Virtual Disk Metadata Extraction via Intermediary Engine

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Solution Overview

Problem

Efficiently extracting metadata from virtual machines and virtual disks is challenging due to their abstraction from underlying physical disks, which complicates data protection operations like backups and restores.

Innovation Solution

An extraction engine is configured to extract metadata from virtual disks during or after data protection operations, analyzing logical volumes to determine volume configurations and read strategies, allowing for efficient metadata extraction and storage in a catalog for search operations.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If virtual machines are abstracted from physical machines to enable multiple VMs on same physical machine, then resource utilization and flexibility are improved, but extracting information from virtual disks becomes more difficult

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveresource utilizationVSAvoidinformation extraction difficulty

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDifficulty of detecting and measuring

Solution Approach 1:

The patent uses an extraction engine as an intermediary component that sits between the virtual disk files and the backup system. This engine automatically analyzes virtual disk file structures, extracts metadata, and presents information in a format suitable for backup operations, thereby resolving the difficulty of extracting information from abstracted virtual disk structures

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary analysis of virtual disk configurations before backup operations begin. The extraction engine pre-processes virtual disk files to identify their structure, format, and metadata, so that when backup operations occur, the information is already organized and ready for efficient extraction without requiring complex real-time analysis

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Reliability

If virtual disk files are analyzed to determine volume configurations, then data protection operations can be optimized, but the complexity of the extraction process increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata protection reliabilityVSAvoidextraction process complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The extraction engine divides the virtual disk analysis process into separate modular components: identifying virtual disk files, analyzing file structures, determining volume configurations, and extracting metadata. Each component handles a specific aspect of the analysis, making the overall complex process manageable and maintainable while ensuring reliable data protection

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The extraction engine is designed as a universal component that can handle multiple types of virtual disk formats and configurations through a single interface. It automatically detects and adapts to different virtual disk structures, providing consistent data protection operations across diverse virtualization environments without requiring separate specialized tools for each format

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Data Source

PatentUS11675516B2Analyzing disk configuration from dynamic virtual disks

Publication Date: 2023.06.13 EMC IP HLDG CO LLC

AI summary

One example method includes extracting metadata from virtual disks. A virtual disk or logical volume is analyzed to identify the associated partitions. Volume configurations are determined for the partitions. The files for the partitions are remounted. The remounted files can be read based on their volume configurations and metadata can be extracted.