Virtual Machine Image Exclusion Block Identification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional data storage and de-duplication methods consume significant resources and are inefficient in handling temporary or frequently modified data within virtual machine images, often duplicating information that has a short life cycle or is not suitable for de-duplication.
Innovation Solution
A method that identifies exclusion blocks within virtual machine image information, characterizing temporary attributes and frequently modified data to exclude them from subsequent de-duplication and backup operations, thereby reducing resource consumption and improving efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If de-duplication is performed on entire virtual machine images, then storage efficiency is improved, but processing bandwidth and resources are significantly consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the virtual machine image into individual files and further identifies temporary files within those files. This segmentation allows the de-duplication process to focus only on permanent data blocks rather than processing the entire virtual machine image, thereby reducing processing bandwidth consumption while maintaining storage efficiency benefits.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different treatment to different parts of the virtual machine image by identifying temporary files and excluding them from de-duplication. This local quality approach ensures that de-duplication resources are concentrated on permanent data blocks that benefit most from the process, rather than uniformly processing all data including temporary files with short life cycles.
2Quantity of substance
If de-duplication is performed on temporary files, then storage resources are optimized, but processing resources are wasted on data with short life cycle
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary identification of temporary files before the de-duplication process begins. By examining file attributes, creation timestamps, and other characteristics in advance, the system creates an exclusion list of temporary files that should not be processed. This preliminary action prevents wasteful processing of temporary data while still allowing de-duplication to optimize storage for permanent files.
3Reliability
If conventional de-duplication methods are used inside host or guest operating systems, then data preservation is achieved, but direct integration with file servers or storage units is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a file system filter driver as an intermediary layer between the file server and the storage system. This filter driver intercepts I/O operations and identifies temporary files before data is transmitted to the storage unit. The filter driver acts as a mediator that enables direct integration with file servers while maintaining the ability to preserve important data and exclude temporary files from de-duplication processing.
Data Source
AI summary
Storage systems and methods are presented. A method can include: accessing virtual machine image information; performing an examination process on the virtual machine image information to determine characteristics of the virtual machine image information including temporary attributes of the virtual machine image information; performing an exclusion block identification process based upon results of the examination process to identify exclusion blocks, wherein exclusion blocks are identified for exclusion from a subsequent operation; and forwarding an indication of the exclusion blocks to the subsequent operation. In one embodiment the method is performed within a File Server.