Virtual Machine Template Snapshot Backup for Reliable Recovery
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Virtual machine platforms lack native backup procedures for virtual machine templates, leading to complexities in maintaining template hierarchies and potential loss of critical configuration data.
Innovation Solution
A separate backup platform is used to instantiate virtual machines from templates, generate snapshots, and store them for backup, with conversion or deployment-based processes depending on template storage location, ensuring efficient recovery and maintaining template integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If virtual machine templates are backed up using native platform procedures, then backup reliability is improved, but device complexity increases due to lack of native procedures requiring separate backup platform
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a separate backup platform that acts as an intermediary between the virtual machine template management system and the backup storage. This backup platform includes a template backup manager that coordinates with the virtual machine manager to perform backups by instantiating templates as virtual machines, capturing snapshots, and storing them. This intermediary layer provides reliable backup functionality without requiring modification of the native virtual machine platform, thus improving backup reliability while managing system complexity through a dedicated backup subsystem.
2Reliability
If templates are converted to virtual machines for backup, then backup completeness is improved, but loss of template hierarchy information occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a copy of the template in the form of a virtual machine instance for backup purposes. The template backup manager instantiates the template as a virtual machine, captures a snapshot of this instance, and stores the snapshot. This copying approach allows the backup to include complete template information and configuration data that can be recovered, while the original template hierarchy in the virtual machine platform remains intact and unchanged.
Solution Approach 2:
The backup process performs preliminary actions by instantiating the template as a virtual machine before capturing the snapshot. This preliminary instantiation ensures that all template configurations, settings, and hierarchy information are materialized in the virtual machine instance, making them captureable in the snapshot. The template hierarchy information is preserved in the snapshot metadata and can be restored along with the template.
3Stability of the object's composition
If deployment-based process is used for template backup, then template hierarchy is maintained, but operational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the backup process into distinct phases: template identification, instantiation decision (conversion or deployment), snapshot capture, and storage. The template backup manager evaluates whether to use conversion-based or deployment-based processes based on template storage location. This segmentation allows the system to maintain template hierarchies through deployment-based processes when needed, while managing operational complexity through automated decision-making and structured process separation.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and devices for data management are described. The method may include identifying, by a backup system, a virtual machine template that is usable to instantiate one or more virtual machines on a virtual machine platform in accordance with one or more configuration parameters specified by the virtual machine template, triggering, in accordance with a backup procedure executed by the backup system, instantiation of a virtual machine on the virtual machine platform using the virtual machine template, obtaining, in accordance with the backup procedure and from the virtual machine platform, a snapshot of the instantiated virtual machine, and storing, by the backup system, the snapshot of the instantiated virtual machine, where the snapshot of the instantiated virtual machine supports recovery of the virtual machine template.