Virtual Machine Restore via Predictive Data Pre-staging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for restoring virtual machines from backup are time-consuming and inefficient, particularly in production environments, and do not effectively manage data growth and storage costs.
Innovation Solution
The system employs predictive analysis based on the virtual machine's operational profile to pre-stage data blocks in a read cache, enabling rapid boot and execution, with the option for concurrent data relocation to primary storage or 'live mounting' for quick access without relocation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If virtual machines are restored from backup in secondary storage, then data protection and recovery capability are improved, but restoration time increases and productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-staging data blocks from secondary storage backup into a read cache before the actual VM restoration is needed. This advance preparation significantly reduces the time required when restoration is triggered, as the data is already positioned and ready for rapid access rather than being fetched from secondary storage during the restoration process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a read cache as an intermediary component between the secondary storage backup and the VM execution environment. This intermediary layer holds pre-staged data blocks, enabling fast access during restoration while maintaining the ability to restore from secondary storage backups, thus resolving the contradiction between reliable backup restoration and fast recovery time.
2Quantity of substance
If data is migrated to lower cost secondary storage, then storage costs are reduced, but data access speed and productivity decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-stages data blocks from secondary storage into the read cache in advance, so that when data access is needed, the data is already positioned in faster storage. This preliminary action allows the system to maintain cost-efficient secondary storage while achieving fast data access speeds when needed, eliminating the trade-off between storage cost and access speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by creating a specialized fast-access layer (read cache) for frequently or soon-to-be-accessed data blocks, while maintaining cost-efficient secondary storage for the bulk of the data. This localized optimization ensures that critical data access operations occur at high speed without requiring all data to reside in expensive fast storage.
3Loss of time
If pre-staging of data blocks is performed before VM execution, then VM boot time is reduced, but system complexity and resource management difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs self-service mechanisms where the storage management system automatically performs pre-staging operations based on predictive analysis of VM operational profiles. The system autonomously determines which data blocks to pre-stage and manages the coordination between backup, pre-staging, and VM execution without requiring manual intervention, thereby reducing VM boot time while keeping the complexity manageable through automation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates feedback mechanisms where the system monitors VM operational profiles and uses this information to guide pre-staging decisions. This feedback-driven approach allows the system to intelligently prioritize which data blocks to pre-stage based on actual usage patterns, optimizing the balance between reducing boot time and managing system complexity through data-driven resource allocation.
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosed systems and methods enable a virtual machine, including any applications executing thereon, to quickly start executing and servicing users based on pre-staged data blocks supplied from a backup copy in secondary storage. Substantially concurrently with the ongoing execution of the virtual machine, a virtual-machine-file-relocation operation may move data blocks originating in the backup copy to a primary storage destination that becomes the virtual machine's primary data store after the relocation operation completes. An enhanced data agent, operating in conjunction with an enhanced media agent in a storage management system, coordinates restoring of the virtual machine and the launch of the relocation operation. The enhanced media agent may pre-stage certain backed up data blocks which may be needed to launch the virtual machine, based on predictive analysis pertaining to the virtual machine's operational profile. The enhanced media agent may also pre-stage backed up data blocks for the relocation operation, based on the operation's relocation scheme. Servicing read requests to the virtual machine may take priority over ongoing pre-staging of backed up data. Read requests may be tracked so that the media agent may properly maintain the contents of an associated read cache. Some embodiments of the illustrative storage management system may lack, or may simply not require, the relocation operation, and may operate in a “live mount” configuration.