Distributed Backup Agent for Virtual Machine Granular Restoration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing backup solutions for virtual machines face challenges in resource consumption and lack of granular restoration capabilities, with agents running inside the virtual machine consuming resources and those outside not being application-aware or allowing for granular restoration.
Innovation Solution
A distributed backup agent system where a lightweight agent resides partially inside and partially outside the virtual machine, communicating through a common management service to achieve consistent backups and granular restoration by collecting application-specific metadata and using public cloud or laaS storage for image-based backups.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of repair
If a backup agent runs inside the virtual machine, then granular restoration capability is improved, but resource consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The backup agent is segmented into two parts: a lightweight component inside the virtual machine that collects metadata and application-specific data, and a full-featured component outside the virtual machine that performs backup operations. This segmentation allows granular restoration capabilities to be maintained through the internal metadata collection while resource consumption is reduced by minimizing the footprint of the internal agent.
Solution Approach 2:
A communication interface acts as an intermediary between the internal and external agent components, enabling coordination of backup operations. The internal agent collects detailed metadata about application state and file structures, while the external agent uses this information to perform targeted backups and restorations, reducing the need for the internal agent to consume excessive resources.
2Use of energy by moving object
If a backup agent runs outside the virtual machine, then resource consumption is reduced, but application-aware capability is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The backup system is divided into an external agent that handles resource-intensive operations and an internal lightweight agent that provides application awareness. The internal agent collects metadata about application state, file structures, and system information, which the external agent uses to perform application-aware backups without consuming significant virtual machine resources.
Solution Approach 2:
The communication interface serves as an intermediary that enables the external agent to receive detailed application-specific metadata from the internal agent. This allows the external agent to perform application-aware backups and restorations while maintaining a small resource footprint within the virtual machine.
3Reliability
If consistent backups are achieved through coordination between internal and external agents, then backup reliability is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
A communication interface acts as an intermediary that coordinates between the internal and external agents, managing the complexity of consistent backup operations. The interface handles synchronization, metadata exchange, and coordination of backup/restore operations, ensuring reliability while abstracting the complexity from the user.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the internal agent provides status information and metadata to the external agent, which then adjusts backup operations accordingly. This feedback loop ensures consistent backups by continuously monitoring application state and coordinating recovery operations between the two agent components.
Data Source
AI summary
A distributed agent for backup and restoration of virtual machines collects backup data and meta-data. The distributed agent includes an agent inside a virtual machine and an agent outside the virtual machine. The two kinds of agents communicate with each other to collect data of different types used to backup and restore virtual machines.