Virtual Machine Backup With Intelligent Application Requester
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Solution Overview
Problem
In data centers with numerous virtual machines, taking consistent snapshots of applications like SQL Server and Exchange is challenging due to ongoing disk writes, leading to inconsistent backups, and existing solutions require significant processing power and time, especially in larger environments.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of an intelligent application requester within the virtual machine that identifies applications needing special handling, uses pre- and post-scripts to manage disk writes, and employs a VSS writer to ensure semantic consistency, reducing unnecessary processing by only applying VSS snapshot operations to applications that require it.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If VSS snapshot operations are applied to all virtual machines, then backup consistency is improved, but processing power and time consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies VSS snapshot operations selectively only to virtual machines containing applications that require consistent backups (such as database applications), rather than uniformly to all virtual machines. The system identifies specific VMs needing VSS handling and applies the processing only to those, thereby maintaining backup consistency where needed while avoiding unnecessary processing overhead for other VMs.
2Reliability
If applications are shut down before snapshot, then backup consistency is improved, but service availability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary identification of virtual machines containing applications that require consistent backups before initiating the snapshot process. By pre-classifying VMs based on their application requirements, the system can apply VSS snapshot operations only to the necessary subset, avoiding the need to shut down applications in VMs that don't require consistent backups, thus maintaining service availability while ensuring backup consistency where needed.
3Measurement precision
If manual identification of applications requiring special handling is performed, then backup accuracy is improved, but operational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically identifies virtual machines containing applications that require consistent backups by examining the VM configuration and application metadata. The identification process is performed autonomously without requiring manual intervention from administrators to specify which applications need special handling. The system self-determines which VMs require VSS snapshot operations based on predefined criteria for applications requiring consistent backups.
Data Source
AI summary
A virtual machine (VM) is disclosed. The VM includes a virtual processor including a plurality of applications, a volume shadow copy service (VSS) controller and an intelligent application requester that is configured to discover an application in the plurality of applications. The discovered application requires VSS supported backup and needs to be monitored for disk input/output (I/O) from a time a backup operation of the application is initiated till the back operation ends. The VM also includes a software component configured to monitor the disk I/O related to the application. The software component is configured to interface with the VSS controller to effectuate VSS supported backup of the application. The VM includes a control interface to enable an external software to control the intelligent application requester.