Pseudo-Disk Driver for Cloned Dynamic Disk Mounting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing data management systems face challenges in efficiently browsing and restoring backed-up data from cloned disks, particularly due to limitations in operating systems that do not allow simultaneous mounting of cloned Dynamic disks, leading to failures and increased complexity in data recovery processes.
Innovation Solution
The system detects on-the-fly whether requested subclient data resides on Dynamic disks, replaces globally unique identifiers (GUIDs) to allow simultaneous mounting, and uses a pseudo-disk driver to access and restore data without a hypervisor, enabling hypervisor-agnostic backups and recoveries.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If cloned Dynamic disks are mounted simultaneously in the operating system, then data browsing and recovery operations can be performed on multiple backups at once, but the operating system prevents simultaneous mounting of cloned Dynamic disks causing mount failures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a pseudo-disk driver as an intermediary layer between the operating system and cloned Dynamic disks. This driver intercepts mount requests, dynamically modifies disk identifiers (GUIDs) to ensure uniqueness, and presents modified disk images to the OS, thereby enabling simultaneous mounting of cloned disks that would otherwise be blocked by the operating system's cloning detection mechanism
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically changes the GUID parameter of cloned Dynamic disks on-the-fly during mount operations. By replacing the original GUID with a modified version that includes a unique identifier, the system transforms identical disk images into distinguishable entities for the operating system, allowing simultaneous mounting without conflicts
2Adaptability or versatility
If hypervisor-specific tools are used for VM backup and recovery, then seamless integration with the virtualization platform is achieved, but portability across different hypervisor platforms is lost and configuration complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal backup and recovery system that works across multiple hypervisor platforms (VMware, Hyper-V, KVM, Xen) by using a hypervisor-agnostic approach. The pseudo-disk driver and browsing interface can access VM disk images from any hypervisor without requiring hypervisor-specific tools or configurations, making the system universally compatible while simplifying the overall architecture by eliminating the need for multiple platform-specific solutions
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts the hypervisor-specific metadata and interface layer, separating the core backup and recovery functionality from any single virtualization platform. By taking out the hypervisor dependency and working directly with raw disk images through the pseudo-disk driver, the patent achieves platform independence while reducing configuration complexity
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments described herein detect on-the-fly whether requested subclient data resides on a certain type of storage device, such as cloned Windows Dynamic Disks. The system presents mount requests for the identified disks in a manner that allows for mounting of the disks, where the disks would not be otherwise mountable. For instance, in some embodiments the information management system generates substitute metadata for disk mounting purposes, such as for the purposes of browsing and/or restoring data.