Instant System Volume Restore via Backup Image Boot
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for restoring a system volume from a backup require significant downtime as they necessitate booting into a recovery environment, waiting for the complete backup image to be copied, and subsequent rebooting, which is disruptive, especially for critical systems like servers.
Innovation Solution
The method involves booting directly from a backup image and using redirector functions or disk filter drivers to perform read and write operations from the backup image, allowing the restore process to commence concurrently with system boot-up, thereby minimizing downtime.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional recovery environment approach is used, then system volume can be restored from backup image, but significant downtime is required and user experience is degraded
Solution Approach 1:
The backup image is prepared in advance and made accessible to the system. When restore is needed, the system can immediately begin the restore process without waiting for backup creation or recovery environment setup, thereby reducing overall downtime.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of requiring physical media or complex recovery environments, the patent uses virtualized backup images that can be copied and mounted virtually. This allows the restore process to occur within the existing system environment rather than requiring separate physical recovery media.
2Reliability
If complete backup image copying is performed before system availability, then data integrity is ensured, but system downtime increases
Solution Approach 1:
The backup image is created and validated in advance during maintenance windows. When restore is triggered, the system can immediately mount the pre-prepared backup image and begin restoring only the necessary portions, ensuring data integrity while minimizing downtime.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of requiring complete copying of the entire backup image before system availability, the patent enables partial restore operations where only the necessary portions of the backup image are copied and mounted as needed, allowing system availability to be restored more quickly while maintaining data integrity.
3Ease of repair
If recovery environment booting is required, then restore process can be performed, but operational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent virtualizes the recovery environment by creating a virtual machine image that contains the necessary restore tools and backup images. This virtualized approach eliminates the need for physical recovery media, CD-ROMs, or separate recovery operating systems, thereby reducing operational complexity while maintaining restore capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The virtualized recovery environment serves multiple functions: it provides the restore interface, stores backup images, and executes restore operations all within a single unified system. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate recovery hardware and software components, simplifying the overall restore process.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques are disclosed for restoring a system volume on a computing system without requiring the system volume to be fully restored prior to being used or requiring the use of a dedicated recovery environment (e.g., the WinPE or BartPE environments). Instead, the computing system is booted directly from the restore image or by redirecting I/O interrupts to the restore image. That is, when user initiates a restore process, the system boots from the backup itself. Once booted, a background process can complete the restore process.