Virtual Disk File Indexing for Granular Backup
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional virtual machine (VM) backup solutions are inefficient and inflexible, requiring the mounting of VMs to proxy servers for subtree backup, which is inconvenient and complex, especially in virtual environments where not all files need to be backed up, leading to unnecessary data transfer and recovery challenges.
Innovation Solution
A system that parses virtual disk files to generate metadata, creating a file index database allowing for block-based and file-based incremental backups without mounting the VM, enabling selective backup and recovery of specific files or directories without backing up the entire VM disk.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional VM backup solutions mount VM to proxy server for subtree backup, then file-level backup capability is achieved, but device complexity and ease of operation deteriorate due to mounting requirements and proxy server dependencies
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the file system metadata and file index information from the mounted VM file system and stores it in a database on the backup server. This eliminates the need to keep the VM mounted on the proxy server, allowing the backup system to operate independently without mounting dependencies, thus simplifying the system architecture and improving ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a file index database as an intermediary between the VM file system and the backup storage. This database stores metadata and file paths, allowing the backup system to identify and backup specific files without directly mounting the VM file system, thereby reducing system complexity while maintaining file-level backup capability.
2Reliability
If entire virtual disk file is backed up, then complete data protection is achieved, but storage requirements and network bandwidth consumption increase unnecessarily
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the backup process into file-level operations by storing file index information (file paths, names, metadata) in a database. This allows the backup system to identify and backup only specific files or directories rather than the entire virtual disk, reducing storage requirements while maintaining the ability to provide complete protection for selected data.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables partial backup by allowing users to specify particular files or directories for backup based on the file index database. Instead of backing up the entire virtual disk file, the system performs partial backups of only the necessary portions, reducing storage and network bandwidth consumption while still achieving complete protection for the selected data.
3Adaptability or versatility
If file system walking is used to identify changed files for incremental backup, then selective backup capability is achieved, but backup speed deteriorates due to slow file system traversal
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by pre-storing file system metadata, file paths, and directory structures in a database during an initial indexing phase. This preliminary organization of file information allows subsequent incremental backups to quickly identify changed files through database queries rather than slow file system walking, thereby maintaining selective backup capability while significantly improving backup speed.
4Productivity
If block-based backup without file index is used, then backup efficiency is improved by backing up only changed blocks, but ease of repair deteriorates due to inability to recover specific files
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the backup data into file-level units by maintaining a file index database that maps files to their corresponding data blocks. This segmentation allows the system to efficiently backup only changed blocks (maintaining backup efficiency) while also enabling easy identification and recovery of specific files (improving ease of repair), as the file index provides direct access to file locations without requiring full file system mounting.
Data Source
AI summary
A source virtual machine (VM) disk file associated with a VM is parsed to generate metadata representing files stored in a virtual storage device of the VM, where the VM is one of VMs hosted by a VM monitor (VMM). In response to a request for an incremental backup of files stored in the source VM disk file, a file attribute of each of the files is examined based on the metadata to identify one or more files that have been modified within a predetermined past period of time. File records associated with the identified files are determined based on the metadata that have been modified within the predetermined past period of time. The identified file records are then backed up from the source VM disk file to a target VM disk file, without having to back up unmodified files in the source VM disk file.