Cross-hypervisor VM Live Recovery via Selective Data Loading
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing data storage systems face significant delays in restoring virtual machines from secondary storage, especially when only a portion of the data is needed, as they require transferring all VM data before powering on the virtual machine, leading to inefficiencies and prolonged downtime.
Innovation Solution
An improved information management system that allows loading only the necessary portions of backed-up VM data onto primary storage, powering on the VM, and fetching additional data as needed, enabling on-demand access and reducing the delay between restoration request and VM availability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If all VM data is transferred from secondary storage to primary storage before powering on the virtual machine, then data integrity and completeness are ensured, but the restoration time becomes significantly prolonged
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by loading only the essential portions of VM data required for booting into primary storage before powering on the virtual machine. Non-essential data portions remain in secondary storage and are loaded on-demand when accessed, thus reducing restoration time while maintaining data integrity for the boot process.
Solution Approach 2:
The VM data is segmented into essential boot data and non-essential data. The essential portion is transferred to primary storage to enable VM power-on, while the non-essential portion remains in secondary storage and is fetched on-demand, resolving the contradiction between complete data transfer and fast restoration.
2Reliability
If all VM data is transferred from secondary storage to primary storage, then complete data availability is achieved, but the system resources and transfer overhead increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of transferring all VM data (excessive action), the system transfers only the essential boot data (partial action) required to power on the virtual machine. Additional data is fetched on-demand from secondary storage, reducing system resource consumption and transfer overhead while maintaining complete data availability when needed.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the virtual machine waits for complete data transfer before powering on, then data consistency is maintained, but the validation and testing of backed-up data are delayed
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary boot operations with essential data loaded in primary storage, allowing the virtual machine to power on and be validated before all data is transferred. This enables early validation and testing of the backed-up data while maintaining consistency for the boot-critical portions.
Data Source
AI summary
Certain embodiments described herein relate to an improved virtual machine restoration system. In one embodiment, an information management system receives a request to perform a restore of a virtual machine using virtual machine data stored on a secondary storage device. In response, the information management system boots up the virtual machine after restoring only a portion of the virtual machine data that is needed to boot up the virtual machine, thereby reducing latencies associated with virtual machine boot-up. The information management system continues to retrieve additional portions of the virtual machine data from the secondary storage device as such portions are requested by the virtual machine, thereby reducing or minimizing unnecessary data transfer from the secondary storage device.