Asynchronous Virtual Machine Snapshot Sharding
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for generating snapshots of virtual machines are time-consuming and resource-intensive, particularly due to the asynchronous nature of data processing, which can lead to hardware resource bottlenecks and increased risk during data failures or ransomware attacks.
Innovation Solution
A data management system that identifies shards of a virtual machine, requests and receives snapshots asynchronously, orders them sequentially, and stores a single snapshot, while maintaining flow control and offset-slot mapping to optimize resource usage and ensure efficient snapshot generation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If snapshots are taken using traditional synchronous methods, then data consistency is ensured, but snapshot generation time and hardware resource consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the virtual machine disk into multiple shards and processes them in parallel using asynchronous I/O operations. Each shard is snapshotted independently, allowing concurrent processing that reduces total snapshot generation time while maintaining data consistency through proper ordering and coordination mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary actions by establishing flow control queues, token management systems, and offset-slot mappings before the snapshot process begins. These pre-configured structures enable efficient coordination and ordering of asynchronous shard operations, ensuring data consistency without blocking the overall process
2Reliability
If traditional snapshot methods are used, then complete data backup is achieved, but hardware resources remain tied up for extended periods
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the snapshot operation into independent shard-level tasks executed asynchronously, the patent enables hardware resources to be released from individual shards once they are processed, rather than being held for the entire snapshot duration. This parallelized approach maintains complete backup while reducing cumulative resource consumption
Solution Approach 2:
The patent maintains continuous useful action by overlapping the execution of multiple shard snapshots through asynchronous I/O. While one shard is being processed, other shards can be prepared or already completed, ensuring that hardware resources are continuously productively utilized without idle waiting periods, thus improving overall efficiency
3Productivity
If asynchronous I/O is implemented for snapshot shards, then snapshot generation speed improves, but system complexity increases due to ordering and coordination requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces intermediary structures including flow control queues, token management systems, and offset-slot mappings that mediate between the asynchronous shard operations and the final snapshot assembly. These intermediaries handle the complexity of coordination and ordering, allowing the core snapshot logic to remain simple while enabling high-speed parallel processing
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms through token management where completion of shard snapshots generates tokens that trigger the next operations in sequence. This feedback loop automatically coordinates the asynchronous operations, ensuring proper ordering and dependency management without requiring complex centralized control logic
Data Source
AI summary
A data management system having a storage appliance configured to store a snapshot of a virtual machine; and one or more processors in communication with the storage appliance. The one or more processors are configured to perform operations including: identifying a plurality of shards of the virtual machine; requesting a shard snapshot of each of the plurality of shards; receiving the shard snapshots asynchronously; ordering the received shard snapshots sequentially into a results queue; and storing a single snapshot of the virtual machine based on the ordered shard snapshots. The operations may further include maintaining a flow control queue that limits a number of the requested shard snapshots.