Virtual Machine Data Protection via Consistency Group Snapshots
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional storage systems face inefficiencies in protecting virtual machine data at a granular level, particularly when multiple virtual machines share the same volume group, leading to excessive storage space consumption due to the need for multiple snapshots.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves taking a consistency group snapshot of volumes storing virtual machine files, generating single instance storage clones of each file, and deleting the snapshot after backup, while also replicating and managing backups at a secondary storage system to reduce storage space usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If point-in-time snapshots of all volumes within a group are taken to protect each virtual machine, then data protection coverage is improved, but storage space consumption increases exponentially
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the backup process by identifying individual virtual machine files within volume groups and creating targeted backups only for those specific files, rather than snapshotting entire volume groups. This segmentation allows granular data protection at the file level while avoiding redundant storage of unchanged data across multiple snapshots.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and backs up only the specific virtual machine files that have changed or need protection, separating them from the rest of the volume group data. This extraction approach enables selective backup of individual VM files without requiring snapshots of all volumes, significantly reducing storage space consumption while maintaining protection coverage.
2Manufacturing precision
If multiple snapshots are maintained to protect individual virtual machines at granular level, then data protection precision is improved, but storage space requirements increase massively
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by implementing file-level backup granularity within volume groups, where only specific virtual machine files are targeted for backup based on their individual needs. This allows different protection levels and strategies for different files within the same volume group, achieving granular protection without the overhead of maintaining multiple full volume snapshots.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses selective copying of only the necessary virtual machine files that require protection, rather than copying entire volume groups. This selective copying mechanism enables granular data protection at the file level while minimizing storage space requirements by avoiding redundant copies of unchanged data.
3Reliability
If conventional snapshot-based backup is used for volume groups, then data protection is achieved, but storage efficiency deteriorates due to massive snapshot storage requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by performing backups only on the specific virtual machine files that need protection rather than executing full volume group snapshots. This partial backup approach achieves sufficient data protection for individual VMs while consuming significantly less storage space, improving storage efficiency without compromising protection reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems for protecting virtual machines is provided. One method includes identifying a plurality of volumes of a primary storage system for storing a plurality of data containers of a virtual machine (“VM”); generating a consistency group (“CG”) snapshot of the plurality of volumes; associating a single instance storage clone of each data container of the VM from the CG snapshot to an active file system of the primary storage system; and generating metadata for representing a VM backup as a set having each of the single instance storage clone of each data container.