Virtual Machine Backup Indexing via Metadata Abstraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current virtual machine backup and restoration processes are inefficient, requiring complex operations to find and restore specific objects, leading to high computing overhead and time consumption due to the need to search through multiple backup versions.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that generate metadata for virtual machine objects, create an abstract index of their attributes, and build an index for backup versions, allowing direct querying and efficient restoration by mapping object paths, thereby simplifying the backup and query operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a user performs complex operations to find and restore objects in backup data, then restoration capability is achieved, but operation complexity and time consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-generates metadata including object paths, names, and attributes during the backup process, and creates an index structure beforehand. This preliminary action eliminates the need for complex search operations during restoration, allowing users to directly query and restore objects using the pre-built index, thus reducing both operation complexity and time consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces metadata as an intermediary layer between the backup data and the user. This metadata contains structured information about objects (paths, names, attributes) and serves as a mediator that enables efficient querying and restoration without requiring users to navigate through complex backup data structures directly.
2Productivity
If backup data is stored without indexing, then storage simplicity is maintained, but query efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments backup data management into two independent parts: the original backup data storage and a separate metadata index structure. The metadata is divided into individual object records containing paths, names, and attributes. This segmentation allows the index to be optimized for quick querying without complicating the underlying backup storage structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The metadata acts as an intermediary index structure that bridges the gap between simple backup storage and efficient querying. It contains organized information about backup objects without requiring changes to the actual backup data storage format, thus improving query efficiency while maintaining storage simplicity.
3Loss of information
If comprehensive metadata is collected for all objects, then information completeness is improved, but processing overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential and frequently needed object attributes (paths, names, and basic attributes) into the metadata index, rather than collecting and processing all possible object information. This selective extraction maintains sufficient information completeness for restoration operations while significantly reducing the computational effort required for metadata generation and processing.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a method, apparatus and computer program product for managing a virtual machine. According to example implementations of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for managing a virtual machine. In the method, in response to receiving a backup request for the virtual machine, corresponding metadata of a corresponding object of at least one object in the virtual machine is obtained, the corresponding metadata describing multiple attributes of the corresponding object in a file system of the virtual machine. A corresponding abstract describing a basic attribute of multiple attributes of the corresponding object is generated on the basis of the corresponding metadata. An index of a backup version of the virtual machine is created on the basis of the corresponding abstract, the index comprising a corresponding path of the corresponding object in the backup version of the virtual machine. Moreover, there is provided an apparatus and computer program product for managing a virtual machine.