Thin Provisioned VM Snapshot Failover Validation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional methods for validating data on a virtual machine require creating a full copy, which is time-consuming and impractical, disrupting the forward replication process and making it unsuitable for quick validation.
Innovation Solution
The system facilitates test failover on a remote virtual machine by creating an instant, thin provisioned virtual machine from a snapshot, using copy-on-write technology to reference the original disk without creating a full copy, allowing for quick and non-disruptive validation of replicated data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a full copy of the virtual machine is created to validate data, then validation completeness is improved, but time consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a thin-provisioned virtual machine that shares the same virtual disk as the source virtual machine, rather than creating a full physical copy. This allows validation to be performed on a copy that references the original data, maintaining validation completeness while dramatically reducing time and resource requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The thin-provisioned virtual machine is nested within the same storage infrastructure as the source virtual machine, with both sharing the same virtual disk. This nested structure allows the test VM to access and validate the source VM's data without requiring separate physical storage resources.
2Reliability
If a full copy of the virtual machine is created for validation, then data integrity checking is improved, but disruption to forward replication increases
Solution Approach 1:
By creating a thin-provisioned copy that shares the virtual disk rather than duplicating it, the patent enables validation without interfering with the forward replication process. The shared virtual disk structure allows both the source VM and test VM to access the same data simultaneously without conflict.
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual disk serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as the storage for the source virtual machine, the validation target for the test virtual machine, and the source for forward replication. This multi-functionality eliminates the need to pause replication for validation purposes.
3Measurement precision
If a full copy of the virtual machine is created, then validation accuracy is improved, but resource consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a thin-provisioned copy that references the original virtual disk without duplicating its physical contents. This maintains validation accuracy by providing full access to the source VM's data while consuming minimal additional storage resources, CPU, and memory compared to a full copy.
Solution Approach 2:
The thin-provisioned virtual machine allocates resources on-demand rather than pre-allocating full resources. This allows the test VM to consume only the resources it actually needs during validation, rather than reserving resources for the entire virtual disk capacity.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for facilitating test failover on a remote virtual machine without creating a full copy of the remote virtual machine. A snapshot is created of a remote virtual machine disk, the remote virtual machine disk protecting a source virtual machine disk. An instant, thin provisioned virtual machine is created from the snapshot, and the instant, thin provisioned virtual machine is powered on based on a received instruction to power on the instant, thin provisioned virtual machine thereby creating a running instance of a virtual machine, thereby facilitating test failover on the remote virtual machine without creating a full copy of the remote virtual machine.