Virtual Machine Linked Clone Rapid Deployment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for cloning virtual machines are time-consuming, resulting in delays in deploying cloned virtual machines in production environments, where immediate operational readiness is often required.
Innovation Solution
The method involves creating a linked clone of a source virtual machine, suspending its execution, updating an intermediate clone based on the linked clone's modified state, and then resuming the execution to transform it into a full clone, allowing for rapid deployment and minimizing downtime.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional cloning methods are used to create a complete copy of the source virtual machine, then the cloned VM becomes fully independent and operational, but the cloning process takes a considerable amount of time (at least 40 minutes for typical machines)
Solution Approach 1:
The cloning process is divided into two distinct phases: first, a linked clone is created that shares storage with the source VM and can operate immediately; second, a separate full clone is created in the background. This segmentation allows the system to provide both immediate operational capability and eventual full independence, resolving the contradiction between speed and completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The linked clone is created in advance as a preliminary step, providing immediate operational capability before the full clone is completed. This preliminary action allows the cloned VM to become operational almost immediately while the complete cloning process continues in the background, significantly reducing the perceived wait time.
2Stability of the object's composition
If a snapshot of the source machine file system is taken to clone the contents, then the clone can be created from a consistent state, but the cloning operation cannot complete until all data is transferred, causing delays
Solution Approach 1:
The file system cloning is segmented into immediate access to the source file system (via linked clone) and subsequent independent copying (via full clone). This allows deployment to proceed immediately while maintaining file system consistency through the snapshot mechanism, resolving the contradiction between consistency and speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The linked clone acts as an intermediary that provides immediate access to the source file system through the snapshot, allowing operational deployment before the full clone is complete. This intermediary structure enables both consistent state access and rapid deployment simultaneously.
3Adaptability or versatility
If data is transferred over the network from the source machine to the new VM, then the clone can be created remotely, but the transfer rate limits the speed of cloning (typical rates of 20 MB/s result in 40+ minutes for 50 GB file systems)
Solution Approach 1:
The linked clone is created in advance using the existing network connection and snapshot, providing immediate operational capability without waiting for complete data transfer. This preliminary action bypasses the network speed limitation for the initial deployment, allowing remote cloning to be both versatile and fast.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of transferring all data over the network before operation, the system creates a functional copy (linked clone) that can operate immediately, with the complete copy (full clone) following later. This copying approach eliminates the network transfer bottleneck from the critical path.
Data Source
AI summary
A management server clones a source virtual machine to a plurality of target host computers. For each target host, the management server creates linked clones of the source virtual machine in a target data store that is accessible to the target host. The management server starts execution of the linked clones in the target hosts. While the linked clones execute, for each target host, the management server creates full clones of the source virtual machine in the target data store and, after creating the full clones, suspends execution in the linked clones and resumes execution in the full clones.