while the change log ensures operational simplicity is maintained through targeted data transfer
Data Source
AI summary
Improved backup and storage operations are disclosed for virtual computing environments using a backup proxy server to perform storage operations on one or more virtual machine disks. The proxy server can include a module that intercepts application programming interface (API) calls, for writing backup data to a first location, prior to the data arriving on the proxy disk. During the intercept process, the data can be compressed in memory pages of the proxy server and redirected to an alternative backup disk location. The proxy server can also include a differential engine that identifies changes to the virtual machine disk at the block level since the last full backup. The differential engine can advantageously leverage memory pages of the proxy server to compare differences between signatures of blocks of the last full backup with signatures of new blocks. Subsequently, only blocks with non-matching signatures are processed for backup.