Container Backup Using Separate Virtual Disk
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for backing up and restoring container volumes in a VM environment are inefficient, as they often require backing up the entire virtual disk that includes both container data and VM data, leading to lengthy processes and significant storage requirements.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves separating the storage space of VM volumes from container volumes by using a second virtual disk backed by a separate virtual disk file for container data, allowing for independent backup and restore processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the entire virtual disk containing both VM data and container data is backed up, then complete data protection is achieved, but backup time and storage requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The virtual disk is segmented into two separate virtual disks: one for VM data and another for container data. This allows independent backup of each disk, enabling frequent backups of container data without requiring backup of the entire virtual disk, thus reducing backup time while maintaining complete data protection.
Solution Approach 2:
Container data is extracted from the VM data storage by creating a separate virtual disk for container volumes. This extraction allows the backup system to focus on backing up only the container data frequently, while VM data is backed up less frequently, significantly reducing overall backup time and storage requirements.
2Reliability
If the entire virtual disk is backed up, then all data is protected, but storage requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The virtual disk is divided into separate virtual disks for VM data and container data. This segmentation enables selective backup of only the necessary data, reducing storage requirements for backups while maintaining complete data protection through independent backup of both disks.
Solution Approach 2:
Container data is extracted to a separate virtual disk, allowing the backup system to store only container data frequently while VM data is backed up less frequently. This extraction significantly reduces the quantity of data that needs to be stored in backup, lowering storage requirements while maintaining protection.
3Reliability
If frequent backups are performed, then container data is well protected, but processing overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The backup system is segmented to handle VM data and container data separately. This allows frequent backups of container data with minimal processing overhead, as only the container virtual disk needs to be backed up frequently, while the VM data disk is backed up less frequently, reducing overall processing requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
Container data is extracted to a separate virtual disk, enabling the backup system to perform frequent backups of only this extracted data without the processing overhead of backing up the entire VM disk. This extraction allows frequent container data backups with reduced processing overhead.
Data Source
AI summary
One or more embodiments provide a method for data storage. For example, the method may include adding a second virtual disk to the VM, the second virtual disk backed by a second virtual disk file. The method may also include creating one or more volumes configured to store container data of the one or more containers, the one or more volumes using storage from the second virtual disk and not the first virtual disk. The method may furthermore include mounting the one or more volumes in the one or more containers. The method may in addition include backing up the second virtual disk file independent from the first virtual disk file to create a copy of the second virtual disk file.